Gerard Starkey

March 12, 2013 | International Edition

Dundas & Wilson is set to take a 12-strong team from Semple Fraser as Scots rivals continue to pick up lawyers from the collapsed firm. Six former Semple real estate and dispute resolution partners have made the move to Dundas, including real estate head Elspeth Carson, who joins as a partner in Edinburgh.

By Gerard Starkey

3 minute read

March 12, 2013 | International Edition

Dundas & Wilson is set to see the departure of another senior partner, with former managing partner contender Colin Massie to leave the firm. Massie, who joined Dundas in 1996 and made partner in 2002, is a corporate partner and the former head of the firm's sports law practice. His next move is not yet known, and Dundas declined to comment on the departure.

By Gerard Starkey

2 minute read

March 11, 2013 | International Edition

Dundas & Wilson and Weightmans have both recruited teams from Semple Fraser after Maclay Murray & Spens (MMS) last week took seven partners from the collapsed Scots firm, with the administration also resulting in 62 redundancies across Glasgow and Edinburgh. Weightmans has taken a 14-strong team from Semple's Manchester office led by partners Simon Wallwork (corporate) and John Hyde (real estate), while the firm is also opening its first Scottish base in Glasgow with the hire of construction partner Stuart Macfarlane and two additional staff.

By Gerard Starkey

3 minute read

March 08, 2013 | International Edition

DLA Piper has appointed a new new UK managing partner, with UK head of intellectual property (IP) and technology Mark O'Conor set to take over the role from current incumbent Andrew Darwin. O'Conor will take up his new post on 2 April, with Darwin relocating to Australia to become managing partner of the firm's Australian arm.

By Gerard Starkey

2 minute read

March 08, 2013 | International Edition

Maclay Murray & Spens (MMS) is taking seven partners from collapsed Scots firm Semple Fraser, including managing partner Simon Etchells, following the news earlier this week that the 20-partner firm is going into administration. The seven partners, all of which are from Semple Fraser's Glasgow office, comprise a six-partner real estate team, which is moving across the city to MMS's Glasgow base, while Semple Fraser's head of corporate and renewables Bill Fowler is joining MMS in Edinburgh.

By Gerard Starkey

2 minute read

March 07, 2013 | International Edition

Claimant law firms could be forced to rethink their business models after the Government saw off a challenge to reform its forthcoming overhaul of the low-value claims system – changes that could cost personal injury (PI) lawyers an estimated £200m a year. The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and the Motor Accident Solicitors Society last Friday (1 March) failed in a High Court challenge to the Ministry of Justice's (MoJ) plans to cut fixed fees for claims processed via the Road Traffic Accident (RTA) Portal from £1,200 to £500.

By Gerard Starkey

3 minute read

March 07, 2013 | International Edition

""The main factors why a deal didn't happen last year were the large overheads on its premises and its debt issues, which looked like they weren't going to go away. I never envisaged that a year later we'd have completed a deal..."

By Gerard Starkey

5 minute read

March 07, 2013 | International Edition

The Greater London Authority's (GLA) legal spend has increased more than 60-fold during the current financial year, following the transfer of responsibility for housing and regeneration work from the Homes and Community Agency (HCA). A freedom of information request submitted by Legal Week has revealed the administrative body headed by Mayor of London Boris Johnson spent £490,785 on legal services during the nine-month period from 1 April to 31 December 2012 – up on just £7,805 for the full 12 months of 2011-12.

By Gerard Starkey

2 minute read

March 07, 2013 | International Edition

DLA Piper and SJ Berwin have played lead roles on a deal that has seen British Land acquire a portfolio of London properties from Dutch property investment company Wereldhave for £177.5m. The sale included the £142.5m purchase of the 300,000 sq ft Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre, which houses high street retail brands such as Boots, Marks & Spencer and River Island.

By Gerard Starkey

2 minute read

March 07, 2013 | International Edition

Pinsent Masons has strengthened its EU and competition practice with the hire of ex-Simmons & Simmons partner and Postcomm legal director Jenny Block. Block will join Pinsents' London office on 19 March as a partner following a spell working as a legal adviser at the Competition Commission. Her arrival at Pinsents will bring the number of partners in the EU and competition practice to five.

By Gerard Starkey

2 minute read