Legal Week

July 29, 2009 | Legal Week

Lawyer headcount has yet to drop across the top 50 despite a series of unprecedented job cuts as expansion at some firms offsets plunging headcount at others. Legal Week research shows there were 33,886 lawyers working in top 50 UK firms on 30 April 2009, excluding trainees and paralegals. This compares with 33,109 on the same date the previous year. Total staff numbers across the group fell by around 1,600 to 78,675.

By Legal Week

6 minute read

July 29, 2009 | International Edition

Law firms' worlds really did change in 2008-09. It was the worst 12 months for major firms since the early 1990s, and far worse than any in the preceding decade. Profitability, having avoided any substantive fall across the top 50 for more than 15 years, fell by 17.3%. And while there was slight revenue growth, without the strong euro and dollar in real terms fee income fell by around 2%. Dramatic indeed. For some observers, this must have heralded the humbling of the City leaders that so recently rode the markets to global glory. There would be a pleasing symmetry to that. But, unfortunately for journalists, the business world rarely behaves according to clear narratives. Large City law firms certainly took their knocks during 08-09, including job cuts on an unprecedented scale. But in cold, hard business terms it was anything but a bust for the magic circle which, with the exception of Clifford Chance, had a strong year. The newly-emerged breed of global law firm faced its first real stress test and, unlike its banking counterparts, passed with flying colours. Perhaps that is because it was generally a good year for the larger firms; firms just below the magic circle were solid performers for the second year in a row as once-dismissed practices like Lovells and Norton Rose hit a confident stride.

By Legal Week

3 minute read

July 29, 2009 | International Edition

Friday 31 July is training contract application deadline day at most of the big firms. In a market where, according to a recent Sweet & Maxwell survey, there has been a 150 per cent jump in the number of applications per training contract vacancy, prospective trainees will need all the luck they can get.

By Legal Week

3 minute read

July 28, 2009 | International Edition

Friday 31 July is training contract application deadline day at most of the big firms. In a market where, according to a recent Sweet & Maxwell survey, there has been a 150% jump in the number of applications per training contract vacancy, prospective trainees will need all the luck they can get. But it's not all bad news. After all, most law firms are at least still recruiting, with those responsible for graduate recruitment keen to emphasise that the 'two years in advance' model means that trainee recruitment is relatively detached from the present state of the economy.

By Legal Week

3 minute read

July 28, 2009 | International Edition

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has criticised plans by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) to bring in a compulsory aptitude test for entry to the Bar Vocational Course (BVC). The test was one of a number of recommendations made last year by a BVC working party chaired by Derek Wood QC.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

July 28, 2009 | International Edition

White & Case is opening an office in Doha, after receiving approval from the Qatar Financial Centre Authority to establish a base in the region. City-based corporate partner Andrew Macklin will relocate to Doha to head up the new office, with a number of lawyers from other offices also transferring to the new outpost.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

July 28, 2009 | International Edition

Clyde & Co has continued its hiring spree with the addition of commercial disputes partner Marko Kraljevic. Kraljevic joins the insurance specialist from Halliwells, where he was a partner in the firm's London office. His practice focuses on international arbitration in international trade, shipping, trade contract disputes and international investment within the shipping, petroleum and coal industries.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

July 28, 2009 | International Edition

It's easy to see vac schemes as a bit of a jolly. A few weeks of being wined and dined, meeting lots of new people, and generally taking the positives from life in a law firm without really having to do any of the hard grind. But for those who are wise enough, they can and should be much more than that.

By Legal Week

4 minute read

July 28, 2009 | International Edition

SJ Berwin has posted a 49% partner profits drop, one of the largest falls in profitability recorded by a UK top 50 firm this year. The decline in profits per equity partner (PEP) from £801,000 to £410,000 came on the back of a 14% drop in turnover from £215m to £184m during the year. The firm said the steep drop-off came as a result of the firm's strong focus on transactional areas adversely affected by the financial crisis; in particular corporate, finance and real estate.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

July 27, 2009 | International Edition

BAA is gearing up for a review of its external legal advisers, it has emerged. The move follows the appointment of Carol Hui in March as the airport operating company's general counsel. Currently BAA has no formal panel arrangement in place, though it has well-established links with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Herbert Smith. Hui confirmed the review, though said the process would not necessarily lead to the creation of a fixed panel.

By Legal Week

2 minute read