Pui Guan Man

June 20, 2013 | International Edition

The continuing turmoil in the legal job market has not had a negative impact on the quality of work being handled by lawyers at the UK's top firms, according to a major new research project. Legal Week's annual Employee Satisfaction Report, which this year canvassed the views of almost 4,000 lawyers below partner level, found a belief that the standard of work and the quality of firms' clients has returned to pre-crisis levels, having dipped significantly in the years since 2007. The survey found the perception of both the quality of clients and work being done for them at its highest point in four years, with fee earners recording an average satisfaction level of 8.3 out of 10 this year for quality of work, matching pre-recession scores. The score for quality of clients saw near identical results.

By Pui-Guan Man

4 minute read

June 19, 2013 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) has sealed the hire of corporate insurance partner Ashley Prebble from Norton Rose Fulbright's City arm. Prebble joined legacy Norton Rose in 2003 from Dechert's London office, before making partner at the top 10 firm in 2006. His start date at the magic circle firm is not yet known.

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read

June 18, 2013 | International Edition

Allen & Overy (A&O) global financial institutions head Alistair Asher is joining the Co-op as its new group general counsel as the troubled mutual sets out a £1.5bn rescue plan for its banking arm. Asher, who has spent more than 34 years at A&O, including 26 as a partner, led on the Co-op's merger with Britannia Building Society in 2009, as well as Lloyds' rescue takeover of HBOS in 2008.

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read

June 18, 2013 | International Edition

Taylor Wessing is set to lay off 26 London secretaries in a review of its London secretarial support team. The cuts, first reported by RollOnFriday, will come in the firm's City base, where it has 96 secretaries.

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read

June 18, 2013 | International Edition

CMS has appointed a new executive director to lead the network's executive committee alongside executive chairman Cornelius Brandi. Matthias Lichtblau, who is currently the business development and communications director at CMS Germany, will take over from Matthew Gorman, who has held the position since 2011. Lichtblau, who was appointed after a governance review, will take responsibility for business development, market communications, technology and skills training among the ten member firms.

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read

June 17, 2013 | International Edition

Hogan Lovells and Eversheds are among the firms that have landed key roles on an acquisition that has seen buyout house Phoenix Equity partners buy a majority stake in a low-cost gym operator. Phoenix, which also owns stakes in restaurant chain Busaba Eatthai and fashion retailer Radley, bought the stake in The Gym group from Bridges Ventures, for a reported value of £90m. Bridges has retained a 25% stake in the company.

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read

June 17, 2013 | International Edition

Former Field Fisher Waterhouse franchising lawyer Mark Abell has joined Bird & Bird in a newly created position, after a protracted dispute with his former firm over his move. Abell quit his former firm in February this year and was suspended from the partnership. He subsequently turned to Herbert Smith Freehills litigation partner Alan Watts to represent him in a partnership dispute with Field Fisher, which is thought to have alleged breach of partnership agreement.

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read

June 16, 2013 | International Edition

SJ Berwin has posted 2.5% revenue growth for 2012-13, with profits per equity partner (PEP) set to fall by around 10%. The UK top 20 firm has announced unaudited turnover of £184.6m for the last financial year, up on the £180.1m took in during 2011-12.

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read

June 13, 2013 | International Edition

Norton Rose Fulbright's London arm has acted for telecoms operator Etisalat Nigeria on a $1.2bn (£772m) loan facility arranged with 13 banks. The newly merged firm won the role to advise Etisalat Nigeria after a competitive tender process. The facility, which was made available by 13 Nigerian banks including Zenith Bank and the United Bank for Africa, will be used to finance network upgrades and expansion.

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read

June 13, 2013 | International Edition

Olswang is urging all of its partners to attend unconscious bias training as part of a push to increase its proportion of female partners, as the firm looks to ramp up the use of flexible working. The UK top 30 firm has introduced training sessions to raise awareness of unconscious bias across all of its offices, with the scheme coming as part of a wider overhaul of its flexible working policy, which is now being made more readily available. Currently, 22% of lawyers and staff in its London and Thames Valley offices work flexibly, while internationally the figure is 20%, a quarter of whom are male.

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read