Pui Guan Man

April 30, 2013 | International Edition

Stephenson Harwood has ramped up its Asia presence with a formal association in Singapore and the launch of an office in Beijing. The agreement with Singapore's Virtus Law, which was signed at the start of April, will cover all Singapore law aspects, with a particular focus on corporate, litigation and asset finance.

By Pui-Guan Man

3 minute read

April 30, 2013 | International Edition

Slaughter and May has become the first magic circle firm to announce associate salary rates for 2013, confirming small increases in pay for junior lawyers across the board. The increases, which will take effect from 1 May, see the firm raise rates for newly-qualified lawyers by 2.4% to £63,000, with lawyers with between one year and three years' post qualification experience (PQE)gaining increases of between 0.7% and 2%. Trainee salaries will also rise and, in addition, lawyers will progress through the pay bands as normal.

By Pui-Guan Man

3 minute read

April 30, 2013 | International Edition

SJ Berwin has paid back its delayed February profit distributions to partners in full, after payments were held back to improve cash flow at the firm. The firm has confirmed that it repaid the amount in two instalments in late March and early April, after it emerged at the start of March that the firm held back quarterly profit distributions due to be paid to partners in February.

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read

April 29, 2013 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) and Linklaters have both announced their annual partner promotions, with both firms seeing one quarter of their new partners made up in London. CC has made up 20 lawyers, including five in London - finance lawyers Peter Dahlen and Oliver Hipperson, corporate specialists Tom Evans and Nick Hughes and litigator Maxine Mossman.

By Pui-Guan Man

4 minute read

April 26, 2013 | International Edition

Taylor Wessing has promoted 16 associates to its partnership in the firm's latest promotions round, including 10 in Germany and one in London. Private client specialist Kirstie McGuigan is the sole new partner in the firm's City base, while four London associates have been made up to senior counsel - Marcus Earnshaw, Sian Skelton, Louise Tobutt and Lee Bagshaw, who is currently on secondment in Singapore.

By Pui-Guan Man

3 minute read

April 25, 2013 | International Edition

Slaughter and May and Cravath Swaine & Moore are among several firms to have advised on Lagardere's sale of a €2.3bn (£2bn) stake in aerospace and defence giant EADS. The French media group, which has sold its remaining 7.4% share in the company to investors, was advised by Slaughters, Cravath and French outfit Bredin Prat.

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read

April 25, 2013 | International Edition

Weil Gotshal & Manges' City arm has introduced a menu of alternative billing methods as part of a push to offer its clients better value for money. The US firm's London office has been actively promoting the use of alternative billing to its partnership since last summer, with private equity partner Marco Compagnoni and funds partner Ed Gander leading the initiative and drawing up a list of 15 options for partners to use

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read

April 24, 2013 | International Edition

Allen & Overy (A&O) has made up 24 lawyers to counsel, including one promotion in London. This year's promotions, which take effect on 1 May, are spread across 13 of the magic circle firm's international offices, with Hong Kong receiving the highest number with six, followed by three in Luxembourg.

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read

April 24, 2013 | International Edition

Norton Rose has confirmed its 2013 partner promotions ahead of its transatlantic tie-up with Fulbright & Jaworski, with 33 lawyers made up across the firm's global network. Europe and Canada have received the lion's share of the promotions, with 10 and eight respectively, while the round also includes six director promotions in South Africa - the local equivalent to partner.

By Pui-Guan Man

2 minute read

April 23, 2013 | International Edition

Shearman & Sterling is set to pull out of Munich and Duesseldorf by the end of the year, leaving the US firm with one remaining office in Germany. The office closures, confirmed today (23 April), will result in a number of partners relocating to Frankfurt - including Duesseldorf senior partner Georg Thoma. However, it is also expected to lead to a number of lawyers and staff leaving Shearman in Germany, with the firm still reviewing the possibility of redundancies. It is not yet clear how many positions could be affected.

By Pui-Guan Man

3 minute read