Sofia Lind

February 01, 2012 | International Edition

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is set to add two partners to its London funds practice with the hire of Simmons & Simmons funds partners Tim Pearce and Ian Meade. The hire will take headcount in Akin Gump's London funds team to 11 lawyers, including five partners. Pearce and Meade's start dates at the US firm are yet to be confirmed.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

January 31, 2012 | International Edition

SNR Denton has seen its Paris office hit by a 10-lawyer walkout to US firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed, led by three partners. The departing partners comprise former Paris head Sena Agbayissah, who currently leads the Paris banking practice, local technology, media and telecommunications head Stefan Naumann and M&A partner Alain Vincent.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

January 31, 2012 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) has rehired Jason Fry, the secretary general of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration, as co-head of its international arbitration group in a double hire from the court. Fry, who will co-head CC's litigation group alongside Audley Sheppard, will join the firm's Paris office in September. He was previously a CC partner from 1999 until he joined the ICC in 2007.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

January 30, 2012 | International Edition

Australia's Slater & Gordon, the world's first publicly listed law firm, is set to acquire UK personal injury specialist law firm Russell Jones & Walker (RJW) for £53.8m in a Legal Services Act first. The deal will be structured with an initial cash payment of £36.4m in cash, of which £8.8m will be deferred for up to two years subject to performance targets, while £10.3m will be used to pay off RJW bank debt. Slater & Gordon will also issue £17.4m in shares.

By Sofia Lind

5 minute read

January 27, 2012 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) is set to keep on 76% of its March newly-qualified lawyers, significantly lower than magic circle rivals Allen & Overy and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and the firm's own equivalent figure for 2011.CC will keep on 39 trainees from an intake of 51, 48 of which applied for posts with the firm. This time last year the firm posted a retention rate of 91%, keeping on 52 new qualifiers.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

January 26, 2012 | International Edition

Government legal spend through its central panel of external advisers fell by more than a third last year, with the findings coming as a long-awaited review of the roster kicked off in earnest earlier this month. Figures released by the Government Procurement Service, following a Freedom of Information Act request from Legal Week, show the panel handing out a total of £28.8m to the current 48-firm roster during 2010-11, 36% down on the record figure of £44.8m spent during the previous year.

By Sofia Lind

3 minute read

January 26, 2012 | International Edition

Norton Rose and Maclay Murray & Spens have taken key advisory roles on the sale of Scottish dairy company Robert Wiseman Dairies to Germany's Muller. The deal, announced earlier this month (16 January), will see the company change hands for £279.5m, with the Wiseman family reportedly set to gain £98.1m for their stake.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

January 26, 2012 | International Edition

SNR Denton partners have criticised a payout to former Denton Wilde Sapte chairman James Dallas of around £500,000 last year, despite profits per equity partner (PEP) falling by 36% in 
the UK partnership. City energy partner Dallas, who chaired legacy Dentons until 2009, is understood to have been paid the one-off sum last spring in addition to his regular profit share as a result of a deal negotiated ahead of his relocation to Dubai in 2008.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

January 26, 2012 | International Edition

Harbottle & Lewis' Andy Millmore tells 
Sofia Lind how his passion for collecting old movie posters turned into a business venture

By Sofia Lind

4 minute read

January 26, 2012 | International Edition

More than eight years since plans for sweeping reform of the UK's £25bn legal services market were first floated, the most radical phase of 'Tesco law' starts this month. Sofia Lind finds the looming revolution already having a profound impact on the profession

By Sofia Lind

30 minute read