Sofia Lind

July 07, 2010 | International Edition

Norton Rose has announced a 6% fall in profits per equity partner (PEP) to £486,000 for the 2009-10 financial year. The news comes after the firm posted a marginal drop in revenues last month, with turnover decreasing slightly 2% to £307m. Last year, the firm recorded total turnover of £314m while PEP stood at £517,000, which came on the back of a 17% fall during 2008-09.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

July 07, 2010 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) has boosted its profits per equity partner (PEP) by a quarter over the 2009-10 financial year, while turnover dropped marginally on last year's figure. Partner profits at the magic circle firm rose 27% to £933,000, after a substantial decline last year when PEP fell to £733,000. Meanwhile, turnover at the firm fell 5% to £1.197bn from last year's figure of £1.262bn.

By Sofia Lind

3 minute read

July 07, 2010 | International Edition

Denton Wilde Sapte has named a new head for its energy, infrastructure and project finance practice group with City partner Matthew Jones appointed to the role. The project finance specialist has replaced Ian Hodgson, who has left Dentons' partnership to take a consultant role at the firm.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

July 07, 2010 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) and Hogan Lovells have taken lead roles on a £450m deal involving UK private equity house 3i. Hogan Lovells advised French health and safety agency Bureau Veritas on the purchase of Inspectorate, the commodities testing and inspection division of 3i portfolio company Inspicio.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

July 07, 2010 | International Edition

The breakdown of merger talks between two law firms often proves to be an unsettling moment for both parties. Sometimes it can prove a lot worse than that. When talks between Mayer Brown and Simmons & Simmons foundered last week (29 June), Mayer Brown was keen to get the message across that it, rather than Simmons, had called negotiations to a halt. Partners at Simmons, however, appear relaxed about the affair. "We don't feel like the injured party here," observes one Simmons partner, "but we have no interest in getting into a spin debate in the media." Another partner adds: "Obviously it's not nice to have your firm's name on the front page of every legal newspaper unless it's to do with a new big client win. But internally I don't think people are too upset since the talks were so preliminary and no-one aside from the management had really had a chance to get excited about it."

By Sofia Lind

4 minute read

July 07, 2010 | International Edition

Norton Rose has launched a partnership training programme for its most promising female associates as part of a bid to improve a falling ratio of women partners in its City base. The City law firm's London partnership has just below 14% female partners and has rolled out a number of initiatives to increase this to around 20% over a three-year period.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

July 06, 2010 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) has elected Simon Tinkler as its new London corporate head after the voting process closed today (6 July). Tinkler succeeds David Pearson, who has served two terms in role after first being elected in 2003.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

June 30, 2010 | International Edition

Allen & Overy (A&O) is the first magic circle firm to show its hand in the 2009-10 financial round, posting a 10% increase in average profits per equity partner (PEP) while turnover decreased slightly. Turnover at the City firm fell by 4% to £1.05bn over the financial year, having stood at £1.09bn the previous year. Meanwhile, PEP rose to £1.1m from £1m last year, boosted in part on the back of a 5% decrease in average equity partner numbers. The equity partnership had an average of 355 partners throughout 2009-10, down from 372 the previous year.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

June 30, 2010 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) has elected a new London real estate head with City partner Jonathan Solomon elected for a four-year term backdated to 1 May. The news comes as the firm prepares to confirm the appointment of its new London corporate head, with Simon Tinkler put forward to the City corporate partners as the only option in a confirmatory vote due to close next week.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

June 29, 2010 | International Edition

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has appointed its first Middle East and Africa head of legal with the hire of Denton Wilde Sapte banking partner Sarah Byrch. Byrch, who was based in Dentons' Oman office, took on the position permanently at the end of last month after having been seconded to RBS in Dubai since February 2009 as head of legal for the Middle East.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read