Sofia Lind

April 21, 2010 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) has revamped its associate development scheme in a bid to maximise the partnership potential of its senior lawyers. The magic circle firm has rolled out a new programme - dubbed the Academy Development Centre - to boost the commercial nous of its senior associates in a bid to better prepare them for partnership.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 21, 2010 | International Edition

It is ironic that legislation as heavily debated and with such a potentially far-reaching impact such as the Bribery Act should be among those rushed through in the last few days of the current Government. The much-disputed statute is set to take the UK from the backwaters to the forefront of bribery and corruption legislation when it comes into effect later this year.

By Sofia Lind

3 minute read

April 21, 2010 | International Edition

Powell Gilbert has recruited Linklaters' former head of intellectual property (IP) Anna Carboni in a boost for the firm's trademark practice. The highly-rated trademark lawyer joins the City IP boutique from Wilberforce Chambers, where she has been a barrister since leaving Linklaters in 2003.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 20, 2010 | International Edition

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has made up eight associates to partner in this this year's round, including the firm's first-ever Moscow partner promotion. The UK top 20 firm has also promoted nine lawyers to the rank of associate director that was introduced four years ago as an alternative to partnership. Of these promotions, five are associates based in Moscow.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 20, 2010 | International Edition

SJ Berwin is set to promote seven new partners next month (1 May), including five made up in the firm's City base. The total number of appointments is slightly up on last year, when the UK top 20 firm promoted six new partners.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 19, 2010 | International Edition

Herbert Smith is set to lose its Paris banking head as Georges Dirani leaves to become global general counsel at BNP Paribas. Dirani, the founding partner of Herbert Smith's Paris banking practice, has won the prestigious position after having acted as the City law firm's BNP relationship partner. The French-based financial institution, Europe's third-largest bank, is a key client of Herbert Smith's Paris office, with the firm also extending the relationship to its global practice in recent years.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 16, 2010 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) has re-opened last year's recruitment programme in a bid to bring the number of recruits for its next two trainee intakes back to "normal" levels. The magic circle firm usually recruits around 120 new trainees per year spread out over its August and February intakes. However, CC said that it had recruited cautiously during last year's process as a result of the uncertain market conditions, but that it was now looking to top up the number of trainees originally taken on.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 14, 2010 | International Edition

The UK M&A market is showing signs of recovery as activity levels begin to improve, according to new research from mergermarket. The figures show that 171 UK M&A deals were announced in the first quarter of 2010, compared to 150 during the same period last year, while the total value of deals during Q1 also increased, rising from $18.6bn (£12.2bn) last year to $20.7bn (£13.6bn).

By Sofia Lind

4 minute read

April 12, 2010 | International Edition

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has lost the head of its water focus group with the departure of City partner John Hurdley to Bircham Dyson Bell. The news comes after the news, reported by Legal Week, that BLP in set to complete a deal that will see Thames Water transfer the bulk of its in-house legal team to the City law firm. However, BLP stated that Hurdley's departure was unrelated to those developments.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 12, 2010 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) is to abandon its current bonus system of using billable hours targets as the key benchmark for associate bonuses. CC previously determined associate bonus payouts based on performance, but only if individuals had first reached a target number of hours billed.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read