Suzi Ring

October 04, 2011 | International Edition

Herbert Smith is set to lose two US-qualified capital markets partners to Allen & Overy (A&O), with the forthcoming departure of Jim Wickenden and Adam Wells marking the latest in a string of partner exits from the City firm. Wickenden - the global head of Herbert Smith's capital markets practice - and Wells both handed in their notice in recent weeks and are set to join A&O after serving a notice period.

By Suzi Ring

3 minute read

October 04, 2011 | International Edition

Travers Smith has grown its environment and safety group with the hire of Allen & Overy's (A&O) former head of global environmental law, Owen Lomas. Lomas joined Travers last week as a consultant after a 19-year stint at the magic circle firm. He stepped down as practice head at A&O in 2009 and has been working as a consultant at the firm for the past two years.

By Suzi Ring

2 minute read

October 03, 2011 | International Edition

Mallesons Stephen Jaques is pushing forward with plans for a tie-up with top Chinese law firm King & Wood in what could mark a highly significant union in the Asia-Pacific market. The top-tier Australian firm's partners were given the chance to air their views about the potential union at a meeting in Sydney last month, with discussions between the two firms now set to progress after partners offered broad support for a tie-up.

By Suzi Ring

3 minute read

September 28, 2011 | International Edition

Travers Smith has doubled the size of the profit pool it makes available for partner bonuses to provide greater flexibility to reward top performers. The firm has increased the maximum size of the merit pool used to reward equity and fixed-share partners from 5% to 10% of profits available for distribution to partners. The 10% figure is the maximum amount it will allocate for bonuses going forward; however, the firm will not always pay out the full amount. The firm is currently deciding on bonuses for the 2010-11 financial year, with the new expanded bonus pool available to draw on.

By Suzi Ring

2 minute read

September 28, 2011 | International Edition

Herbert Smith and Hogan Lovells have advised on the acquisition of North Sea assets from ExxonMobil worth $1.75bn (£1.1bn) by US oil and gas company Apache Corporation. Herbert Smith advised Apache subsidiary Apache North Sea on the acquisition of the North Sea oil and gas assets of Exxon affiliate Mobil North Sea, with global oil and gas head Stephen Murray leading a team that also included corporate energy partner Steven Dalton, tax partner Isaac Zailer and employment partner Andrew Taggart.

By Suzi Ring

2 minute read

September 28, 2011 | International Edition

LG is expanding its finance practice through the hire of Squire Sanders Hammonds partner Iain Shurwood, with the addition coming as the UK firm prepares to lose a trio of litigation partners. Shurwood will join LG next month, having been a partner at legacy Hammonds since 2008. He was previously a senior associate at Denton Wilde Sapte, which merged with US law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in September last year.

By Suzi Ring

2 minute read

September 28, 2011 | International Edition

Converting the dream of running your own successful law firm into the reality of creating a successful enterprise that can compete against a market steeped in history is a challenging task. And as the firm grows, almost as challenging is maintaining the culture and feel of the partnership you created. Looking back to when they initially started out, the founding partners of three younger firms explain how their vision evolved into the firms we know today.

By Suzi Ring

13 minute read

September 28, 2011 | International Edition

Criminal silks could see a significant drop in pay to match the rates of leading junior barristers, following recommendations made by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) last week. At a meeting between the LSC and Criminal Bar Association (CBA) last week, the LSC outlined plans to overhaul the current pay system for the criminal Bar, including a proposal that could see barristers remunerated in line with the new Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) instead of the current Advocate Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS).

By Suzi Ring

3 minute read

September 28, 2011 | International Edition

LG is set to lose a trio of financial litigation partners to DLA Piper in London. Jeremy Andrews, Jean-Pierre Douglas-Henry and James Curle handed in their notice earlier this month and are set to join DLA Piper after serving out some or all of their six-month notice period.

By Suzi Ring

3 minute read

September 28, 2011 | International Edition

Davies Arnold Cooper (DAC) insurance litigation partner Christian Kelly has left the firm to join legal recruitment consultancy Cogence Search. Kelly joined Cogence as head of insurance this month after one year at DAC. He joined the insurance specialist firm in July last year from US outfit Cozen O'Connor. The news follows Cogence's hire of intellectual property (IP) specialist and former 7 Bedford Row chief executive Peter Rouse as a senior legal recruitment consultant in June this year.

By Suzi Ring

2 minute read