Birmingham meets Canada, flexible mums and magic circle results – the best of Legal Week
Wragges' merger with Gowlings, falling PEP at the magic circle and working mums - the best of Legal Week this week
July 10, 2015 at 06:24 AM
3 minute read
'Midlands-based firm does merger' is not usually the type of headline that the City would pay attention to. But Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co's Canadian tie-up announced this week is an exception to the rule. Only a couple of years on from the 2013 combination of Wragge & Co and Lawrence Graham, the merged firm this week announced it was set to do a deal with Canada's Gowlings.
With only a handful of firms with a UK presence venturing into the Canadian market to date – notably DLA Piper, legacy Norton Rose and Dentons – you can't deny Wragges' ambition as it sets further international expansion in its sights.
Meanwhile, the continuing stream of law firm results saw Clifford Chance (CC) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer announce their financials to complete the magic circle line-up, with falling PEP shuffling the hierarchy among the four firms. There was some cost-cutting to be done at CC, which also revealed that it was spinning off its Ukraine base.
In contrast, Macfarlanes saw partner profits leap by almost a third. Simmons & Simmons, Eversheds and Ashurst were among the others to announce results in a busy week for law firm financials. A rolling table of the results as they are unveiled can be found here.
Elsewhere, the conclusion of King & Wood Mallesons' partnership review has seen several partner CVs hit the market. Legacy SJ Berwin's City practice looks to be hit heavily, while there will also be fallout in the Middle East.
Other features this week include our interview with Obelisk founder Dana Denis-Smith, who tells us about her flexible outsourcing business. With more than 800 lawyers on her books, she has found a solution for a large contingent of women who do not want to give up their careers after starting a family.
Meanwhile, the latest quarterly deal stats are in, with Freshfields putting in a strong showing both in Europe and Asia.
And to round off a busy week, Herbert Smith Freehills partner Robert Hunter, writing in his capacity as trustee of City Disabilities, calls on law firms to improve the treatment of disabled lawyers.
Other stories you may have missed:
- Mayer Brown to enter Hong Kong association with PRC firm
- King & Wood Mallesons loses two City partners to Mishcons and Fried Frank
- DAC Beachcroft elects new senior and managing partners
- Linklaters hires Herbert Smith Freehills international arbitrator
- Friedman appointed JPMorgan global GC
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