Last week's announcement that Simmons & Simmons is to shut its Rome office means the firm joins a small but growing number of firms that have closed unprofitable ventures in recent months.

With firms from Hogan Lovells and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to WilmerHale and Winston & Strawn all shutting up shop in various locations in recent times we have moved into an era when there is no shame in a firm admitting their expansion hasn't paid off.

Having wound down his near 100 year old firm earlier this year following a dispute with his brother over ownership, Cyril Shroff lays out his plans for his new firm at a time when he believes India is ripe for further growth.

Elsewhere the fall-out from the financial crisis generated headlines this week as the Serious Fraud Office got its first conviction following the Libor scandal; while some lawyers think the agency still has more to prove director David Green condems the impression many of its cases fail as 'piffle'.

Meanwhile, a number of banks are still making growing provisions for legal costs and settlements resulting from the forex and Libor scandals. And the RBS shareholders' dispute is now on its third set of advisers, as Freshfields wins a role on the sale of the government's stake in the bank.

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