Freshfields redundancies, Trump's lawyers and yet more KWM - the best of Legal Week during the past week
The best news and analysis from Legal Week and our US sister titles at ALM during the past seven days
January 17, 2017 at 06:48 AM
3 minute read
As King & Wood Mallesons' (KWM) European arm lurches towards its long-anticipated administration filing, the drawn-out death throes have continued to generate the bulk of headlines on legalweek.com during the past seven days.
An orderly pre-pack administration does not look to be on the cards for the legacy SJ Berwin business. Instead, partners have appeared more motivated to save themselves than the firm, splintering in multiple directions.
KWM stories during the last week have included:
- KWM confirming it is unable to pay staff for their work in January after main lender Barclays withdrew further funding; click here for managing partner Tim Bednall's email to staff explaining the problems
- KWM delaying its administration by filing a second notice of intent to appoint an administrator
- The firm dropping litigation against Goodwin Procter and former partner Richard Lever, paving the way for Goodwin to hire teams in London and Paris
- Bircham Dyson Bell taking KWM's Cambridge office
- Former SJ Berwin senior partner Jonathan Blake joining O'Melveny
- KWM China sealing a deal to retain a presence in Europe with teams of lawyers in locations including Frankfurt and London. We look at how that business is likely to fare here.
But it hasn't all been about KWM. Slightly further away from the spotlight, there's been a silk round, secretarial redundancies at Freshfields and details of the law firms advising President-elect Donald Trump.
Here is the biggest non-KWM news from the last week:
- Freshfields offers voluntary redundancy to 180 London secretaries
- Macfarlanes to open Brussels base as partner exit prompts South Africa closure
- Freshfields, HSF and Skadden partners among private practice lawyers taking silk
- Olswang's management pay drops by nearly 40% as CMS UK partners see profits for distribution fall 18%
- Herbert Smith Freehills to open in Malaysia
- Freshfields, Hogan Lovells and Linklaters in running to be named region's top firm at Asia Legal Awards
- 'Trump can't un-know he owns Trump Tower' – Morgan Lewis to advise president-elect on plan to avoid business conflicts
- A&O and CC partners among lawyers working behind the scenes on Trump transition team
- Sainsbury's kicks off first panel review since Home Retail Group acquisition
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