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International Edition

Howrey announces further job cuts with 32 US staff laid off

Howrey has announced a new round of job cuts, with 32 support staff laid off across the firm's ten US offices, reports The Am Law Daily. The firm attributed the cuts to a need to adjust the size of its workforce and focus on core practice areas. No lawyers were among those affected by the layoffs. "This right-sizing of the firm will allow Howrey to concentrate its resources on its three principal practice groups - antitrust, intellectual property (IP), and complex business litigation and to maintain our strong competitive position," the firm said in a statement.
2 minute read

International Edition

Clifford Chance votes in Sweeting as firm's new senior partner

Clifford Chance (CC) has confirmed London finance partner Malcolm Sweeting as the firm's new senior partner, replacing Stuart Popham in the role from next year (1 January). Sweeting won the election after securing more than the required 50% of the partnership vote, fighting off competition from German M&A and corporate finance partner Daniela Weber-Rey and City tax partner Jonathan Elman.
3 minute read

International Edition

Former CC associate sues firm for discrimination over job cuts

A former Clifford Chance (CC) associate has sued the firm for discrimination, claiming it targeted women and minorities when it laid off six US associates in 2007, reports The New York Law Journal. In a complaint filed on Thursday (28 October) in New York's Supreme Court, Karen Ramdhanie said that on the eve of the layoffs, two white male associates were transferred out of her group, leaving just black lawyers and women to be laid off. "They were so blatant in their discrimination," Ramdhanie said in an interview.
3 minute read

International Edition

First, take a shower – the survival guide for laid-off lawyers still looking for a job

Big law firms are acting like it's business as usual. There's talk about bonuses again, partners are hopping around, and merger fever is in the air (the latest being the aborted merger between Orrick and Akin Gump) There are signs of a rebound in the legal industry, except for this little annoying fact: thousands of lawyers are still jobless - the ones laid off during the recession and the recent law school graduates who can't find employment.
3 minute read

International Edition

McGrigors announces redundancy round with 40 jobs under review

McGrigors has launched a redundancy consultation which could see 40 jobs cuts across the firm's workforce. The big four Scots firm launched a consultation earlier this week reviewing the roles of at least 30 fee earners and a handful of support staff across all of the firm's offices in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland, with the exception of Manchester. Practice areas under review include real estate, banking, projects and procurement, corporate and risk advisory solutions.
2 minute read

International Edition

Herbert Smith's Willis set to continue as managing partner

Herbert Smith's managing partner David Willis is set to continue in his term for another two years after standing unopposed. Willis' current term as managing partner comes to an end in April 2011 and he will now continue in the role until 2013 after no other candidates put themselves forward for election. The deadline for standing was yesterday (27 September).
2 minute read

International Edition

Bevan Brittan announces new round of layoffs with 26 jobs set to go

Bevan Brittan has launched a its third round of redundancies since 2008, with 26 jobs placed under threat. The national firm confirmed today (24 September) that it is starting a consultation process which could result in staff numbers being reduced by 26, with the layoffs evenly split between fee earners and PAs across a number of departments. The decision comes in the wake of the Government's cutbacks in public sector spending.
2 minute read

International Edition

CC partner trio enter senior partner race as firm gears up for election

Clifford Chance (CC) is set to kick off the first round of its senior partner elections in the coming weeks after three partners announced their intention to stand for the role. German M&A and corporate finance partner Daniela Weber-Rey has most recently entered the race, after City finance partner Malcolm Sweeting announced in an email to the firm's partnership last month (9 August) that he would stand for the position. The first candidate to emerge was London tax partner Jonathan Elman, who announced his intention to run earlier in the summer.
2 minute read

International Edition

Growing into it - the two kinds of managing partner

There are, generally speaking, two kinds of managing partner. The more effective version is marked by a few shared characteristics. Most strikingly, they will have a confidence-inspiring assuredness about them. This will be manifested in most dealings, but in particular in those with the leader's own partnership. Typically, this breed will have become highly adept at achieving that delicate calibration of positioning themselves far enough ahead of their partners to lead but close enough to bring them along.
3 minute read

International Edition

Hire, fire and hire again

Some people find silver linings in life's misfortunes. Me - I tend to find dark linings even when the news seems bright and cheery. Recently, there's been a flow of upbeat stories about increased retention rates at many firms, including a number of US firms giving out offers to 100% of their summer associates, including Latham & Watkins, Ropes & Gray and Shearman & Sterling.
3 minute read

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