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International Edition

US firm Seyfarth Shaw launches in Australia with eight partner hires from HSF, Ashurst

Chicago employment firm Seyfarth Shaw has launched in Australia this week with the hire of eight partners from three firms. The US outfit took five partners from Herbert Smith Freehills, two from Ashurst and one from Arnold Bloch Leibler, for the opening of offices in Sydney and Melbourne.
2 minute read

International Edition

Off track – why associates face a long wait to break into the top ranks of UK law firms

Junior lawyers may not be under any illusions about the challenges facing them on the track to partnership – but the size and scale of that challenge has been starkly illustrated by new Legal Week research that plainly sets out the increasing length of time UK associates are now required to put in before making partner. Analysis of this year's partnership data shows the average post-qualification experience (PQE) held by newly qualified UK partners at top 10 firms this year stands at 10.6 years – an increase of almost 30% on the equivalent figure of 8.2 in 2006. And the standard set by the country's largest firms has been broadly replicated by their smaller contemporaries, with the average partner track across the top 50 now standing at 10.5 years. One senior partner at a top 10 law firm commented: "It is undoubtedly taking people longer to make partner and I suspect it is the case at all firms. We need to keep promoting the best people to partnership, but law firms are changing after years of double-digit growth – fewer people are now getting through."
5 minute read

International Edition

The rocky road to riches – partners' struggle to equity is bad news for juniors

You know the outlook is bleak when even the most genial of law firm managers privately suggests they probably wouldn't encourage today's university students to pursue a career in the law. Or at least a career as a partner in a City law firm. Ever-more demanding clients and growing pressure on firms to maintain profits despite stagnating or even falling revenues means that, for most, the path from junior lawyer to the heady heights of partnership is long, and getting longer. And for the exclusive few who do make it there, the view from the top is decidedly more precarious than it used to be, with annual pruning now the norm rather than the exception.
5 minute read

International Edition

The rocky road to riches – partners' struggle to equity is bad news for juniors

You know the outlook is bleak when even the most genial of law firm managers privately suggests they probably wouldn't encourage today's university students to pursue a career in the law. Or at least a career as a partner in a City law firm. Ever-more demanding clients and growing pressure on firms to maintain profits despite stagnating or even falling revenues means that, for most, the path from junior lawyer to the heady heights of partnership is long, and getting longer. And for the exclusive few who do make it there, the view from the top is decidedly more precarious than it used to be, with annual pruning now the norm rather than the exception.
3 minute read

International Edition

Transfer Window Asia: recent moves including Simmons and Ashurst

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has expanded its Beijing team with the recruitment of corporate lawyer Chen Li from Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy. Chen, who was an Of Counsel with Milbank in Beijing, has more than a decade of experience handling cross-border transactions in China, concentrating on outbound M&A and foreign direct investment, with a focus on major Chinese state-owned enterprises.
8 minute read

International Edition

A&O Tokyo chief leaves for Milbank in key projects hire for US firm

Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy has made a key hire in Japan with the addition of Allen & Overy (A&O) Tokyo managing partner Aled Davies. Davies, who has worked in Japan for over 10 years and has considerable experience in banking, structured finance and project finance, recently resigned from A&O and is currently on sabbatical.
3 minute read

International Edition

K&L Gates hires White & Case corporate partner for Hong Kong office

K&L Gates has added to its Hong Kong corporate team with the hire of partner Virginia Tam from US rival White & Case. Tam, who is qualified in New York and Hong Kong, focuses on cross-border corporate mergers and acquisitions involving publicly-traded companies, mostly advising on private equity financing.
3 minute read

International Edition

Associates face long road to the top as partnership track lengthens

The track to partnership at the country's largest law firms is continuing to lengthen, with the average level of experience held by new UK partners now standing at more than 10 years, according to research by Legal Week. Figures compiled from the UK top 20 firms' 2013 partner promotions show the average length of time taken for UK lawyers to reach partnership from qualification reached 10.5 years, up from last year's figure of 10.3. When focusing solely on the top 10, the figure rises further to an average of 10.6 years, up from 10.4 last year. These figures are significantly higher than those seen before the onset of the credit crunch in 2008, when the average post-qualification experience (PQE) for new partners at top 10 firms stood at 8.8 years.
3 minute read

International Edition

A&O boosts Australian litigation practice with Corrs partner hire

Allen & Overy (A&O) has added to its Australian litigation practice with the hire of Corrs Chambers Westgarth (CCW) partner Mark van Brakel. Brakel, who is based in Perth as the first litigation partner in that office, specialises in advising energy and resources companies on everything from engineering, project and joint venture disputes, to contentious matters involving directors and shareholders.
3 minute read

International Edition

Lock down – the impact of the downturn on the recruitment market

Partnership used to be for life as a general rule – barring exceptional circumstances. This meant that any moves between law firms in a partner's career were the exception, rather than the rule. And then the world changed. The impact on major and mid-tier law firms, and by implication the outlook of their top talent, has been significant and has continued to shift in response to a range of macro and micro situational indicators. Over the past 25 years, there have been many contributory macro-economic, corporate and political factors to contend with: a technological revolution; the huge expansion of law firms into global businesses; the advent of the US firms' threat to City firms from the late 1990s onwards; and most recently, the global credit crunch.
7 minute read

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