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International Edition

A&O and Norton Rose Fulbright lead as Centrica enters UK shale gas market

Allen & Overy (A&O) and Norton Rose Fulbright have won leading roles on a £160m deal that has seen Centrica make its entrance into the closely watched UK shale gas market. Centrica, which owns British Gas, has taken a 25% stake in the Bowland shale gas exploration licence in Lancashire after negotiations with UK shale gas explorer Cuadrilla Resources and Australian engineering group AJ Lucas, which previously held 75% and 25% stakes respectively in the fracking fields. A&O won a first-time mandate for Cuadrilla on the deal following a competitive process. The magic circle firm's London-based team was led by corporate partner John Geraghty, with support from tax partner Lydia Challen.
2 minute read

International Edition

Whistle while you work – a happy team is a productive team, and other myths

Back when the downturn first started to bite, it was an acknowledged – if not popular – fact that many law firms were more heavily resourced than they needed to be, and so for many it was no great surprise when the first wave of redundancies hit the market in 2008-09. Since then, of course, there has been something of a pandemic of job cuts – not least in recent months – as firms take increasingly tough measures to control costs as the long-awaited market recovery fails to emerge. As such, our annual Employee Satisfaction Report (ESR), which this year canvassed the views of almost 4,000 lawyers below partner level at leading firms practising in the UK, has provided a regular barometer of the mood at the junior end of the market.
3 minute read

International Edition

Daring to be different – Travers' Chris Carroll on preserving the boutique model

A lot has changed in the world in the 35 years since Travers Smith's outgoing senior partner Chris Carroll joined the firm in 1978. But as globalisation has driven many of the firm's most comparable City rivals through a series of international office launches and mergers, Travers has remained resolutely independent. Granted, with just over 60 partners and 250 lawyers, it is much bigger than it was when Carroll joined, when it numbered just 13 partners and employed just one female lawyer. Beyond these shifts in size, diversity and – of course – technology, much at Travers has remained the same. Even the firm's Snow Hill headquarters in Farringdon has moved just four doors down the road.
8 minute read

International Edition

Quality workload key as choppy job market hits lawyer morale

The continuing turmoil in the legal job market has not had a negative impact on the quality of work being handled by lawyers at the UK's top firms, according to a major new research project. Legal Week's annual Employee Satisfaction Report, which this year canvassed the views of almost 4,000 lawyers below partner level, found a belief that the standard of work and the quality of firms' clients has returned to pre-crisis levels, having dipped significantly in the years since 2007. The survey found the perception of both the quality of clients and work being done for them at its highest point in four years, with fee earners recording an average satisfaction level of 8.3 out of 10 this year for quality of work, matching pre-recession scores. The score for quality of clients saw near identical results.
4 minute read

International Edition

Crystal clear – is transparency the solution to the 'dirty tactics' of tax avoidance?

It is perhaps unsurprising that mass media outlets in the UK have increased their focus on tax avoidance by large corporations as well as by private individuals, not least as we begin to feel the pinch from the government's austerity package and as politicians start to limber up for the next general election. Hearts and minds are to be won, and the legality and morality of tax mitigation are hot topics with a plentiful diet of opinion. The voice of the international financial centres (IFCs), which are criticised for their use of attractive rates of taxation to entice business, is often quieter than the voice of their critics. This is particularly the case for the smaller IFCs among the UK's crown dependencies (CDs) and overseas territories (OTs), but what they have to say is of merit and should be listened to. Indeed, in many areas of tax transparency as well as compliance and anti-money laundering, standards are higher in the more sophisticated and well-regulated offshore centres than in their counterparts onshore. Furthermore, with IFCs contributing to the efficient flow of capital between developed and less-developed economies through direct and indirect investment, their role in promoting trade is well-established.
5 minute read

International Edition

DLA strikes deal with Mills & Reeve to take defendant insurance group

DLA Piper has sold off the remainder of its defendant insurance team after Mills & Reeve struck a deal to take the nine-strong Birmingham-based practice. The team, which is made up of partner Alan Jacobs, associate Felicity Ho, solicitor Jagjit Virdi, plus three other fee-earners and support staff, will make the move to Mills & Reeve's Colmore Row office on 1 July.
2 minute read

International Edition

DLA Piper gives Edinburgh transfers three-month trial in new home

DLA Piper has taken the unusual step of giving staff transferred to its Edinburgh office three months to decide whether they are happy to make the move permanent or would prefer redundancy. The offer was made after 30 employees and 10 partners were asked to move to Edinburgh after the closure of the firm's Glasgow office at the start of April. The trial ends on 1 July but DLA will subsidise the expenses of both staff and partners as part of the relocation for 12 months. Employees not happy in Edinburgh will be eligible for a redundancy package.
2 minute read

International Edition

Scots partners brand Ashurst launch as 'unfair' and 'anti-competitive'

Ashurst's launch of a low-cost base in Glasgow has provoked strong feelings in the Scottish legal market, with senior lawyers voicing concerns over the potential impact of the move. The UK top 20 firm this Wednesday (12 June) declared its intention to build a 150-strong 'near-shoring' base in Glasgow, marking the first launch by an international law firm in Scotland with the financial backing of regional development agency Scottish Enterprise.
4 minute read

International Edition

The IT crowd – looking back at 10 years of the Legal IT Innovators Group

Ten years ago a software vendor brought together a number of IT directors from law firms to get their views on what challenges the legal industry was facing, and what technologies and processes firms were using to meet them. The vendor initially proposed to support this group for 12 months "to see what happens", but those attending welcomed the idea of having a platform to share experiences and information with industry peers, and decided to make it a permanent arrangement. Thus the Legal IT Innovators Group (LITIG) was born. The group has grown out of the recognition that collaboration on non-competitive areas will benefit not only members, but the industry as a whole. Over the past decade LITIG members – who represent more than 22,000 legal staff and a combined legal industry turnover of more than £7.5bn – have used their joint voice and considerable clout to campaign for improvements in widely used systems, while taking steps to ensure that members comply with competition and regulatory requirements. LITIG achieved immediate success when in 2004 it proposed an e-billing standard for the UK's legal service industry based on the Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard (LEDES). Its proposal has since become the industry standard. LITIG has also given members the opportunity to engage in closer dialogue with key organisations such as the Law Society, Microsoft, Google and Gartner.
10 minute read

International Edition

Ill-thought out owner-employee contracts will not appeal to employers or their staff

The Government's plans to introduce 'owner-employee contracts' were unveiled, unheralded, in George Osborne's after dinner speech at the Conservative Party conference in October 2012. They were debated in the House of Lords on 22 April 2013 and rejected by 69 votes – an even larger number than when they were previously rejected by the Lords in March. The Government then proposed a set of amendments, by way of concession, and, on 24 April, the House of Lords voted in favour, paving the way for the proposals to become law on 1 September 2013. The owner-employee contract proposal (renamed employee shareholders, as a Government concession) is contained within the Growth and Infrastructure Bill, and its aim is to allow businesses to award shares worth between £2,000 and £50,000 to their staff. In return, the employee would give up certain rights, including unfair dismissal, training rights and the right to ask for flexible working. These contracts would be optional for existing employees, but businesses will be able to choose to offer only this type of contract to new recruits.
5 minute read

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