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International Edition

Single white female – despite the diversity talk, the Bar is still a man's world

In such established old boys' networks as the Bar and the judiciary, improving diversity – whether in terms of gender, race or class – was always going to be a challenge. Even so, the annual silk round and the Supreme Court judge appointments this week confirm just how much progress is still needed. At the Supreme Court, the promotion of three more white males to the bench means Lady Hale looks set to be the only female representative on the UK's highest court for another five years to come.
3 minute read

International Edition

Field Fisher launches strategy review with focus on sectors and international expansion

Field Fisher Waterhouse has started a strategic review, as the firm's incoming management team sets about trying to refocus the business to ensure it is the right shape for the future. Managing partner Michael Chissick (pictured) and senior partner Matthew Lohn outlined details of the review to partners at the firm's annual partner conference late last month, with a consultation on the review expected to end in May. The new strategy is expected to encompass topics including Field Fisher's recently revamped sector focus, which last summer was scaled back from 11 industry specialisms to five, and international expansion, as well as options for re-engineering under-utilised practice areas.
3 minute read

International Edition

Dundas overhauls partner capital contribution system

Dundas & Wilson has overhauled the way partners pay capital into the firm, bringing in a new two-tier system that sees all partners put in total capital contributions of either £230,000 or £130,000. The new structure, which the firm began implementing last year, sees new partners pay in the lower level of capital in one payment while the bulk of partners contribute the larger amount.
2 minute read

International Edition

Fee pressure deters rising stars at Bar as silk applications dip

Barristers are being put off from applying for QC status because they fear losing out on work amid acute pressure on fees, according to senior figures at the Bar. The news comes as it was announced this week that 84 out of 183 applicants were awarded QC status this year – the lowest number on both counts since the selection procedure was revamped in 2006.
4 minute read

International Edition

Same-sex marriage and conventional marriage should have equal legal rights

What exactly is marriage? According to the 1969 Revised Canons Ecclesiastical, the Church of England's definition of marriage is: "A union permanent and life-long; for better for worse; till death them do part; of one man and one woman; to the exclusion of all others on either side; for the procreation and nurture of children; for the hallowing and right direction of the natural instincts and affections; and for the mutual society, help and comfort which the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity." But whether conducted at a civil or religious ceremony, marriage is a social contract rather than a religious one. That contract is regulated by the state, not by religious organisations.
5 minute read

International Edition

Retention rates at top 20 decline as economic climate pushes firms to cut back

Trainee retention rates across the bulk of the UK's largest law firms have fallen this year, with research by Legal Week finding the average rate has dropped by almost 10% on last spring's qualifying intake. At the top 20 UK firms with a spring intake, an average of 76.5% of newly qualified (NQ) lawyers have been kept on this year, 9% down on the equivalent intake last year and 3% lower than last autumn's qualifying round. Of 441 trainees at the firms to have released details to date, 343 have been kept on – down on the total of 358 of 422 NQs kept on across the same group in spring 2012.
4 minute read

International Edition

A&O, Nabarro and CC lead £3.2bn BAE-Legal & General pensions deal

Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance (CC) and Nabarro have scored lead roles on British defence giant BAE Systems' £3.2bn longevity swap with UK insurer Legal & General (L&G). The deal, which is thought to mark the largest single pensions insurance transaction in the UK to date, covers the financial risk associated with 31,000 BAE pensioners.
2 minute read

International Edition

Dundas sees two partners quit for Pinsents and Osborne Clarke

Dundas & Wilson is to see the departure of two more partners, with restructuring head Claire Massie and real estate partner Shane Toal handing in their notice to join Pinsent Masons and Osborne Clarke respectively. Glasgow-based Massie, who is top ranked by Chambers, leaves Dundas after nearly 20 years with the firm. She was promoted to partner in 2007 and went on the head the firm's debt, recoveries and restructuring practice. She will move to Pinsents in the coming months where she will split her time between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
2 minute read

International Edition

Bar Council raps CPS as leaked email shows lucrative cases kept in-house

The Bar Council has accused the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of deliberately acting against the public interest by trying to keep lucrative cases in-house irrespective of whether they could be better handled externally. The body has today (25 February) published a leaked CPS email which it argues shows how the CPS has adopted deliberate practices not to instruct the best advocate for a given case if it is in the best financial interests of the CPS to keep the work in-house.
4 minute read

International Edition

Quarter of UK top 40 firms eye up mergers with non-legal practices

Around 25% of firms in the UK top 40 are considering a tie-up with a non-legal practice within the next two years, according to research by accounting and consultancy firm Smith & Williamson. Of the 21 top 40 firms that responded, nine said they were considering a combination, of which three described such a move as 'likely', with accountancy firms the most attractive potential partners. Six top 40 firms also confirmed they are considering taking external investment, with five of these looking for private equity funding.
2 minute read

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