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International Edition

A thankless task – back office staff deserve more respect

With a string of high-profile mergers from Ashurst Australia to King & Wood Mallesons and SJ Berwin going live in recent months, it can be easy to forget the leg work done behind the scenes – much of which it is still going on – to push these deals over the line. What at partner level boils down to a tie-up of compatible practices takes a serious amount of work from support teams ranging from human resources to marketing and IT to align systems and processes and unite the firms.
3 minute read

Legal Week

A thankless task – back office staff deserve more respect

With a string of high-profile mergers from Ashurst Australia to King & Wood Mallesons and SJ Berwin going live in recent months, it can be easy to forget the leg work done behind the scenes – much of which it is still going on – to push these deals over the line. What at partner level boils down to a tie-up of compatible practices takes a serious amount of work from support teams ranging from human resources to marketing and IT to align systems and processes and unite the firms.
6 minute read

International Edition

Macfarlanes re-elects senior management team

Macfarlanes has re-elected its senior management team, with managing partner Julian Howard and senior partner Charles Martin chosen to serve further three-year terms. The new terms will be Martin's (pictured) third as senior partner and Howard's second as managing partner. The re-elections were approved by the firm's partnership at the beginning of the year, with the new terms starting next May.
2 minute read

International Edition

Ashurst completes governance overhaul with new board appointments

Ashurst has completed the revamp of its global governance structure with the election of eight partners to its board. The appointments, which came into effect from 1 November, have finalised Ashurst's global management team after the firm voted through the full financial integration of Ashurst and legacy Blake Dawson.
2 minute read

International Edition

Freshfields names new competition co-head as Davies returns to fee earning

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has named David Broomhall as new co-head of its competition practice. Broomhall, a partner since 1999 and Brussels competition head since 2005, succeeds John Davies, who will return to full-time fee earning. Fellow co-head Dusseldorf-based partner Martin Klusmann will continue in his role.
2 minute read

International Edition

CC kicks off nominations process for City chief role

Clifford Chance (CC) has opened the nominations process for its London managing partner elections, as current postholder David Bickerton's term draws to an end in December. The partnership has been invited to nominate potential candidates, although the date for a vite has yet to be decided.
2 minute read

International Edition

Dechert eyes Shanghai and Singapore office launches as part of pan-Asian expansion plan

Dechert is looking to open in Shanghai and Singapore as part of a new pan-Asian growth strategy. The firm has obtained a licence to practise in Shanghai, with Basil Hwang, the US firm's managing partner in Hong Kong and founder of its Asia practice, now on the look out to bring in new partners to lead the offices before opening. Hwang said he wanted to bring in a partner with a pre-existing team to launch in the city: "Our approach to office opening has always been: can we find an individual around which to build an office, and is there a practice group within the firm that would take the lead in starting that office off?
2 minute read

International Edition

Taylor Wessing mulls triple Middle East opening to bolster presence in region

Taylor Wessing is planning to dramatically increase its Middle East presence, with the firm eyeing launches in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar (pictured). The firm is in talks over how to grow in the region, with a string of strategic local tie-ups thought to be the likely option. Any new offices or alliances would be managed from the firm's Dubai base, its only current outpost in the Middle East. Incoming Middle East managing partner Mark Fraser, who is set to succeed Christopher Dixon next month, said: "When it comes to international offices, it is so important to get it right. If we take Doha as an example, it is a heavily lawyered market so determining the appropriate strategy is key.
2 minute read

International Edition

Into Africa – firms must be alert to continent's rich diversity

Given Africa's resources and status as one of the few parts of the world with strong economic growth, it is hardly surprising that international law firms have been busily reviewing their Africa strategies. The list of countries identified as targets is long. For example, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is eyeing countries such as Mauritania, Congo-Brazzaville, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Morocco, while Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya and Sudan are on Pinsent Masons' target list. Berwin Leighton Paisner has earmarked, among other countries, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Cameroon and Gabon. So between them, three London-based firms have identified 15 African countries as having the potential to generate decent levels of legal work.
3 minute read

International Edition

Clyde & Co taps south west China through local joint venture

Clyde & Co has become the first international law firm to launch an office in south west China after receiving approval from the Chinese authorities to form an association with local law firm West Link Partnership, based in Chongqing. The UK outfit, which currently has two offices on the mainland located in Beijing and Shanghai, has formed a joint law venture with the boutique firm which will be co-branded as Clyde & Co West Link.
4 minute read

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