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International Edition

Speechly posts steady turnover as firm eyes 25% PEP boost from partnership shake-up

Speechly Bircham has posted flat revenues for 2012-13 following a series of management changes and partner exits that are expected to see the firm's partner profits rise 25% next year. The City firm took in fee income of £57.5m for the last financial year, broadly in line with the 2011-12 figure of £57.6m, while profits per equity partner (PEP) fell 3% from £303,000 to £293,000. Over the last financial year around 17 partners have left the firm – six of which were retirements, with one more to take effect in October. Meanwhile, six partners have been asked to leave, alongside a number of departures to other law firms and moves in-house.
3 minute read

International Edition

Weil rivals cite wind-down of Lehman work as factor behind job cuts

Weil Gotshal & Manges' lucrative role on the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy has been cited as a potential contributing factor to the news this week that the firm is embarking on a major round of layoffs set to affect as many as 170 lawyers and support staff. From Lehman's fall in 2008 to its emergence from Chapter 11 protection in March last year, Weil racked up more than $400m (£260m) in fees advising on the collapse – the largest bankruptcy in history.
2 minute read

International Edition

Squire Sanders starts up nomination process for Euro managing partner role

Squire Sanders has kicked off the process of selecting candidates for the firm's European managing partner role as Peter Crossley's current term draws to a close. After serving two terms as legacy Hammonds' managing partner before the 2011 merger with US firm Squire Sanders & Dempsey, Crossley's three-year term as head of the UK limited liability partnership (LLP) will come to an end on 31 December. The firm is currently taking nominations for the role, with those interested having to make their case to the nominating board, while the board can also identify its own candidates.
3 minute read

International Edition

Ashurst sets 75% threshold for October vote on Aussie integration

Ashurst partners are set for an October vote on full financial integration with legacy Australian firm Blake Dawson, following their 2011 tie-up. A full merger of Ashurst and Blakes – now known as Ashurst Australia – will require a 75% majority of both partnerships when it goes to the vote later this year. The combination would see the firms combine legally as one partnership with a shared global profit pool, with the combined firm operating a managed lockstep – a system both firms currently use.
2 minute read

International Edition

White & Case gets licence to launch in Dubai

White & Case is set to become the latest firm to open in Dubai after obtaining a licence to practise in the emirate. It is understood that the US firm will relocate a team of lawyers to run the new outpost, which will function as an offshoot of its operation in Abu Dhabi. The firm is still determining how the operation will be staffed, with an announcement due after the Eid holidays in early August. According to regulatory requirements, at least five lawyers are required to staff the base.
2 minute read

International Edition

Firms clear to advise in Malaysia without local bases as 'fly-in, fly-out' gets OK

International law firms doing business in Malaysia will be able to advise clients without having to set up an office in the country, as details emerge of new legislation set to open up the country's legal market this summer. Malaysian authorities had been expected to restrict firms from doing business in the country on a 'fly-in, fly-out' basis, preventing firms from advising clients on the ground without an office in the country. However, revised regulations, which will be debated by parliament next month, say law firms without Malaysian offices will still be able to advise clients in the country, provided their stay does not exceed 60 days per lawyer, per year.
4 minute read

International Edition

Mining for mergers in the maple leaf state – will Canada follow Australia's lead with a wave of international tie-ups?

Canada and Australia have a lot in common. They are both huge countries (9.98m sq km and 7.7m sq km respectively), sparsely populated (34.7m and 22.9m), literate (both 99%), wealthy ($41,500 (£27,000) and $42,400 (£27,500) GDP per head) and rich in natural resources. So when UK law firm Norton Rose announced mergers with two Canadian practices – Ogilvy Renault in 2011 and Macleod Dixon in 2012 – there was naturally speculation that Canada's legal market would follow the pattern set by its Australian counterpart, where almost all of the big domestic firms jumped into bed with international partners within a couple of years of each other. As David Corbett, managing partner at Canadian firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin, recalls: "At the time of the Norton Rose merger, there was a lot of talk among the managing partners here as to whether Australia was a good analogy. The conclusion was that nobody knew and we would have to wait and see."
11 minute read

International Edition

Simmons votes in Passmore for second term as senior partner

Simmons & Simmons senior partner Colin Passmore has been re-elected to the leadership role for a second term. Passmore's reappointment will see him take up a new four-year term at the UK top 15 firm from 1 August this year. He will continue to work alongside managing partner Jeremy Hoyland, who started a four-year term in 2011.
2 minute read

International Edition

Direct Line legal team set for 'sizeable' cuts in restructuring

Direct Line Group's in-house legal team is facing "sizeable" job cuts as part of a cost-cutting plan that will see 2,000 of the insurance business's 14,400 staff made redundant. Direct Line confirmed company-wide job cuts yesterday (26 June) as part of the next stage of its restructuring and reduction of its cost base, after Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) gave up control of the insurer earlier this year.
2 minute read

International Edition

Cuatrecasas names new London head as firm targets global growth

Iberian leader Cuatrecasas Goncalves Pereira has appointed a new London managing partner, relocating Madrid-based corporate partner Antonio Baena to fill the role. Cuatrecasas' City office - which is staffed by Baena and an associate who has also relocated - offers international clients advice on entering the Iberian market.
2 minute read

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