Law Firm News Roundup: 17th to 23rd June

Welcome to the fourth edition of 'Law Firm News' from the SundayLawReview team. The aim of this column is to primarily focus on what happened at law firms in UK as reported through online legal publications.

A number of firms reported a rise in profit this week although much of this rise could be attributed to cost cutting elsewhere in the business. The most encouraging news of the week came from a Legalweek report on UK top 100 firms recording average fee income rise of 7% for 2011-12. There was a 5.6% rise in fee earner headcount among the top 100 firms with firms ranked between 26 to 50 being the consistently strongest performers at a rate of 9.7% fee increase.

Equality and diversity monitoring in law firms is increasingly under the spotlight. The process is unlikely to get any easier what with the Solicitors Regulation Authority proposing a thematic pilot to obtain data on diversity profiles within the legal profession. The Law Gazette reported that law firms would have to 'report on equality and diversity issues in the annual reporting cycle from 2013. So, as firms grapple with outcomes-focused regulation and annual reporting of breaches of the Handbook and accounts rules, this will be another area where firms will need to collect data and report for the SRA'.  

The ultimate aim of the SRA in this issue is to increase diversity in the legal profession to reflect the world that we live in. However, it is not all doom and gloom as a recent Legalweek article suggested that the country's largest firms are pushing forward with measures to boost gender diversity in senior ranks, resulting in an increase of more than a third in female partner promotions across the UK top 10 firms.
 

Saturday 23th June


Friday 22nd June
  • Shearman & Sterling has overhauled its leadership structure, introducing three regional managing partner positions for EMEA, the Americas and Asia | Legalweek http://t.co/Z29A18gS 
  • Wragges boosts revenues by 5% after strong disputes showing and international push | Legalweek http://t.co/injygtwo 
  • Riverview Law set for further expansion to Far East and offshore | Legalweek http://t.co/YfawJOUQ 
  • Wragge & Co has posted a 5 per cent rise in turnover for the 2011-12 financial year, up from £113m to £118.2m. The firm missed its target for the 2011-12 financial year, which was made at the end of 2010-11 when the deal pipeline was strong | The Lawyer: http://t.co/UttMQTjo  

 Thursday 21st June


Wednesday 20th June


Tuesday 19th June


Monday 18th June
  • Two Shanghai partners who left Salans earlier this month have resurfaced at the firm’s former alliance partner Pinsent Masons | The Lawyer: http://t.co/kt1kE2sS 
  • Eversheds turnover inches up after three years of static revenues. Net profit leaps 10 per cent as revenues rise to £366m | The Lawyer: http://t.co/8Ddn76ly 
  • The re-opening of the Information Commissioner Office’s (ICO) investigation into Google Street View’s data collection practices will mean further instruction for Bristows | The Lawyer: http://t.co/G0dNubT1 
  • Details have emerged that King & Wood Mallesons is looking beyond the UK and US to broaden its global footprint, with Singapore and Canada being two key locations it is considering opening in | The Lawyer: http://t.co/i4nsTrQj 
  • Scotland-headquartered Dundas & Wilson has launched a probe into a sector head who obtained confidential information about a client that prejudiced a tender process | The Lawyer: http://t.co/2Qd9ANvY 


A synopsis of the the movers and shakers in law firms as featured in Law Society Gazette


We would like to thank all the publications cited in this week's 'Law firm news'. Direct links to the law firms have been included where firms had been mentioned. Please notify via @SundayLawReview Twitter handle of any errors or omissions.



Law Firm News Roundup: 10th to 16th June

Welcome to the third edition of 'Law Firm News' from the SundayLawReview.com team. The aim of this column is to primarily focus on what happened at law firms in UK as reported through online legal publications. 

As government debt and bailout plans dominate headlines mergers and international association could be as a way forward for firms to consolidate existing strengths and look for new markets. Several firms in this week's review appear to be exploring the possibility of new pastures. If the traditional path to mergers is not enough it would appear that interest in the new .law domain name is will surely have a major impact on the business of law in the near future. There is an anticipation that US based firms might be the first to take the plunge and the SundayLawReview team can reveal that even a few of the major UK based firms had been considering the possibility. In the coming weeks we shall surely hear more of this.



Saturday 16th June


Friday 15th June


Thursday 14th June


Wednesday 13th June


Tuesday 12th June


Monday 11th June 




A synopsis of the the movers and shakers in law firms as featured in Law Society Gazette


  • Agricultural and landed estate expert Susan Morrissy has joined Telford-based MFG Solicitors from Worcestershire practice Thursfields. Over a 22-year career, Ms Morrissy has built a nationally-admired reputation specialising in all aspects of agricultural law, farm tenancy advice and country estate and property transactions
  • David Lister is now Assistant Solicitor at Taylor Bracewell. Lister was previously a Trainee Solicitor having worked there for 3 years in family law. As a member of Resolution, sitting on the South Yorkshire Resolution Committee, he was the first ever trainee in the region to be appointed to the committee. He has also been nominated for the Family Law award of ‘Young Solicitor of the Year
  • Peter Wright is now Consultant Solicitor at Taylor Bracewell. Wright specialises in digital law issues, including data protection, privacy & security and law relating to social media and freedom of information.
  • Julie Hodkinson is now real estate partner at EOS Law LLP. Hodkinson, formerly of Weightmans and Cobbetts joins the firm. She qualified at international firm Trowers & Hamlins and has over 15 years’ experience acting for a comprehensive range of developer, occupier, retail and institutional clients.
  • Alfred Merckx is now Head of Aviation Department at Bargate Murray. Merckx was previously General Counsel at Dubai based JetEx Flight Support. He will be responsible for the development of a new Aviation Department which will mainly focus on business aviation.
  • Susan Morrissy is now a Partner at Telford based MFG Solicitors. Agricultural and landed estate expert Morrissy formerly worked in the Worcestershire practice Thursfields. Over a 22-year career, she has built a nationally-admired reputation specialising in all aspects of agricultural law, farm tenancy advice and country estate and property transactions.
  • Sarah Baugh and Tom Devey are now Partners at FBC Manby Bowdler. Both Baugh and Devey were previously Partners at MFG Solicitors. Their arrival has strengthened the firm's Agricultural and Rural Services Team.
  • Andriy Selyutin is now Head of South Ukrainian branch at Arzinger. Selyutin was previously at ANK.
    He specializes in civil, economic, corporate and tax law, and legal support of deals and investment projects.
  • Laura Kearsley is now Director in Nelsons' Employment team at Leicester. Kearsley was previously Associate and Business Centre Manager at Weightmans. Kearsley achieved recognition in 2011 when she won The Lawyer’s Assistant Solicitor of the Year award. A former Chair of the West Midlands Association of Women Solicitors (2008-2010), she was also named Birmingham Law Society’s Assistant/Associate Solicitor of the Year in 2010 and in 2009, she won the legal category for the Midlands in the inaugural Women on their Way awards. She completed her training at Allen & Overy in London.


We would like to thank all the publications cited in this week's 'Law firm news'. Direct links to the law firms have been included where firms had been mentioned. Please notify via @SundayLawReview Twitter handle of any errors or omissions.


Law Firm News Roundup: 3rd to 9th June

Welcome to the second edition of 'Law Firm News' from the SundayLawReview.com team. The aim of this column is to primarily focus on what happened at law firms in UK as reported through online legal publications. 

The fallout from Dewey & LeBoeuf  continues to serve as a reminder of difficult times for the business of law. One of the most important developments of the week as reported in Legal Futures was the Solicitors Regulation Authority's rejection of calls for having greater powers to fine alternative business structures (ABS) than traditional law firms. SRA went on to further dismiss suggestions by the Law Society that it should not have substantial fining powers at all.


Saturday 9th June

Friday 8th June


Thursday 7th June

Wednesday 6th June


A synopsis of the the movers and shakers in law firms as featured in Law Society Gazette




We would like to thank all the publications cited in this week's 'Law firm news'. Direct links to the law firms have been included where firms had been mentioned. Please notify via @SundayLawReview Twitter handle of any errors or omissions.


Law Firm News Roundup: 27th May to 2nd June

Welcome to the first edition of 'Law Firm News' from the SundayLawReview team. The aim of this weekly blog would be to collate news from UK based law firms or international law firms associated with legal matters in UK. As the country was winding down to celebrate the Jubilee weekend the collapse of US law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf continued to generate column inches. This postmortem is likely to continue as former partners take on legal roles elsewhere. However, the business of law hasn't been all doom and gloom of late and it was heartening to see that a number of firms such as Manchester based JMW, the international firm Taylor Wessing and the soon to expand Osborne Clarke posted healthy upturns in revenue.


 Friday 1st June

Thursday 31st May

Wednesday 30th May

Tuesday 29th May

Monday 28th May

Sunday 27th May

A synopsis of the the movers and shakers in law firms as featured in Law Society Gazette



The SundayLawReview would like to thank all the publications cited in this week's 'Law firm news'. Direct links to the law firms have been included where firms had been mentioned. Please notify @SundayLawReview Twitter handle of any errors or omissions.