Moves:
UK & Ireland
Hogan Lovells London Corporate Heavyweight Exits For Vinson & Elkins
His move will go some way to rebuilding Vinson & Elkins’ London outpost, which has suffered several losses in recent months.
Former Top Lawyer at HSBC Joins Oracle as Legal Chief
Stuart Levey is taking the legal reins of the software giant, the latest step in a wide-ranging legal career that has included key government and private-sector roles.
EMEA
The Brussels base of the California-headquartered firm has hired an official who has worked for both the European Commission’s antitrust watchdog and Hong Kong’s competition authority.
Portuguese Law Firm Abreu Hits Rival for 4-Lawyer Finance Team
The team joins the firm amid a market shift from high-yield investment to infrastructure investments, the partner leading the move said.
APAC
Reed Smith Adds From Milbank in Singapore
Reed Smith has upped its Asia expansion in the past year, adding from Milbank in Singapore.
Mishcon’s Hong Kong Associate Firm Adds Two Lawyers To Ranks
Hong Kong law firm Karas, which operates in Hong Kong in association with U.K. firm Mishcon de Reya, has added two family dispute lawyers to its team.
The Americas
Leech Tishman Adds New Delaware Counsel
Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl announced the addition of a new attorney to the firm: Jeffrey M. Carbino.
Former Kagan Clerk Tapped for DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel
Zachary Schauf, a partner in Jenner & Block’s energy and Supreme Court and appellate practices, has been appointed deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Justice Department’s office of legal counsel.
In House
Maybourne Hotel Group lands Virgin Atlantic hire for new GC
The Maybourne Hotel Group has hired Virgin Atlantic’s associate general counsel (GC) as its global group general counsel.
Promotions & Appointments:
Law Society of Ireland names Maura Derivan as its 152nd president
The Law Society of Ireland has named Maura Derivan as its 152nd president, but only the sixth woman to hold the role.
Mergers & Alliances:
A raft of exits from BCLP in the UK raises questions about the cultural fit of its 2018 merger.
Dickson Minto will merge. Will it take the Edinburgh office with it?
Meetings between law firm leaders can be casual, just a polite meeting to chew the fat over a cup of coffee, or they can have a serious intent. Last month, when Dickson Minto’s de facto managing partner Jordan Simpson met with a delegation from New York’s Fried Frank, it was the latter. Make no mistake, the private equity boutique is in play.
Spain’s Cuatrecasas integrates with Portuguese firm SLCM in Lisbon
Top two Spanish firm Cuatrecasas has signed an integration agreement with Portuguese firm Serra Lopes, Cortes Martins & Associado (SLCM), with the Barcelona-based firm absorbing SLCM within its Lisbon office.
DWF enters Canada legal market through £27.7m deal to buy Vancouver law firm
Listed UK law firm DWF is expanding into the Canadian legal market through a tie-up with Vancouver independent Whitelaw Twining Law Corporation for £27.7m.
Office Openings & Closing:
Squires hires Pinsents partner for Dublin debut
Squire Patton Boggs is the latest firm to open an office in Dublin, hiring a Pinsent Masons partner to kickstart its operation.
Sometimes, you have to put the brakes on
About 20 years ago, the management at Vinge took a look at its global footprint. As well as its offices in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Helsingborg, it was in Brussels, Hong Kong, London, Moscow, Paris and Shanghai. Vinge’s clients increasingly didn’t need Swedish lawyers in these financial hubs and so the decision was taken to wind down the international network. Today, only Brussels remains.
US Law Firm Leasing ‘Back on Course’ as Firm Leaders Refocus on Office Space
The Savills U.S. Law Firm Activity Report Q3 2022 shows law firm leasing in key markets was up during the third quarter, with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Kirkland & Ellis making the most sizable expansions.
Hinshaw & Culbertson Looks to Expand in South Fla. as Insurance Demand Swells
“A number of companies have moved down to Florida the past two years, and with that, you have a massive amount of business in Florida,” said Miami partner Pedro Hernandez.
Financials:
It’s a terrible time to specialise in ECM
The ECM train has come off the rails. So far in 2022, 11 companies have debuted on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), the same number to have listed in December 2021 alone. Unless there is a drastic change in sentiment, one imagines the run-up to Christmas will be far less fraught.
Majority of small US firms optimistic about growth outlook, Thomson Reuters study finds
Small law firms in the US are more optimistic about their future growth prospects than they were at this point last year, according to a new report from Thomson Reuters Institute.
The Law Firm Disrupted: Still Wrestling With the Future of the Office
Real estate might soon be firms’ third biggest expenditure, down from second. But that doesn’t mean that firms aren’t thinking hard about how to make the most of their spending.
Gunderson Associates Out of a Job After Dip in Billable Work
Two rounds of cuts affected about 30 associates this fall at Gunderson Dettmer, according to sources in contact with affected individuals, as demand falls for emerging companies and venture capital work.
Technology & Innovation:
UK Twitter staff seek out legal advice after Musk’s global job cuts
National firm Winckworth Sherwood is set to represent a group of UK Twitter employees, after new owner Elon Musk announced last week that 3,700 staff were to be laid off globally.
The future of data class actions: All eyes are on Mishcon and Quinn
This week marked a year since the Supreme Court’s decision in Lloyd v Google in which a multibillion-pound data protection claim brought against the tech giant was thrown out. The immediate aftermath saw a long pipeline of data claims dropped in a flash. But 12 months on and claimant firms are anticipating a bounce-back.
Diversity & Inclusion:
Slaughter and May’s Big Oil dilemma
By defending Shell in climate change litigation while promoting its Net Zero aspirations Slaughters is leaving itself wide open to greenwashing accusations.
Beltway Firms Champion Associate and New Partner Training
Beltway firms are touting their innovative training programs as a way to attract and retain talent, and shape the lawyers they need in a changing legal services market.
Can Lessons From Diversity Training Help Build Bridges?
Different kinds of training have been described as “diversity” training. But much of what the practice has been about is teaching participants to understand and appreciate one another’s differences—differences in experiences, values, aspirations and perspectives.
A Bar Association Tried to Put Minorities in Leadership Role
Superior Court Judge Joseph Rea said quota systems are not always unlawful under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination but the bar association’s quota system is unlawful.
A&O has entered the apprenticeship game
It is the national and regional firms that have shown the strongest support for Trailblazer apprenticeships in recent years. With the cost of newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers rocketing, many smaller firms have valued the apprenticeship arena as a haven away from the recruiting maelstrom. It is seen as a healthy route by which to recruit lawyers who may never have considered a career in the profession, or those who simply didn’t want to carry the debt of a university education.