Top law firm profits smash through £5bn September 3, 2012 COMBINED profits at the UK’s 100 biggest law firms have topped £5bn for the first time, as the legal sector’s recovery continues to outpace the rest of the economy. Total billings by the UK’s 100 largest law firms hit £17.67bn in the 2011-12 financial year, sending profits eight per cent higher to £5.39bn, according to [...]
Why Boris owes me £90,000 for Olympic damage August 9, 2012 I HAVE hand-delivered a bill for £90,000 to the mayor of London. This is – give or take a few hundred pounds – what the Olympic Games have cost me in turnover since they began. And I have asked Boris Johnson to pay the bill personally, not from the seemingly limitless coffers that supported London [...]
Another banking scandal was the last thing the City needed August 6, 2012 JUST when it felt as if it couldn’t get any worse for the City, it is now Standard Chartered’s turn to be engulfed in a major scandal. The bank – which didn’t need a bailout and is hugely successful thanks to its emerging market focus – stands accused by US regulators of having deliberately ignored [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 2, 2012 Carmignac Gestion The asset management firm has appointed Cora Pfab as sales manager for southern Germany and Austria. She joins from F&C Thames River and relocates from London to Carmignac Gestion’s German office. Pfab has extensive experience in financial services, and has also worked at ABN Amro Asset Management. Duff & Phelps The financial advisory [...]
Clegg pushes co-op firm model July 4, 2012 Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg yesterday unveiled a new professional body – the Institute for Employee Ownership – and a FTSE benchmark for companies run as employee partnerships, following a report on them by employment lawyer Graeme Nuttall.
Herbert Smith merger to form top 10 law firm June 28, 2012 CITY law firm Herbert Smith announced yesterday that it is to merge with Australia’s Freehills, in a tie-up that will create one of the world’s top 10 law firms by headcount. Herbies, which employs more than 700 lawyers in its London offices, will combine with the Australian firm to create a business with historic joint [...]
The journey of an idea from a classroom to the boardroom June 20, 2012 SUSAN Cooper is founder of Accutrainee, a start-up that aims to reduce costs and increase flexibility for law firms by outsourcing their trainee solicitor needs. The company employs the trainees and seconds them out when required. Cooper is a former lawyer – she spent several years working at Hogan Lovells and then in the construction [...]
Regulatory hurdles are the next challenge in HKEx bid for LME June 17, 2012 HAVING secured a recommendation from the board of the London Metal Exchange (LME) for its £1.4bn takeover last Friday, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEx) will now be shifting its focus to winning approval for the deal from regulators. Though the deal is subject to shareholder approval – with a vote for major investors including [...]
Supplier saves 4,500 jobs at Clinton Cards June 7, 2012 THE REMAINS of the high street chain Clinton Cards were bought out of administration yesterday by an American cards company, in a deal expected to safeguard 4,500 jobs. Administrator Zolfo Cooper confirmed yesterday that American Greetings, one of Clinton’s biggest suppliers, had paid $37m (£24m) to buy the ailing retailer’s brand and assets including 397 [...]
City lawyer is jailed for fraud May 30, 2012 A CITY lawyer was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday, after admitting four counts of expenses fraud against his former employer. Christopher Grierson, a former litigation partner at Hogan Lovells, claimed £1.27m in travel expenses from the firm over four years before the fraud – described as “sophisticated” – was uncovered in 2011. QEB [...]