Welcome to The Passport, your regular round-up of the most important stories to come from the European legal market. In this week’s edition, BonelliErede and Chiomenti battle it out in pursuit of PE dominance; White & Case provides a blueprint for growth in Sweden; and Wolf Theiss’ new Brussels office highlights the firm’s growing ambitions. […]
At the end of May, Herbert Smith Freehills’s executive partner for EMEA, UK and US flew to New York with a proposition. Alison Brown was preparing to present an opportunity to a firm that had come top of an HSF-commissioned external audit of the US market. It was a firm that had virtually no platform […]
Addleshaw Goddard is leading for DIY retailer Homebase as it collapses into administration. On the other side of the table, Browne Jacobson is advising The Range’s owner CDS Superstores in its acquisition of the Homebase brand, a move that safeguards nearly 1,500 jobs. Addleshaws’ team for Homebase is led by Manchester-based restructuring partner Tim Taylor. […]
A former partner of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has been suspended for 24 months after a case was brought to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) over “inappropriate” conduct. Nick Williams was made up as a partner in the magic circle firm’s disputes and investigations team in March 2017, but left Freshfields two years later following the outcome of […]
This week on Spotlight, we delve into the world of transport with Backhouse Jones, a specialist firm which has been advising the market for nearly a century. Origin: James and Jonathon Backhouse, known to many as the Backhouse twins, come from a long line of solicitors, which can be traced all the way back to […]
The father of a New York socialite has pledged his own funds to save his son from bankruptcy after his son failed to engage with solicitors’ attempts to locate him, the High Court’s Insolvency and Companies List heard on Tuesday. Italian millionaire Raffaello Follieri, who boasts a £12m Kensington property portfolio, was the subject of […]
The gap in revenue generation between firms in the UK and Germany has widened drastically in the last five years, illustrating the enduring strength of the UK legal market compared to its European competitors. According to data comparing the domestic revenue of The Lawyer’s top 100 firms with a similar ranking published by German publication […]
Kickstarting a legal career is an arduous journey that is likely to leave you saddled with debt. Firms and their clients are acutely aware of this, which is why buzz about solicitor apprenticeship programmes has amplified in recent years. City Century, established by the City of London Law Society, is the manifestation of that momentum. […]
RBG Holdings, which comprises Rosenblatt and Memery Crystal, has dismissed market speculation it is looking to be acquired. The business, which includes the litigation-focused Rosenblatt and the corporate-focused Memery Crystal within its legal services division, RBG Legal Services, listed on the AIM market in 2018. However, it has seen revenue, profits and its share price […]
The Lawyer is to launch a groundbreaking reporting project on the activities of the most powerful law firms in the world. The Lawyer Global Elite (TLGE) is a new, unashamedly high-end, analysis of the world’s most important legal markets, London and New York. Over the coming months, The Lawyer will articulate and define this market […]
The announcement that Herbert Smith Freehills would merge with US firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel has got chins wagging across the transatlantic market. But is this a new mega-firm in the vein of A&O Shearman, a shrewd building block for HSF to make advances in the US, or a bit of an anti-climax? What […]
Mishcon de Reya and South Square Chambers have secured a £177.5m judgment against the former CEO of London Capital & Finance (LCF) and others alleged to have been involved in a scheme which defrauded nearly 12,000 bondholders. The case was featured as one of The Lawyer’s top 20 cases of 2024. It went to trial […]