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Richard Simmons

Richard Simmons

Rich is The Lawyer’s deputy editor. He has a particular focus on firms outside the UK top 50.

He was previously editor of The Lawyer’s student publication Lawyer 2B, and as such also has an interest everything to do with legal education, training contracts and pupillage, as well as lawyers’ ongoing career development.

Falling down arrow

Simpson Millar turnover collapses by 40% as debt piles up

Simpson Millar has recorded yet another year of losses, with turnover falling from £31.3m to £19m in the 2023 calendar year. The personal injury and clinical negligence firm last turned a profit in 2015 and made a pre-tax loss of £14.3m in 2023, its Companies House accounts reveal. After its former parent the Fairpoint Group […]

Partnerless: Who makes partners up quickest (after Kirkland)?

Sign up to get the weekly Partnerless email in your inbox every Tuesday It’s a common complaint that regional lawyers will serve their time at the firm that trained them but pop off to the bright lights of London soon after qualification. That’s certainly the case at Burness Paull this year, which has seen the departure of […]

Retention

When it comes to retention, many firms have something to hide

Another autumn, and once again the predictions of doom about the NQ market have proved ill-founded… or have they? Burges Salmon, Ashurst and White & Case can all feel pleased with their graduate recruitment and retention efforts, having managed to keep 100 per cent of their trainee qualifiers this September. Herbert Smith Freehills and Freshfields […]

Partnerless: Queuing for a Pret sandwich could make your career

Sign up for the weekly Partnerless email here Shoosmiths is in go-ahead mode right now as it toughens up in an attempt to lead the upper mid-market by 2030. Making sure the voice of its junior population is heard amid all this change are three entrepreneurial trainees: Fiona Thornton, Hannah Ruby and Amelia Hicks. This tenacious trio decided to approach […]

BDB Pitmans hit by eight-partner team exodus

BDB Pitmans has lost an eight-partner team to TLT, The Lawyer can reveal. It is understood that Sarah Clark, Nick Evans, Tom Henderson, Mustafa Latif-Aramesh, Richard Marsh, Duncan O’Connor, James Ross and Angus Walker have all resigned from the partnership and are set to join TLT. The majority of the eight partners work in the […]

Partnerless

Partnerless is The Lawyer’s email specifically for associates. Sign up here or in MY ACCOUNT for weekly career intelligence and market chatter.

barrister

Ex-Solicitor General returns to Bar after losing seat

The former Solicitor General in England and Wales, Michael Tomlinson KC has returned to his former career at the Bar at his old set 3 Paper Buildings (3PB). Tomlinson was one of 13 barristers to lose his seat in the July General Election, with his Liberal Democrat opponent in Mid Dorset and North Poole wiping […]

Lester Aldridge-Mackrell merger collapses at eleventh hour

The announced merger between South Coast firm Lester Aldridge and London’s Mackrell Solicitors has been called off at a late stage, The Lawyer can reveal. The two firms announced a tie-up in May, with the deal set to complete in September 2024. Lester Aldridge had a strong 2023/24, with revenue up 12 per cent from […]

Middle East private equity house buys divorce firm Stowe

Stowe Family Law has new owners after being bought by Bahrain-headquartered private equity house Investcorp from Livingbridge for an undisclosed sum. It is Investcorp’s first foray into the legal sector. Livingbridge acquired the divorce-focused firm in 2017, after which it went on a huge expansion drive, opening more than 50 new offices across the UK […]

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