Law Firms

London-based Allen & Overy has been hit by a series of sex and race discrimination allegations by members of staff in the past year, with five claims settled internally or outstanding.

The latest claims — which are being brought against the firm by intranet projects manager Shazia Wahab — were reaching the close of an employment tribunal. Wahab has made two separate claims against the firm for discrimination covering sex and race, and discrimination against her as a part-time employee. The Department of Trade & Industry […]

London-based Allen & Overy has been hit by a series of sex and race discrimination allegations by members of staff in the past year, with five claims settled internally or outstanding. Read More »

The due process of law in Indonesia and the way that country is prosecuting its war on terror is something that may be contributing to incidents like the Marriott bombing. Yet no Western country seems to be raising objections to some of the “legal” tactics used.

In Indonesia’s latest bombing incident, at the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, accusatory fingers are once again pointed at Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the terror network allegedly linked to al-Qaeda. The trail pointed to JI even before the smoke from the rubble had settled. This is because in past weeks Indonesian police have arrested suspected JI members.

The due process of law in Indonesia and the way that country is prosecuting its war on terror is something that may be contributing to incidents like the Marriott bombing. Yet no Western country seems to be raising objections to some of the “legal” tactics used. Read More »

Six tax lawyers from PwC’s Washington office walked to law firm Shaw Pittman, saying restrictions imposed on the accountancy firms’ work made staying with the firm unattractive. How could working for an audit firm possibly be unattractive?

The move highlights the difficulties that the large accountancy firms face in trying to retain tax work revenues following last year’s clampdown on the non-audit services they can offer audit clients. Regulators and politicians became concerned in the wave of corporate scandal that the independence of audits was being jeopardised by accountancy firms gaining lucrative

Six tax lawyers from PwC’s Washington office walked to law firm Shaw Pittman, saying restrictions imposed on the accountancy firms’ work made staying with the firm unattractive. How could working for an audit firm possibly be unattractive? Read More »

New Zealand’s law firms are at a crossroads. Faced with a shrinking pool of high-end work, reductions in panel numbers and flatter revenue growth, only the tough will survive in a small environment, but a notoriously competitive one.

Rationalisation and consolidation have been the hallmarks of the year in New Zealand, as the drift of corporate head offices to Australia has forced practices to meet the challenge of ever increasing competition within a shrinking domestic market. “I’d say the market in New Zealand has been a lot more competitive for a lot longer

New Zealand’s law firms are at a crossroads. Faced with a shrinking pool of high-end work, reductions in panel numbers and flatter revenue growth, only the tough will survive in a small environment, but a notoriously competitive one. Read More »

UK firm Hammonds has been hard hit by the departure of its commercial insurance team with a slump in per-partner profits and a drop in turnover.

Hammonds’ average profits per partner have slumped 18 per cent from £330,000 to £272,000. Turnover for 2003-2004 is down 1 per cent to £136m, which includes a £7.1m loss of revenue due to the departure of the entire commercial insurance team at the beginning of the last financial year. Senior partner Richard Burns said: “We

UK firm Hammonds has been hard hit by the departure of its commercial insurance team with a slump in per-partner profits and a drop in turnover. Read More »

Over 1400 British lawyers gathered at The Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel on Tuesday night for the biggest night of the year in the legal profession, The Lawyer Awards. Check out the winners.

Berwin Leighton Paisner walked away with the prestigious, Law Firm of the Year award but the biggest cheer of the evening went to the winners of the Public Sector Team of the Year Award: the Hutton Inquiry team. It was that inquiry which had “ruined the summer” of the host for the evening, Tony Blair’s

Over 1400 British lawyers gathered at The Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel on Tuesday night for the biggest night of the year in the legal profession, The Lawyer Awards. Check out the winners. Read More »

By now Linklaters should be more than a little concerned by the seemingly endless onslaught from US firms. Over the past couple of years, a startling number of highly rated partners from the magic circle firm have migrated to US practices, with two more joining the exodus this week.

Linklaters has been hit by another wave of partner defections to US firms after losing highly rated structured finance expert Richard Hughes to Sidley Austin Brown & Wood. At the same time, Latham & Watkins’ Paris office has taken a second capital markets partner from Linklaters in little over a year with the hire of

By now Linklaters should be more than a little concerned by the seemingly endless onslaught from US firms. Over the past couple of years, a startling number of highly rated partners from the magic circle firm have migrated to US practices, with two more joining the exodus this week. Read More »

The quality of a journalist’s notetaking took centre stage in a court case yesterday that will determine whether a City firm can proceed with a £230m libel action against the Financial Times.

The quality of a journalist’s notetaking took centre stage in a court case yesterday that will determine whether a City firm can proceed with a £230m libel action against the Financial Times. Lawyers acting for Collins Stewart Tullett, which is suing the FT over an article published in August 2003, tried to persuade Tony Tassell

The quality of a journalist’s notetaking took centre stage in a court case yesterday that will determine whether a City firm can proceed with a £230m libel action against the Financial Times. Read More »

After three months of talks, Boston-based Ropes & Gray and New York intellectual property firm Fish & Neave have decided to join forces.

After three months of talks, Boston-based Ropes & Gray and New York intellectual property firm Fish & Neave have decided to join forces. The leaders of the two firms said Monday that they expect to merge around the end of the year. While 150-lawyer Fish & Neave will be absorbed into the 580-attorney Ropes &

After three months of talks, Boston-based Ropes & Gray and New York intellectual property firm Fish & Neave have decided to join forces. Read More »

John G. Rowland, who stepped down as Connecticut’s governor last summer in the face of impeachment, pleaded guilty today to a single federal charge of criminal conspiracy.

John G. Rowland, who stepped down as Connecticut’s governor last summer in the face of impeachment, pleaded guilty today to a single federal charge of criminal conspiracy. In the plea agreement, Mr. Rowland admitted to defrauding the Internal Revenue Service by failing to report gratuities, and to defrauding the people of Connecticut by failing to

John G. Rowland, who stepped down as Connecticut’s governor last summer in the face of impeachment, pleaded guilty today to a single federal charge of criminal conspiracy. Read More »

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