Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan client Phones 4u (P4u) has been granted permission to appeal its £1bn competition suit against some of the biggest mobile network providers, following a defeat in the High Court last year. The firm has succeeded in having eight grounds approved to take to appeal, including the allegation that an exchange […]
Macfarlanes is set to defend the Performing Right Society (PRS) in a class action brought by Blur’s drummer in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). The opt-out claim is brought by Dave Rowntree, who is also a prospective Labour MP, on behalf of 160,000 UK songwriter members of the PRS. Rowntree alleges that PRS, which collects […]
Clifford Chance has lost the mandate to represent Epic Games in the US video game developer’s ongoing competition claim against RPC-repped Google. The Lawyer understands that Epic Games, best known for the online video game Fortnite, switched legal representation to Norton Rose Fulbright around six months ago. According to a 2021 confidentiality ring order on the Competition […]
Welcome to your weekly edition of The Hearing, your insider’s guide to the UK litigation market. Yesterday marked the last day of the Hilary Court term, so in this final edition of The Hearing before we take next week off, we take a look at the Supreme Court decision that has come as a relief […]
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan client Phones 4u (P4u) has been granted permission to appeal its £1bn competition suit against some of the biggest mobile network providers, following a defeat in the High Court last year. The firm has succeeded in having eight grounds approved to take to appeal, including the allegation that an exchange […]
Macfarlanes is set to defend the Performing Right Society (PRS) in a class action brought by Blur’s drummer in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). The opt-out claim is brought by Dave Rowntree, who is also a prospective Labour MP, on behalf of 160,000 UK songwriter members of the PRS. Rowntree alleges that PRS, which collects […]
Clifford Chance has lost the mandate to represent Epic Games in the US video game developer’s ongoing competition claim against RPC-repped Google. The Lawyer understands that Epic Games, best known for the online video game Fortnite, switched legal representation to Norton Rose Fulbright around six months ago. According to a 2021 confidentiality ring order on the Competition […]
Welcome to your weekly edition of The Hearing, your insider’s guide to the UK litigation market. Yesterday marked the last day of the Hilary Court term, so in this final edition of The Hearing before we take next week off, we take a look at the Supreme Court decision that has come as a relief […]
Lewis Silkin has been replaced by Goodwin Procter in the saga involving Red Bull, its boss Christian Horner and a female Red Bull employee. The Goodwin partners now representing the female individual are employment partner Alex Fisher and commercial litigator Sarah McAtominey. The pair joined the firm in February 2023 from Travers Smith and BCLP, […]
Does anyone need any confirmation of the gradual takeover of the City by rampaging US law firms? No, thought not. If, however, your answer is yes, then more evidence of the Americanisation of London can be found in the upcoming edition of the UK Corporate 50. Much of the focus in this year’s report is […]
Mexico is set to welcome thousands of lawyers later this year when the capital city plays host to the International Bar Association’s (IBA) showpiece event. Partners and support staff will mingle from dawn until way after dusk, discuss strategies and scan way off into the horizon. However, Mexico’s been high on the interest list for […]
At times, Clyde & Co appeared dangerously close to squandering the growth opportunities presented by its July 2022 acquisition of BLM. The firm’s most recent financials, however, suggest BLM was the fuel Clydes needed to grow in the UK. Not that it has been without casualties, with a significant proportion of former BLM partners having […]
The M&A rankings for the first half of 2024 confirmed one thing we already felt was true: that Linklaters and Slaughter and May have had a lot of acquisitive or targeted clients this year. According to data provided by the London Stock Exchange Group, the pair rank first and second respectively in terms of the […]
When Stephenson Harwood chief executive Eifion Morris set a target for doubling revenue to £400m by 2027, he knew it would be a tough challenge. “A profitable growth strategy will probably take more than individual lateral joiners and internal promotions to achieve,” he told The Lawyer back in 2021. This protective view came as the […]
BDB Pitmans partners have voted through proposals that will see the firm transition to a CMS-style network model, having called off merger talks with Womble Bond Dickinson in 2023. The firm has signed a letter of intent with Alvarez & Marsal Legal Services (AMLS) to help internationalise the business. Both BDB Pitmans and AMLS issued […]
Welcome to The Passport, your regular round-up of the most important stories to come from the European legal market. In this edition, we look at how CMS zoomed past Dentons in the Polish lawyer headcount stakes; why you might have to get used to the idea of three firms with ‘Snellman’ in their name; and […]
Akin Gump has recruited three of Cooley’s London partners, including its City managing partner Justin Stock. Stock moves to Akin along with Stephen Rosen and David Bresnick. The three focus on transactions with a life sciences and technology element. At Akin, Stock will become the firm’s international head of technology. Both Stock and Bresnick joined […]
For elite firms with ties to big banks, the first half of 2024 has been fruitful for corporate transactions. Sainsbury’s banking business was sold to NatWest Group last month, with Linklaters and A&O Shearman advising, while Addleshaw Goddard, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Paul Hastings led on Co-operative Bank’s sale to Coventry Building Society in an […]
Mills & Reeve’s turnover rose by double digits in 2023/24 to a new record high that has resulted in the firm’s highest-ever all-staff bonus pool of £3m. The firm’s turnover rose by 14.1 per cent to £168m, beating its 2025 strategic target of £150m a year ahead of schedule. The firm has not yet revealed […]