Pennon Group is a giant when it comes to the water industry. Encompassing South West Water (SWW), Bristol Water, Pennon Water Services and Bournemouth Water, it boasted a 2020/21 revenue of £624m and is the largest private sector employer in the south west. But with all that grandeur comes a lot of responsibility and scrutiny. […]
Ever wanted to know what it really takes to get a merger like Allen & Overy – Shearman & Sterling over the line? The Lawyer spoke to a number of partnership and merger experts to find out.
Every year, hundreds of trainees are recruited into some of the top law firms in the UK with the end goal of becoming top, technical solicitors. But something that isn’t widely talked about, is what do you do if the technical law you are practising isn’t really for you? Tom Grogan puts himself in this bracket, […]
Global crypto exchange company Bitstamp has hired a new group general counsel (GC) from rival cryptocurrency company Ziglu. James Sullivan made the move, having been at Ziglu for over two years, most recently as its chief risk and legal officer. His new role sees him responsible for teams across the UK, EU, US and Singapore. […]
Deutsche Bank has selected three of its panel firms to take on trainees who need to complete contentious seats as part of their training contract. Herbert Smith Freehills, Simmons & Simmons and Norton Rose Fulbright are the three to have been selected from a panel that contains a number of silver circle, magic circle and […]
Listed water services company Pennon Group has finalised its first panel review under its new general counsel, with Allen & Overy and Slaughter and May among those appointed. The other firms with places on the panel are Ashfords, Burges Salmon, Charles Russell Speechly, Squire Patton Boggs, TLT and Winston & Strawn. The selected firms will […]
BT is extending its legal panel until 2024, with its 15 law firms remaining on the roster for another year. The panel was meant to be reviewed this year, but will now remain in place until March 2024. The telecoms giant previously trimmed down firms from 37 to just 15 in 2020, with the likes […]
Howden Group Holdings has hired a new general counsel responsible for Europe. Martin Schneider has joined Howden from Ardonagh Group, an independent broker based in London, where he was senior group legal counsel for two years. Prior to that, he had been group legal counsel for two and a half years. Trained at Norton Rose […]
Panels. “They are excruciating, but necessary,” one partner says. “You can get over 200 questionnaires to fill in every year for mid-panel or full panel reviews, it’s a full time job,” another exclaims. “There can be a bit of a disconnect as to what is actually expected of you, and what a company wants from […]
The majority of trainees left stranded ahead of the winding down of MJ Hudson’s legal arm have found new homes. So far, trainees have been split up among three firms: one to DLA Piper, two to Baker McKenzie, and an additional trainee to Haynes & Boone. Tenzin Woden joins an 11-strong team of partners and […]
When Maryam Ziarati McLoughlin moved out of private practice, she was not met with the farewell she had hoped for. “When I decided to move in-house, a fellow private practice lawyer told me that they were disappointed that I was taking a step back in my career. I like to think that perceptions of going […]
“My first thought on the Allen & Overy-Shearman merger was ‘this is exciting!’” says one in-houser, but then came the realisation. “Oh wait, which way will the fees go?” Money is often top of the list for in-housers when trying to pick external counsel, alongside factors that include quality of expertise and geographic scale. The […]