Linklaters and A&O Shearman have capitalised on longstanding client relationships, acting on a deal in which Sainsbury’s banking business is sold to NatWest Group. Linklaters is acting for Sainsbury’s Bank with the team led by corporate partner Charles Turner, TMT partner Richard Cumbley and corporate managing associate Matthew Halliday. A&O Shearman is acting for NatWest, […]
UK housebuilder Crest Nicholson is fending off advances from larger rival Bellway, with Norton Rose Fulbright and Slaughter and May at the helm. On Friday, Crest rejected Bellway’s second bid for the company in the last two months, which valued it at £650m. A merger of the two companies could create a business with an […]
With the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) expecting income derived from the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) to double this year, there are concerns that the regulator is treating its new way of training lawyers as a “huge cash cow”. According to the SRA’s annual business plan and budget consultation paper, SQE income is expected to more […]
Sidley Austin has increased its base pay for newly-qualified (NQ) solicitors for the second time this year from £166,500 to £175,000. The pay increase will come into force from 1st July and is also understood to involve rises across the board for associates. Trainee solicitors will see a pay rise too, with first-year trainees moving […]
King & Spalding has raided US rival Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft for a four-strong partner team in London. Four partners are making the move, alongside one special counsel who will join as partner. On the funds finance side, partners Samantha Hutchinson, Mathan Navaratnam, Nathan Parker and special counsel James Hoggett will join. Partner Sukhvir Basran […]
Travers Smith has revealed a cohort of six partner promotions in its latest round. This round marks an increase of one from last year’s five, after a drop of nearly half compared to Travers’ largest partner cohort to date of 11 in 2022. The promotions cover a broad range of practice areas including Ingrid Hodgskiss […]
Goodwin has surpassed the newly-qualified solicitor pay offered by US firms Kirkland & Ellis and Vinson & Elkins, by upping its rates to £175,000. Pay for NQs increased from £161,500 from the start of June, a jump of nearly £15,000. Kirkland and Vinson & Elkins currently pay their NQs just over £173,000. Goodwin is also […]
Newly-qualified solicitors and trainee supervisors at Charles Russell Speechlys are being asked for feedback on the firm’s training programme to support junior lawyers coming through the SQE route. The firm is carrying out a strategic review and training needs analysis among its recent NQs, knowledge development teams, early careers professionals, existing trainee supervisors and business […]
“Today, you are now earning more than the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,” is the favoured introduction of one senior partner on day one of NQ induction at a US firm, and The Lawyer can reveal that in fact, 101 newly-qualified (NQ) solicitors are now earning more than the Prime Minister, with some taking […]
A&O Shearman has increased its newly-qualified (NQ) solicitor pay to £150,000, having said it would keep to its £125,000 rate on merging last month The firm matches its rivals, which have all increased their NQ salaries by £25,000 in the last month to £150,000. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was first, followed swiftly by Linklaters and then […]
Artificial intelligence is the only technological development that’s seen the same levels of stratospheric adoption since Big Law bosses could drop their employees an out-of-hours ‘ping’ on Blackberry Messenger. And it’s only getting bigger, says LexisNexis, which has spoken to many of City’s top 50 managing partners who all want to be fast followers of […]
The total cost for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) has already seen an increase of 11 per cent in the first two years of its rollout…and that’s just the exam fees. Firms and candidates alike are bemoaning the hidden costs the SQE can bring on top of the price of the exam and law school. Law school historically […]