Ten months in, and while the financials may be unimpressive, Blake Morgan’s Mr Merger is staying upbeat. There’s a whole lot of movement going on at Blake Morgan, the firm that on 1 May this year kicked off its first full financial year since the 2014 marriage of Blake Lapthorn and Morgan Cole and has […]
Former Ashurst head Charlie Geffen oozes confidence about the prospects for building his City corporate finance team. Earlier this month Gibson Dunn & Crutcher’s nascent but star-studded London-based English law corporate team represented William Hill on the betting company’s acquisition of a chunk of online lottery software business NeoGames. This was barely a £20m deal, […]
These days as soon as someone mentions a low-cost legal market regional support centre most people think of Belfast, Glasgow or Manchester. But Norwich? If efficiencies from East Anglia’s capital is news to you then clearly you don’t know enough about Mills & Reeve. The firm launched its Norwich-based, legal services team (LST) in December […]
After two years of financial decline in 2010, Macfarlanes knew it needed to change. But senior partner Charles Martin says in retrospect the downturn was a positive catalyst, making the firm more adaptable than ever before. Like much of the market, Macfarlanes suffered in the financial downturn. Its revenue dropped 11 per cent in 2008/09, […]
By staying true to its traditional model, Travers Smith is not known for reinventing itself. But in the midst of an office refit and total rebrand, the firm is adopting a bolder approach, says new managing partner David Patient. Patient took over from Andrew Lilley earlier this year, having headed up the firm’s only foreign […]
With the international legal community still abounding with scepticism around the concept of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), the firm’s global managing partner Stuart Fuller finds part of his job is to deliver “proof of concept” both internally and externally. It was exactly two years ago when Stuart Fuller first met The Lawyer in the […]
Taylor Wessing managing partner Tim Eyles was recently elected for a third term at the helm of the firm. His next step? International expansion. With two terms under his belt already, Eyles was re-elected this year after running uncontested as managing partner for the firm (10 July 2015), giving him a lease of life until […]
Canadian firm Gowlings has been increasing its global presence under CEO Scott Jolliffe for some time but truly becoming an international firm has proved difficult. But Jolliffe’s goal looks like it has finally become a reality after Gowlings announced it was merging with Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co. The firm’s last big push into the […]
It’s been the best part of a year since Mishcon de Reya managing partner Kevin Gold introduced agile working and “unlimited holidays” for all partners, but the famously outspoken head is not finished revolutionising the private client and litigation legal market just yet. Just this year Gold has put a firmwide veto on taking instructions […]
This week the Dentons and McKenna Long & Aldridge merger officially completed, cementing Dentons’ standing as the biggest law firm in the world. CEO Elliott Portnoy and chairman Joe Andrew tell The Lawyer about future merger plans and why their strategy will cement Dentons’ future in the legal world. It’s been a hefty first half […]
Baker Botts announced its highest global revenue ever – $653m – in 2014. Here’s how new London head Mark Rowley plans to ensure the office contributes to another record year in 2015. The US firm had a record 2014 with turnover rising 13.5 per cent from $575m in 2012 to last year’s high (4 February […]
When Michael Greville stepped down as managing partner of Watson Farley & Williams (WFW), his position was filled by not one, but two, former office heads. Lothar Wegener and Chris Lowe were both voted into the role back in January 2014 (13 December 2013) and are set to be in the position for the next […]