The $3bn club: Kirkland & Ellis overhauls Latham & Watkins as world’s richest law firm March 22, 2018 US law firm Kirkland & Ellis has overhauled Latham & Watkins as the world's richest law firm, data from US legal media company ALM shows. The firm, which has its City headquarters in the Gherkin, grew its revenue by 19 per cent last year to $3.165bn (£2.24bn). This puts it ahead of rival Latham, currently [...]
Tesla in legal row with investors over Elon Musk’s plan to go private | City A.M. August 13, 2018 Tesla is facing a barrage of lawsuits from investors angry at founder Elon Musk’s shock proposal to take the company private at $420 (£329) a share. The colourful entrepreneur dropped the bombshell on social media last week, claiming that funding for the move had been secured, driving shares up 11 per cent before its price [...]
Stress in the City: How the UK’s top law firms manage employee wellbeing November 26, 2018 The legal world has been rocked by the recent suicide of a US partner which has led to an examination of the high-stress, long-hours culture prevalent in elite law firms. The widow of Sidley Austin partner Gabe MacConaill, who killed himself last month, wrote a heartbreaking open letter in the American Lawyer magazine detailing the [...]
Outgoing Serious Fraud Office boss David Green QC in talks with magic circle firm Slaughter and May May 15, 2018 Former Serious Fraud Office (SFO) boss David Green QC is in talks to join magic circle firm Slaughter and May. Website Legal Week has reported that the former SFO director has made an application to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments which decides on the suitability of new jobs for former senior civil servants and [...]
Clifford Chance breaks ranks with magic circle to include partners in its gender pay gap figures March 27, 2018 Clifford Chance has included its partner pay in its gender pay gap report, the first magic circle law firm to do so. The firm revealed today that it had a mean hourly pay gap of 66.3 per cent, falling to 27.3 per cent in its partnership ranks, 27.7 per cent among its business services staff [...]
Who are the City’s best paid lawyers and what are they taking home? June 4, 2018 When private equity partner David Higgins started his new role in the City office of US law firm Kirkland & Ellis in April, he came with the weight of expectation generated by a reported $10m (£7m) salary. Higgins’ salary, which works out at nearly $200,000 per week, is almost unprecedented in the London legal market. [...]
City of London Lord Mayor Charles Bowman “confident” government can agree Brexit transition in 13 days March 19, 2018 London’s Lord Mayor is “quietly confident” the government will secure a transitional Brexit deal in the next fortnight to be ready ahead of the one-year marker for the UK leaving the EU. Charles Bowman, who serves as the figurehead for the City of London Corporation’s lobbying efforts, said the government has indicated it will try [...]
The path to a post-Libor City: Bank of England takes control of substitute benchmark April 23, 2018 The City will today take its next step on the path to a post-Libor future as the Bank of England unveils reforms to the Sonia “risk-free” reference rate, although experts have warned of potential headaches ahead. The Bank of England will take over the running of Sonia, the Sterling Overnight Index Average, from tomorrow, with [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown boots 296 investment trusts off its books as they fail to comply with new Priips regulation January 2, 2018 Investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown was forced to knock a number of investment companies off its books as trading began after the New Year, as they failed to comply with a new piece of regulation. The catchily named Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (Priips) regulation, which came into force on 1 January 2018, forces all [...]
In the shadow of the Lehman Brothers collapse: A decade of change in the City of London September 14, 2018 The collapse of Lehman Brothers remains shorthand for the start of the global financial crisis and a period when the foundations of capitalism shook. A decade on the Western financial system is still struggling to move out of the shadow of the events of 15 September 2008. Political events around the world today are still [...]