Sep 09 2010 Faced with a fiercely competitive market for legal services, a number of large firms dealing with start-up clients are finding ways to make their services more attractive. Firms such as Cooley Godward Kronish and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in California; DLA Piper in New York; and... more

Sep 09 2010 Among all the talk of increased competition and clients demanding more value from legal practitioners, a new report from CT TyMetrix and the Corporate Executive Board is somewhat surprising. The report studied more than $4 billion in law firm billings from 2007-2009, submitted by more than... more

Sep 08 2010 A new report from Citi Private Bank predicts that law firms will cut more equity partners in the near future. The survey of 187 law firms shows that revenues have remained flat for the first six months of 2010, with demand dropping slightly. And while many in the industry have been eager to... more

Sep 08 2010 The announcement last week that UK firms Hammonds merge with a US firm Squire Sanders & Dempsey is just the latest in a string of transatlantic tie-ups. This article observes the development of the trend of mergers between British and American firms and asks whether they are a good idea. It... more

Sep 08 2010 The UK Legal Services Board is considering a plan that would require law firms and chambers to publish information about the diversity of their staff, including age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation and working patterns. There has been considerable progress... more

Sep 08 2010 Addleshaw Goddard has boosted its London banking practice with the hire of leveraged finance partner John Cutler, a former DLA Piper partner. David Handy, a senior partner in the banking division at Addleshaws, said that the hire was part of a three-pronged programme “to develop business in... more

Sep 07 2010 Norton Rose has hired Linklaters’ competition and antitrust head Andrea Zulli, who will launch the firm’s antitrust, regulatory and competition practice in Italy. Zulli was a managing associate in Linklaters' Milan base, and will see promotion to partner when he joins Norton Rose in the... more

Sep 07 2010 Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is advising Brazilian oil and gas giant Petrobras on a massive $75 billion share sale, which will finance the development of offshore oil fields. $42.5 billion worth of new stock in the state-owned company was issued to the Brazilian government in exchange for... more

Sep 07 2010 New figures show that partners in London’s top 10 law firms saw their fees drop by an average of £875,000 per partner during the economic downturn. Recruitment consultant Ambition reports that the UK’s largest law firms billed £2.4m per partner, down from 2008 when the top 10 firms billed £3.3m... more

Sep 07 2010 A new report takes a detailed look at female equity partners in major law firms, using survey data to build a statistical picture of professional prospects for women in the industry. Some key statistics from The American Lawyer report include the fact that women make up only 17 per cent of... more

Sep 06 2010 The US Bureau of Labor Statistics' has reported that the US economy lost 54,000 jobs in August. But things were looking ever-so-slightly better in the legal industry, with 1000 new jobs created in the second consecutive month of improved job figures for the sector. The figures record that... more

Sep 06 2010 Kansas firm Lathrop & Gage and Denver firm Kamlet Reichert have agreed to merge under the Lathrop name. The merged firm will have a headcount of close to 300 lawyers. "It's exciting to add the sophisticated corporate and real estate acumen that Kamlet Reichert attorneys provide, not only in... more

Sep 06 2010 A survey into compensation for in-house counsel has reported that pay has dropped across the board in the past year, and even top lawyers at major corporations are affected. While salaries and stock awards have increased slightly over the period, discretionary bonuses dropped nearly 40 per cent.... more

Sep 06 2010 Addleshaw Goddard partners contributed a massive £15.6 million to the firm in the last financial year, according to recent reports. The news highlights the difficulties faced by the firm in the past year, during which it was forced to make 19 partners redundant amid a slew of other... more

Sep 03 2010 The promise held out by the arbitration industry is that it will be quicker, cheaper, and more private than litigation. Many litigators, however, have found that the system has not lived up to this promise. Arbitration processes more sophisticated than ever before, with discovery and pretrial... more

Sep 03 2010 Some Halliwells partners still owe on loans of more than £500,000, after borrowing money to finance contributions to the firm over the past few years. The troubled firm called on partners to double their usual contributions to the firm in 2008, and earlier this year 28 partners raised a... more

Sep 03 2010 Ballard Spahr has hired intellectual property litigator Katrina M Quicker, formerly a partner at King & Spalding. Quicker joined the partnership at Ballard Spahr two weeks ago. Quicker explained that the move was motivated by a desire to work with Lawrence K Nodine, the partner-in-charge of... more

Sep 02 2010 Top securities and corporate governance law firm Grant & Eisenhofer, has bolstered its New York antitrust practice with the appointment of Linda P. Nussbaum as a director and John D. Radice as a Senior Counsel. Stuart Grant – the firm’s managing director and co-founder – said: "Together,... more

Sep 02 2010 A new survey indicates that small and midsized firms saw declining revenues during 2009 as a result of tough economic circumstances, but cuts in expenses resulted in small increases in profits. The Survey of Law Firm Economics, a joint project of ALM Legal Intelligence and The National Law... more

Sep 02 2010 The American Lawyer has conducted a survey focusing upon mid-level associates, finding that overall satisfaction level is down to the lowest level in six years. The findings might be surprising, since these lawyers could be considered lucky to have been spared the axe in tough economic... more