text: lawyrs.net News by tag: Pinsent Masons http://www.lawyrs.net/news/tag/Pinsent%20Masons/atom 2017-05-16T17:02:31Z Irwin Mitchell hires former Pinsents real estate head Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/10076/irwin-mitchell-hires-former-pinsents-real-estate-head 2017-05-16T17:02:31Z Irwin Mitchell has hired Adrian Barlow, who formerly served as real estate practice head at Pinsent Masons. Barlow qualified at Pinsents in 1989 and became a partner in 1994. He was group head of property at the firm until May 2016, when James Crookes took over the role. At Irwin Mitchell, Barlow will lead a commercial real estate team of more than 30 partners and 40 lawyers across eight offices within the UK. Vicky Brackett, chief executive of Irwin Mitchell's business legal services division, said the hire reflects the firm's growth strategy for the division. Pinsent Masons to open Madrid office Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/10016/pinsent-masons-to-open-madrid-office 2017-04-19T20:34:32Z Pinsent Masons is preparing to launch a new Madrid office, its third international location within the last 12 months. The office will house a team of five, including Digo Lozano, who joins from Ramón y Cajal Abogados and previously worked as deputy general counsel of Telefónica. Lozano will be joined by partners Idoya Arteagabeitia, Inmaculada Castelló, and Antonio Sánchez Montero. Ricardo García of construction company OHL and Sofía Parra of Pinsents' London office will also join the Madrid office upon launch. Pinsent Masons' Carolyn Saunders to take over as London managing partner Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9983/pinsent-masons-carolyn-saunders-to-take-over-as-london-managing-partner 2017-04-03T16:32:06Z Pinsent Masons has announced that pensions head Carolyn Saunders will take over as London managing partner as of May 2017. She replaces former managing partner David Ryan, who stepped down after 14 years as managing partner and a total of 16 years as a member of Pinsents' management team. Saunders has two decades of pensions experience, and served as partner and head of pensions at Taylor Wessing before joining Pinsents. According to managing partner John Cleland, Saunders' experience will help the firm continue growing as an international firm. Pinsents acquires 20% stake in Yuzu outsourcing firm Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9969/pinsents-acquires-20-stake-in-yuzu-outsourcing-firm 2017-03-28T18:24:39Z Pinsent Masons has taken on a 20 per cent stake in Yuzu, a New Law outsourcing business. The startup was founded by Robin Saphra, who previously served as group general counsel at Colt. Yuzu allows clients to outsource portions of in-house legal functions in order to reduce costs. Saphra estimates that Yuzu's capabilities could replace 50-80% of an in-house team's capabilities. The company offers the option of working either remotely or onsite with the client's in-house team. Pinsent Masons launches Vario service in Australia Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9941/pinsent-masons-launches-vario-service-in-australia 2017-03-17T21:26:49Z Pinsent Masons is expanding its Vario flexible resourcing service outside of UK with an Australia launch. The service will be implemented within the next three to six months in Pinsent Masons' Sydney and Melbourne locations. In addition to support from three senior team members in Australia, the launch will be supported with administrative assistance from the firm's UK base. According to Vario director Matthew Kay, the firm will start by focusing Vario on infrastructure matters in Australia before expanding to other areas. Pinsent Masons promotes 16 and reaches female partner target Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9927/pinsent-masons-promotes-16-and-reaches-female-partner-target 2017-03-13T11:29:13Z Pinsent Masons, one of the first firms to reveal 2017 promotions, has announced that 16 have been made up to partner. The firm has also reached its goal of 25% representation of female partners, a year ahead of target. Women made up 68% of the new partners, whose positions take effect on 1 May. According to senior partner Richard Foley, the new partners were promoted based on merit, as well as a commitment to the firm's ideals of innovation and excellence. The new partners are based in locations including London, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Belfast, Germany, and Australia. New hires at Clydes, Dentons, Pinsents and Homebase Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9853/new-hires-at-clydes-dentons-pinsents-and-homebase 2017-02-14T06:44:28Z Several firms have recently hired internationally, including Pinsent Masons, Clyde & Co, and Dentons. Additionally, Homebase has hired its first legal head, bringing on Simone Tudor. Pinsents has hired Alexander Bayer, Jörg Khöber and Peter Koch in Munich, while Dentons has hired Stefan Dittmer in Berlin and Amy Kläsener in Frankfurt. Clyde & Co has hired Ian Chung as a partner in its Dubai office, bringing the total number of partners in the office to five. Indian firm CAM signs on with Kira for AI services Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9830/indian-firm-cam-signs-on-with-kira-for-ai-services 2017-02-06T21:42:18Z Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM), a firm based in India, has enlisted the services of Kira Systems, a Canadian AI software company. By using Kira software, the firm hopes to enhance its legal services offerings through machine learning. Kira is used by a number of firms, including Clifford Chance, while other firms such as Pinsent Masons, Linklaters, and Baker & Hostetler have implement various forms of AI throughout their own systems. The software uses AI to derive data from legal documents, and applies machine learning to transactions in different practice areas. Pinsent Masons increases stake in Cerico to 60 per cent Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9821/pinsent-masons-increases-stake-in-cerico-to-60-per-cent 2017-02-01T09:43:37Z Pinsent Masons has upped its stake in Cerico, a technology service, to 60 per cent of the business. The firm's stake now holds a value of £500,000. Cerico reported a loss of £134,000 in 2015/16, while turnover was £643,000. Pinsent's LLP filings revealed a 5 per cent increase in operating profit, which rose from £113.2m to £119m. Turover rose from £363.6m to £382.8m, representing a 5 per cent increase. Pinsent Masons ranks second on list of Stonewall's top employers for LGBT staff Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9787/pinsent-masons-ranks-second-on-list-of-stonewalls-top-employers-for-lgbt-staff 2017-01-19T19:41:55Z Stonewall has released a list of its top 100 employers for LGBT staff members, with Pinsent Masons coming in second behind Lloyds Banking Group. Five law firms were among the top ten employers on the list, with Clifford Chance, Baker McKenzie, Berwin Leighton Paisner and Norton Rose Fulbright earning spots alongside Pinsent Masons in the top ten. According to Kate Fergusson, head of responsible business at Pinsent Masons, the firm has increased its efforts with regard to gender identity and LGBT matters in the past year. Stonewall reported that the legal field has been a leader in implementing diversity and inclusion LGBT staff. Ashurst partner Hammad Akhtar hired by Pinsent Masons Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9768/ashurst-partner-hammad-akhtar-hired-by-pinsent-masons 2017-01-11T23:22:02Z Pinsent Masons has hired Hammad Akhtar, an insurance partner and co-head of graduate recruitment at Ashurst. He joins Pinsent Masons as head of the firm's corporate division, focusing on the financial sector. Prior to joining Ashurst, Akhtar was a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills. Several partners have left Ashurst in the wake of declining financial performance and changes to the firm's lockstep and remuneration systems. Survey: Contract lawyers value variety more than work-life balance Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9604/survey-contract-lawyers-value-variety-more-than-work-life-balance 2016-11-01T06:02:36Z According to a recent survey by Vario, contract lawyers tend to prioritize variety of work over work-life balance when choosing new freelance roles. Nearly half of respondents cited variety of work as a motivating factor in choosing freelance work, and the majority of respondents viewed contract work as a long-term career choice. Vario is a contract lawyering service operated by Pinsent Masons. Other firms such as Allen & Overy, Berwin Leighton Paisner, and Shoosmiths have established similar services, as contract lawyering gains popularity. Addleshaws employment incentives head jumps to Osborne Clarke Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9579/addleshaws-employment-incentives-head-jumps-to-osborne-clarke 2016-10-21T05:42:19Z Osborne Clarke has hired Michael Carter of Addleshaw Goddard, where he has been a partner since 2008. While at Addleshaws, Carter headed up the employment incentives practice. Carter held previous positions at KPMG and Pinsent Masons before joining Addleshaws as a partner. Osborne Clarke has been expanding recently, and has made a number of new hires in the firm's London office. HFW brings on new COO from Clifford Chance Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9524/hfw-brings-on-new-coo-from-clifford-chance 2016-09-28T00:01:46Z Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) has hired Justin Young as the firm's new chief operating officer. He joins HFW from Clifford Chance, where he served as South East Asia regional general manager for six years. During his tenure at Clifford Chance, Young established alliances in Jakarta and Singapore, and oversaw growth throughout the region. Young will replace former COO Alastair Mitchell, who left HFW earlier this year to join Pinsent Masons as COO. Gateley launches Belfast tax office Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9487/gateley-launches-belfast-tax-office 2016-09-13T21:40:13Z Gateley has opened a tax advisory office in Belfast, following its acquisition of tax advisory specialist Capitus earlier this year. The new office will operate as Gateley Capitus and will serve as Gateley's first office in Northern Ireland. Directors Aubrey Calderwood and Kevin Meyer will lead the new tax advisory office, which will focus on tax specialist services for local businesses, accountants, solicitors, and inward investors in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In the wake of Brexit, the Republic of Ireland has attracted interest from a number of firms, including Pinsent Masons and BLM. Kennedys doubles office space in Dublin Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9473/kennedys-doubles-office-space-in-dublin 2016-09-08T07:16:01Z Kennedys will be doubling the size of its current operation in Dublin, moving from its current office in Ulysses House to a larger location in the Bloodstone Building on Sir John Rogerson's Quay. The move is thought to be part of a recent wave of firms increasing their presence in Dublin in the wake of Brexit. Kennedys has operated in Ireland since 2011, when the firm merged with O'Hare O'Connor Walshe. BLM and Pinsent Masons are among the firms seeking to establish or expand business in Dublin. Brexit-focused public policy group launching at Pinsents Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9447/brexit-focused-public-policy-group-launching-at-pinsents 2016-08-30T05:34:31Z Pinsent Masons has announced plans to launch a public policy group to work with clients looking to lobby the Government during upcoming post-Brexit trade negotiations between Britain and the EU. The group will be led by Andrew Henderson, who is currently head of public affairs and external relations for the Williams & Glyn brand of RBS. Henderson is slated to begin the new role in September. Henderson anticipates that the Government will engage with businesses when determining how to approach the impact of Brexit on the economy, and he expects firms to seek out advisers in this realm. DLA Piper and Covington & Burling are reportedly set to offer similar public policy advisory services. Brexit shifts focus to Dublin as key outsourcing hub Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9446/brexit-shifts-focus-to-dublin-as-key-outsourcing-hub 2016-08-28T03:03:25Z In the wake of Britain's vote to leave the EU, Dublin has emerged as a new hotspot for legal outsourcing services, which seek to provide lower-cost back-office work for firms and in-house legal departments. Although British firms have typically outsourced back-office work to Northern Ireland, many are seeking new office space in Dublin. Outsourcing company Johnson Hana International (JHI) has announced plans to increase its Dublin presence, and Pinsent Masons is in the midst of a search for office space to house up to 100 staff members in Dublin. JHI CEO Dan Fox anticipates Dublin growth to continue as firms consider outsourcing data review to the Republic of Ireland. Pinsents continues Dublin office exploration Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9413/pinsents-continues-dublin-office-exploration 2016-08-12T04:53:15Z Pinsent Masons has moved forward with a potential office opening in Dublin in response to the Brexit referendum. The firm has appointed a property agent for the search, and is looking into opening an base in Dublin with approximately 20 lawyers. A Dublin office would be the first Irish base for Pinsents, which already operates a Belfast office resulting from its merger with McGrigors in 2012. Several UK firms are considering new bases in Ireland in the aftermath of June's Brexit vote, and a number of firms have already registered lawyers on Ireland's roll of solicitors. Pinsent Masons considers Dublin after Brexit Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9389/pinsent-masons-considers-dublin-after-brexit 2016-08-03T16:14:56Z Pinsent Masons is considering opening a Dublin office in a potential move to establish a base in the Republic of Ireland. The firm has a current office in Belfast, led by corporate partner Paul McBride. Pinsents has not confirmed whether a Dublin office would involve any merger activity, although the firm has not ruled out this option. A Dublin office would help the firm to respond to anticipated changes in the wake of Brexit, and would continue Pinsents' recent international expansion efforts, which have included office openings in South Africa and Germany this year. Several firms are reportedly considering launching bases in Ireland following Britain's vote to leave the EU. Scottish firm re-enters Aberdeen market Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9314/scottish-firm-re-enters-aberdeen-market 2016-06-13T22:30:41Z Shepherd and Wedderburn is going against the grain and opening an office in Aberdeen, just as most firms had written the area off. To assist in the process, the firm has hired Pinsent Masons's John Rutherford as a consultant. Rutherford is corporate finance oil and gas specialist. He spent three years as a partner at Pinsent Masons. Before his time at his previous firm, Rutherford was a head of corporate at legacy firm McGrigors. Shepherd and Wedderburn thinks the time is right to re-enter the challenging market. The firm plans to expand the scope of the office to include the private client and rural market in the North East. The firm previously ran an office in Aberdeen as well, from the mid-2000's until 2011, when it was closed as the firm moved to a service offering. King & Wood Mallesons adds Hong Kong partners Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9294/king-wood-mallesons-adds-hong-kong-partners 2016-06-04T10:23:26Z King & Wood Mallesons is growing its team in Hong Kong with the addition of two partners. Peter Bullock joins from Pinsent Masons and Anthony Wan joins from Llinks Law Offices, a Chinese firm. Bullock works mainly on matters related to dispute resolution and technology, including advising on regulatory or employment and competition law matters. He is a commercial litigator with experience in arbitration, mediation and investigations. Anthony Wan was a partner for ECM market at Llinks HK Vivien Teu & Co. An IPO specialist, Wan has advised clients on transactions in Asia for more than 10 years. He additionally handles matters related to cross-border M&A, public takeovers, equity capital markets and corporate finance. Simmons & Simmons TMT head joins Pinsent Masons Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9179/simmons-simmons-tmt-head-joins-pinsent-masons 2016-04-25T13:58:31Z Simmons & Simmons's technology, media and telecoms head, Andrew McMillan, has left the firm to join Pinsent Masons as a partner specializing in advanced manufacturing and technology. McMillan worked at Simmons & Simmons from 2012 until 2015. Pinsents has been expanding its advanced manufacturing and technology sector recently, notably hiring a four-lawyer team from Munich in 2015. Pinsent Masons promotions moves diversity forward Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9136/pinsent-masons-promotions-moves-diversity-forward 2016-04-04T17:44:29Z Pinsent Masons promoted 18 lawyers to its partnership. Eight of the 18 were women, which moved the firm's total percentage of female partners one point higher to 23 percent. The firm has set a goal to reach 30 percent female partnership in the future. It has set a more concrete milestone of 25 percent by 2018. The firm revealed its goal in 2014. One partner was made up in the firm's French office with the rest of the promotions happening in the UK. The firm's financial services group had the most new promotions with four, followed by the technology, media and telecommunications group with three. The new partners: UK Tobin Ashby, financial services Marcus Bate, property Phillip Birchall, property Ian Birdsey, TMT Nicholas Carlin, energy Jae Fassam, pensions Anne-Marie Friel, infrastructure Frances Mallender, financial services Angus McFadyen, TMT Adrian Murray, life sciences Anne-Marie Ottaway, litigation and regulatory Steven Porter, tax Caroline Ramsay, competition Lucy Shurwood, financial services Francis Tyrrell, infrastructure Navjeet Virk, energy Sarah Whitty, financial services France Annabelle Richard, TMT Wanted: Lawyers on payroll Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/9062/wanted-lawyers-on-payroll 2016-02-12T20:25:36Z According to a new report from Vacancysoft, a business intelligence company, the number of job openings for legal jobs has risen 40 percent in the past year. For the basis of the report, the firm analysed 9,900 job vacancies found at legal employers in 2014 and 2015. London had 350 vacancies between the magic circle firms and US firms, an increase of 57 percent from the previous year. Clifford Chance was named as the firm that had the greatest increase in vacancies, pointing to banking and finance roles driving the demand. Outside of London, the cities of Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester had the most potential for recruiting lawyers. Bristol had the highest total vacancies with 284, but Birmingham saw a 28 percent spike in 2015 compared to year prior. Pinsent Masons, Shoosmiths, Browne Jacobson and PwC Legal all ramped up recruitment there. Interestingly, demand for lawyers on payroll at companies rose 74 percent. Out of 1500 jobs for in-house lawyers the analysis covered, 600 were situated in the financial services sector. Pinsent Masons bulks up in Munich Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8999/pinsent-masons-bulks-up-in-munich 2015-12-24T00:15:28Z Pinsent Masons is adding to its team in Germany by acquiring a four-partner capital markets boutique based in Munich. The firm known as Mayrhofer & Partner includes partners Thomas Mayrhofer, Alexander Thomas, Gudrun Moll and Hans-Ulrich Birkhofer. The boutique has mainly worked with public companies, specializing in all areas of capital markets. It has worked on high profile deals such as the acquisition of social network XING and the IPO of CashCloud. The merger is set to take effect on 1 January. It caps a year that saw Pinsent Masons hire Clifford Chance's former IP head Marc Holtorf and former Fieldfisher Munich head Sibylle Schumacher. Winston & Strawn strengthening London team Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8944/winston-strawn-strengthening-london-team 2015-11-18T13:40:43Z Winston & Strawn has made a small flurry of hires, strengthening its corporate and finance practice in London. The firm managed to lure finance partner Rebecca Finn from Gide Loyrette Nouel and partner Paul Amiss from Pinsent Masons. Along with them, the firm has picked up of counsel Jason Parker from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. Finn had been the leader of Gide's finance practice while in Hong Kong. She supports borrowers, sponsors and financial institutions, both convential and multilateral, such as the International Finance Corporation. Amiss joined Pinsents in 2004 before being made a corporate partner in 2011. Winston's hires come after some speculated this summer that the firm would refocus itself around transactional matters, departing from its traditional focus on litigation. These hires may be reflective of such a shift. Pinsents views future expansion into United States Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8877/pinsents-views-future-expansion-into-united-states 2015-10-22T13:13:16Z Pinsent Masons appears to view a move into the United States market as an inevitable course to maintain its reputation as a major international firm. Senior partner Richard Foley was recently quoted as raising questions about the ability of any firm to be viewed as a major firm without a US presence. One year ago, rival firm Eversheds held a vote among its partners, 90 percent of whom indicated they favored a merger with a US firm. Since then, the firm has taken more seriously its mandate to identify such an opportunity. Eversheds has had a strategy group devoted to exploring such opportunities since 2011, but to date has not appeared close to closing a merger. Ashurst adding project managers across practices Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8876/ashurst-adding-project-managers-across-practices 2015-10-22T13:13:14Z Four years ago, Ashurst added a project management team to its banking and finance groups. Now the firm is recruiting six project managers for its London and Sydney offices to serve all of its teams. Some teams that would see project management implemented are the corporate, litigation, energy and real estate teams. Ashurst has a head of legal project management, Rachael Moore, who is based in Sydney. The new team of project managers will report to her as well as the firm's Glasgow managing partner Mike Polson. Although project management is not exactly a new phenomenon, there does seem to be a recent trend among firms to implement the efficiency method. In the last 18 months, Herbert Smith Freehills and Hogan Lovells have been among those firms to begin integrating project managers. Additionally, Pinsent Masons intends to roll out the methods across its practices in the next 18 months. Magic circle firms Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters are all believed to have project managers in London. Pinsent Masons adds former Fieldfisher managing partner Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8804/pinsent-masons-adds-former-fieldfisher-managing-partner 2015-09-23T11:16:31Z Pinsent Masons has brought on the former Munich managing partner at Fieldfisher, Sibylle Schumacher, as partner in Germany. Schumacher held roles of German head of disputes and Munich managing partner in her time at the firm. She joined Fieldfisher in 2011, coming to the firm from Weil Gotshal & Manges. Schumacher's work focuses on technology and financial services litigation and arbitration. At Pinsents, she will report to the German head of dispute resolution, Ulrich Lohmann. Pinsent Masons offering new bonus scheme Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8793/pinsent-masons-offering-new-bonus-scheme 2015-09-15T15:02:05Z Pinsent Masons has implemented a new bonus for its lawyers to incentivise enhancement of client relationships. The bonus could amount to an additional £10,000 added to an existing bonus package. Pinsents created a new metric for its lawyers to evaluate the value added for its clients and the delivery of client service. The metric is borne from surveys the firm's management initiated among its key clients. It will be evaluated through regular surveys of its clients going forward. The firm launched a strategy in 2014 to increase the number of transactional mandates through a focus on client relationships. The bonus program is intended as a vehicle to enable that strategy. Pinsents has created other initiatives to improve its offerings, including launching a contract lawyer service and acquiring a majority stake in cloud-based compliance company Cerico, which aims to automate compliance processes across multiple jurisdictions. Firms to explore options in Iran pending lifted sanctions Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8682/firms-to-explore-options-in-iran-pending-lifted-sanctions 2015-07-29T12:57:39Z With a historic agreement reached two weeks ago between Iran and the United States, UK, China, France, Germany and Russia to inhibit Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon in exchange for lifting crippling sanctions, some firms are beginning to explore options for business in Iran. Firms believe that engaging the process before the sanctions are lifted is critical in order to capitalise on business opportunities there. Pinsent Masons and Stephenson Harwood are two firms that have already paid visits to the area, looking to revive existing and build new relationships. Corporate partner Mike Pullen of Stephenson Harwood recently visited the region as did international projects partner George Booth from Pinsents. Clyde & Co and Eversheds are also looking for opportunities. French Firm August & Debouzy launced a desk dedicated to Iran for French corporations with projects there. Keystone Law quickly absorbs talent Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8681/keystone-law-quickly-absorbs-talent 2015-07-28T10:14:48Z Keystone Law, a dispersed law firm, has made a strong push in the last several months, hiring 20 former partners and senior lawyers, including teams and former practice heads from firms such as Pinsent Masons, Hogan Lovells and Foot Anstey. The hires work across the firm's sports, disputes, life sciences, construction, employment, commercial, insurance and IP practices. The firm now has a total of 160 senior solicitors. Keystone received a cash injection from a private equity house at the end of last year and shortly thereafter began a strong recruiting push to bring in talent. The hires so far: Morris Bentata, sports Stuart Hill, disputes Hinko Kostanjevec, disputes Robert Lawrie, disputes Paul Ranson, life sciences Peter Janson, construction Dilek Kahraman, commercial Andrew Hignett, planning and environment Barry Maytum, corporate Rachel Flynn, equine and sports Ian Down, IP Diedrik van Lede, corporate Rebecca Tinham, employment Wyn Morgan, employment Robert Wharton, corporate Michelle Last, employment Raymond Levine, real estate Malcolm Mason, employment Dawn Mullins, insurance Moray Hughes, disputes Pinsent Masons takes majority stake in tech venture Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8680/pinsent-masons-takes-majority-stake-in-tech-venture 2015-07-28T10:14:44Z Pinsent Masons has acquired a majority stake in a tech venture it helped to launch, Cerico. Cerico is a cloud-based compliance venture that automatically performs compliance checks on suppliers in multiple jurisdictions. The compliance product was launced in 2013, when Pinsent Masons partnered with tech company Campbell Nash. It checks that suppliers are compliant with legislation such as the Bribery Act and Health and Safety at Work Act. Former McGrigors managing partner Richard Masters will lead the venture. Following the merger that saw McGrigors roll into Pinsents in 2012, Masters has served on the firm's board as head of client operations. He will be appointed executive chairman of the venture. The acquisition takes effect 1 August and Cerico will move into Pinsent's Glasgow office. Pinsent Masons to open Brussels office Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8658/pinsent-masons-to-open-brussels-office 2015-07-10T21:43:26Z Pinsent Masons has decided to open an office in Brussels due to the uncertainty of the UK's fate as an EU member. The decision on the future of the office will play out in part by the evolution of the UK and EU's relationship. The firm will not post any partners in the office. The new office will offer specialist EU and competition advice. At its office in Munich last year, the firm brought on partner Michael Reich to boost its European competition team. Pinsent Masons opens doors in Australia Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8641/pinsent-masons-opens-doors-in-australia 2015-07-06T14:22:38Z Pinsent Masons opened an office in Australia last Thursday and announced that it had hired Peter Megens, an infrastructure disputes partner from King & Spalding. Megens moves to Australia from Singapore, where he spent the last two years as partner. Prior to joining King & Spalding in 2013, Megens was co-head of arbitration in Melbourne for King & Wood Mallesons. Megens has various specialties ranging from arbitration to all aspects of dispute resolution, including court litigation, mediation and negotiation. He worked on major infrastructure projects in Melbourne such as the Melbourne CityLink project as well as the Melbourne Train network. Pinsent's new office opens in Melbourne, so Megens will be back in a city he knows well. The firm has launched a second office in Sydney as well. Pinsent Masons hires Clifford Chance IP head Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8602/pinsent-masons-hires-clifford-chance-ip-head 2015-06-18T14:35:41Z Pinsent Masons has hired the Munich IP head from Clifford Chance, Marc Holtorf. Pinsent first opened its Munich office in 2012. Since then, the firm has made five lateral hires, with Holtorf marking its sixth lateral addition. Holtorf is the most recent in a string of departures from Clifford Chance in Germany over the past seven months, after the firm reviewed its practice, resulting in a number of partners being asked to leave the firm. Pinsent Masons now has 13 partners and more than 40 fee-earners in its Munich office. New pension boutique springs up Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8589/new-pension-boutique-springs-up 2015-06-15T09:36:10Z A new pensions boutique, co-founded by Pinsent Masons' former senior partner Chris Mullen and Anna Rodgers, former Mayer Brown partner, is now operating as ARC Pensions Law. Mullen was senior partner at Pinsent Masons for nine years before losing an election last year. The election saw Richard Foley elevated to the role in his place. Mullen will serve at managing partner of ARC. Rogers is currently chairman of the Association of Pension Lawyers and worked as a partner at Mayer Brown before co-founding the boutique with Mullen. She will be senior partner at the new firm. Mullen joins the company of two other partners in the past week who departed their firm in the wake of a lost leadership election. Berwin Leighton Paisner head of corporate David Collins departed after losing an election last February to Lisa Mayhew to become the firm's managing partner. Mark Crean, formerly senior partner at his last firm [Herbert Smith Freehills ], similarly lost a re-election bid last year and departed the firm last week. Allen & Overy to take trainees in Middle East in 2016 Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8579/allen-overy-to-take-trainees-in-middle-east-in-2016 2015-06-10T14:05:24Z Allen & Overy will begin accepting trainees at its Middle East office in the year 2016 and thereafter. Anywhere up to three trainees may join the firm each year in the region. They will spend at least six months of their two year traineeship working at the firm's London office as well. The firm is looking for final-year undergraduates or else law graduates for its traineeships, a difference to typical recruitment period in the UK, where candidates are often in their second year at the time. A&O, which has had a presence in the region since 1978, is not the first firm based in the UK that will trake trainees in the Middle East. Clifford Chance last year accepted three trainees while Pinsent Masons last year accepted four. Fieldfisher lures energy partner from Bond Dickinson Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8557/fieldfisher-lures-energy-partner-from-bond-dickinson 2015-06-03T14:32:10Z Stuart Carter, an energy partner formerly at Bond Dickinson has begun a new position as partner at Fieldfisher. Carter spent two years at Bond Dickinson as well as three at legacy firm Bond Pearce. Carter will enhance Fieldfisher's oil and gas practice. He specialises in upstream and midstream commercial oil and gas operations. He has 23 years experience as an energy lawyer. Before his time at Bond Pearce, he was the legal director at PetroLegal, regional general counsel at Burlington Resources and solicitor at BG Group. It was only a few months earlier, in February, when Bond Dickinson lost members of its energy practice to Pinsent Masons, when oil and gas specialist Paul McGoldrick (London) and corporate partner Osama Hassan (Dubai) were scooped up. Hill Dickinson announces 30 redundancies Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8524/hill-dickinson-announces-30-redundancies 2015-05-18T18:37:34Z Hill Dickinson has announced that about 30 jobs are at risk of being cut, pending a 30-day consultation period. Just a year ago, the firm cut 40 positions in its counter fraud team. The cuts this year will be made in its insurance team. Hill Dickinson also had a review in 2013, that saw 83 positions cut at the firm, including 14 partner positions. 44 people volunteered to surrender their jobs at the time. Alongside the news of these redundancies, the firm is hiring two new partners to the property team, Jim Garton and Jim Purves. Garton comes from Gateley, where he was head of real estate. Purves joins the Manchester office from Pinsent Masons. Bevan Brittan hires away DWF partner in London Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8469/bevan-brittan-hires-away-dwf-partner-in-london 2015-04-20T16:48:15Z Bevan Brittan has managed to hire away employment partner Ashley Norman from DWF. Norman was at Bevan for more than two years. Before that, he was a partner and national head of employment and pensions at Cobbetts, where he joined in 2008 from Pinsent Masons. With Norman joining the firm, Bevan Brittan has grown its litigation practice to 10 partners, four of whom are working solely on employment issues. Norman has worked on contentious and non-contentious employment issues in the public as well as private and third sectors. He has been involved on large discrimination and equality cases. Pinsent Masons managing partner to head London office Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8465/pinsent-masons-managing-partner-to-head-london-office 2015-04-17T16:10:12Z Pinsent Masons current managing partner, David Ryan, who will step down from his post after 16 years on 1 May of this year, will transition to London office head at the firm. Currently, Martin Roberts is serving as London office head and has been in the position for almost 11 years. Roberts will step down and return to full-time fee-earning. Last year, the firm elected John Cleland to replace Ryan as managing partner, after Ryan announced his intention to step down. Pinsent Masons plans to launch in Sydney and Melbourne Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8392/pinsent-masons-plans-to-launch-in-sydney-and-melbourne 2015-03-09T14:06:22Z Pinsent Masons has announced it plans to open two offices in Australia, in Melbourne and Sydney. Former Maddocks CEO David Rennick, who did a strategic review for Pinsent over the past year to assess its options in the region, will lead the endeavour. Joining Rennick will be Maddocks partners Greg Campbell and Simela Karasavidis, former Pinsents parter Micahel Battye, and London-based Pinsent litigation partner Andrew Denton, who will relocate to join the team. Adam Perl also joins the team from his current role as senior in-house counsel at Australian infrastructure company Leighton. The practice will service existing clients who are currently being served from the Hong Kong, China and Singapore offices. Pinsent Masons hires new financial regulatory head Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8377/pinsent-masons-hires-new-financial-regulatory-head 2015-03-04T17:00:46Z David Heffron, a 16-year partner at Addleshaw Goddard has joined Pinset Masons in a newly-created position as head of its financial regulatory practice. The firm had a financial regulatory practice team in place well before his hiring. Heffron was previously head of financial services and insurance at Addleshaw up until late last year. In November, litigation partner Sally Butt was named head of financial services. Addleshaw also named partner Amanda Hulme to be its new head of financial regulation. Pinsents raided Addleshaw in 2013, when it tapped partner Michael Isaacs to lead its banking litigation practice. Pinsent Masons boosts its global energy group Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8311/pinsent-masons-boosts-its-global-energy-group 2015-02-03T07:57:20Z Pinsent Masons has added two partners to its global energy group, Paul McGoldrick in London and Osama Hassan in Dubai. McGoldrick is an oil and gas specialist who joins Pinsent from Bond Dickinson, where he was partner on the firm's oil and gas team since 2007. Prior to that, he spent 10 years in-house with Marathon Oil, Arco and ExxonMobil. Hassan is a corporate partner who joins Pinsent from Bennett Jones, a Canadian energy firm. Hassan will work closely with Dubai corporate head Alison Hubbard to lead the corporate practice in the Middle East. He brings with him a senior associate and a fee-earner to join the eight-person team in Dubai. Nabarro strengthens practice with partner hires Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8310/nabarro-strengthens-practice-with-partner-hires 2015-02-02T09:03:03Z Nabarro has added two partners to strengthen its recently opened Manchester office. Corporate partner Howard Gill and real estate partner Peter Winnard join Nabarro from Pinsent Masons and Eversheds, respectively. Gill will be the firm's first corporate partner in Manchester. The firm announced additional hires in Dubai, adding Ravinder Bhullar from Baker Botts to its infrastructure, construction and energy practice as well as a project partner and dispute specialist Kevin Joyce, who joins from Pinsent Masons. Pinsent Masons elects new managing partner Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8252/pinsent-masons-elects-new-managing-partner 2014-12-10T08:37:09Z Pinsent Masons elected Leeds banking partner John Cleland as its new managing partner in a vote. Cleland joined the firm in 1997 as a partner. Currently, he is head of financial institutions. In addition to Cleland, two other candidates stood for election. They were Adrian Barlow, group head of property, and Richard Masters, head of client operations. Current managing partner David Ryan has been in his role for almost 16 years. He indicated before the election process began that he did not intend to stand in the election. Cleland will begin his term in May of 2015. Ryan will remain a member of senior management. Pinsent Masons nominates candidates for managing partner Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8185/pinsent-masons-nominates-candidates-for-managing-partner 2014-11-06T09:27:28Z Pinsent Masons has nominated three candidates to succeed managing partner David Ryan after his term ends in April 2015. The three candidates named are Adrian Barlow - head of property, John Cleland - banking and finance head, and Richard Masters - former managing partner of legacy firm McGrigors. Barlow has been with the firm since 1987 (legacy firm Simpson Curtis) and made partner in 1994. Cleland joined Pinsent Curtis in 1997 as partner. Both have been group heads since 2004. Masters made partner after training at McGrigors in 1995 and was elected managing partner of the legacy firm in 2007 and 2011 before the merger with Pinsent Masons. Ryan is stepping down from the role after 15 years, making this election the first contested election since his initial appointment. Taylor Wessing announces 2018 partnership diversity goals Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8178/taylor-wessing-announces-2018-partnership-diversity-goals 2014-11-05T10:06:20Z Taylor Wessing has created three initiatives aimed at increasing the percentage of female partners at the firm to 25 percent by the year 2018. Currently, 17 percent of the firm's partners are female. The three initiatives focus on enhancing flexible working culture through specific firm-wide proposals for change, developing more exchange partner-associate mentorships, and surveying all lawyers at the firm for their ideas on improving inclusivity. Several firms have focused on targets for female partnership. Baker & McKenzie established a target of 30 percent female equity partners in April 2013. Herbert Smith Freehills and Linklaters also have 30 percent targets. Pinsent Masons targets 25 percent female partners by 2018 and 30 percent long term while BLP targets 30 percent by 2018. Allen & Overy have a target of 20 percent by year 2020. Pinsent's 16-year managing partner will not stand for re-election Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8157/pinsents-16-year-managing-partner-will-not-stand-for-re-election 2014-10-27T12:35:56Z Pinsent Mason managing partner David Ryan has decided not to stand for re-election after his current term is completed in April 2015. Ryan will remain a critical member of the central management team as well as lead projects at the firm. Ryan has been managing partner since 1999, before the three mergers that formed today's firm. He also led the firm as it opened in France, Germany, the Gulf, Singapore and China over the years. Pinsents not long ago voted Richard Foley, construction chief, as new senior partner in a contested election. He will replace Chris Mullen, who was senior partner since 2005. Pinsent Masons picks partner to lead Glasgow operations Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8148/pinsent-masons-picks-partner-to-lead-glasgow-operations 2014-10-13T13:51:02Z Barry McCaig will assume leadership of Glasgow operations for Pinsent Masons that employ 280 people. His predecessor, Fraser McMillan, has been appointed head of global construction. McCaig, a corporate partner, has worked at the firm for 14 years, dating back to his service at McGrigors before its merger with Pinsent Masons. His experience is in corporate deals across multiple industries. Pinsent Masons reports 4.6% increase in revenue Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/8012/pinsent-masons-reports-4.6-increase-in-revenue 2014-07-08T22:56:55Z Pinsent Masons has reported a 4.6 per cent increase in revenue from £309m to £323m in the last financial year, while average profit per equity partner increased by 4.5 per cent from £387,000 to £405,000. Pinsents managing partner David Ryan attributed the bulk of the growth to banking and finance, real estate and projects, particularly in the energy sector. The firm's Germany and the Middle East practices have also made a significant contribution to the revenue figures. The firm has invested serious energy in growth via merger in the past couple of years, as well as expanding with office launches and lateral hires. But Ryan indicated a strategic shift in the coming period, saying: "Our focus now is on realising the strongest returns and boosting profitability with a more modest level of investment continuing alongside." Pinsent Masons elects new Managing Partner Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7998/pinsent-masons-elects-new-managing-partner 2014-06-30T21:45:20Z Pinsent Masons has elected a new senior partner for a four year term. The firm's head of construction, Richard Foley, will take up the role from October 2014, taking over from Chris Mullen who held the role for nine years. Mullen contested the election against Foley, making it the first contested election since managing partner David Ryan was first elected in 1998. Foley took the win, amidst widespread feeling that a change in leadership was overdue. Foley has been at Pinsent Masons for 24 years, and was with legacy firm Masons when it merged with Pinsent Curtis Biddle in December 2004. He headed up the firm's Asia practice from Hong Kong for seven years, he launched the energy sector practice in 2008, and then led the projects practice. Ashurst sets gender targets for partnership and management Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7942/ashurst-sets-gender-targets-for-partnership-and-management 2014-06-04T18:06:26Z Ashurst has set targets to increase of the number of women in its partnership and senior staff. The firm intends to ensure that 40% of promotions to partnership will be female by 2018, and women will also make up 25% of equity partners and 25% of management positions by that date. The announcement follows similar moves by Herbert Smith Freehills, which aims for 30% of partners to be female by 2019, and Pinsent Masons, which is aiming for 25% female partners by 2018. In the most recent partner promotion round at Ashurst, 33% were woman. And women make up just 14% the total partnership and 27% of senior management. Managing partner James Collis said: 'Recruiting, retaining and promoting the best people from the widest talent pool is a major business priority for all of us. Having a diverse team and an inclusive environment delivers increased levels of innovation, greater productivity and improved staff engagement and client service and is a key management objective for me.' Pinsent Masons launches Middle East grad programme Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7889/pinsent-masons-launches-middle-east-grad-programme 2014-05-12T21:31:51Z Pinsent Masons has announced the launch of a new graduate programme in the Middle East, with trainees qualifying to work in the firm's Dubai and Doha offices. Selected trainees will spend one year training in London and the rest of their training in Dubai and Doha, and will stay on in the gulf at the completion of their training. Four british students have been chosen for the first round of the programme, selected "because of their close ties to the Middle East", but the firm intends to recruit its Middle Eastern trainees directly from the region's universities in the next stage of the programme. Head of Gulf Region Sachin Kerur said "We want to recruit junior lawyers who share our excitement about the region's future and want to make a commitment to being a part of it". 3 former Bircham Dyson Bell associates return to fold Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7874/3-former-bircham-dyson-bell-associates-return-to-fold 2014-04-27T21:56:34Z Three former Bircham Dyson Bell lawyers who left the firm to join Pinsent Masons have returned to their former firm after less than a year. Planning associates Ian Cameron, Sarah Clark and Tom Henderson all departed from Bircham Dyson bell last summer, following three additional colleagues to Pinsents. Just ten months later The three have returned. A spokesman for Pinsents said, "We remain on good terms with the leavers and wish them all the best", but declined to comment on the reason for the abrupt departures. BDB head of planning Nick Brown said, "We are naturally very pleased to welcome Ian, Sarah and Tom back to BDB". DWF hires financial institutions head from Pinsent Masons Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7854/dwf-hires-financial-institutions-head-from-pinsent-masons 2014-04-21T08:03:17Z DWF has hired the head of the financial institutions practice from Pinsent Masons, as part of a plan to grow its commercial practice groups. Stephen Miles will become CEO for the DWF commercial services division, which has revenues of around £100m annually. DWF managing partner Andrew Leaitherland said: "This role is critical to the future development of Commercial Services at DWF and Stephen's wealth of management experience, his strong leadership track record and his impressive understanding and insight into changing client needs will give us an exceptional platform for future growth." Pinsent Masons to hold leadership elections Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7802/pinsent-masons-to-hold-leadership-elections 2014-03-31T23:18:47Z Pinsent Masons is preparing for the election of its managing partner and senior partner. The election will be the firm's first since the merger between Pinsent Masons and McGrigors in May 2012. Pinsent Masons said in a statement: "We can confirm that the firm is likely to hold management elections at some stage in the next financial year although no dates have been decided." Incumbent managing partner David Ryan and incumbent senior partner Chris Mullen may face competition for their roles, with some suggesting that there is an appetite for a change of management. HSF aims for 30% female partners Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7764/hsf-aims-for-30-female-partners 2014-03-16T20:17:38Z Herbert Smith Freehills has announced a plan to boost progress toward gender equality with a goal of 30 per cent female partnership. In 2012/13 19.3 per cent of the firm's partners were women, and the firm aims to get to an interim goal of 25 per cent within the next three years. Joint CEO David Willis said: "These targets have tangible benefits for the whole business – as well as promoting the best talent, they will help us meet the needs of our clients and bring diverse perspectives to our business and the business of clients." Similar schemes have recently been launched by Pinsent Masons (targeting 25 per female partnership by 2018, on the way to 30 per cent in the future), and Baker & McKenzie (which aims to double its female partnership from 15 per cent to 30 per cent). Chinese firm Fangda boosts HK corporate practice Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7656/chinese-firm-fangda-boosts-hk-corporate-practice 2014-01-07T22:26:10Z Chinese law firm Fangda Partners has boosted its Hong Kong corporate practice with the hire of partner Andrew Lui from US firm Edwards Wildman Palmer. Lui is qualified in Hong Kong and England and Wales. He has done some moving during his career, working as the head of legacy Salans' Hong Kong office before starting his role with Edwards Wildman's Hong Kong office in 2010, and before that serving as co-head of Pinsent Masons' China corporate practice and as a partner in DLA Piper's Hong Kong office before that. Lui's practice primarily focuses on corporate and capital markets transactions and regulatory matters. Companies he has advised include Hutchison Whampoa, Cheung Kong Holdings, Samsung Securities, Ping An Insurance, SUEZ and the New World Group. TLT hires team of 30 from Irwin Mitchell in Manchester Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7584/tlt-hires-team-of-30-from-irwin-mitchell-in-manchester 2013-12-02T21:52:01Z TLT has given its Manchester office a significant boost with the hire of a team of 30 from Irwin Mitchell. The group includes solicitors, paralegals and support staff, and is led by six partners whose expertise covers commercial litigation, property, employment, corporate banking and finance litigation matters. TLT is in rapid expansion since its Manchester launch six months ago. In recent months the firm has hired partners from Pinsent Masons, DLA Piper and Hill Dickinson. And the Manchester office itself launched after a string of office launches in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast in 2012. TLT managing partner David Pester said: "The team is a great fit strategically for the firm. Their industry experience advising energy, financial services, leisure and retail businesses adds immediate expertise for TLT's clients. They have significant experience in the Manchester market, alongside legal skills that will deliver for the firm's clients UK-wide." Hong Kong may permit foreign firms to form LLPs Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7538/hong-kong-may-permit-foreign-firms-to-form-llps 2013-11-11T23:07:16Z The Law Society of Hong Kong is drafting new rules and may permit foreign law firms to establish limited liability partnerships from next year. If they are approved by Hong Kong's Legislative Council, the changes to local liability regulations will allow international firms to integrate their Hong Kong businesses with their international LLP networks The new LLP rules would require firms to top up their professional indemnity insurance from HK$10m (£805,000) to HK$20m (£1.6m), irrespective of their size. Hong Kong solicitor-general Frank Poon said the changes will lead to consolidation of the local industry and create more options for international firms. Vincent Connor, Pinsent Masons' Hong Kong managing partner, commented: "In terms of making Hong Kong law for businesses consistent with other jurisdictions where they have a modern approach to this sort of structuring, then it makes sense and makes Hong Kong law more fit for purpose. UK firms offer trainees short-term employment Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7403/uk-firms-offer-trainees-short-term-employment 2013-08-28T14:09:20Z Roll on Friday reports that some major UK law firms are offering trainees short term contracts rather than permanent employment upon qualification. The publication asked fifty leading firms about the terms upon which they were retaining newly qualified lawyers, and learned that many law firms are offering fixed terms to part of their qualifying cohorts. Five of the 12 retained qualifiers at Field Fisher Waterhouse will be on 12 month FTCs, and there are four at DLA Piper, three at Irwin Mitchell and two apiece at Hogan Lovells and Pinsent Masons. CMS Cameron McKenna, Eversheds have offered fixed term contracts for periods of six and three months respectively. One NQ at each of Trowers & Hamlins, DAC Beachcroft, Mills & Reeve and Taylor Wessing will also be on a FTC, while Olswang's Global HR Director said, "We are unable to share the number of FTCs offered this year, but it is a solution that we have used in this and previous recruitment rounds to make sure we retain the best talent". Four firms failed to confirm one way or the other: Shoosmiths, Charles Russell, Shearman & Sterling and Clarke Willmott. Carson McDowell bolsters Belfast corporate practice Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7387/carson-mcdowell-bolsters-belfast-corporate-practice 2013-08-22T17:24:19Z Belfast law firm Carson McDowell has boosted its corporate practice with the hire of partner Richard Gray from Pinsent Masons. Gray will jointly head up the corporate team with Neasa Quigley. Carson McDowell's managing partner Michael Johnston said of the new hire: 'His values, approach and mindset match the ethos and values we like to instil at Carson McDowell. "He will contribute significantly to our market position of being the 'go to' law firm for Northern Irish businesses as well as law firm of choice for international companies and law firms requiring legal counsel in Northern Ireland." Scotland's top 5 law firms ranked Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7384/scotlands-top-5-law-firms-ranked 2013-08-20T11:47:33Z The view from the top has changed in Scotland, with the country's largest law firms reshuffling their positions after the takeover of McGrigors by Pinsent Masons and the merger of Burness with Paull & Williamsons. The Lawyer magazine reports that a new top five has emerged in Scotland, with Dundas & Wilson taking first place when ranked by revenue, while Brodies takes second place ahead of Maclay Murray & Spens. Burness Paull came in fourth, overtaking Shepherd & Wedderburn, which now sits in fifth place. Dundas & Wilson, Maclay Murray & Spens and Shepherd & Wedderburn all saw revenue fall in the last financial year, by 10 per cent, 13 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. Brodies grew its revenues by 8 per cent to £46m, while turnover at the combined Burness Paull grew by 3 per cent to £38.7m. UK top 50 see revenue growth Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7351/uk-top-50-see-revenue-growth- 2013-08-06T22:29:13Z The top 50 law firms in the UK grew nearly 5 per cent in the 2012-13 financial year, making last year their third consecutive year of growth amid a troubled economy. Legal Week reports that much of the growth was driven by mergers, with Herbert Smith Freehills, Pinsent Masons and DWF all seeing revenue growth in excess of 20% as a result of acquiring other firms. Twelve of the top 50 firms underwent some form of tie-up in 2012-13. The firms paid for their mergers with profits per equity partner, which dipped by 0.5% across the group, to an average of £557,000. Hogan Lovells CEO David Harris commented: "Market sentiment has certainly improved, although there still remains quite a lot of uncertainty. US sentiment is also more positive and may lead to increased activity ahead of other markets. "Generally speaking, firms are looking at ways to differentiate themselves in an ever-more competitive market, playing to their strengths." Law firm collapses make banks wary Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7264/law-firm-collapses-make-banks-wary 2013-07-01T14:13:33Z Banks will be much more wary about lending to law firms, according to restructuring expert Steve Cottee of Pinsent Masons. In times gone by banks saw law firms as a sound and stable investment, and often offered loans unsecured by debenture or by personal guarantees from partners. But the collapse of highly-respected law firm Cobbetts in February 2013 has changed the perception by banks that law firms don't fail. "The feeling amongst many lenders now is that if a firm like Cobbetts can collapse, then there is a large number of similar firms that will be facing the same problems. This has been combined with a sharp increase in the number of SRA [Solicitors Regulation Authority] interventions into firms already this year," said Cottee. "In addition to this, the UK legal market is going through the greatest upheaval that it has ever experienced. It may be that the legal profession is set to experience its own financial crisis similar to the banking one in 2008." Pinsent Masons makes up 14 partners Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7106/pinsent-masons-makes-up-14-partners 2013-04-22T22:24:02Z Pinsent Masons has promoted 14 lawyers to its partnership in its annual promotions round, up from 13 last year. Three of the new partners are based in London, four are in Scotland and three are based in the firm's Asian offices. In London Tom Cartwright (finance), Simon Gardiner (real estate) and James Earl (sport) were tapped for promotion, while in Scotland Edinburgh-based Chris McGarvey (energy) and Aberdeen's Richard Scott (energy) were promoted along with Glasgow duo Scott Johnston (energy) and Paul Connolly (real estate). Leeds pair James Long (real estate) and Philip Scott (finance) and Manchester duo Ian Stubbs (energy) and Nicola Buchanan (real estate) have also been made up. In Asia Amanda Yao (corporate) was promoted in Shanghai, Ellen Zhang (infrastructure) joins the partnership in Beijing and Paul Haswell (TMT) joins in Hong Kong. Pinsent Masons to cut up to 13 lawyers Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/7085/pinsent-masons-to-cut-up-to-13-lawyers 2013-04-12T15:00:40Z Pinsent Masons is set to make up to 13 lawyer redundancies in its UK employment practice. This will be the firm's third round of redundancies since its merger with McGrigors last year; the firm laid off 47 support workers in August of last year and a further 15 support roles were cut in December. The firm explained the move in a statement, saying: "As a firm we continue to grow and have made a number of strategic investments over the past 12 months in those sectors and markets where we see most potential for growth. "However, like any business we also need to monitor our resourcing levels and recognise and respond to market changes. This is particularly true in the field of employment law where market dynamics have shifted fundamentally. As a result we are taking steps to restructure our employment practice to create a group that is the right size and shape to respond to the changed nature of demand across the UK and internationally. "While it is not possible to confirm exact numbers as consultation is ongoing, regrettably we expect that around 13 people could leave the group as a result of the restructure." Pinsents to launch freelance lawyer service Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/6918/pinsents-to-launch-freelance-lawyer-service 2013-02-07T11:58:23Z Pinsent Masons is set to launch a new arm of its legal services business, offering freelance lawyers to businesses on a temporary and ad hoc basis. The new service will be available in the spring under the name 'Vario', and will be in competition with similar ventures from Berwin Leighton Paisner (Lawyers on Demand) and Eversheds (Agile). Pinsents' managing partner David Ryan said: "The legal market is changing and we are committed to changing with it. We know that our clients often face periods of high demand and value the ability to ramp-up resource for a specific purpose, often at short notice and for a defined period of time. "By launching Vario we aim to marry client demand for lawyers who meet Pinsent Masons' high professional standards with the aspirations of lawyers for a stimulating but more flexible career." More mergers for Scottish firms, say leaders Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/6832/more-mergers-for-scottish-firms-say-leaders 2012-12-25T23:48:10Z The leaders of Scotland's largest law firms predict more mergers in 2013, according to the Herald Scotland. 2012 saw numerous law firm mergers, with English firms such as DWF, Beachcroft, Pinsent Masons and Shoosmiths linking up with Scottish firms. Kirk Murdoch, of Pinsent Masons, which merged with McGrigors in May, said: "Legal panel consolidation and pressure on fees are set to continue. "Firms without sufficient size, scale and reach will find those competitive pressures hard to resist, with the most likely outcome being more mergers and the potential even for more dramatic outcomes. "The strategic reality for those firms is that there is a finite number of quality merger partners out there and firms with national – let alone international – ambitions will already be finding their options limited." Pinsent Masons lays off 15 support staff in the UK Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/6777/pinsent-masons-lays-off-15-support-staff-in-the-uk 2012-12-07T21:04:41Z Pinsent Masons has laid off 15 support staff in the firm's second redundancy round since its merger with Scottish firm McGrigors. Of the fifteen departing UK staff, 13 took voluntary redundancy and two were subject to compulsory redundancy. All affected jobs are in the finance and knowledge management teams. A spokesman for Pinsent Masons said: "In November we began the second phase of our review that looked at how our support teams can best service the merged firm. The review is now complete and we can confirm that 15 members from across the UK will leave the firm as a result ... "We understand that this has been a difficult time for those involved, and would like to again thank our support teams for their professionalism during both redundancy processes." Pinsent Masons announces more layoffs Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/6710/pinsent-masons-announces-more-layoffs 2012-11-11T10:06:44Z Pinsent Masons has launched its second redundancy round of the year, cutting 15 roles from the ranks of support staff. The first round of redundancies was effected in August, following a consultation process that began after the firm merged with McGrigors. The firm laid off 47 support staff in August, 40 of them taking voluntary redundancies, and firm management now says that these latest redundancies are the final phase in the post-merger process. A spokesman for Pinsent Masons said, "In June the firm began an exercise to review existing support structures in light of its merger and consider what changes would be needed to provide the most effective level of support to the combined business. As anticipated, duplicate roles were identified within our support teams and a number of people left the firm. We are now about to conduct the second phase of this process and expect around 15 support roles to be at risk. We are consulting with those affected and anticipate that this will be complete in December." Pinsent Masons boosts Shanghai practice with 25 Salans hires Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/6522/pinsent-masons-boosts-shanghai-practice-with-25-salans-hires 2012-09-12T07:32:29Z Pinsent Masons has bolstered its Shanghai practice with the hire of 13 lawyers and 12 support staff from Salans. The hires follow the June hire of Salans' Shanghai managing partner Bernd-Uwe Stucken and fellow Shanghai corporate partner Wei Liu. The new recruits will take the number of staff in Pinsent Masons' Shanghai office to 50, and add real estate, tax and competition expertise to the firm's offering in China. Pinsent Masons managing partner David Ryan said: "This news marks another important step in the development of our Chinese practice. There are strong links between Shanghai, our Munich office and our German desk in London, especially given the strength of manufacturing in Germany and the importance of both Germany and Shanghai to our advanced manufacturing and technology services sector. The arrival of the team also coincides with the firm's launch in Paris (31 August 2012), strengthening our ability to support European clients across Asia." Two UK firms announce redundancies Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/6491/two-uk-firms-announce-redundancies 2012-08-31T21:24:41Z Pinsent Masons and Addleshaw Goddard have both announced redundancies, Addleshaws is set to lay off 24 fee-earners from the firm's London, Leeds and Manchester offices, despite recording a 30 per cent increase in profits this year. A spokesman said that it "been a difficult period for those affected by the consultation and we thank them for their understanding and great professionalism. We wish them well." Meanwhile, Pinsent Masons has confirmed that it is making 47 non fee-earning staff redundant in order to eliminate duplicate roles following the firm's takeover of McGrigors. Forty of the 47 layoffs were voluntary. A spokesman said that all those affected had been offered outplacement support, and acknowledged that "this has obviously been an unsettling time for all of those involved and we are very sorry to have to see colleagues go." Pinsent Masons lays off 47 support staff Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/6461/pinsent-masons-lays-off-47-support-staff 2012-08-24T22:00:52Z Pinsent Masons has announced that it is laying off 47 support staff following its merger with Scottish firm McGrigors. The cuts are intended to remove duplication of support roles between the merging firms, and are comprised of 40 voluntary and seven compulsory redundancies from the firm's HR, IT, facilities and business development departments. A Pinsents spokesperson said: "This has obviously been an unsettlingly time for all of those involved and we are very sorry to have to see colleagues go. We would like to thank our support teams for the patience and professionalism they have shown during this process." Pinsent Masons records 39% growth following merger with McGrigors Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/6328/pinsent-masons-records-39-growth-following-merger-with-mcgrigors 2012-07-05T21:40:24Z Pinsent Masons posted a 4 per cent increase in revenue in the 2011-12 financial year, a figure that leaps up to almost 39 per cent when turnover from merger partner McGrigors is added in. Pinsents alone brought in revenues of £221 million, up from £212.7 million in 2010-11, while McGrigors brought in around £74 million before the end of a short year finishing in September at the time of the merger. Total revenue for the combined firm, then, was £295 million. Managing partner David Ryan said: "Our results show that we're continuing to perform strongly in a difficult market. The continued investment in our staff and infrastructure has increased our ability to respond to changing client demand. The merger with McGrigors built on this, and as a combined firm we're in a strong position for growth in the coming years." Pinsent Masons announces staff redundancies after merger Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/6314/pinsent-masons-announces-staff-redundancies-after-merger 2012-07-02T16:10:41Z Pinsent Masons is set to sack up to 45 staff following its merger with McGrigors. The redundancy round, which does not affect any fee-earners, was said to have been motivated by the fact that the merger created a duplication of support roles. A spokesman said that "unfortunately, as with any merger, there are a number of duplicate roles within our support teams and as such we've identified a small number of potential redundancies in those areas". The affected staff were reportedly given just five days to apply for their jobs or for voluntary redundancy. Shoosmiths to link up with Scottish firm Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/6304/shoosmiths-to-link-up-with-scottish-firm- 2012-06-27T05:54:04Z British law firm Shoosmiths is set to merge with Scottish firm Archibald Campbell & Harley, adding 65 staff (25 of whom are lawyers) to its roster and establishing a presence in Scotland for the first time. The news follows an announcement in May that Shoosmiths had begun a redundancy consultation as part of a firm-wide restructure, with as many as 93 staff expected to lose their jobs. There seems to be a run on Scottish firms of late, with Manchester-based firm DWF announcing a merger with Biggart Baillie earlier this month, and Pinsent Masons announcing a merger with McGrigors in February. Pinsent Masons and McGrigors announce merger plans Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/5866/pinsent-masons-and-mcgrigors-announce-merger-plans 2012-02-07T01:53:07Z London firm Pinsent Masons and Scottish firm McGrigors have announced a formal agreement to merge. The combined firm will operate under the banner of Pinsent Masons and will employ more than 2,500 staff, including 1,500 lawyers, over 350 partners and a turnover of around £282 million. There are as yet no details on the management structure of the combined firm, or of who will lead the firm in the role of managing partner or chief executive. Richard Masters, managing partner of McGrigors, yesterday described the deal as "great news for clients of both firms". He added: "We believe it will provide a solid platform for growth, allowing us to become a clear market-leader in strategically key sectors." British government cuts spend on external legal advisors by 36% Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/5834/british-government-cuts-spend-on-external-legal-advisors-by-36 2012-01-29T05:16:23Z An account of the British government's spending on legal services has shown a drop in the amount spent on external advisers, which was a third less than last year. The figures were released by the Government Procurement Service after a Freedom of Information Act request from Legal Week. They show that the panel paid £28.8m to its roster of 48-firm roster during 2010-11, 36% down on the record figure of £44.8m spent during the previous year. Experts attribute the drop to austerity measures that have forced public bodies to reduce costs – looking for good value and pushing firms to reduce fees – and note that a number of large projects were cancelled last year. Pinsent Masons was the top-billing firm on the panel, taking in total fees of £5.7m, while Field Fisher Waterhouse billed £3.8m, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer billed £3.2m, Eversheds billed £2.5m and SNR Denton billed £2.3m. Simmons & Simmons voted most gay-friendly law firm Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/5804/simmons-simmons-voted-most-gay-friendly-law-firm 2012-01-20T00:54:00Z Simmons & Simmons has taken out top honours for a fourth year running in the ratings for the most gay-friendsly law firm. The rating, conducted by charity organisation Stonewall ranks a range of corporations and firms. Simmons remains at the top of the profession and managed a personal best in the overall ranking by coming in at 10th place (up from 19th last year). Six other firms made the top 100: Baker & McKenzie(19), Irwin Mitchell(33), Pinsent Masons(41), Hogan Lovells (62), Eversheds (73) and Herbert Smith (80). A spokesperson for Simmons said the firm was delighted, but stressed that there was much more to be done, particularly in the firm's international offices, to ensure that the workplace was free of discrimination. Pinsent Masons set to launch European presence Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/5731/pinsent-masons-set-to-launch-european-presence- 2011-12-12T20:25:39Z Pinsent Masons is set to launch offices in France and Germany in the first half of 2012, marking the firm's first foray into continental Europe. These launches mark the conclusion of a two-year alliance between Pinsent Masons and Anglo-French firm Salans. In a statement Salans said: "Our alliance with Pinsent Masons was never an exclusive arrangement, and as such both firms have been free to pursue independent international strategies. In fact, the formal alliance agreement ran its course some months ago and was not extended." It has been reported that partners at Pinsents decided to end the alliance because it was not producing the workflows the firm had hoped to see. Pinsent Masons to close Bristol office Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/5482/pinsent-masons-to-close-bristol-office 2011-09-12T09:00:46Z Pinsent Masons is set to close its Bristol office after a partnership vote today. The 11 lawyers in the Bristol office will be relocated to Birmingham, while four support staff are expected to become redundant. David Ryan, Pinsents' Managing Partner, explained the move: "the majority of clients that we work with from our Bristol office are nationwide/international. Therefore we are taking up a break clause in the lease of our Bristol office and will close it by the end of February 2012." Ryan confirmed that all the lawyers would be offered relocation, and "we have four support staff whose jobs are tied to the Bristol office and will be working closely with them over the coming months to assess alternative options." Pinsent Masons and Wragges freeze salaries for newly qualified lawyers Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/5440/pinsent-masons-and-wragges-freeze-salaries-for-newly-qualified-lawyers 2011-08-24T13:21:11Z Pinsent Masons and Wragge & Co have announced the details of their associate slaries for 2011-12, with both firms freezing rates for newly-qualified lawyers in London. Newly qualified lawyers at the London office of Wragges will take home £58,000, while salaries for Birmingham-based newly qualified lawers will increase by £1,000 to £38,000. Meanwhile the salary for newly qualified lawyers at the London office of Pinsents also remains static at £58,000, while regional salaries for the same level have been frozen at £38,000 outside Scotland, and £36,000 in Scotland. Other firms that have frozen the newly qualified pay band include Herbert Smith, Ince & Co, Linklaters and Allen & Overy. UK trainee retention figures a mixed bag Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/5316/uk-trainee-retention-figures-a-mixed-bag 2011-07-11T17:41:45Z Trainee retention figures are finding their way out into the light of day, and some of the results are less than pretty. Slaughter and May has offered a job to all of its 59 trainees – a retention rate of 100 per cent. US firms Sidley Austin and Kirkland & Ellis also retained 100 per cent of trainees, though these firms took on considerably fewer green lawyers – 7 and 6 trainees respectively. At Pinsent Masons the numbers are not so healthy, with 45 trainees competing for 32 newly qualified positions – an offer rate of just 71 per cent. Allen & Overy isn't doing much better, offering positions to 72 per cent of trainees – or 38 out of 53. Worse still are the figures at SNR Denton, where 56 per cent of trainees – or 13 out of 23 – have been offered a job. SNR Denton has a bumpy ride with falling profits and partner defections Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/5299/snr-denton-has-a-bumpy-ride-with-falling-profits-and-partner-defections 2011-07-04T16:43:44Z SNR Denton is facing difficult times in the wake of its transatlantic merger. The firm has reported an 8 per cent drop in revenue to £154.4million for the 2010/11 financial year, along with a 36% drop in profits per equity partner, from £360,000 to £232,000. To make matters worse, the faces a series of senior partner defections, with Michael Black leaving the firm for Reed Smith, Chris Borg heading for Norton Rose, Ian Roberts departing for Pinsent Masons and Rory McAlpine, head of advocacy, leaving for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Pinsent Masons and Mishcon de Reya announce 2011 promotions Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/4984/pinsent-masons-and-mishcon-de-reya-announce-2011-promotions 2011-04-26T12:27:04Z Pinsent Masons and Mishcon de Reya have announced their 2011 promotions. Mishcons made up two partners: litigator Derval Walsh was made up in London, and civil and criminal litigation expert Vincent Filardo joins the partnership in New York. Filardo's promotion represents the first time the firm has ever made up a partner outside the UK. Meanwhile. Pinsent Masons has made up five partners, a slight increase on the four promotions made last year. Three partners were made up in London: Paul Amiss in corporate, Iain Sawers in financial services and insurance and Rob Wilkins in projects and construction. Louise Forster was promoted in the Edinburgh projects and construction practice, with Chris Chong was made up in the Singapore dispute resolution practice. Leading UK firms aim for more diversity in recruitment Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/4680/leading-uk-firms-aim-for-more-diversity-in-recruitment 2011-03-17T05:23:44Z A number of leading UK law firms have announced the intention to increase the number of universities they visit during recruitment rounds, in a bid to increase diversity in graduate recruitment. Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells and Bird & Bird are the latest crop of firms to announce the intention to visit a greater number of universities, fllowing the lead of Pinsent Masons, Slaughter and May and Berwin Leighton Paisner, all of which expanded the number of universities they targeted during the last recruitment round. Simmons & Simmons is the only firm within the top 20 UK firms to go against the trend, decreasing the number of universities it visits from 15 to 11 over the last two years. Pinsent Masons lures funds practitioner from SJ Berwin Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/4656/pinsent-masons-lures-funds-practitioner-from-sj-berwin 2011-03-10T10:14:23Z TheLawyer reports that Pinsent Masons has bolstered its funds practice with the hire of a senior associate from SJ Berwin's fund formation team. Daniel Greenaway joinds Pinsent Masons as a partner. "Greenaway's appointment supports our aim to significantly grow our funds team and the wider corporate and banking and finance teams in London," said partner Ian Warner. "Fund formation has certainly picked up from where we were 12 months ago, although it's still taking a long time to raise funds." This is another hit for the SJ Berwin funds practice, after losing three partners in a raid by Kirkland & Ellis in January 2007. And it represents another in a string of recent departures from the firm in recent months, with outsourcing chief David Meredith joining Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, corporate partner Tandeep Minhas joining Taylor Wessing and real estate chief Jon Vivian leading a four-partner team that went to Irwin Mitchell with a team of associates. Clifford Chance has 'the biggest superbrand in the UK' Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/4646/clifford-chance-has-the-biggest-superbrand-in-the-uk 2011-03-06T07:15:33Z Clifford Chance has been declared the law firm with the biggest superbrand, according to The Centre for Brand Analysis. The firm came in at 184th in a list of 500 companies compiled on the basis of 'the opinions of marketing experts, business professionals and thousands of British consumers," with a shortlist "scored by an independent and voluntary Expert Council... bearing in mind the definition of a Superbrand*". Linklaters came in second among law firms at 188th, and Eversheds - last year's top-placed firm - came in at 200th. The other law firms making the list were Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (243), Slaughter and May (251), Allen & Overy (336), Hogan Lovells (396), Norton Rose (403), Pinsent Masons (480), Simmons & Simmons (496) and Lewis Silkin (497). As noted by RollOnFriday, the final list has some odd results, and is not entirely convincing. A spokeswoman from Clifford Chance said that "it's always nice to see extra recognition of our brand". UK firm Pinsent Masons forms alliance with Chinese firm Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/4547/uk-firm-pinsent-masons-forms-alliance-with-chinese-firm 2011-02-09T12:21:48Z UK law firm Pinsent Masons has announced an exclusive alliance with the Chinese boutique Beijing Hesen Law Firm. The move bolsters Pinsents' projects and construction practice in China, as the newly created firm Beijing Hesen is led by construction specialists Ye Wanhe and Elvis Zhou. Wanhe and Zhou will work alongside Pinsents' construction partners John Bishop and Hew Kian Heong, who lead the Beijing and Shanghai offices respectively. Pinsents senior partner Chris Mullen said: "It's an important development for our presence in the region and our projects and construction offering in particular. We are focusing hard on developing in China and the Asia-Pacific region and see this as a great opportunity to attract major domestic Chinese clients who not only need support and assistance with big infrastructure projects and related issues but are looking to expand internationally." Simmons & Simmons recognised as top UK firm for lesbians gays and bisexuals Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/4433/simmons-simmons-recognised-as-top-uk-firm-for-lesbians-gays-and-bisexuals 2011-01-17T09:51:35Z Simmons & Simmons has been recognised as the UK's top law firm for lesbians, gays and bisexuals, and 19th place overall, in Stonewall's 2011 ranking of top employers. Seven law firms made it into the top 100 employers this year, including Pinsent Masons (30th place) Hogan Lovells (at 42nd place), Baker & MacKenzie (45th place), Herbert Smith (50th place), Eversheds (72nd place) and Irwin Mitchell (93rd place). A spokesman for Simmons & Simmons said "we are very proud to participate in Stonewall's comprehensive index. It is great to see seven law firms ranked in the top 100 LGB-friendly employers - law can indeed be a welcoming workplace for members of the LGB community, whether fee earners or business services staff". UK firm Berwin Leighton Paisner hires financial services partner from Pinsent Masons Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/4431/uk-firm-berwin-leighton-paisner-hires-financial-services-partner-from-pinsent-masons 2011-01-17T09:44:47Z UK firm Berwin Leighton Paisner has boosted its non-contentious financial services practice with the hire of Pinsent Masons partner Jacob Ghanty. Berwin Leighton Paisner financial services group head Sidney Myers said: "Regulation's an increasingly important issue for all financial institutions,with tighter controls, additional regulation from Europe and major changes to the regulatory framework. Jacob's hire will allow us to provide more support to these clients as they engage with regulators". Eversheds, Pinsent Masons and Allens use social media for recruitment Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/3953/eversheds-pinsent-masons-and-allens-use-social-media-for-recruitment 2010-10-07T11:03:43Z Facebook is often regarded as a poor tool for law firm recruitment, with graduates preferring to maintain a division between their professional and personal lives. But a number of firms are turning to other social networking websites to build online communities of potential new recruits. The social recruiting platform BraveNewTalent.com offers firms the chance to connect with potential recruits over a social network, and a number of high profile firms have signed on, including Eversheds, Pinsent Masons and Allen & Overy. Edward Walker, Graduate Recruitment Manager at Pinsent Masons, pointed out that traditional advertising methods are no longer have the impact they did in the past, and that the firm has looked to social media to help identify and engage with candidates. He said: "We anticipate that social recruitment will both save us time and lower our average cost per hire." Reed Smith boosts energy practice with four hires from Pinsent Masons Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/3572/reed-smith-boosts-energy-practice-with-four-hires-from-pinsent-masons 2010-07-13T09:25:08Z US firm Reed Smith has boosted its energy practice with the hire of four partners from Pinsent Masons. Construction partners Keith Hartley, Peter Cassidy, Vincent Rowan and Gordon Bell are set to join Reed Smith's energy, trade & commodities group in London, bringing the number of partners in the group to 13. Reed Smith energy, trade and commodities head Kyri Evagora commented: "The expansion of our energy, trade and commodities group in the last two years has been a response to demand from existing energy clients - to a large extent it reflects the growth and diversification of our core clients' businesses. "The appointment of four partners with such depth of experience as project counsel will significantly enhance the support we are able to provide to our producer and trading company clients around the world." Pinsent Masons ties with local firm in Singapore Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/3561/pinsent-masons-ties-with-local-firm-in-singapore 2010-07-09T10:42:44Z Pinsent Masons has formalised its association with Singapore ally Mpillay after working together successfully for three years. The combined firm will be called Pinsent Masons Mpillay, will target the dispute resolution market in Singapore. In formalising the association both firms said they now have a more efficient practice combining resources and client invoicing. "Instead of two separate law firms the JLV allows for services to be provided by a single legal services provider," said MPillay's founder Mohan Pillay. "It's now a separate self-standing practice so the clients will benefit from all the work that both firms can do, with the convenience of a single point of communication, engagement, and invoicing." Pinsent Masons: 4% drop in revenue; 32% jump in profits for equity partners Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/3474/pinsent-masons-4-drop-in-revenue-32-jump-in-profits-for-equity-partners 2010-06-23T10:38:56Z Pinsent Masons has posted a 4 per cent drop in revenue over the 2009-10 financial year, from £215m in 2008-09 to £206m. The same period saw an increase in profits per equity partner, which increased by 32 per cent from £310,000 to £410,000. High performing areas included international arbitration, restructuring, pensions & outsourcing and technology & commercial. The firm's operations in the Gulf also gave strong performance. Pinsents managing partner David Ryan commented: "Our results reflect a spirited and determined performance by everyone in the business. In a tough climate, we not only made real progress but also made some important, strategic investments - particularly in life sciences and Islamic finance - which augur well for this year." Olswang hires partner from Pinsent Masons Anonymous lawyr http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/3342/olswang-hires-partner-from-pinsent-masons 2010-05-31T12:08:35Z Olswang has announced the hire of the co-head of Pinsent Masons' London restructuring practice, Seamas Gray. Olswang head of restructuring and insolvency Alicia Videon said: "Seamas brings with him a wealth of experience in complex restructuring and formal insolvency that, together with his recognised commercial approach, is a perfect fit in our existing team. "This is an exciting hire for Olswang and brings even greater depth to our already well established restructuring and insolvency practice. We're particularly delighted he's joining us at a time when we're seeing increasing volumes of work in bank-led restructuring."


text:
An occipital lobe stroke is a stroke that affects the back of the brain. The occipital lobe is the area of the brain that integrates our vision, allowing us to recognize and make sense of what our eyes see.

In general, occipital lobe stroke are not common. This is because the blood supply to the occipital lobe is made up of arteries that are arranged in a unique way. These arteries are called the vertebral arteries, the posterior cerebral arteries and the basilar arteries. These arteries that provide blood to the back of the brain provide duplicate blood supply in some areas, often compensating for each other. Sometimes, this arrangement prevents serious consequences that could result from interruption of blood flow through one artery if another artery provides adequate blood.

An occipital lobe stroke can cause a variety of visual changes which include partial vision loss, complete blindess and visual hallucinations, among other visual syndromes. These effects depend on where in the occipital lobe a stroke occurrs. Below you will find the most common symptoms brought on by occipital strokes.

Homonomous Hemianopia- Stroke Affecting the Entire Occipital Lobe on One Side

When the stroke affects most of the occipital lobe on one side of the brain, the visual problem that arises is called homonymous hemianopia. This describes loss of half of the vision out of each eye. A stroke survivor who has homonymous hemianopia is not able to see objects that are on the opposite side of the stroke.

A stroke affecting the left occipital lobe of the brain would cause a stroke survivor to have difficulty seeing objects on the right side. This problem typically affects both eyes- meaning that a person cannot see the right side from the right eye and also cannot see the right side from the left eye. Often, homonymous hemianopia is not perfectly symmetrical, as the eyes may not be affected equally.

Central Vision Defect-Stroke Affecting the Occipital Pole

The occipital pole is the area of the brain where central vision is processed. Central vision describes what you see at the center of your visual field when you are looking straight ahead. Therefore, a stroke affecting the occipital pole would cause you to have a large blind spot in the very middle of your visual field on the affected side.

A person with central vision deficit caused by a stroke of the occipital pole would have trouble seeing the face of a person standing directly across from him or her. For example, the stoke survivor may not be able to see the person's nose, upper lip, and the lower half of the eye on the affected side, but would still be able to see the person's shoulder and the top of their head.

These occipital pole strokes are quite rare.

Cortical Blindness- Stroke Affecting the Occipital Lobes on Both Sides

When the occipital lobes of the brain are completely affected by a stroke, the end result is a phenomenon called "cortical blindness." In essence, this is the same as what we all understand by the term "blindness," but this term is used when specific reason for blindness is damage to the brain cortex.

There are several symptoms of cortical blindness in addition to the loss of vision. Some stroke survivors are aware that they cannot see, while some stroke survivors are not aware of the blindness and experience visual hallucinations. The most well described syndromes characterized by cortical blindness and associated visual hallucinations are called Anton syndrome and Balint syndrome.

Some occiptal stroke survivors suffer from a condition called visual anosognosia, which is characterized by ignoring one side of vision.

Some Other Symptoms/Syndromes Associated with Occipital Stroke

Visual Illusions

Visual Hallucinations

Visual Agnosias

Prosopagnosia

Alexia without Agraphia

A Word From Verywell

A stroke can cause serious changes in vision, including vision loss, changes in vision and strange patterns of vision. Not all stroke induced vision changes are caused by occipital lobe strokes, as strokes in other regions of the brain can also cause vision changes. Changes in vision after a stroke can have a major impact on lifestyle, particularly when it comes to driving after a stroke.

If you experience visual symptoms, you should get a medical evaluation.

Source:

Strokes and vision: The management of ischemic arterial disease affecting the retina and occipital lobe, Lawlor M, Perry R, Hunt BJ, Plant GT, Surv Ophthalmol. 2015 Jul-Aug;60(4):296-309

Edited by Heidi Moawad MD

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Contract case could hurt reverse engineering
A US Supreme Court decision could call into question a common practice among software companies - studying competitors' products...
This Article Covers
Legislation & regulation
A US Supreme Court decision could call into question a common practice among software companies - studying competitors' products to improve their own offerings.
Jargon-buster guide to GDPR
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The legality of this practice, called reverse engineering, is in question after a court found that a software company had violated a shrink-wrapped licence contract when it reverse-engineered a competitor's piece of software.
Last week, the Supreme Court decided not to hear the accused software company's appeal.
Although the breach of contract ruling applies only to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Supreme Court's lack of action could embolden other software companies to prohibit reverse engineering or take away other fair use rights allowed under copyright law by including such prohibitions in an end user license agreement, said Karen Copenhaver, a patent and intellectual property lawyer.
But the lawyer who defended the reverse engineering prohibition said the case was simply about a small software developer trying to protect his investment.
The case in question involves software inventor Harold Bowers, who has alleged that Baystate Technologies violated a section of his software's end user licence agreement that forbade users from reverse engineering his software. A lower court agreed and awarded Bowers $5.27m (£3.2m).
Baystate had looked at Bowers' computer-aided design (CAD) software to make improvements in its competing package, although the extent of the reverse engineering is still in dispute, 12 years after the first legal action in the case.
Although reverse engineering is generally defined as reversing software's machine code to the source code, Baystate claims it looked only at Bowers' user interface to improve its CAD software product.
"There was no evidence of cracking encrypted source code or anything of that nature," said Bob Kann, Baystate's lawyer. "This may cause havoc in the industry. Before this case, it was perfectly legal to evaluate a competitor's product."
But Bowers' lawyer argued that Baystate had two weeks in its development schedule to examine Bowers' software, giving the software supplier time to look at more than the user interface.
The impact of the case, said Copenhaver, is that end-user licence agreements could become more restrictive.
Meeker said the inventor was trying to protect a piece of software he had worked on for years.
Grant Gross writes for IDG News Service
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text: just thinking of looking into DVC. Could we book a studio and just squeeze in it with 5. we are 9, 6, 6 now. would this be "legal"? just beginning to check prices. I know it would be tight but we are really park people and spend a lot of time at parks. price is big deal for us. thanks mikewdw