MAYER BROWN ROWE & MAW became the first major UK firm to publish its accounts last week when it filed its financial statement as a limited liability partnership. The financial statement reveals that the UK partnership paid down much of its overdraft facility with the Royal Bank of Scotland in favour of cheaper funding from the US partnership of £4 million. (The Lawyer)
THE US firm Hunton & Williams has paid Martin Thomas a signing-on fee of £250,000. Thomas was head of Hammonds’ equity capital markets practice and has a strong reputation in the AIM market. (The Lawyer).
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PINSENTS and Masons are just weeks away from agreeing to a merger that would forge a national giant. The deal would be the biggest domestic union since the 2000 merger between Denton Hall and Wilde Sapte and would create a firm with annual revenues of more than £150 million, 240 partners and nearly 900 lawyers in total. (Legal Week).
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CHINESE law firms will be able to invest in the UK and City lawyers stand to benefit from Chinese businesses expanding overseas under new rules laid out by the Chinese Government. Apart from legal services, approved sectors for investment in the UK include pharmaceuticals, research and development, financial services and transport. (Law Society Gazette).
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WITH less than two weeks to go until the new statutory disciplinary and grievance procedures come into force on October 1, lawyers have continued to warn employers who are not up to speed with developments. Failure to comply with the statutory steps will make a dismissal automatically unfair and tribunals will be bound to increase awards by anywhere between 10 and 50 per cent. (Solicitors Journal).
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FRESHFIELDS Bruckhaus Deringer is celebrating the Government’s decision to give ground on corporate liability reforms after a campaign by the firm. The Department of Trade and Industry said it would allow scope for companies to pay legal expenses for directors targeted in litigation. (Legal Week).
Linda Tsang