WE OFFER A SELECTION OF KEY DEVELOPING TRENDS FROM LAST MONTH
The US market continues to be a focal point for UK elite firms, while other UK-headquartered international firms maintain their drive into Europe
Clifford Chance has become the first UK Magic Circle firm to open in Texas with an office in Houston to focus on energy work. So far 2 partners have joined from Latham & Watkins, and 3 have relocated from elsewhere in the Clifford Chance network. The firm already has US offices in New York and Washington DC.
Freshfields has grown its risk and crisis management practice with 4 partners hired from Wilson Sonsini, 2 in Silicon Valley and 2 in Washington DC. These are the latest in a series of lateral hires in the US. They will focus on regulatory, cybersecurity and investigations.
In Sweden, CMS has agreed an exclusive cooperation agreement with Wistrand, the 4th largest Swedish firm with offices in Stockholm and Göteborg. CMS merged with Kluge in Norway in 2021 and this signals its further expansion in the Nordic region.
Fieldfisher has opened in Vienna with 4 partners, 2 hired from Austrian firm SCWP Schindhelm. The office will act as a gateway into Eastern Europe and focus on arbitration and inbound investment work.
A UK firm owned by private investors is in administration; firms experiment with different governance models, and embrace new social and climate initiatives
Plexus Law has filed for administration after investors withdrew their support. The firm focuses on defendants and is owned by a mix of private equity and private investors. The firm has had financial difficulties since discovering a fraud recently.
Postlethwaite has converted to become an employee ownership trust, one of the few law firms in the UK that is 100% employee-owned. Stephens Scown and Hodge Jones & Allen are the only firms in the top UK 200 that have done the same.
50 City law firms in London are collaborating in the City Century initiative to enrol 100 solicitor apprentices in their firms. These apprentices will join from school, work 4 days per week at their firm (the 5th day is for training) and spend 6 years training to qualify as solicitors.
Lastly, 8 major UK law firms including Clyde & Co, Osborne Clarke and DLA Piper havecommitted to an initiative (Legal Charter 1.5) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through various projects to restrict global warming to no more than 1.5°C.
