Legal news

Ashurst scales down its Adelaide office

Following in the steps of other firms, Ashurst has whittled down its presence in Adelaide - and will be keeping the office open there but without a full-time resident partner.

• TECHNOLOGY LAW

  

  Leading Israeli firm merges with IT boutique

  Shibolet & Co, a firm which runs to 90 legal staff in its Tel Aviv office, is merging with the boutique high tech practice Ben Zvi.

• CROSS-BORDER LAW SUITS

  

  China to train lawyers to handle cross-border litigation

  The Chinese authorities are planning to help lawyers working on international litigation and other matters by offering them training to assist them in working with foreign counterparts.

• LAW SCHOOLS

  

  US law school applications down 8pc

  Applications for US law schools have fallen for the third year running, and are 37% lower than they were in 2010.

• TRAINEES

  

  CC starts Dubai graduate training scheme

  Clifford Chance will take in its first Middle East batch of graduate trainees in the middle of August, and is taking applications for the 2015 and 2016 intakes until 10 August.

Editor's picks

PRODUCT LIABILITY

GM's GC slammed by US Senators

US Senators are not impressed with the GM legal department and have questioned why general counsel Michael Millikin has not left his job.

EARNINGS

Brackett Denniston tops GC earner list

General counsel earnings are up by over six per cent with banking and finance leading the way, a Corporate Counsel survey reports.

KPIS

Composing KPIs for legal departments

Legal departments have key performance indicators which they can use to monitor the service from external providers.

COMMUNICATIONS

Baker Botts beefs up management

Baker Botts is shoring up its senior management team with a new communications director.

Blogs

FLEXIBLE WORKING

The life of a freelancing lawyer

Lawyers have joined the ranks of freelancers as flexible working gains ground. Karen Schilder, a real estate lawyer with Lawyers on Demand, discusses life as a freelancer.

LITIGATION

Litigation funding: a driver for law firm growth?

Law firms can now use litigation funding as a business development tool to increase the volume of contentious matters flowing into their litigation and disputes departments, says Chris Smith of Vannin Capital.

Business sector round up

INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION

International arbitration Africa style

Arbitration is fast becoming the dispute mechanism of choice in Africa, say Dr Stuart Dutson, Lucy Webster and Timothy Smyth of Eversheds.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Mexico issues in a new era for telecoms

Mexico has seen some activities in its telecom market as the new law awaits approval by the Mexican Congress. Federico Hernandez Arroyo details the changes.