Kathryn Higgins

Shell scraps 97 per cent of global panel

Royal Dutch Shell has dramatically scaled back its global legal panel, with just six firms making the cut out of an original field of 250.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | RECRUITMENT

Fewer lawyers moving in-house as associate pay packets grow

Growing salaries for associates in BigLaw are encouraging younger lawyers to stay in private practice rather than making the switch to in-house ro....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | RISK MANAGEMENT

Independent report slams Wells Fargo lawyers for being 'too cost-focused'

Lawyers at Wells Fargo failed to keep an eye on the big picture as the company became embroiled I n its recent sham accounts scandal, a report from Sh....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | REPUTATION

Hawaiian Airlines CLO calls out rival United over current PR crisis

United Airlines' reputation is circling the drain after the forcible removal of a passenger from one of its flights went viral and made internatio....

CORPORATE COUNSEL

Around the house

A weekly round-up of in-house moves from around the globe.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | LAWSUITS

Former Yahoo lawyers accused of mismanaging humanitarian aid funds

The embattled companies' reputational woes are far from over, it seems.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | APPOINTMENTS

Around the house

A weekly round-up of moves from around the globe.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | VALUE

Deutsche Bank's proposed junior lawyer 'pay block' could become a trend, warn in-house lawyers

Deutsche Bank has raised eyebrows with its announcement that it will no longer pay law firms for hours put in by junior lawyers.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | CYBERSECURITY

Corporate counsel develop new model for law firm cybersecurity

The Association of Corporate Counsel has issued a new set of guidelines for cybersecurity best-practice at law firms.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | TECHNOLOGY

Technology the key driver for growing business complexity in the Asia Pacific

The pressure on company leaders to innovate through the uptake of new technologies is the number one challenge currently facing companies in the regio....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | APPOINTMENTS

Around the house

A weekly round-up of moves from around the globe.....

BIG STORIES | CLIENTS

Morgan Lewis client departs over links to President Trump

Morgan Lewis & Bockius' decision to represent controversial US President Donald Trump has prompted one investment client to show the firm the ....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | PATENTS

US Supreme Court mulls significant overhaul of patent location rules

The court's decision may change the rules on where a company can be hit with a patent infringement lawsuit.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | LITIGATION

Wells Fargo agrees to $110m class action settlement after fake account fallout

The embattled company wants to 'make it right' with customers and salvage whatever may be left of its tattered public reputation.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | APPOINTMENTS

Around the house

A weekly round-up of moves from around the globe.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | SAFETY

Uber lifts breaks on self-driving car program after Arizona crash

Uber Technologies has ended a three-day suspension of its autonomous vehicles program put in place after one of its vehicles was involved in a cra....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | CYBERSECURITY

Women still severely underrepresented in cybersecurity industry, study finds

As the demand for cybersecurity support accelerates among companies, service providers might be overlooking a key talent pool.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | DEALS

Vodafone and Idea Cellular join to create India's largest telco

British carrier Vodafone as announced a $23bn agreement to merge with local operator Idea Cellular, making a major play for the country's 1.2 bill....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | APPOINTMENTS

Around the house

A weekly round-up of moves from around the globe.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | WHISTLEBLOWERS

Ninth Circuit whistleblower ruling affirms protections for internal reporters

A divided bench of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has narrowly ruled that whistleblower provisions under Dodd-Frank apply to employ....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | REPUTATION

Reputation management and the role of the GC

General counsel have an indispensable role to play in protecting enterprise reputation, according to a new report from Lex Mundi.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | APPOINTMENTS

Around the house

A weekly round-up of moves from around the globe.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | COMPLIANCE

Chinese telecom giant ZTE pleads guilty to Iran sanction violations

A five-year investigation has ended in an $892m fine for ZTE Corporation.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | RESIGNATIONS

Yahoo GC resigns over cybersecurity failures

A report prepared for the Securities and Exchange Commission identified $11 million worth of legal costs associated with a mass hack of Yahoo accounts....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | APPOINTMENTS

Around the house

A weekly round-up of moves from around the globe.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | APPOINTMENTS

Around the house

A weekly round-up of moves from around the globe.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | COMPLIANCE

Most legal tech professionals unprepared for new Chinese cybersecurity laws

China's new comprehensive Cybersecurity Law is due to come into effect in June - but most legal tech professionals aren't even familiar wi....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | LAWSUITS

McDonalds discrimination lawsuit more than a drive-by, rules federal judge

A blind man is taking the fast food giant to court over its policy barring pedestrians from using 'drive-thru' service windows at McDonald....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | APPOINTMENTS

Around the house

A weekly round-up of moves from around the globe.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | CONFIDENTIALITY

Judge rules that company reporting on business debt cannot use shield law

A Manhattan Supreme Court Justice has ruled that company's may not use New York's Shield Law to protect against the disclosure of confidential....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | REPUTATION

Exploding phones deal brutal blow to Samsung's reputation

The company has plummeted from 7th to 49th in a recent US brand reputation survey, following the $5 billion global recall of its Galaxy Note 7 smartph....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | LAWSUIT

Oracle faces $150m lawsuit over 'clawed back' sales commissions

A former employee claims that Oracle 'has systematically stiffed its sales force of earned commission wages by axing employees' commission pla....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | PATENTS

Quality on the up in patent program performance metrics, survey finds

More in-house counsel are focusing on quality when reviewing the performance of their in-house patent programs.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | CYBERSECURITY

Microsoft boss calls for Geneva Convention for cyber conflict and warfare

We need a Digital Geneva Convention to protect internet users and set parameters around nation-state hacking, says Microsoft president Brad Smith.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | APPOINTMENTS

Around the house

A weekly round-up of moves from around the globe.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | PANEL REVIEWS

New BP general counsel kicks off panel review

New global general counsel Eric Nitcher has launched the first review of the oil major's roster of legal advisors since 2014.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | RESEARCH

European GCs still lagging in pay and prestige, finds latest ACC survey

General counsel at companies in Europe are making less and being given less managerial responsibilities than their colleagues across the Atlantic.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | APPOINTMENTS

Around the house

A weekly round-up of moves from around the globe.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | LAWSUITS

Apple accused of sabotaging FaceTime to coerce system upgrades

A new class action launched in San Francisco claims that Apple shut down its own FaceTime conferencing app to save on costs associated with running th....

BIG STORIES | LAWSUITS

Quinn Emanuel forms shareholder group for BT legal action

Litigation heavyweight Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan is investigating a potential class action against telecom BT Group over an accounting sca....

GLOBAL VIEW | AI

Indian firm CAM joins league of Kira Systems AI clients

Mumbai-based law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) has signed a contract with Canadian machine-learning software provider Kira Systems.....

GLOBAL VIEW | HIRES

Latham & Watkins picks up former SEC heavyweight in New York

Less than a week after announcing her departure from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Wenchi Hu is set to return to private practice in the ....

BIG STORIES | PERFORMANCE

Management pay up 8 per cent at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Managers took home more in 2015/16 despite a sharp slowdown in revenue growth at the firm.....

GLOBAL VIEW | IPOS

Cooley leads as Snapchat moves towards $3bn IPO

US-based firm Cooley has won the lead role advising social media app Snapchat as it prepares to list on the US stock market.....

BIG STORIES | MISCONDUCT

Lawyer fined for calling himself the country's 'top' criminal barrister

Michael Wolkind QC of 2 Bedford Row certainly isn't one to shy away from the hard sell…....

BIG STORIES | MERGERS

Norton Rose Fulbright angling for New York tie-up

The firm is reportedly in late-stage merger discussions with New York law firm Chadbourne & Parke.....

BIG STORIES | MISCONDUCT

Public Interest Lawyers saga ends with Shiner struck off

The solicitor labeled an 'army ambulance chaser' by the conservative factions of the British politics and media has been struck off after bein....

BIG STORIES | PERFORMANCE

NewLaw gets vote of confidence as LOD turnover skyrockets

Filings with Companies House reveal a double-digit uptick in revenue at Lawyers of Demand over the last year.....

BIG STORIES | REMUNERATION

Kirkland guards against currency fluctuations with new salary cap

US-headquartered firm Kirkland & Ellis has placed a cap on salaries for all of its London-based associates.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | REGULATION

Trump uses early executive order to slash regulation for US business

The new US President Donald Trump has promised that 'the American dream is back' for small and medium enterprises (SME).....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Virtual reality lawsuit costs Facebook $500m

Facebook-owned virtual reality company Oculus has been ordered to pay out half a billion dollars to rival games company ZeniMax.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | OUTSIDE COUNSEL

GCs ready and willing to cull underperforming outside counsel, survey finds

Almost half of in-house legal leaders report that they are considering giving one of their outside law firms the chop this year.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | APPOINTMENTS

Around the house

A weekly round-up of moves from around the globe.....

GLOBAL VIEW | SCOTUS

Trump announces Gorsuch as nominee for the US Supreme Court

The newly elected US President has ended long-running speculation by finally revealing Judge Neil Gorsuch as the man he hopes will fill the late A....

BIG STORIES | MERGERS

Eversheds Sutherland transatlantic tie-up goes live

The combined firm has lifted the curtain on its new leadership team as the tie-up between Eversheds and Atlanta-based firm Sutherland Asbill &....

BIG STORIES | PERFORMANCE

Management pay up 2 per cent at Pinsent Masons

However, the firm's highest-paid partner took home 5 per cent less last year.....

BIG STORIES | HIRES

Ashurst expands in Italy with new competition hire

International firm Ashurst has hired Gabriele Accardo as a new competition and EU counsel in its Milan office.....

GLOBAL VIEW | EDUCATION

Cornell Law trumps Harvard and Yale for highest-paid grads, study finds

Graduates from the prestigious Cornell Law School are raking in an average salary of $183,377 per year, outstripping their peers from more often rever....

BIG STORIES | PERFORMANCE

Dechert posts revenue bump following strong show in London

Strong growth in the US firm's London office has helped buoy Dechert to a near 3 per cent revenue rise.....

BIG STORIES | LEADERSHIP

RPC taps Miller as new managing partner

Insurance head James Miller has been selected to succeed Jonathan Watmough as the firm's new managing partner.....

BIG STORIES | EXPANSION

Clyde & Co to open in Washington DC and Chicago following Troutman Sanders raid

Clyde & Co is launching two new offices following the hire of a 10-partner team from international firm Troutman Sanders.....

GLOBAL VIEW | DEATHS

Prominent Muslim lawyer assassinated at Yangon airport

Thousands have gathered in Myanmar to mourn the death of high-profile lawyer and political advisor Ko Ni, who was shot dead outside Yangon airport....

GLOBAL VIEW | PRO BONO

Trump immigration ban drives lawyers to US airports

Immigration lawyers have been spurred into pro bono action following new US President Donald Trump's decision to block entry to the United States ....

BIG STORIES | HIRES

DAC Beachcroft nabs former KWM slot on Royal London real estate panel

The firm's hire of former King & Wood Mallesons counsel Helen Murcott has helped secure its spot on the prestigious Royal London Mutual Insura....

BIG STORIES | INNOVATION

Fieldfisher to launch alternative legal services unit former Ashurst heavyweight

Former Ashurst securities and derivatives head Christopher Georgiou is heading up a new business services unit at Fieldfisher.....

GLOBAL VIEW | POLICE

Dutch police accused of 'racially motivated' assault of ICJ lawyer

A trainee lawyer at the International Court of Justice has claimed she was a victim of police brutality when arrested for jaywalking in The Hague.....

BIG STORIES | APPOINTMENTS

High school drop-out to be sworn in as Australia's first woman chief justice

In three days' time, Susan Kiefel's extraordinary legal career will reach new heights as she assumes leadership of the High Court of Australia....

BIG STORIES | LATERAL HIRES

Bryan Cave welcomes new M&A heavyweight to German practice

Former DLA Piper Frankfurt managing partner Dr Kirsten Girnth has made the switch to Bryan Cave.....

BIG STORIES | REMUNERATION

Management pay packets 7 per cent larger at Allen & Overy last year

Together, the firm's management group took home a total of £13.6m in 2015/16.....

BIG STORIES | CAREERS

Aspiring top-tier lawyers still face 'class ceiling', says new report

Professionals from higher-income backgrounds are still earning more in the UK's 'traditional' professions, like medicine and law, than....

GLOBAL VIEW | EXITS

40 lawyers to walk out on Sedgwick in January

In total, 40 fee-earners are leaving the San Francisco-based firm behind from 31 January.....

BIG STORIES | DEALS

Slaughters and Cravath advise on $30bn Johnson & Johnson takeover bid

Johnson & Johnson is making a $30bn play for Swiss biotech firm Actelion.....

BIG STORIES | CLIENTS

Greenberg Traurig unveils list of new clients following KWM hires

The addition of six former King & Wood Mallesons partners to the Greenberg fold has added 10 new clients to the firm's roster.....

BIG STORIES | LATERAL MOVES

Goodwin Procter nabs securities heavyweight from Freshfields in New York

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has lost US securities litigation head Marshall Fishman to a rival firm.....

GLOBAL VIEW | EDUCATION

American Bar Association locks in date for decision on new bar passage rules

US law school deans will go head-to-head with the ABA over plans to withdraw ABA-accreditation from law schools whose students can't p....

BIG STORIES | INNOVATION

Law Society urges firms to harness the power of automation

Let the machines take care of the brunt work and get back to human lawyering, the Law Society has said.....

BIG STORIES | PERFORMANCE

Highest-paid partner takes home £1.3 at Dentons UKMEA

Global megafirm Dentons has reported a 7.7 per cent lift in revenue across its United Kingdom, Middle East and Africa business.....

BIG STORIES | ACQUISITIONS

DWF rescues claims management firm Triton from administration

The bolt-on deal will add more than 200 staff to the firm's UK headcount.....

GLOBAL VIEW | POLITICS

Trump files trademark application for re-election campaign slogan

He's less than a week into his first term, but new US President Donald Trump (and his lawyers) already have their sights set on 2020.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | DEALS

Tobacco giant emerges as BAT and Reynolds tie the knot

British American Tobacco has taken control of US rival Reynolds American in a $49.4bn deal.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | APPOINTMENTS

Around the house

A weekly round-up of moves from around the globe.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | ANTITRUST

Calls for greater in-house vigilance as cartel prosecutions and fines skyrocket

In-house lawyers have been warned that the stakes are higher than ever when it comes to competition compliance.....

CORPORATE COUNSEL | REGULATION

GCs await red tape massacre under America's new president

Many GCs are predicting smoother sailing for business under the new Trump administration.....

GLOBAL VIEW | JUSTICE & HUMAN RIGHTS

'Day of the Endangered Lawyer' recognised today around the globe

No, we're not referring to the looming rise of AI legal tech.....

BIG STORIES | TEAM HIRES

Reed Smith picks up 50-strong team from KWM

The mass hire has increased the firm's European headcount by 10 per cent in one fell swoop.....

BIG STORIES | HIRES

Washington handover cycles top trade talent back into firms

Akin Gump is the latest firm to capitalise on the small army of top-tier legal talent re-entering private practice as new US President Donald ....

BIG STORIES | BREXIT

Supreme Court rules against Government in Brexit appeal

As widely anticipated by pundits on both sides, the Supreme Court has affirmed that the UK Government will need to seek the approval of Parliament bef....

GLOBAL VIEW | LUXURY LAW

Luxury smartwatch brand Vector acquired by Fitbit

Wearable technology industry leader Fitbit has scooped up European luxury smartwatch brand Vector Watch for an undisclosed amount.....

BIG STORIES | JOBS

PI reforms could cost 28,000 UK law firm jobs, warn economists

Personal injury firms will have their margins pushed to 'unsustainable levels' if the Government pushes ahead with its planned shake-up of....

BIG STORIES | LUXURY LAW

Victoria's Secret gets tough on supply chain ethics

The world-famous luxury lingerie brand is stepping up its corporate social responsibility efforts with its new Forest Products Procurement Policy.....

BIG STORIES | TEAM HIRES

Morgan Lewis loads up for Hong Kong launch with raid on Orrick

Nine Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe partners have defected to US rival Morgan, Lewis & Bockius to help launch the firm's flagship office i....

GLOBAL VIEW | ALLIANCES

CMS wraps up Slovakian alliance ahead of Bratislava launch

CMS is planning to launch its own fully-integrated office in the Slovakian capital later this year.....

GLOBAL VIEW | APPOINTMENTS

Jones Day mainlines twelve lawyers into new Trump administration

The firm that served as outside counsel for Mr Trump's presidential campaign has since supplied twelve lawyers and counting to President Trump'....

GLOBAL VIEW | LATERAL HIRES

Cuatrecasas team defects to Pérez-Llorca

Spanish firm Cuatrecasas has lost a high profile team to its competitors Pérez-Llorca.....

BIG STORIES | INNOVATION

First ever 'para-law' firm launches in the UK

The controversial new venture will allow unlicensed paralegals to do the bulk of case work in order to drive down costs for clients.....

GLOBAL VIEW | EXPANSION

Norton Rose Fulbright boosts South African presence with new acquisition

Norton Rose Fulbright has added four lawyers to its team in South Africa through the acquisition of local commercial law boutique Keller Snyman Schelh....

BIG STORIES | ARBITRATION