Law Humor

Clifford Chance 70% Trainee Retention

Posted on June 22, 2009
Clifford Chance is to retain 70% of trainees from its September intake. A total of 49 trainees will stay on out of 70 due to qualify. This is a 10% drop on the previous figure when the firm offered 80% of trainees a job at the firm. Although the figures are down, it is about [...

World?s Top Universities

Posted on June 22, 2009
Everyone loves a good ranking. Here we have an comprehensive table from US News and World Report that covers the top 400 universities and colleges. And yes Bangor graduates you can be proud - Bangor Universtiy made it into the world rankings at 400= with Kasetsart University Thailand...

Sole Practitioner

Posted on June 22, 2009
Thinking of going solo… From Courtoons

The Week: Vital Signs Not Improving - DLA Headcount, Herbies NQ Retention, Cobbetts and FFW Financials and Miner Lowers Legals

Posted on June 19, 2009
Despite the fact that law firms are generally seeing growth (albeit at a slower rate than previously) news of 10,000 expected job losses still strikes a chilling chord for those at the bottom of the chain. At the same time, the results of Legal Week’s staisfaction survey hints that such worrying statistics may also [...

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Stand Up Economist on the Economic Crisis

Posted on June 19, 2009
If you like your humour on the intellectual side or your commercial awareness laced with a bit of humour, this may be for you. Not strictly ‘legal’ and not Jack Dee but it should appeal to those with even a passing interest in economics. So that’s just about everyone at the moment then… A fine bit [...

Odd: Cross-dressing ?Nuns? Go Free. ?Boy Wonder? Lawyer Fraud Confuses. Holocaust Victims? Lawyer - Trust-Fund Dipping Inadvertent.

Posted on June 19, 2009
Seventeen British men recently stood trial dressed in nun’s habits on the Greek island of Crete for flashing their bottoms in public. The "nuns" walked free after no one showed up to testify their behavior was offensive. The 17 men, aged between 18 and 65, were arrested in the resort of Malia on a [...

Redundancy Watch: BLP and CC

Posted on June 18, 2009
Berwin Leighton Paisner has completed its May redundancy consultation - 85 members of staff are to be laid off. The redundancies were a mixed bag with 47 compulsory, 32 staff voluntary and six early retirements. The redundancies will affect the firm’s corporate, finance and real estate practices as well as support functions including IT, [...

Terror Law Abuse

Posted on June 18, 2009
The annual review of terror laws by Lord Carlile has highlighted a few issues that many will be aware of even if not personally affected by them. Erosion of civil liberties is becoming more and more of a hot political potato with the growing use abuse of terror laws for dealing with minor issues...

Satisfied Associates

Posted on June 18, 2009
Despite the torrent of bad news for associates over the last 12 months, a recent survey by Legal Week has found a surprising level of satisfaction amongst the junior ranks of the profession. With uncertainty over the future and large scale restructuring involving redundanices and trainee deferrals, the survey may be the first bit [...

Lawn Tennis V Linklaters Without Strawberries and Cream

Posted on June 17, 2009
Quiet please, Tennis to serve. The All England Lawn Tennis Ground - of Wimbledon tennis tournament fame is suing Linklaters for £4.6m in a claim for negligence. The claim, issued by CMS Cameron McKenna , relates to advice given by Linklaters provided on the settlement of a claim against?architect?and design practice Building Design Partnership and [...

Freshfields? Affiliate Faux Pas

Posted on June 17, 2009
After attracting criticism for the rather ominous ‘It’s not good news’ voicemails to certain trainees last week; Freshfields is in the spotlight again. This time however, the firm has not actually attracted any controversey itself but has been associated with it through its affiliation with Saudi firm The [...

Bitter Lawyer: Crashing Solo

Posted on June 17, 2009
Thinking of leaving the stress and misery safety and comfort of your firm’s nest for the rigours of solo practice. Bitter Lawyer’s Matthew Richardson is Mergers & Acquisitions by day, Unethical & Amoral by moonlight; here he delivers a cautionary tale about drinking and thinking fast and loose with that very subject, Crashing Solo [...

Revenue Roundup: No Negatives - Stephenson Harwood and Kennedys

Posted on June 16, 2009
Mixed bag as Stephenson Harwood and Kennedys release their results. Stephenson Harwood kept turnover level at £85.1m for the 2008-09 financial year with profits per equity partner down slightly slightly by 1.6% from £620,000 to £610,000. Kennedys, the commercial litigation specialist firm has jumped into the UK’s top 50 law firms, posting a 30% increase [...

There is no Law of Common Sense

Posted on June 16, 2009
Unfortunate though this may be, it does mean that now and again some silly stuff gets thrown to the surface to keep us amused. The following tale is one such example where a bunch of lawyers cleverly racked up fees by doing something that made them look collectively ridiculous, from Legal Humour here is [...

10,000 Reasons to be Sympathetic to Lawyers

Posted on June 16, 2009
Despite the mutterings of green shoots and the worst is behind us, some pretty horrible headlines keep emerging to fill lawyers with a sense of dread. Take this one from the Times yesterday "UK legal industry faces losses of 10,000 lawyers " - not likley to provoke a spontaneous outbrake of joy in legal [...

Firm Financials: Top 100 See Slower Growth but Growth it is

Posted on June 15, 2009
After a fresh spate of redundancy announcements last week, there is some cause for cautious optimism to start this week off. Deloitte?s Quarterly Legal Sector Survey has found that Fee income at the UK?s Top 100 law firms increased by 6.3% in Q1 (the quarter ended 31 July 2008) compared with the same period [...

Courtoons: Summer Students

Posted on June 15, 2009
From Courtoons

Anonymous Assistant: Breaking and Entering

Posted on June 15, 2009
Continued from Material Non-Disclusure … ?What the hell is this?!? The Boss flings my Subject Access letter across my desk. ?It?s a Subject Access Request,? I explain. ?I know that!? he explodes. ?I mean what the hell are you doing making it?!? Judging by the steam coming from his ears, whatever response I give, it won?t be well received...

The Week: Avoid Redundancy Become PM! Education Getting Expensive? And Don?t Forget the Coffee

Posted on June 12, 2009
A certain saying springs to mind this week, well a perverted version of it at any rate. Keep your job whilst all around you are losing theirs. If the British public need leading by example then we have a leader like no other when it come to that particular skill...

Redundancy Watch: Pinsents and Macfarlanes

Posted on June 12, 2009
More I’m afraid. Pinsent Masons has joined the throng of firms making redundancies. The firm has proposed a variety of measures which it hopes will help avoid extensive layoffs at the firmwhich will include: sabbaticals, secondments, pay freezes and part-time working...

?Eclectic? Lawyer Listing - Drafted Like a Pro

Posted on June 12, 2009
As far as classified listings go, this one is somewhat less crude in its approach than previous posts that have come to our attention (click here for samples). Written like a true lawyer - exhaustive, verbose, with little room for doubt balanced, comprehensive and with fine attention to detail, this ad tells you all [...

Redundancy Watch: Wragges Cuts 85 as Turnover Drops 17%

Posted on June 11, 2009
They keep on coming. Following a reported 17% drop in turnover, Wragge & Co has announced a second redundancy round with up to 85 people facing the axe. Fee-earners, support staff and secretaries will all be in the firing line. Revenues at the firm have fallen from £125...

The Law of Averages

Posted on June 11, 2009
Very spurious but we just wanted to share with you this amusing pic (taken at the D-Day commemoration in Normandy) from the Times . Oh and Obama is a lawyer of course… Comments are welcome, as always!

Brodies Lawyer In Bangalore to Tempt Indian Outsourcers to Scotland

Posted on June 11, 2009
With many firms looking to reduce costs by outsourcing to countries like India, it’s refreshing to see someone swimming against the current trend. Andrew Rigby of Scottish law firm Brodies is attending the Nasscom business process outsourcing (BPO) summit in India with a delegation from Scottish government and industry...

Banking Lawyers - Bonuses Out, Pay-rises In

Posted on June 10, 2009
With many NQs and associates seeing salaries cut, private practice lawyers may feel a tinge of envy at the thought of their contemporaries in banks getting an increase in pay. Research by recruitment consultants Sheffield Haworth found that a number of banks have increased wages for their internal legal personnel, in some cases by [...

Midsize Firms are the New Big

Posted on June 10, 2009
Well that’s the message this marketing video was supposed to give anyway. Law firms and film-making don’t always go like peas in a pod; we recently got wind of one mid-sized UK firm who did an "Apprentice-style" video for recruitment purposes with some amusing results (yes, we can’t wait until it hits YouTube but no [...

Manchester - the UK?s Most Live-able City, London Falls Outside Top 50

Posted on June 10, 2009
Those in the regions may think this just confirms what they already knew; Londoners may smart a little or wholeheartedly agree with this result, but London has failed to make the top 50 most live-able cities. That is according to worldwide analysis by the Economist Intelligence Unit in which Manchester [...

Herbert Smith Revenues Up but PEP Down

Posted on June 09, 2009
Despite a 5% increase in turnover from £421.8m to £444m this year,  Herbies is likely to see PEP drop by between 12 and 22 per cent compared to last year. At the end of the 2007-08 financial year PEP stood at just over the £1m mark for the first time...

The Legal Tease ?Respect the Ring?

Posted on June 09, 2009
The behaviour of married professionals may not always live up to the promise of vows undertaken at the start of their partnerships (heck, partnership deeds can’t even ensure that). Here the Legal Tease of Sweet Hot Justice applies her ?down-and-dirty, entertaining inside look? to those that should be bound by the unbroken circle adorning a [...

BPP Set for £300m Takeover

Posted on June 09, 2009
Professional education provider BPP has agreed a 620p-per-share offer from Apollo Global , the US education investor. The all-cash offer by Apollo Global values BPP’s equity at £303.5m. In late afternoon trading yesterday, BPP shares were up 50p at 617p, Friday’s closing price was around 567p...

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