King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has made up six partners across its Europe, UK and Middle East (EUME) and US offices.

The round marks the first US promotion since the merger of KWM and SJ Berwin in 2013. The EUME and US partner promotions come ahead of the Asia and Australia promotions later this summer.

Three of the new partners are based in London, a slight increase on last year. These are funds lawyers Marc Snell and Rob Mailer, and litigator Darren Roiser. Just one lawyer has been made up in continental Europe: real estate lawyer Florian Biesalski in Munich.

The other two partners made up this year are international funds lawyer Parik Dasgupta in New York and litigator Joanne Strain in Dubai.

In London, Mailer and Snell trained at legacy SJ Berwin while Roiser joined the firm from Slaughter and May in June 2011.

KWM slimmed its investment in Europe in its global promotions round last July, making up just two in London and two on the continent. Meanwhile the firm made up 24 partners across its China offices out of a total round of 36 promotions.

The focus on its funds practice – 50 per cent of this year’s EUME promotions – comes as KWM attempts to boost its corporate finance and funds practice worldwide.

The promotions follow a strategic review of KWM’s EUME partnership in March that saw 23 partners (15 per cent of the regional partnership) leaving the firm and a 10 per cent reduction in the equity partnership in mid-2015. KWM will also cut 45 business services roles in London as part of the review.

The restructuring came amid a series of big-hitter exits from the firm such as head of litigation Alex Leitch to Covington & Burling, regulatory partner Gregg Beechey to Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson and intellectual property partner Ray Black to Mishcon de Reya.

Now the firm is attempting to “push the reset button” on the legacy SJ Berwin practice in an attempt to bring stability back to the regional partnership, said a source.

KWM held an EUME partner conference last weekend in London themed around “resetting” the firm. New practice group divisional heads and senior partner Stephen Kon gave speeches to the partnership outlining the financial targets for the next year.

The conference followed a change in strategy for the firm announced earlier this year that has seen it reorganise its 17 practice areas into three groups: corporate finance and funds; dispute resolution and regulation; and real estate. The firm also revealed it would put off electing a new EUME managing partner until later this year following the resignation of William Boss, who has gone back to fee-earning.

The EUME promotions took effect on 1 May. Kon said the new partners have “already made a considerable contribution to the success of our firm”, adding: “We are confident that they will make a huge impact on our business as we drive it forward over the coming years”.

Clio’s Chrometa integration is now available to international users, ensuring your legal practice doesn’t miss a single billable second.

Chrometa works in the background of your PC, Mac, or smartphone, capturing all the work you do, every email, every document, and automatically records them on your timesheet. You don’t need to start or stop timers, it’s all done for you, like having your very own personal timekeeper.

When connected to Clio, you can open or compose an email, draft a document, answer phones, conduct meetings or anything else you do during the day, and it will automatically track your time. This easy to use integration will help your firm manage your time tracking more efficiently than ever before.

The two main features of our integration with Chrometa are syncing time entries and associating time with matters.

1. Associate Time with Matters
   Chrometa automatically updates time you’ve spent working in different applications once an hour. To associate this time with a Matter in Clio, check the box beside a time description in Chrometa, then click ‘Move to Project’ and select the Matter.
2. Export your Time Entries Back to Clio
   To export time entries from Chrometa to Clio for billing, just check the boxes beside the time entries that you would like to export back to Clio then click ‘Export’ and select ‘Clio’.

Previously only available to our users in North America, Chrometa is now available to all users on our EU server. You’ll never have to ask ‘Where did my day go?’ again.

Sign up for a free trial and see how Clio and Chrometa can make your practice operate more efficiently.

Collas Crill acted for Lloyds Bank International Ltd to support the CUBIC Fund for it’s recent refinance of a £2.4m former Baptist church and now nightclub and bar premises in Cheltenham, Gloucester.

The Collas Crill team comprised of group partner Michael Morris and senior associates, Donald Millar and Tristan Ozanne, assisted by trainee solicitor Gregory Haddow.

Collas Crill senior associate Donald Millar said: “We were selected to again assist Lloyds Bank following their success of the first two deals from the CUBIC fund. Our seamless ‘one firm’ approach to this deal allowed us to quickly satisfy all their UK property needs and sign off on the Guernsey focused elements of the transaction. The client got the deal done ahead of schedule thanks to this formidable team structure.”

The Employment Tribunal has held that lay members of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal who are ticketed to chair hearings in the First-tier Tribunal carry out work that is “broadly similar” to the work of judges in the First-tier Tribunal Tax Chamber.

This case is part of the long-running part-time judges litigation and it is the first time that a “judge” who is not legally qualified has been found to have a judicial comparator for the purposes of the Part-time Workers Regulations.

The result means that the claimants and other current office holders will receive a pension and other financial benefits associated with full-time employment in their jurisdiction.

Kirsty Headden, solicitor at leading UK law firm, Shepherd and Wedderburn went back to her roots when she returned to her old school for an informal Q&A session with teachers and students.

Her visit to North Berwick High School formed part of the State School Lawyers scheme, a diversity project run by teacher-led charity, Impressive People, of which Shepherd and Wedderburn is a founding partner. Kirsty Headden, solicitor at leading UK law firm, Shepherd and Wedderburn went back to her roots when she returned to her old school for an informal Q&A session with teachers and students.

Impressive People helps state schools build links with former pupils who then act as role models,  encouraging young people who may be  interested in following in their footsteps. Through the State School Lawyers initiative, the charity aims show young people that talented individuals from all types of schools can and do reach the highest levels of the legal profession. The scheme also hopes to raise confidence and aspirations in the schools.

Walker Morris has advised the owners of Bradford City Football Club on its sale to ER Sports Group GmbH, marking the third football club investment deal in five months that the law firm has advised on.

The German sports group has acquired the entire share capital from Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn, who have been joint chairmen of the Club since 2007.

Simon Concannon and Ben Proctor from Walker Morris advised the existing owners on the sale, which will provide future investment for the Club

Slaughter and May has announced that its former corporate head, Frances Murphy, has died after a long illness.

The firm reported the news this morning (26 May).

Murphy joined Slaughters in 1981 and was made up to partner in 1990. She was corporate head and a member of the partnership board between 2008 and 2014.

Her work included advising clients such as General Electric (GE), Banco Santander, Alliance Boots and Burberry. Recent deals included acting on GE’s disposal of its equipment finance and receivable finance businesses to Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel.

She was an active supporter of organisations including Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Network for Knowledge and the 30 Per Cent Club.

Senior partner Steve Cooke said: “This is a very sad day. The news was received with great sorrow by everyone here. Frances was one of the most outstanding corporate lawyers in the City and made an exceptional contribution to the firm. She held the respect of the business community and had a huge reputation in the global legal market. We will really miss her. Our thoughts are with her family.”

All the latest partner hires and other appointments within Continental European firms and offices.

Benelux

Bird & Bird has appointed Scott McInnes as a partner in Brussels. McInnes joins from MasterCard, where he was senior regulatory counsel. He previously worked as an associate in the Brussels competition law team of Jones Day, where he advised MasterCard for six years before joining the company in 2012.

GSK Stockmann & Kollegen has expanded its Luxembourg office with the hire of Mathilde Ostertag as a local tax partner. Ostertag joins from Stibbe, where she was a senior associate.

Dutch boutique Shearwaters has hired Barbara-Ellen Bruin as a lawyer in its employment team. Bruin joins from Baker & McKenzie, where she was an associate.

Central & Eastern Europe

K&L Gates has appointed Piotr Łaska as an of counsel in the real estate investment, development, and finance practice in Warsaw. He joins the firm from Hogan Lovells, where he was counsel.

Schoenherr has promoted Manuela Zimmermann to counsel. Zimmermann has been working at Schoenherr since 2010 in the firm’s insurance team.

France

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Paris office has seen its fifth senior departure in less than a month as tax partner Antoine Colonna d’Istria exits for Norton Rose Fulbright. D’Istria was a partner at Freshfields for 16 years, having joined from Gide Loyrette Nouel in 2000 where he was a partner.

August & Debouzy has hired Freshfields partner Jean-Claude Cotoni as a senior counsel in its corporate team. Cotoni was a partner at Freshfields for 25 years and managed the firm’s French office between 2004 and 2007.

Orrick Rambaud Martel has announced that project finance specialist Simon Ratledge has joined the firm’s energy & infrastructure group in Paris. Ratledge was previously a partner at Simmons & Simmons.

Mayer Brown has strengthened its banking & finance practice and energy group with the addition of Olivier Mélédo as a partner in Paris. He was previously a partner at Orrick.

Stephenson Harwood has appointed partner Pierre-Nicolas Sanzey to launch a dedicated real estate department in Paris. Sanzey joins from Herbert Smith Freehills, where he was also a partner.

De Gaulle Fleurance & Associés has appointed Myriam Delawari-de Gaudusson as a partner in its employment team. Delawari-de Gaudusson previously headed up the labour department at Scotto & Associés.

Gide Loyrette Nouel has announced the promotion to counsel of nine lawyers in Beijing, Brussels and Paris, in six practice areas. The appointments were effective as of 1 January 2016. The new counsel are: corporate lawyers Ronan Diot, in Beijing, and Matthias Grolier in Paris; Brussels competition lawyer Ségolène Pelsy and Paris-based Franck Audran; Paris banking lawyer Guillaume Goffin; employment lawyer Yan-Eric Logeais; IP specialist Julien Guinot-Deléry; and real estate lawyers Antoine Mary and Constantin Miliotis.

Germany

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has continued its German expansion with the hire of Baker & McKenzie’s EMEA M&A chair Sönke Becker. Becker joins HSF’s Düsseldorf office after nine years with Bakers. He joined the firm in 2007 from Hengeler Mueller and was German corporate co-head until 2014. Becker also sat on Bakers’ M&A global steering committee.

Dentons is to open its third German office with the hire of three partners from Norton Rose Fulbright including its German senior partner. Norton Rose German boss and corporate partner Alexander von Bergwelt will lead the team and becoming managing partner of Dentons’ Munich office. He joins with M&A and securities partner Michael Malterer and tax partner Igsaan Varachia.

Latham & Watkins has picked up Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer competition partner Michael Esser in a boost to its German competition practice. Esser joins Latham as a partner in the firm’s Düsseldorf office. He previously worked at Freshfields in Cologne.

Ince & Co is opening a second German office in Cologne with the hire of two partners and two associates. CMS partner Stefan Segger and Bach Langheid Dallmayr partner Eva-Maria Goergen will join Ince in due course. The duo specialise in non-marine insurance and reinsurance. Segger, a former head of CMS’s insurance group in Germany, is bringing CMS associates Barbara Lorscheid and Marie Holzhauer with him to Ince.

Allen & Overy has expanded its tax practice with the hire of Daniela Trötscher as a partner in Frankfurt, effective as of 1 June 2016. Trötscher joins from EY, where she was a partner.

Noerr is reinforcing the banking & finance practice group in Frankfurt with the hire of Tom Beckerhoff as a partner. Beckerhoff joins from Ashurst, where he headed the German banking team.

Goodwin Procter has also hired from Ashurst, picking up Heiko Penndorf as a Frankfurt partner in its tax team.

Arnecke Sibeth has hired Margarethe von Oppen to strengthen its energy team. Von Oppen joins from Geiser & von Oppen, which she co-founded in 2001.

Bryan Cave has expanded its banking and finance practice in Germany with the addition of Sandra Pfister, who joins as a partner together with associate Reinhard Bunjes. The duo previously held the same roles at Kaye Scholer.

Osborne Clarke’s German partners have re-elected their management board for further three years: managing partner Carsten Schneider, Joachim Breithaupt and Uwe Brossette.

Ashurst has appointed Holger Ebersberger as a partner in its Munich office. Joining from Linklaters where he was a managing associate, Ebersberger specialises in private equity and M&A.

Morrison & Foerster has hired Angela Kerek as a finance partner in Berlin. Kerek was also previously a managing associate at Linklaters.

Iberia

Portuguese firm Sérvulo has promoted four partners to senior partners, and nominated a new partner. Litigator João Saúde, public law specialist Mark Kirkby, EU and competition lawyer Miguel Gorjão-Henriques and corporate partner Sofia Carreiro are the four new senior partners. Meanwhile tax head Diogo Feio has been promoted to the partnership. He was previously of counsel.

Italy

Dentons has announced the hire of Luca Pocobelli in Italy. He joins as a corporate partner from Latham & Watkins with a team of two lawyers: senior associate Elena Martellucci and associate Claudio Segna.

Bonelli Erede Pappalardo has reappointed Marcello Giustiniani and Stefano Simontacchi as co-managing partners for a further three years.

K&L Gates has appointed Paolo Zamberletti as an energy partner in its Milan office. He joins K&L Gates from DLA Piper, where he was a partner.

Russia & CIS

French firm Jeantet Associés has launched in Moscow with the hire of a team from Gide Loyrette Nouel, following up a similar move in Budapest and Kiev last year. The 10-strong team is led by the former head of Gide’s Moscow office, David Lasfargue, and includes M&A counsels Vladimir Comte and Maria Yadykina.

Clifford Chance has appointed Jared Grubb as Istanbul office managing partner. He takes over from the office’s founding managing partner Simon Williams who is, after five years, returning to London to focus on client work. Grubb was previously the firm’s Kiev managing partner.

Nordics

Covington & Burling has hired Carl Bildt, the former Prime Minister of Sweden, as a senior policy advisor in the firm’s global public policy and government affairs practice.

Roschier has appointed technology and IP strategist Niklas Östman as a partner. Östman rejoins Roschier from Microsoft Corporation in the US. He was previously an associate and partner at the firm until he joined Nokia in 2010 as head of patent licensing.

Norwegian employment law boutique Storeng Beck & Due Lund has hired Erik Råd Herlofsen as a partner in Oslo. Herlofsen was previously a partner at Ræder Law Firm.

Switzerland

Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle has announced the opening of an office in Geneva. The office will focus initially on international arbitration, international trade and international tax work.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has opened its eighth European office, launching a high-stakes disputes outpost in Zurich.

The new base will be led by former Novartis group general counsel Thomas Werlen, who joined the firm in the US as a partner in 2012.

Quinn Emanuel has been trying to get regulatory approval to open in Zurich for a number of years.

The new office will allow the firm to strengthen its existing relationship with Fifa, which is headquartered in Zurich. Quinn Emanuel has been acting for Fifa during US and Swiss-led investigations into allegations of corruption at the football body.

The office will also boost Quinn Emanuel’s representation of shareholders in chemicals company Sika, which is the subject of a contested multi-billion dollar takeover bid.

The firm’s other European offices are in London, Paris, Brussels, Munich, Hamburg, Mannheim and Moscow.

Managing partner John Quinn said the Zurich practice will be “tailored to the unique characteristics of the Swiss market”. He added: “Our clients will benefit from Quinn Emanuel’s international network when faced with regulatory or litigation exposure in the US, within the EU, and in Asia.”

Zurich head Werlen said the firm’s model of practising solely business litigation is “unique” in the Swiss market. He added: “We feel confident this will resonate with clients”.

Number 10 Downing Street has confirmed the appointment of Sir Terence Etherton as the next Master of the Rolls, the second most senior judge in England and Wales.

Etherton will take over when Lord Dyson MR retires at the start of October this year.

Etherton has been a judge since 2001. In 2008 he was appointed to the Court of Appeal and in 2013 was named as Chancellor of the High Court, head of the Chancery Division.

While in practice at the Bar he was a tenant at Wilberforce Chambers.

Dyson MR was appointed in 2012 after two years as a Supreme Court judge.

Etherton’s appointment was made by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister, David Cameron, and the Lord Chancellor, Michael Gove, following the recommendation of an independent selection panel chaired by Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas. The panel includes Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger and three lay Judicial Appointments Commissioners.

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has announced it has opened its first office in Hong Kong as part of its long-term strategy to expand its offering in Asia.

The US firm initially announced its intention to open its doors in Hong Kong in March after hiring Clyde & Co head of global aviation finance Paul Jebely. The launch of the office was dependent on gaining regulatory approval but Pillsbury has now successfully obtained its licence.

Jebely will be the office’s managing partner and will be joined by finance associates Luca Denora, Zara Machado and Sharon Nourani. The team comprises of US and English qualified lawyers and will focus on transportation finance, private client advisory, disputes, and technology-focused corporate and securities matters.

Pillsbury’s chair Jim Rishwain said: “Our opening in Hong Kong is an important step in continuing to build our presence in Asia. Under Paul’s leadership, our team in the new office will significantly augment the already strong transportation finance and cross-border services we offer clients.”

The Hong Kong office will be the firm’s third in China after it originally opened its doors in Shanghai in 2006. The opening coincided with the firm closing its base in Taiwan. Pillsbury then expanded its offering in China by launching an additional office in Beijing in 2014.

Since opening in Beijing the firm has continued to grow in China. In January the firm picked up Perkins Cole IP partner Jack Ko to lead its Shanghai office. It also added a team of employment litigation and corporate partners to its practice in the West Coast of the US to increase its cross-border ability with its Chinese clients.

Last year Pillsbury entered into merger talks with fellow US firm Chadbourne & Parke. According to sources at the time Pillsbury called its partners into a mandatory meeting to discuss the proposed merger in September. Following two months of speculation the deal to form a new $800m firm were eventually called off.

Shearman & Sterling has handed its newly qualified solicitors an 8 per cent pay rise and raised the salaries of lawyers across the firm.

NQs will now receive £95,000, up from £88,000 last year. It puts the firm closer to the top of the NQ pay scale, though it does not match the likes of Akin Gump or Vinson & Elkins, which are among the firms paying more than £100,000 to NQs.

3.5PQE associates get a 9.5 per cent hike, from £115,000 to £126,000, while 6.5PQEs receive a 6.8 per cent boost, from £146,000 to £156,000.

Trainee pay remains at £45,000 for first years and £50,000 for second years, following a large increase last year.

The US firm has also formalised its agile working policies in London. The Lawyer revealed last month that it was considering introducing such policies in the UK after it allowed its US-based associates to work from home two days a month.

The new policy does not specify any set number of days that lawyers can work from home; associates and counsel are asked to obtain authorisation from their line manager for consideration. London managing partner Nick Buckworth said: “In a recent internal survey, our staff clearly told us that having the ability to work flexibly was of increasing importance. We are pleased to have put in place new processes that enable our team to work in a more agile way and we have the full support of our partners to ensure this is a success.”

Upcoming webinar

Join Chris Jones from legal firm GunnerCooke, as he reviews the top 3 fundamentals in an insolvency case: Investigation – Action – Enforcement

Wed, June 15, 2016 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM BST

The Institute of Chartered Accountant in England and Wales is ready to start offering partial licenses for insolvency practitioners due to regulatory changes brought in to improve competition and liberalise entry to the profession.

The changes which widen qualifying criteria for authorised regulatory providers of insolvency services kicked in following amendments to the Deregulation Act 2015 and Insolvency (Amendment) Act Northern Ireland 2016, last March.

We have the 10-year anniversary of the age discrimination regulations in the UK, the possibility of a Brexit from the European laws forming the basis of that legislation and fundamental changes to the UK pensions savings and retirement system!

In this ALL ABOUT AGE webinar our HR Law experts will again look at a number of issues, updates and forecasts relating to AGE in 2016, including:

• 10-years on from the introduction of the age discrimination regulations in the UK – a reminder of where we started, and where we are now
• the Brexit and AGE: in or out, what could be the consequences for our age discrimination laws in the UK
• an update on the recent AGE decisions in Donkor v Royal Bank of Scotlandand Dove v Brown & Newirth Ltd
• longer working lives and the meaning of retirement with the new pensions flexibilities and decreasing pension savings allowances

We will help you to identify the actions you need to take as an employer as well as key points to look out for in the coming months.

Members of Outer Temple Chambers Court of Protection Team delivered a Conference on Community Care for member Councils of the London Borough Legal Alliance.

Mark Mullins, Fiona Scolding, Matthew Stockwell, Samantha Presland and Katarina Sydow delivered an informative event which covered a range of topics including an Analysis of the first year of the Community Care Act 2014, Disputes over the Costs of Care and an Update on the position concerning 16-25 year olds.

Collas Crill acted for Lloyds Bank International Limited to support the CUBIC Fund for it’s recent refinance of a £2.4m pound former Baptist church and now nightclub and bar premises in Cheltenham.

The Collas Crill team comprised group partner Michael Morris and senior associates, Donald Millar and Tristan Ozanne, assisted by trainee solicitor Gregory Haddow.

Longstanding Gowling WLG client Huhtamaki has entered the folding carton packaging business in Europe following the €103m acquisition of Belfast-based Delta Print and Packaging (Delta) and its affiliated Polish unit.

Huhtamaki, headquartered in Finland and listed on NASDAQ, is a global specialist in packaging for food and drink with app. 16,000 employees across a network of 71 (now 73) manufacturing units and 23 sales offices in 34 countries. Delta will form part of Huhtamaki’s Foodservice Europe-Asia-Oceania business segment.

Delta is a privately held folding carton packaging manufacturer based in Belfast. Its affiliated Polish unit, European Packaging Solutions Poland Sp. Z o.o., has a new manufacturing unit in Gliwice, Poland.

Corporate partner Julian Henwood, co-chair of Gowling WLG’s Nordic Desk, led on the acquisition. He was supported by principal associate Amar Adatia and associate Laura Dick. The same team also worked with the Huhtamaki team on its 2013 €20m acquisition of BCP Fluted Packaging.

Muireann Granville has joined LK Shield Solicitors’ litigation and dispute resolution department.

Muireann joins Michael Kavanagh and his team as an associate solicitor.

Muireann advises on a wide variety of general and commercial litigation disputes including contract disputes, disputes in relation to complex financial structures, professional negligence claims and intellectual property disputes.  She also has considerable experience in arbitration.

Muireann has worked on a number of complex high value disputes before the Commercial Court and has particular expertise in the area of discovery, having managed several large-scale e-discovery projects.

NCTM Studio Legale has assisted Sky International AG, owner of the Sky brand in Italy, in the arbitration proceedings took place before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, resulting in the reassignment of domain names radiosky1.com  and sky1radio.com .

WIPO, with the decision has become final, in addition to having recognised that the SKY brands are renowned in the broadcasting sector, considered that registration of domains radiosky1.com  and sky1radio.com , by an unauthorised person, to have been in bad faith.

Sky International AG was advised by a team led by Paul Lazzarino, assisted by Margaret Banfi.