23 lawyers exit Squire Patton Boggs
Part of the Middle East practice of Squire Patton Boggs has exited the firm. The team of 23 lawyers, including 5 partners, was part of
El-Khoury & Partners which was a legacy affiliate of Squire Sanders. When Squire Patton Boggs was formed, the team joined with Patton Boggs legacy affiliate The Khalid Al-Thebity Law Firm but apparently there has been some tension between the two groups. The exiting team was a big income generator for the firm with revenues of around $4 million.
Australian law firm opens overseas
A Melbourne-based law firm that specialises in start-ups is expanding internationally. General Standards was formed last year and is now advising around 30 new businesses a month. With many start-up operations quickly expanding into global markets it makes perfect sense that the law firm should do that too, so as to better serve their clients as they expand overseas. General Standards has appointed James McQueen as its global CEO. McQueen was a former senior associate at
Corrs Chambers Westgarth. Spencer Wolf has joined the firm as New York partner and former Minter Ellison associate Campbell Unsworth will launch the London office. The business model of General Standards is representative of its start-up focus; there are no legacy clients, it offers fixed fees and utilises technology to keep costs low and free up time for lawyers.
Three partners join Ashurst for Asia practice changes
Ashurst is in the process of restructuring its Asia practices and has hired three partners from O’Melveny & Myers and one from White & Case. The hires strengthen the firm’s team in Hong Kong and there are additional moves and hires that are bolstering the Indonesian office in Jakarta.
Law firms appointed to represent Sir Cliff
Cliff Richard’s management has appointed two law firms to represent the veteran singer, following a raid on his British home by police. There has been much criticism of the handling of the raid by both the police and the media, including the BBC. The raid followed an allegation of an historic sexual assault from the mid-eighties. Cliff Richard denies the allegations and no charges have been made. It is understood that the star has not been interviewed about the allegations either. Media boutique law firm Michael Simpkins will be leading the reputational damage aspects of the investigation while any criminal or other matters arising will be handled by BCL Burton Copeland.
