Ashurst loses another senior lawyer
Just a week after losing regional leaders from its Singapore, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi offices, another senior lawyer has left Ashurst.
Brussels managing partner Carl Meyntjens will join Simmons & Simmons as a corporate partner. He has been at the head of Ashursts in the city for almost a decade.
Two partners have replaced Meyntjens, with Arnaud Wtterwulghe as office managing partner and Denis Fosselard appointed to the newly-created position of head of Brussels.
Another international firm announces Canadian tie-up
DLA Piper is merging with Canadian firm Dimock Stratton in Toronto, adding 16 IP partners to the global firm from 1
st November 2016.
The news follows the recently-announced tie-up between Norton Rose Fulbright and Vancouver firm Bull Housser.
DLA Piper already has a presence in Toronto together with other major Canadian cities including Calgary, Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Black associates less likely to move with teams
When teams move law firms in lateral hires, black associates appear less likely to make the move than their white colleagues.
That’s according to a study co-authored by a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business which found that only associates were affected while there was little difference between the moves of black and white partners.
The report, authored by Christopher I. Rider, of Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, Adina Sterling of Stanford’s Business School and David Tan, of the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, was included in the book ‘Diversity in Practice Race, Gender, and Class in Legal and Professional Careers’ published earlier this year.
Lawyers fight Kuwait DNA law
A new law requiring citizens and visitors to Kuwait to provide a DNA sample is being fought by lawyers.
The law is due to be introduced within weeks and was passed by the country’s legislature a year ago. In the time since then, law firm Adel AbdulHadi & Partners has been preparing a legal challenge to it.
Newscientist.com reports that law firm principal Adel AbdulHadi says that requiring a DNA sample from all means everyone is considered guilty under proven innocent. He says that the law will be the equivalent to house searches without a warrant.
The government says the measure will help combat terrorism but that has been refuted by critics.
