Fake universities may have produced bogus lawyers
An investigation into fake universities in the UK appears to have uncovered bogus legal qualifications.
The Law Society Gazette reports that 32 fake academic institutions were closed by the government over the past year; 25 of them claimed to be in the UK but were found to be overseas.
The organization appointed to oversee the investigation and verify universities in the UK said that fake courses tend to focus on medicine, business and law.
The Law Society said that students should always verify institutions offering legal qualifications.
HSF recognised for mining, energy, infrastructure expertise in APAC
Herbert Smith Freehills has been ranked tier 1 in the latest IFLR1000 directory for its energy, mining, infrastructure, oil & gas and transport in Asia Pacific, as well as energy, mining and oil & gas in Australia.
The firm also received tier 1 rankings for energy & infrastructure in China, Japan, Myanmar, Singapore and South Korea.
Among the deals that its teams have acted on are: ACT’s Capital Metro (acting for the Canberra Metro consortium); Origin Energy’s sale of a number of energy infrastructure and renewables assets in Australia; and CGN in relation to its acquisition of the Edra power business for US$2.2 billion.
Change of global finance chief at Magic Circle firm
Simon Johnson has been named as the new global head of finance at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. He is currently a real estate partner in London and will succeed David Trott who will stay with the firm and return to client work.
Two Birds’ consulting arm CEO takes flight
The chief executive of Bird & Bird’s consulting arm Baseline is leaving the firm after more than 20 years.
Dominic Cook had challenged the law firm’s CEO David Kerr in management elections earlier this year, The Lawyer reports, and will leave following a transitional period.
It’s reported that he may turn his attention to the development of legal-tech solutions on his departure.
