New head in Asia-Pac for Freshfields

Freshfields makes landmark appointment for Asia-Pac
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has appointed Alastair Mordaunt to lead its Hong Kong competition practice. His hiring as a partner gives the law firm a significant boost to its experience as Mordaunt has been both a litigator and a regulator. He returns to the firm where he started his career and spent eight years - in London, Brussels and Washington DC – before joining the UK’s Office of Fair Trading where he was director of its mergers group and then a dedicated competition enforcement team. He joins Freshfields from Clifford Chance in London.
 
Dentons’ investment focuses on controlling legal spend
A start-up which helps law firms monitor legal fees and assists clients with controlling their legal spend has received an investment from Denton’s innovations arm. NextLaw Labs has invested in Apperio, a UK firm which operates an analytics platform which streamlines legal matter management and costs. No details of the value or size of the investment have been revealed. NextLaw Labs made its first investment last year, backing an IBM Watson app.
 
Lawyers among biggest earners
Lawyers are among the highest earning professionals in the US according to a new report. The median income of lawyers in the US is U$144,500, based on people who have shared their salaries on the recruitment site Glassdoor in the past year. The annual poll of the 25 highest paying jobs reveals that only doctors earn more than lawyers ($180,000).
 
Singer’s lawyers lobbied NZ ministers on visa application
Singer Chris Brown’s lawyers lobbied New Zealand ministers in an attempt to get permission for him to perform. Stuff.co.nz reports that the direct approach was due to concern over adverse publicity which may have affected the application. Brown’s tour was cancelled when Australia denied him entry and the ‘special direction’ application into New Zealand was never progressed. The information has been revealed under the Official Information Act.