The new outpost, which will focus on Lewis Silkin’s core strength of employment law, is set to open on 3 April. To staff the new office it has hired employment specialist Siobhra Rush, who will join from local firm Leman Solicitors. On launch, Rush will be supported by London-based partner Sean Dempsey, with fellow City associates Catherine Hayes and David Hopper offering reinforcements when needed.

Lewis Silkin’s chair Michael Burd told Legal Business that Brexit was a factor in the firm’s decision to open in the country: ‘We have found that clients are looking for a joined-up Irish-UK service. We also have some concern about what will happen in the UK after Brexit but the real driver was client demand.’

He added: ‘We think that there is a real opportunity in the Irish market for this kind of niche firm and we are keen to capitalise on it. So far the reception has been very positive.’

For expansion-shy Lewis Silkin, opening only its second office outside of the UK is a major step, with the firm possessing offices in London, Oxford, Cardiff and Hong Kong. Burd observed: ‘We don’t see ourselves as a world behemoth.’

Pinsent Masons became the first firm to open in Ireland following the Brexit referendum in 2016, launching a three partner office in June 2017. But unlike Lewis Silkin, Pinsent Masons senior partner Richard Foley confirmed ‘it wasn’t a Brexit thing’ and that the decision was made before the UK voted to leave the EU.

Last September, Covington opened its own Dublin office, focusing on regulation, pharma and life sciences. London-based EU life sciences partner Grant Castle and technology partner Daniel Cooper were selected to oversee the new hub.

Simmons opened in Dublin a month later, with a practice initially focusing on asset management. Mason Hayes & Curran’s head of investment funds and financial regulation Fionán Breathnach was drafted in to lead Simmons’ Irish venture.

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Dentons is combining with Hamilton, Harrison & Mathews in Kenya, Mardemootoo Solicitors and Balgobin Chambers in Mauritius, Dinner Martin in the Cayman Islands, Delany Law in the Eastern Caribbean, Hanafiah Ponggawa & Partners (HPRP) in Indonesia, and Zain & Co in Malaysia. The combinations mean the firms become full voting, contributing and participating members of the Dentons group, and are expected to launch later this year subject to partner approval and meeting regulatory requirements.

The combinations will give Dentons a presence in 73 countries, and follow expansions in The Netherlands in early 2017 , Scotland in mid-2017 , and Uganda through a merger with that country’s largest law firm, Kampala Associated Advocates (KAA), in September last year kicking off a strategy to become the ‘first truly pan-African law firm’.

Dentons also expanded in Latin America last year through a strategic alliance with Brazil’s Vella Pugliese Buosi Guidoni and a combination with Gallo Barrios Pickmann in Peru, following the launch of Dentons Muñoz in Central America, Dentons López Velarde in Mexico and Dentons Cardenas & Cardenas in Colombia. It has also recently combined with firms in the South East Asia region.

Dentons said the seven new combinations would grow its offering in banking and finance, corporate, dispute resolution, real estate, tax and infrastructure.

Dentons global chief executive Elliott Portnoy commented: ‘We are growing faster in Latin America and the Caribbean – and with truly high-quality firms – in a way that no one has ever done before. Our new offices in Mauritius and Kenya complement our growing pan-African presence, coming on the heels of our expansion in neighbouring Uganda just last year. And our expansion in Indonesia and Malaysia builds on our presence in Singapore and Myanmar in the dynamic South East Asia region.’

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In a warning notice on the regulator’s website, the SRA has stipulated that NDAs would be improperly used if they sought to prevent a person from reporting misconduct to the police or other prosecution or regulatory authority.

According to the notice, the new guidelines also aim to stamp out the threat of litigation as a means of stopping people from disclosing misconduct. Specifically, the SRA has warned against using defamation proceedings as a threat ‘where such a claim is known to be unsustainable’.

While not explicitly incorporated into the SRA’s handbook, the regulator has cautioned that failure to comply with the new terms will run the risk of disciplinary action.

In a press release, the SRA has cited a ‘widespread reporting of the perception that NDAs, alongside cultural issues within some firms, are resulting in low levels of reporting of inappropriate sexual behaviour’. Between November 2015 and October 2017, the SRA received 21 complaints relating to these kinds of behaviour.

SRA chief executive Paul Philip commented: ‘The public and the profession expects solicitors to act with integrity and uphold the rule of law. And most do. NDAs have a valid use, but not for covering up serious misconduct and in some cases potential crimes.’

Baker McKenzie was most recently caught up in controversy at the beginning of this year, as it emerged it had sanctioned a partner following an allegation of sexual assault. A settlement was agreed with the junior lawyer who raised the complaint, which included confidentiality obligations on the firm and complainant.

The first connection between law firms, sexual harassment and NDAs emerged when magic circle outfit Allen & Overy (A&O) was reportedly involved in a historic incident over the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

A&O was named in an Financial Times article as brokering an NDA with Zelda Perkins, an assistant of the Hollywood producer who accused him of sexual harassment in 1998. Perkins later broke the NDA after speaking out late last year.

A&O declined to comment. Baker McKenzie was contacted for comment.

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In a deal that will create one of the world’s largest auto parts providers, Macfarlanes’ corporate partners Graham Gibb and Richard Burrows acted for Dana as it announced today (9 March) that its shareholders will get a 53% stake in GKN.

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison’s corporate partner Tarun Stewart also acted for the Ohio-headquartered company, while Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom advised Dana’s board of directors with a team including M&A partners Stephen Arcano, Ann Beth Stebbins and Scott Hopkins.

Slaughters partners Martin Hattrell and Robert Innes acted for GKN alongside Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

Slaughters previously advised GKN on a £7.4bn takeover bid launched by British investment company Melrose earlier this year. Head of M&A Roland Turnill led the Slaughters team as GKN rejected the offer.

As part of its defence against the Melrose takeover bid, GKN announced earlier this month that it was going to split the two main parts of its business – its aerospace division and its Driveline unit, which supplies parts to about half of the world’s makers of passenger cars.

Melrose’s offer sparked a public debate with some worrying that Melrose would break up GKN to hike its value ahead of re-selling it within a few years. A cross-party group of MPs asked in a letter to business secretary Greg Clark that the bid be blocked, as the Pensions Regulator warned that the move could affect GKN’s ability to fund its pension scheme. Melrose now has about ten days to decide whether to raise its offer for GKN.

But GKN chairman Mark Turner said in a statement the combination of GKN Driveline with Dana ‘will create a US and UK-led global market leader in vehicle drive systems. The synergies between these two businesses and our complementary product portfolios make this a great deal for GKN shareholders.’

With customers including Fiat Chrysler and Volkswagen, GKN’s auto parts business generated £5.3bn in sales last year. According to the terms of the deal, GKN’s shareholders will now own around 47% of the new business, which will operate as Dana Plc, have its domicile in the UK and continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Blundell will focus on corporate criminal investigations and compliance advice, with particular emphasis on regulatory issues. Regarding the move, senior partner Charles Martin said: ‘The introduction of criminal offences across a broad spectrum of regulation affecting our corporate clients – such as bribery, the Criminal Finances Act and environmental matters – makes this area of work a really important one.’

Martin added the move for Blundell reflects a desire to provide complete specialist services on white-collar crime and develop the practice further. ‘If we could find someone outstanding in the market, it meant we could provide these needed services ourselves’.

For Eversheds Sutherland, the move means the departure of a department head who had been with the firm since 2008 and worked on high-profile investigations and proceedings brought by the Financial Services Authority and the Serious Fraud Office. He has been involved in some of most significant investigations around Libor, FX, misleading the market and foreign bribery. Zia Ullah, an experienced corporate crime lawyer, will now take over the leadership of the corporate crime and investigations group at Eversheds Sutherland.

The move extends a rare spell of transfer activity for Macfarlanes, which recently saw Bronwen Jones leave the firm after 14 years to Reed Smith.

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As the firm looks to beef up its numbers in the region as part of its 2020 strategy, two of Hogan Lovells’ former partners launched the office on 08 March.

Hogan Lovells local head of employment Robin Samuel will operate from the office, alongside litigator Barry Thompson and Hogan Lovells counsel Joe Ward.

Two other disputes partners the firm has hired from Hogan Lovells, Mark Goodman and Ethan Miller, will operate out of Bakers’ existing San Francisco base.

‘We are solidifying our roots in a market where many California-based Fortune 500 companies have a presence,’ said the firm’s North American managing partner Colin Murray. ‘Los Angeles is also an increasingly important gateway for our clients in Asia.’

He added: ‘Our new partners will take on significant commercial and employment litigation as well as class action cases for clients across multiple industries.’

Previously operating as separate profit pools, Bakers moved to bring its North American outposts into an integrated business five years ago, but had to draft special deals for its Dallas and Washington DC arms before these agreed to join the grouping.

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Coinciding with International Women’s Day the survey, released today (8 March), sheds light on the perceived progress of gender equality in the legal profession, with unconscious bias cited as the most prevalent obstacle to women reaching senior positions.

Just 11% said unconscious bias training is carried out within their organisation. With 7,781 lawyers, including 5,758 women, 554 men and 1,449 whose gender was unknown, the Law Society has lauded the survey as the ‘largest ever on gender equality in the legal profession’.

91% of respondents believed flexible working was critical to improving diversity and inclusivity within the legal profession. However, under half (43%) said that diversity and inclusion training was consistently enforced within their firms. Despite a majority being aware of a gender pay gap in their organisation, only 16% identified ‘visible steps’ taken to address it.

Given the size of this survey, it seems likely it will feature in a larger project being undertaken by the Law Society to detail obstacles to diversity within the legal profession.

Christina Blacklaws, the Law Society vice president, said: ‘I am a passionate believer in equality. Where there is inequality, I will not flinch from tackling it. While more and more women are becoming lawyers, this shift is not yet reflected at more senior levels in the profession. Our survey and a wider programme of work during my presidency in 2018-19 seek to understand progress, barriers and support remedies.

‘With our Women in Leadership programme, the Law Society is committed to giving women and men in law the tools to make positive changes towards gender equality.’

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Manley will now lead Sidley’s life sciences team in London, which will focus on areas such as medical device and drug regulation, intellectual property and private equity and will play a pivotal role in providing services to Sidley’s global life sciences clients.

Manley has a long track record in representing biopharma companies before English and EU courts and led Bristows’ sector regulatory practice, with particular experience on the issues arising from life cycle of medicinal products, including advertising, product liability and competition. Described as ‘a tenacious litigator’ in the current edition of The Legal 500 UK, Manley’s appointment represents a new direction for Sidley’s London branch, despite a wider reputation for life sciences work in the US.

The managing partner of Sidley’s London office, Matthew Dening, heralded the acquisition, stating: ‘Marie’s deep understanding of the EU and UK regulatory climates and her extensive experience in contentious proceedings will enhance our offering to life sciences clients.’

Manley said she the move reflects ‘a new and exciting platform to grow and develop my practice and assist my clients in a globalised world where bio/pharma companies are facing multiple cross-border challenges in which consistency of approach in all key jurisdictions is paramount.’

Sidley’s move comes against the backdrop of a strong London showing, with 2017 bringing a 14% City revenue hike to £85.7m. At the end of 2017, the firm also tapped Simpson Thacher & Bartlett for a pair of private equity specialists in London.

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The first day is designed to help introduce participants to the many areas of law, the different types of Firms and help confirm or dispel any myths associated with becoming a lawyer. Participants will also receive useful guidance on ways in which they can begin to strengthen their future applications and have the opportunity to meet different members of the Firm informally over lunch and drinks. The second day is spent work shadowing with one of the trainees which will provide you with an insight into the day-to-day role of a trainee solicitor at White & Case.

White & Case is a global law firm with over 2000 lawyers worldwide. The firm’s network of 43 offices provides a full range of legal services of the highest quality in almost every major commercial centre and emerging market. They are proud to represent some of the world’s longest established and most respected names alongside many start-up visionaries. The training contract consists of four six-month seats, one of which will be in Finance and another of which will be guaranteed to be overseas. This could be in one of the following offices: Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Milan, Moscow, New York, Paris, Prague, Singapore, Stockholm, and Tokyo.

Apply by 31 March