Baker McKenzie Networking Dinners

The first few months back at university are often a flurry of career fairs, skills sessions, law dinners and society balls, and we imagine your university is no different!

We would like to invite you to apply to the annual Baker McKenzie Networking Dinner. The dates and details of the event are shown below. All begin with a drinks reception followed by a three-course meal. You will have the opportunity to network with Partners, Associates, Trainee Solicitors and Graduate Recruitment, learn about the firm, and experience our culture.

BRISTOL:

Date: 30th October

Time: 6:30pm

Venue: The Bristol Hotel

      Deadline: 20th October

WARWICK:

Date: 1st November

Time: 6:30pm

Venue: Whittles

     Deadline: 20th October

KINGS:

Date: 5th November

Time: 6:30pm

Venue: 1 Lombard Street

      Deadline: 27th October

CAMBRIDGE:

Date: 7th November

Time: 7pm

Venue: Gonville Hotel

      Deadline: 27th October

LSE:

Date: 8th November

Time: 6:30pm

Venue: 1 Lombard Street

      Deadline: 27th October

UCL:

Date: 12th November

Time: 6:30pm

Venue: 1 Lombard Street

      Deadline: 3rd November

OXFORD:

Date: 21st November

Time: 6:30pm

Venue: Malmaison

      Deadline: 10th November

DURHAM:

Date: 27th November

Time: 6:30pm

Venue: The Cellar Door

     Deadline: 17th November

EXETER:

Date: 28th November

Time: 6:30pm

Venue: Circa 1924

     Deadline: 17th November

Dress Code: Smart Casual

Norton Rose enters associate pay war putting NQs in line for £114k paycheque

Top-performing newly qualified (NQ) solicitors at Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) will be in line to take home up to £114,000 as the firm becomes the latest to increase its starting rates amid an escalating war for associate talent in the City.

NRF confirmed on 9 October a 9% rise to its NQ basic salary to £87,500 effective in January 2020, with bonuses of up to 30% on top of that.

A spokesperson said it was essential for the firm to ‘attract and retain high quality people’ and ‘ensuring our salaries are competitive is key to achieving this’.

NRF is the latest to confirm a six-figure pay package for NQs after Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in May announced one of the largest real-term pay rises in the City for a decade amid increasing pressure for associate talent from US rivals.

A few weeks after Freshfields raised its starting rate from £85,000 to £100,000 plus bonuses, all four of its Magic Circle rivals followed suit. Clifford Chance (CC) announced a £100,000 package including bonus at the beginning of June, matched by Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy and Linklaters shortly afterwards.

The competition widened well beyond the Magic Circle over the summer, with Ashurst announcing a 9% pay increase to £105,000 after firms including Macfarlanes, Travers Smith and Herbert Smith Freehills made similar moves.

In July, Baker McKenzie announced an eye-catching 23% increase to its starting rates to a minimum of £95,000, with performance-related bonuses bringing earnings to over £100,000.

[email protected]

This story first appeared on Legal Business

Global firms lined up to advise as Thomas Cook rescue talks fail

With news this weekend that Thomas Cook is on the brink of collapse and has ceased trading with immediate effect, a number of global elite firms have been lined up to advise on the latest high-profile collapse of a household name.

Ashurst is advising  the Official Receiver as well as AlixPartners and KPMG, which were appointed as special managers in respect of certain Thomas Cook entities, while Slaughter and May and Latham & Watkins are advising Thomas Cook. Insolvency practitioners from AlixPartners have been appointed as special managers over the airline and tour operator companies, while practitioners from KPMG have been appointed as special managers to the group’s retail division and to its aircraft maintenance companies.

Giles Boothman, Olga Galazoula and Lynn Dunne are leading the Ashurst team, with Crowley Woodford and Ruth Buchanan advising on the employment law aspects and Derwin Jenkinson, Tom Mercer and James Fletcher focusing on the corporate side. Meanwhile, the Slaughters team is being led by Tom Vickers and the Latham team is headed by partners Nick Cline, John Houghton and James Inness.

A Reed Smith team from the UK, Germany and the US are advising the Civil Aviation Authority in relation to the insolvency. The Civil Aviation Authority and AlixPartners will work together to deal with the repatriation of all stranded customers. The team is led by partners Richard Spafford who is advising on licensing and regulatory issues, Charlotte Møller leads on the insolvency law and contingency planning for the repatriation, while Nick Williams is advising on the financial aspects.

Chief executive of Thomas Cook Peter Fankhauser commented: ‘We have worked exhaustively in the past few days to resolve the outstanding issues on an agreement to secure Thomas Cook’s future for its employees, customers and suppliers.  Although a deal had been largely agreed, an additional facility requested in the last few days of negotiations presented a challenge that ultimately proved insurmountable.’

In July, a team led by restructuring partner Ian Johnson, financing partner Ed Fife and corporate partner Richard Smith from Slaughters and a team from Latham & Watkins advised Thomas Cook Group in relation to the proposed recapitalisation plan.

Thomas Cook was looking for a £750m investment and was in talks with its largest shareholder, Fosun Tourism Group, as well as the company’s core lenders on a substantial new capital investment as part of a proposed recapitalisation and separation of the group.

[email protected]

This article first appeared on legalbusiness.co.uk.