Hogan Lovells revenue hit by weaker currencies

Global revenue at Hogan Lovells was up 2.3 per cent in 2015 to U$1.82 billion with profit per equity partner up 2.7 per cent to $1.2 million. However, revenue per lawyer was 4 per cent down from the previous year and the firm said that its overall revenue would have been more than 8 per cent but was hit by weak currencies in the UK and Europe. The region made up 43 per cent of the firm’s revenue with the US just ahead at 50 per cent while Asia-Pacific and the Middle East accounted for the remaining 7 per cent.
 
International firm appoints first GC
Simmons & Simmons has appointed its current international head of employment as its first general counsel to manage regulatory and employment issues. Simon Watson will take up his new role at the start of May and replacements will be found for his current responsibilities.
 
Baker & McKenzie hires high-profile competition lawyer
Nick Altini has been hired by Baker & McKenzie as a competition lawyer in its Johannesburg office. The lawyer is a high profile name in South Africa and adds to the capabilities of the Jo-burg office which has grown to more than 100 lawyers and staff since opening in 2012.
 
Brexit deal may not be legally binding
A deal being thrashed out between the UK and the other members of the EU may not be legally binding if the British public vote to stay in the union. That’s according to the chief executive of the campaign for the UK to exit the EU. Vote Leave’s Matthew Elliot says that in order for any deal to be legally binding it would have to be ratified by the member states and he says that cannot be achieved by the time of the vote, if it is this year. He told the Law Society Gazette that any deal that was signed but not ratified would not necessarily be upheld by the European Court of Justice and would have the “legal weight of an unsigned contract.”