Law firm survey confirms desire for alternative fee arrangements

A survey of in-house counsel by international law firm Proskauer confirms clients’ desire for alternative fee arrangements. Forty-six per cent of respondents said they plan to increase their use of AFA’s while none expected their use to decrease.
The poll, largely focused on employment law, also revealed lean staffing for in-house teams; 48 per cent have 5 lawyers of fewer; 53 per cent had no dedicated employment lawyers at all.
Although a larger proportion of work is expected to be handled in-house (41 per cent said this), for litigation 74 per cent is handled by external counsel. The number one criteria for selecting outside help is responsiveness (65 per cent).
The use of outside law firms was expected to increase by 18 per cent of respondents while 14 per cent think it will decrease. However, 23 per cent expect a decrease in the number of law firms they will use.
 
HSF publishes book on developments in Australian takeovers
Herbert Smith Freehills has teamed up with the Ross Parsons Centre of Commercial, Corporate and Taxation Law at the University of Sydney, to publish a new book on developments in the law and practice of Australian takeovers and schemes.
HSF partner Tony Damian has edited the book, Towns Under Siege, along with senior associate Clayton James. It looks at various aspects of takeovers including the role of the target board in responding to a hostile bid, shareholder activism, class actions in takeovers and the new foreign investment regime. It is available from the University of Sydney.
 
Nixon Peabody CWL announces managing partners, promotions
Nixon Peabody CWL has announced that Matthew Lam and Joanne Wu have been named joint managing partners in Hong Kong. Lam is co-founder of CWL Partners which merged with US based Nixon Peabody in 2015. Wu is head of the dispute resolution practice. The duo succeeds Kenneth Wong, who held the role at legacy firm CWL Partners and will continue as a partner.