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In-house lawyers 'are good value for money'
21 July, 2008In-house legal teams are being considered good value for money by major US firms, despite the high turnover seen during the credit crunch, it has been reported.
In-house legal teams are being considered good value for money by major US firms, despite the high turnover seen during the credit crunch, it has been reported.
The report, which could suggest a future resurgence in UK legalrecruitment, finds that companies are more willing to pay higher fees for their in-house legal team, with Richard Wiseman, Shell's general counsel for M&A and project finance, suggesting that if markets push up the price of a legal team, then companies should buckle down and pay up.
Such news will be welcome relief for those in the legal industry that have been fearful of redundancies that have occurred since the credit crunch affected the housing market, forcing many solicitors out of a job.
A resurgence in recruitment from major firms will no doubt signal a return to in-house recruitment across the private sector.
Suggesting that the market in Europe is still somewhat tighter than in the US, Mark Maurice-Jones, general counsel for Kimberly-Clark in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: "Not all of our work has to go to top-tier City firms.
"I'm always looking for alternatives and, due to costs, historical relations do not always count for much."
The long, drawn-out sale of British Energy (BE) to EDF Energy has come to an end after the French energy firm bought BE for £12.5 billion, it has been reported.
Government hopes to have an EDF Energy-British Energy (BE) tie up within two weeks have been dubbed "optimistic" by the British nuclear company, according to a recent report.
Gordon Brown is facing the prospect of a major defeat over the government's reluctance to impose a windfall tax on energy companies, it has been reported.
The City of London has launched a campaign against Gordon Brown in order to convince him that introducing a windfall tax on energy companies should be avoided.
TaylorWimpey has reported phenomenally poor first half results for the year so far, recording a loss of £1.5 billion, it has been announced.