Hotel employees initially called police early Sunday morning after Russell Lawrence Ziemba refused to leave a bar, the local news station KPRC reported. Responding police called for backup at 1:30 a.m. local time and found ammunition "lying around the man's hotel room," according to Houston Police Lt. Gordon Macintosh. Law-enforcement officials said Ziemba told them he had planned to celebrate New Year's Eve and had been "drinking for a few days," KPRC said, citing Houston police. Chief Art Acevedo said Ziemba told investigators he brought the weapons to his room because he feared they might be stolen from a truck that he parked in a garage. A gun show was underway at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston on Sunday, but police have not said whether Ziemba had visited the show or acquired his weapons from there. Investigators said they do not believe Ziemba intended to use the weapons found in his room. Acevedo said there were no specific threats to Houston ahead of New Year's Eve celebrations getting underway Sunday night. The Hyatt Regency, which was planning festivities of its own, said in a statement: "The safety and security of our guests and colleagues is our top priority, and consistent with the hotel’s prepared security plans, heightened measures are in place on New Year’s Eve. We are fully cooperating with authorities on an investigation, and further questions should be directed to the Houston Police Department." The incident with Ziemba closely resembles the events surrounding the Las Vegas massacre in October, during which 64-year-old Stephen Paddock fired on concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Fifty-eight people were killed and nearly 600 people were injured. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. Law-enforcement agencies in the US and around the world stepped up measures to protect revelers celebrating New Year's Eve. The New York Police Department conducted specialized training to help officers stop potential suicide bombers, Reuters reported. In Las Vegas, snipers and spotters, along with additional air support were on hand, with federal authorities stationed at mobile command posts there. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: A driver in Los Angeles filmed huge smoke rising from a growing brush fire from http://www.businessinsider.com/man-had-guns-and-ammunition-in-hotel-room-new-years-eve-2017-12
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Multiple deputies are down after police responded to calls of an active shooter in Colorado12/31/2017 "Multiple deputies" were down on Sunday after police responded to a call of an active shooter situation in Littleton, Colorado, a residential area south of Denver, according to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. "This morning deputies responded to he Copper Canyon Apartments for a Domestic Disturbance," the sheriff's office said on Twitter. "During the Investigation, shots were fired and multiple deputies were injured. No status on the deputies and no status on civilian injuries. Please avoid this area." At least eight ambulances arrived on the scene, according to Denver7 News, ABC's affiliate in the area.
Join the conversation about this story » from http://www.businessinsider.com/r-multiple-deputies-down-in-active-shooter-situation-in-colorado-police-2017-12 Lawsuits lies and Colombian prisons: The downfall of two wildly successful tech entrepreneurs12/30/2017
For the past six weeks, a tangled case of complex fraud leveled against two prominent tech entrepreneurs unfolded in federal court. On December 26, the trial's defendants, Omar Amanat and Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, were found guilty on numerous accounts of fraudulent charges, as originally reported by Bloomberg. For both Amanat and Tuzman, the conviction is a striking fall from power: The two defendants have made millions of dollars and led successful entrepreneurial careers that have all but unraveled over the course of the past year. The court case revealed a series of convoluted legal infractions performed by Amanat and Tuzman in their work with the presently insolvent video-technology company, KIT Digital, a former multi-million dollar leader in the cloud-based video management industry. According to Bloomberg, Tuzman, who served as the company's CEO, and Amanat, who dealt in a series of company investments, covered up losses, inflated the value of shares, and defrauded investors. The pair are expected to serve a minimum of a decade in jail and their sentencing will be delivered in April 2018. Here's a breakdown of Amanat and Tuzman's descent: Lavish wealth and lurid lawsuitsBy the time he was 30 years old, Omar Amanat had sold off his brokerage firm, Tradespace, for $100 million. Amanat was already flush in wealth and had turned his interests towards philanthropy and film production, flaunting connections with A-list celebrities like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. He was known for his lavish lifestyle, an tendency for quoting the Persian poet Rumi, and appearing in designer garb alongside his wife, supermodel Helena Houdova, at high-profile events. But despite Amanat's effortless exterior, a series of sensational controversies had begun to dog his career. In 2014, a multi-million-dollar real estate deal in Thailand collapsed amid a lurid lawsuit with Amanat and his business partner, the Russian oligarch Vladislav Doronin. Two years later, Amanat's name was once more featured prominently in the papers. He had leased his lavish Hampton home to a hedge-fund trader, Brett Barna, who allegedly trashed the $20 million estate in a widely publicized madcap party. The New York Times reported that Amanat had threatened to sue Barna for $1 million and was hounding him for thousands of dollars in damages. But Amanat's threats were short-lived. Days after he had threatened to sue, Amanat received a visit in his New Jersey home from the FBI, which charged Amanat with multiple counts of fraud. Right now, Amanat awaits his sentencing in jail. On his personal website, he describes the trial's outcome as an "injustice in America." "The facts of this case will all be made plain to see shortly," Amanat wrote. "You’ve only seen snippets. You’ve only seen what they want you to see." A successful dot-com millionaire serves time in a Colombian prisonKaleil Isaza Tuzman is considered one of the preeminent figures of the dot-com boom. A Harvard graduate, Tuzman worked as an analyst for five years on Wall Street, before launching his own company, govWorks.com, which is featured in the documentary 'Startup.com.' Tuzman, who is considered an expert in the field of digital media, went on to join KIT Digital as the company's chief executive. Tuzman was charged with fraud for his involvement with KIT Digital in 2015. He was reportedly apprehended on a business trip in Bogotá, Colombia by Colombian officials, which had been sent to arrest Tuzman at the behest of the US government. Tuzman spent 10 months in "La Picota," a notorious local prison. Tuzman described his prison time to the New York Times as a harrowing ordeal: The former CEO claims he was abused, raped, and threatened at knifepoint by Colombian authorities. Multiple attempts on Tuzman's behalf by his attorneys to the US Embassy were met to no avail. He was later extradited to the US where he faced trial alongside Amanat. DON'T MISS: The 50 best-paying big companies, according to employees Join the conversation about this story » from http://www.businessinsider.com/omar-amanat-kaleil-isaza-tuzman-kit-digital-fraud-2017-12
For the first time in the city's history, the Department of Homeland Security has given Las Vegas's New Year's Eve festivities its top special assessment rating, a designation that comes with extra resources like federal officers, intelligence, snipers, an FBI hostage rescue team, and helicopters with tactical security forces, The New York Times reported. The October 1 massacre, which killed 58 and left hundreds injured, was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, and has served as a warning to large cities hosting major public events that could be seen as targets. In an effort to combat that threat, cities like Las Vegas and New York have bolstered their security plans for New Year's Eve, when celebrations are expected to draw hundreds of thousands of revelers. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, for instance, said it will deploy every single officer to work a shift between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. "We need to be able to focus on multiple shooters, on one or more above the ground — we've got to multiply our forces," Chief Chris Jones told The Times. He added that more than 5,000 officers will be placed along the Strip, and nearly all of the four miles it comprises will be closed to traffic. 'Out of an abundance of caution'The New York Police Department, too, is sending in rooftop observation teams and counter-snipers into buildings to spot or disarm any high-rise shooters taking aim at the crowds watching the ball drop in Times Square, The Times reported. The NYPD, keenly aware of recent terrorist attacks in New York City, are sending out Labrador retrievers that can smell explosive particles on would-be suicide bombers, like the man who partially detonated a makeshift bomb in one of the city's underground passageways earlier this month. The NYPD is also placing sand trucks around Times Square to prevent vehicle attacks, like the one that killed eight people on Halloween after a driver plowed his rented pickup truck down a lower Manhattan bike path. NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said at a press conference Thursday there were no direct, credible threats to the city's New Year's Eve events, but the security measures were being tightened regardless. "Out of an abundance of caution, however, you'll see a stronger police presence out there than we've seen even in recent years," O'Neill said. Join the conversation about this story » from http://www.businessinsider.com/las-vegas-ramping-up-new-years-eve-security-plans-after-massacre-2017-12
Around 4:30 a.m., two bodies were found hanging from a bridge near the international airport in the municipality of Los Cabos, at the southern end of the state. Around 5 a.m., two more bodies were found in Cabo San Lucas, hanging from a bridge over a highway connecting that city to San Jose del Cabo. Around 6 a.m., another two bodies were found hanging from a highway bridge near the international airport in the capital, La Paz, which is north of Los Cabos. There has been a sharp increase in violence — much of it attributed to fighting between organized-crime groups — in Baja California Sur over the past three years. The 650 homicide victims in the state between January and November this year was a 223% increase and a 284% increase over the same periods in 2016 and 2015, respectively. But the December 20 incidents were reportedly the first time bodies had been found hung from bridges in the state. 'A cleansing'Narcomantas — public announcements by criminals that often accompany corpses — were left with the bodies. They were attributed to the "Guzmanes y Tegoripeños" gang, and one reportedly said, in part, "This is what will happen to anyone who does not fall into line with us. It has been made more than clear that we hold all the power and that Baja north and south are ours." Several such signs have been attributed to the gang over the past two months, threatening government officials and boasting of "a cleansing" in the area. A sign attributed to the group also appeared in the days after Baja California Sur's human-rights ombudsman and his son were gunned down in late November. The gang's name appears to refer to Tegoripa, a small town in Sinaloa state's Badiraguato municipality, which is where Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was born. Guzman's surname appears to be the basis for the other half of the gang's name. Bodies hung from bridges or other structures with narcomantas appeared frequently elsewhere in Mexico during the major cartel clashes of the 2000s and early 2010s. Several such displays were found around Tijuana in late 2016, and a body was hung from a bridge in nearby Nayarit state a few days before the incident in Baja California Sur, part of a wave of killings in the state suspected of being organized-crime related. Narcomantas were found at the scene of several of those crimes, including at the bridge.
Tourist hubs like Los Cabos have long avoided the kind of bloodshed seen elsewhere in the country during the last decade of its drug war. But those areas have seen increasing violence in recent months. Amid the dizzying increase in homicides through Baja California, the Los Cabos municipality, home to Cabo San Lucas, has also seen a spike: from 49 homicide cases (which can contain more than one victim) through all of 2016 to 286 through the first 11 months of this year — a 483% increase. As of the end of the summer, increasing violence in those places, which has largely taken place outside tourist areas, hadn't appreciably affected tourist activity (though feelings of insecurity among residents have risen). From June to August, Los Cabos saw a 6% increase in hotel occupancy compared to the previous year, as well as a 17% increase in passenger arrivals during the first nine months of the year. Nevertheless, violence in those tourist areas did prompt the US State Department to issue a travel warning for Baja California Sur at the end of August. Quintana Roo, home to Cancun and Play del Carmen, was also included. Many areas of Mexican have been listed for some time, but the August notice was the first time those two states had been included. At the time, Mexican officials admitted there were areas of concern in the country, but they also said the timing of the notice could have been a sign of political maneuvers by Washington in relation to ongoing NAFTA talks. SEE ALSO: Deadly violence in Mexico is at record levels, and new crime data adds to the ugly picture Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: The wives of El Chapo's henchmen reveal how they hid and spent $2 billion from http://www.businessinsider.com/narcomantas-hanging-bodies-los-cabos-growing-violence-2017-12
Comedian Iliza Shlesinger is facing a lawsuit for hosting a women-only comedy event in California last month. As Variety notes, the suit's plaintiff, George St. George, bought a ticket to Shlesinger's show at Largo at The Coronet on November 13, which was advertised as "Girls Night In with Iliza — No Boys Allowed." The suit contends that St. George and a male friend were initially told they could sit in the back row of the show, and were subsequently denied entry and offered refunds. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the attorney who filed the suit, Alfred Rava, has a history of suing companies for gender discrimination on behalf of men. In 2004, Rava orchestrated a class action lawsuit against the Oakland A's baseball organization for giving away hats to women at a Mother's Day game. "Simply put, it is against many California laws for a business to discriminate against patrons based on their sex or other personal characteristics, such as race or sexual orientation which should surprise no one," Rava writes in the suit. Rava goes on to argue that the women-only show "repudiated hundreds of years of women's struggles to be viewed as being equal to men and is typical of old-fashioned sexism that might also advise a young woman that her best chance for a happy life is to ace her home economics class and learn how to make a queso dip from Velveeta to catch a good man." According to Variety, a 1985 California Supreme Court case ruled that "ladies night" discounts violate an "equal accommodations" law in the state, and violations are punishable by a $4,000 fine, plus attorneys' fees. Shlesinger's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read the suit below: St. George v. Iliza Shlesinger by gmaddaus on Scribd (function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "https://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();SEE ALSO: Men are freaking out at Alamo Drafthouse for hosting ladies-only 'Wonder Woman' screenings Join the conversation about this story » from http://www.businessinsider.com/comedian-iliza-shlesinger-sued-for-banning-men-from-comedy-show-2017-12
According to the arrest warrant, police detained Jose Gonzalez Valencia, 42, a leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), with the intention of fulfilling a US extradition request. Once a little-known gang, the CJNG has grown in recent years to challenge the Sinaloa Cartel of captured kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman for primacy of the drug trade in Mexico. Gonzalez Valencia had been living in neighboring Bolivia for two years after fleeing Mexico and had entered Brazil as a tourist using a Bolivian passport, Brazilian prosecutors said in a statement. Gonzalez Valencia was arrested at a beach resort near the coastal city of Fortaleza and brought to the headquarters of the federal police for the state of Ceará. He had been in Brazil on vacation with his family since December 22, a Brazilian police official said, and did not resist arrest. He was reportedly carrying a Bolivian identification card that declared him a Mexican citizen named Jafett Arias Becerra.
An official at the state prosecutor's office in the western Mexican state of Jalisco — where the CJNG established itself and serves as a base for much of its operations — said Gonzalez Valencia is the brother of Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, a CJNG leader captured in February 2015. The Jalisco official said Gonzalez Valencia was due to be extradited straight to the US from Brazil. Abigael Gonzalez Valencia was named by the US as a narcotics trafficker and leader of the Los Cuinis drug-trafficking organization, alongside alleged CJNG chief Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes, in April 2015. "These two organizations have rapidly expanded their criminal empire in recent years through the use of violence and corruption," acting Office of Foreign Asset Control director John E. Smith said at the time. "They now rank among the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in Mexico."
Los Cuinis and the CJNG are tightly allied; some believe Los Cuinis is the financial arm of the CJNG, while others see them as partners. Some reports prior to Gonzalez Valencia's arrest identified him as the overall leader of the two groups. The CJNG itself originally formed as a faction of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, but it broke away around 2010, assuming control of drug trafficking in Jalisco state. In the years since, CJNG's expansion, first eastward and then northward, has helped push deadly violence to new highs in Mexico. Along the way, the CJNG has corrupted and bloodied police and military personnel, expanded into the US market, and, according to some, become the US's main supplier of crystal meth. The CJNG is now considered one of the most powerful criminal groups in Mexico — many see it and the Sinaloa cartel as the only true cartels left, after years of law-enforcement pressure and inter- and intra-cartel fighting caused rival groups to splinter in smaller factions. Competition between the CJNG and the Sinaloa cartel seemed to accelerate in the months after Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's arrest in January 2016, driving violence in and around Sinaloa state — including the August 2016 kidnapping of at least of one of Guzman's sons, who was returned unharmed. Fighting between the CJNG and Sinaloa cartels appears to have eased in recent months, but factions of each organization are believed to be competing for control of Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, both of which are valuable territories for smugglers seeking entry to the voracious US drug market. (Reporting for Reuters by Lisandra Paraguassu and Lizbeth Diaz; writing by Gram Slattery; editing by Leslie Adler) SEE ALSO: Deadly violence in Mexico is at record levels, and new crime data adds to the ugly picture Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Forget 'El Chapo' — this is Mexico's most powerful drug lord from http://www.businessinsider.com/r-brazil-arrests-alleged-member-of-feared-mexican-drug-gang-2017-12 From law student porn stars to Harry Potter-style exam cheats, but can you guess which article was our most viewed? 2017 has been quite a ride for the legal profession. It’s the year the United Kingdom welcomed its first ever female head of the Supreme Court in Lady Hale, months after she and her ten colleagues decided Article 50 could only be triggered following a free vote in parliament. Other pivotal legal affairs moments included the momentous employment tribunal fees ruling, the decision to cease baby Charlie Gard’s treatment and a whole host of Uber-directed legal challenges. King & Wood Mallesons closed its doors, the number of training contracts at corporate law firms in the City fell (but rose overall across the country), the Bar Standards Board and the Solicitors Regulation Authority pushed ahead with proposed changes to legal education and, the heavy stuff now, a former University of Westminster law student won I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! But which stories have Legal Cheek readers enjoyed more than all the others? Here are our 15 most-read stories this year. 15. An open letter to future lawyers, from a future lawyer14. Cambridge law student filmed on Snapchat torching £20 note in front of homeless man13. Westminster grad puts commercial law dreams on hold to enter celebrity jungle12. Law is the hardest degree to get a first in11. ‘C U Next Tuesday’: Leaked emails reveal incredible bust-up between KWM partners10. A law student used Harry Potter-style invisible ink to sneak 24 pages of ‘unauthorised notes’ into exam9. ‘It wasn’t an easy decision’: Student quit law degree to become porn star over concerns about money and graduate job prospects8. ‘They tried to get lawyers’: Devastating cuts to legal aid prevented Grenfell Tower residents accessing advice over safety concerns7. Too many students aspire to be Harvey Specter ‘rainmakers’, says law school director6. Watch lawyers sit in stony-faced silence as Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ blasts out through courtroom speakers5. Solicitor who qualified in 2009 and made partner in 2014 becomes UK’s youngest female judge at just 314. Revealed: Law firms average arrive and leave the office times 2017-183. Student used ‘fraudulent’ first class Oxford Brookes law degree to get onto Queen Mary LLM2. It’s official: The LPC and GDL are being scrapped1. 11 reasons why you should date a lawyerThank you to all our readers who have visited the site in 2017. Here’s to another year of Legal Cheek. The post A year in the world of Legal Cheek: The top 15 stories of 2017 appeared first on Legal Cheek. from https://www.legalcheek.com/2017/12/a-year-in-the-world-of-legal-cheek-the-top-15-stories-of-2017/
Farr, Trump's pick for the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, began his career as counsel to former US Sen. Jesse Helms, a supporter of racial segregation who represented North Carolina for 30 years. Over the last decade, Farr and his law firm colleagues have defended voting restrictions and identification laws that courts have struck down as deliberately discriminatory. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals found in 2016 that North Carolina's voter restriction laws targeted black communities "with almost surgical precision." Black civil rights leaders and progressive groups, including the Congressional Black Caucus, are calling on the Senate to reject Farr. In October, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved him in a party-line vote, and Farr is now up for confirmation by the full Senate. Rev. William Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP, wrote in a Tuesday New York Times op-ed that Farr, who he called the most "alarming" of all of Trump's judicial nominees, would pose a direct threat to North Carolina's black communities. "African-Americans seeking to have their rights protected under federal law have much to fear if Mr. Farr takes the bench," he wrote. He went on, "Senators from both sides of the aisle must condemn the experience Mr. Farr brings with him. Having practiced white supremacy for decades, Mr. Farr is not likely to withdraw. Every senator who condemned the racism on display in Charlottesville must vote to prevent it from having power in the federal judiciary." Barber noted that about half of North Carolina's black residents live in the area presided over by the Eastern District. And despite President Barack Obama's efforts to seat two black female nominees on that court, the Eastern District has never had a black judge. Both of North Carolina's GOP senators, meanwhile, strongly support Farr's nomination. 'A grave disservice'Members of the Congressional Black Caucus tore into Farr's record in a September letter to the Judicial Committee, pointing to his work on Helms' 1990 Senate campaign, during which postcards were mailed to 100,000 black voters wrongly suggesting they were ineligible to vote and warning they could be arrested and prosecuted for fraud if they tried. "It is no exaggeration to say that had the White House deliberately sought to identify an attorney in North Carolina with a more hostile record on African-American voting rights and workers' rights than Thomas Farr, it could hardly have done so," the Caucus members wrote. Farr told the Senate during his September hearing that he only learned of the postcards after they were sent and that he was "appalled" by the strategy. But a former Department of Justice official who investigated the incident has directly contradicted Farr's claim, arguing that he was "certainly involved in the scheme as it was being developed." The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights has accused Farr of lying to the Senate and called on him to withdraw his nomination. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund is calling on the Senate Judiciary Committee to bring Farr back in for more questioning. "Farr appears to have explicitly misled the Senate about his role in a scheme to intimidate Black North Carolinians and stop them from voting in the 1990 midterm elections," the NAACP wrote last month, arguing that Farr is neither sufficiently qualified nor competent to serve on the federal judiciary. This comes after the American Bar Associated determined that four of Trump's judicial nominees are "not qualified" to serve on the federal bench. Those listed unqualified by the ABA did not include one nominee, Matthew Petersen, who withdrew his nomination earlier this month after he failed to show basic knowledge of legal procedure. Petersen's withdrawal was the third by a Trump judicial nominee in 10 days. Trump, who is filling federal judicial vacancies at a rapid rate, and other GOP leaders have accused the ABA of having a liberal bias. DON'T MISS: Black Alabamians carried Doug Jones to victory — and it should be a warning to Democrats for 2018 Join the conversation about this story » from http://www.businessinsider.com/thomas-farr-modern-white-supremacist-black-civil-rights-leaders-say-2017-12 Amish or Amal? Corporate law and social life are not usually two things you would put together. Long hours, multiple deadlines and demanding partners can often leave little opportunity to unwind and kick back with colleagues. But having questioned over 2,000 trainees and junior lawyers at the 60 leading corporate law firms about their downtime habits, we discovered it’s far from ‘all work and no play’. As part of our exclusive research, respondents were asked to rate their firm’s social life from one to ten, with one being “Amish” right through to the top rating of ten, “Amal”. In alphabetical order, the firms that secured A* grades for social life in the Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey 2017-2018 are… Baker McKenzieLife post-ampersand appears to be going well for Baker McKenzie, which has secured an A* for social life for the second year running in our survey. Located just off Fleet Street, the global outfit’s London office is a hive of activity, according to one trainee: “Lots of events, receptions, events and more events! If you want to live a social life only in the office it is entirely possible. However, please do make friends outside of the office now and again.” Another insider said: “There is always lots going on.” With another spy adding “we are all the best of friends”, we’re sure the Bakers bunch are chuffed with the firm’s impressive autumn retention score of 94%. But one associate does claim that things “used to be better” on the social life front. That said, they’re still content to describe Baker’s social life as “good”, adding: “maybe I’ve just become rather boring since I qualified.” Read Baker McKenzie’s full firm profile, including The Legal Cheek View and Insider Scorecard. BristowsThe social scene at Bristows sounds buzzing. “There is a firm-wide drinks event on the last Friday of every month” and a “big all-out glitzy dinner dance in the spring and an autumn party following the AGM”, one rookie reveals. Another lawyer tells us that as afternoon turns to evening many of Bristows’ trainees and associates will nip to “a local pub down the road” to unwind and catch up. The more sporting-minded lawyers at the intellectual property-focused practice are catered for too. One trainee says:
And it would appear this vibrant social scene extends to the firm’s future trainees too. “We all get on so well as a year. The firm was great at getting us to meet with the partners and associates before we joined, having a couple of lunches during the GDL and LPC,” one Bristows source explains. Read Bristows’ full firm profile, including The Legal Cheek View and Insider Scorecard. Burges SalmonBurges Salmon has scored well across the board in this year’s survey, earning A*s in four categories. One of these is social life; thoroughly deserved if this trainee anecdote is anything to go by:
One Burges’ lawyer describes his colleagues as a “social bunch”, but does confess that it can differ from department to department. That said, “firm wide events” are a staple at Burges, which trumpeted a perfect 100% retention score (28 out of 28) earlier this year. The outfit’s social club has also been described at “very good”. We wonder if Burges Salmon’s West Country location has aided its score in any way: Bristol has been voted Europe’s coolest city and is littered with legendary bars and pubs like The Apple and The Coronation Tap. Read Burges Salmon’s full firm profile, including The Legal Cheek View and Insider Scorecard. ForstersAnother firm praised for its social life in our survey is private client and real estate outfit Forsters. Lawyers there work out of a grand Georgian terrace in well heeled Mayfair, a location described by one of its lawyers as “a great place to work”. Indeed, it’s just a stone’s throw from celebrity-filled clubs and bars including Annabel’s and May Fair Bar. If clubbing isn’t your thing, Mayfair’s top restaurant scene perhaps makes up for Forsters’ lack of a canteen: eateries including Hakkasan and Sexy Fish have fed the likes of Bella Hadid, Michael Cain, Chrissy Teigen and John Lennon, David Cameron and Noel Gallagher. It’s also very close to Hyde Park, which puts on events like Winter Wonderland and British Summer Time. So given its lively location, it probably won’t come as a surprise that Forsters, which was founded in 1998 and pays £61,000 upon qualification, chalked up an A* for its social life. It’s also worth noting the firm takes on just nine trainees a year, which likely adds to the tight-knit social feel. Read Forsters’ full firm profile, including The Legal Cheek View and Insider Scorecard. Kirkland & EllisWork hard, play harder appears to be the ethos at Kirkland & Ellis. The US firm’s London office is a “pretty liberal place”, says one insider, and “everyone is up for having fun” outside the swanky Gherkin office grind. After all, NQs at the firm are hardly short of cash to splash: they are paid an eye-watering £140,000 a year. Kirkland’s bashes are the stuff of legend, according to the firm’s lawyers. Party locations include five-star hotels like the Savoy and St Pancras Renaissance. Top restaurants like Coq d’Argent and Yauatcha also get a name check, while Kirkland’s lot has also been living it up outside of London in the Four Seasons in Hampshire, a manor house that has its own spa. “Literally no expense spared as a reward for how hard everyone works,” one rookie reveals. Another anonymous respondent adds:
Read Kirkland & Ellis’ full firm profile, including The Legal Cheek View and Insider Scorecard. Osborne Clarke“There is often something going on, whether it is sport, client events, team or departmental drinks,” says one Osborne Clarke lawyer. The firm doesn’t just throw “great summer and Christmas parties”, but treats its lawyers to “lots of spontaneous social events and planned socials”. The glue that holds these events together is surely the amiable relationship between OC staff. “[We] are all really good friends and regularly hang out outside of work,” one survey respondent said. Another insider reports that the tech-savvy outfit “tends to hire similar people, and so everyone gets on very well.” Perhaps this buoyant social scene is helped along by high spirits in the firm. For one, it’s had a string of recent strong retention performances. Earlier this year, Osborne Clarke chalked up impressive scores of 82% (14 out of 17) and 100% (six out of six). Revenue is up too, having risen from £205.9 million to £213.6 million this year. Read Osborne Clarke’s full firm profile, including The Legal Cheek View and Insider Scorecard. Taylor WessingTop-rated technology practice Taylor Wessing is a hub of social activity, according to Legal Cheek survey respondents from the firm. One source tell us that trainees and associates will often meet up outside work, taking advantage of the firm’s “regular drinks scene” and well-stocked Friday drinks trolley. But if you can’t be bothered to try to get the gang together after work, you can always leave it to the firm: another of the outfit’s newcomers tells us “there are great trainee events organised by the firm’s trainee solicitor council”. Location must help. Taylor Wessing’s London office, which dishes out roughly 24 training contracts annually, is located just off Fetter Lane, allowing its lawyers to take full advantage of the wide array of nearby shops, pubs, restaurants and clubs after a hard day’s work. Read Taylor Wessing’s full firm profile, including The Legal Cheek View and Insider Scorecard. Travers SmithThere is a solid social scene at Travers Smith. Fresh from bumping NQ pay from £71,500 to £75,000 earlier this summer, the outfit regularly puts on a range of “social events” throughout the year, according to one spy. Another Travers insider tells us that there is always a “very good attendance at the Bishops Finger”. The pub (or Travers’ unofficial office after 7pm on a Friday) is just a two-minute walk from the firm’s London HQ. The firm’s sociable and down-to-earth atmosphere is perhaps exemplified through a recent tweak to its office dress code policy. In August, Travers told its lawyers, trainees and support staff that they could wear “business casual” clothing when not in meetings with clients or conducting work on client floors. This allows lawyers to be “a bit more relaxed about their attire when on office floors or in internal meetings” (says the firm’s managing partner). Read Travers Smith’s full firm profile, including The Legal Cheek View and Insider Scorecard. Trowers & Hamlins“You will always find someone to have a drink with and in my team drinks start at about 5ish on Fridays,” a Trowers & Hamlins trainee tells us. But, if you don’t fancy beginning your weekend with a hangover, “there are lots of opportunities to get involved in sporting or social events” at Travers too. “There’s definitely an active social life here”, which Legal Cheek is pleased to report includes “crazy golf” in some departments. In others, such as the firm’s housing and regeneration team, the department will host welcome and leaving dinners for trainees. The variation between departments extends to variation between offices, too. The firm has nine offices across five countries, one Trowers trainee telling us that “after work drinks in Birmingham could be better”, for example. Others, perhaps so impressed by the events the firm does put on, are left wanting more. One comment made was that the firm “could do with more firm-wide/organised socials”. Read Trowers & Hamlins’ full firm profile, including The Legal Cheek View and Insider Scorecard. Walker MorrisLeeds outfit Walker Morris secured its highest grade in the social life category across the entire Legal Cheek survey (in which there are ten categories). Small wonder: the corporate player puts on a host of “excellent” charity activities, one source tells us, such as quizzes and rounders. Charity dress down days are also popular. In addition, Walker Morris’ trainees, vacation scheme students and future trainees enjoy a plethora of “great social events” put on by the the firm. Though the firm’s trainee intake isn’t huge — 15 a year — its lawyers appreciate that these socials “allow everyone to get to know each other a bit more personally”. They also “really contribute to the friendly nature of the firm”, says one Walker Morris insider. Given the friendly, sociable buzz among the trainees, we’re sure they’re thrilled by the firm’s latest 100% retention score. Read Walker Morris’ full firm profile, including The Legal Cheek View and Insider Scorecard. For all the key information about firms, including what they pay and their full results in the Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey, check out The Firms Most List. The post The law firms with the best social life 2017-18 appeared first on Legal Cheek. from https://www.legalcheek.com/2017/12/the-law-firms-with-the-best-social-life-2017-18/ |
AuthorHi I am Alana Smith 35 years old living in New York. I am working as an assistant in local law office. I like to share legal news with people to educate them. Archives
April 2019
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