The Buzz

* Breaking up is hard to do, they say. But maybe we just need a little encouragement, someone to help us to shed the shackles of co-dependency and remind us of a world beyond joint bank accounts – a world of excitement. The all-female law firm Fetman, Garland & Associates certainly seems to think so. The Chicago-based outfit, which specialises in divorce law, recently advertised on a billboard with the slogan “Life’s Short. Get a Divorce”. The ad also featured the six-pack abs of a naked male torso and a busty woman in a racy black bra. Corri Fetman, the partner who came up with the idea, said: “We wanted to try something different.” But some people have expressed concern about the message that the slogan sends out. “It’s grotesque,” said John Ducanto, a past president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. “I’ve worked my ass off to change the image of this particular area of legal practice.” The billboard has now been removed; apparently it did not have a permit. Fetman, herself a divorcée, insisted that it promoted “personal integrity”.

* If ever there was a trophy real estate deal this was it. The Chelsea barracks site has been the home to Guards regiments since the 1960s and its location - near to the river and Sloane Square – could hardly be bettered. So a classy bit of real estate and a classy purchaser in the shape of Project Blue (Guernsey) Ltd. And obviously they needed a pretty classy law firm to handle the job. So it was no surprise that Clifford Chance was pretty cock-a-hoop when they announced that they had done the deal. And what is more all the legalities were wrapped up within 48 hours of the bid being won. Not much chance of those Clifford chance lawyers getting any sleep then – but still a major feather in their cap in a deal which must merit an award at the next prize fest. SJ Berwin were also involved advising the CPC group, the other half of the joint venture with Qatari Diar. A nice coup for them too.

* Della Burnside, the general counsel of mobile phone trade group GSM Association, has a new McJob as the fast food chain’s first UK head of legal services. Ms Burnside, a former GC at easyGroup, will have a commercial role that includes the management of outside solicitors, reports Legal Week.

* All change at Macfarlanes where both the senior and managing partners will step down next year. Corporate star Charles Martin takes over from Robert Sutton as senior partner while corporate colleague Simon Martin succeeds Phil Phippen as managing partner. According to The Lawyer, Macfarlanes' average profits per partner were £945,000 last year, making the firm the third most profitable in the City after Slaughter and May and Linklaters.

* Yes it’s money, money, money time as the big firms start to release their figures for the last financial year – and the pace is being set by the likes of Ashusrt and SJ Berwin with numbers up more than 20 per cent over the previous year. It’s all a far cry from the days when the legal trade press used to resort to a weird array of stratagems to persuade firms to release any financials at all. Mind you, as in so much else, there has been a mood change reflected in the move to LLP status that means everything is much more transparent than a decade ago. Of course, the anxiety used to be that the clients would not want to see their lawyers’ figures being bandied about – especially if it seemed that they were earning too much. But that concern only applied when how lawyers charged was a mystery. Now that they are more accountable, the clients have no grounds to complain. What may be significant though, is how the firms will respond if (and when) the profits start to drop. That kind of embarrassment is best experienced in the privacy of the partners’ dining room. Maybe we won’t get quite so many announcements then.

* David Winfield has been appointed head of the London banking team at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. He takes over from Edward Evans, who returns to full time fee-earning after after nine years in the role.

* President Bush dug out his white tie and the White House kitchen even rustled up some Dover Sole, but did anyone from the legal world get invited to dinner with Her Majesty? A quick look at the guest list suggests at least three lawyers made the cut for Monday night’s bash: John Roberts, US Chief Justice, Fred Fielding, White House Counsel and Philip Perry, a partner at a Latham & Watkins.

* On Wednesday Lord Falconer of Thoroton becomes the first Minister of Justice. But for how long? The ministry, he said last week, would be set up in ten days’ time, but he added: “Who knows what will happen in ten weeks’ time?” Is Falconer paving the way for, say, Geoff Hoon? Meanwhile, who will be his £120,000-a-year chief of communications? The hot tip is Simon Wren, Home Office head of news. At least he knows about crisis management.

* Jokes about funny foreign names, we accept, are the lowest form of wit. Nonetheless, we cannot resist reporting that Dewey Ballantine’s Frankfurt office has just recruited a lateral hire partner from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer who goes by the name of Dr Schmuck.

* The Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls and other top legal names will head a seven-mile walk through Legal London for advice charities and law centres next Monday. But if that sounds too strenuous, head off to Madeleine Hamilton’s boutique in Chichester Rents today for her annual “spring-clean fashion event” in aid of St Mungo’s charity for the homeless and the Hackney Women’s Project.

* White & Case has strengthened its London capital markets practice with the hires of Andrew Croxford and Andrew Caunt from McDermott Will & Emery.

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