A four-partner equity capital markets team has left Cobbetts to join the London office of Canadian law firm Gowlings.

The City team, which comprises partners Andrew Wright, Charles Bond, Sefton Collett and Dominic Prentis as well as directors Susan Johnston and David Brennan, will join Gowlings’ energy, infrastructure and mining industry group at the end of this month.

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Pinsent Masons and McGrigors are set to merge on 1 May, with the combined firm to operate under the Pinsents banner.

Partners at both firms approved the union in a vote which closed on Friday (3 February), paving the way for the creation of a firm with combined revenues of around £282m.

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McDermott Will & Emery and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft have become the latest US firms to post rising revenues after recent leans years, reports the Am Law Daily.

The Chicago-based McDermott, which has seen revenues drop by a combined total of $100m (£63m) during 2009 and 2010, has reversed the trend by recording a 4.7% increase for 2011 to $826m (£524m). with profits per equity partner (PEP) inching up 2.7% to $1.5m (£950,000).

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Taylor Wessing is set to offer legal process outsourcing (LPO) services to other law firms with plans to spin off its document review business now underway.

The firm is currently appointing an adviser to look at a demerger of its New Street Solutions document review business to become an entirely separate entity.

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Herbert Smith has officially confirmed to staff that it is in merger talks with Australia’s Freehills, issuing a note to all staff earlier this morning (3 February). The note from senior partner Jonathan Scott informs staff that an interesting opportunity has arisen in Australia, with the firm holding “exploratory talks” with Freehills about a possible link-up.

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SJ Berwin senior partner Jonathan Blake will not stand for a third term at the firm’s helm, he confirmed earlier today (3 February). Blake told partners today that he will step down from the role when his term closes on 30 April this year, ending months of speculation about whether not he would be seeking re-appointment.

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DLA Piper’s International limited liability partnership (LLP), which covers all operations outside North and South America, reported revenues of £619.9m during the financial year ending 30 April 2011.

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SNR Denton’s US arm has announced a return to top-line growth, posting a 4.4% increase in revenues for 2011, reports The Am Law Daily.

The firm’s Stateside operations have ended two straight years of financial decline, taking in $474.5m (£300m) in gross revenue last year, while US profits per equity partner grew almost 7% to $880,000 (£556,000) after a 15% rise in 2010.

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McGrigors partners are set to vote tomorrow (3 February) on the firm’s proposed merger with Pinsent Masons.

Voting will open tomorrow morning at the Scottish firm after the pair confirmed last month that they were in discussions about a union that, if confirmed, would create a firm just outside the UK top 10 with combined revenues of around £282m.

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Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have scooped lead roles on a proposed merger between commodities trader Glencore and mining giant Xstrata worth around $82bn (£50m).

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