Following the recent redundancy moves at the London offices of Clifford Chance and Linklaters, lots of attention has been focused on UK Biglaw. There has been plenty of speculation about A&O and Freshfields in the wake of these announcements but we are yet to see something material.

In the meantime the press has been considering what Linklater’s New World strategy really means. Aside from the fallout of making 120 City lawyers and 150 business support staff leave, the focus has been on the possibile spectre of a courting couple – Sullivan & Cromwell is seen as the likely US dame. The Lawyer has discussed this in some depth but we thought Sullivan’s response to their enquiries was worth a mention: “Yes, Linklaters would want to merge with us, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen,” says a Sullivan partner. “Everyone wants to marry Cindy Crawford.” Okay then.

A&O have attracted a bit of the wrong sort of attention in dealing with senior associate and novelist Deidre Dare who is now planning to take action against the firm. The firm has also raised eyebrows with the annoucement that it intends to buck the current City trend and increase its London billing rates in order to cover rising costs and maintain profit. With companies across the board attempting to reduce their legal costs at the moment, it will be interesting to see how this strategy pans out.

Finally Freshfields have shown some sporting prowess by bagging the role of official law firm for the 2012 London Olympics. The win follows a tender process carried out towards the end of last year by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). Try saying that quickly.