| Hello! The British summer is finally here (for now), so I hope — if you’re in London like me — that you have been out enjoying some Aperol Spritz in the city’s rooftop bars before the tennis starts at Wimbledon and the rain inevitably returns. It was fascinating to see the reaction to my piece on junior lawyers’ pay this week. I was drawing on the overwhelming response I received from sources to the recent compensation hikes but, as always when it comes to pay, the subject divided our readers, as evidenced by the 500 plus comments. Sources had raised concerns over how unsustainable pay rises for newly qualified lawyers (NQs) were becoming. Remuneration for some firms’ most junior ranks has increased as much as 50 per cent in the past five years. The fact that some NQs at one UK-founded “magic circle” firm had questioned whether the increase meant they were expected to work harder seemed telling. The debate in the comments section, however, ranged from comparisons with poor pay for doctors, to the years-long training for junior lawyers, the market forces driving compensation, and the hypocrisy of clients to call out legal culture when it is their demands driving the all-nighters. Cynicism abounded about work-life balance at any top firm no matter what associates are paid. But my favourite comment came from this reader, who tried to break it down from a US perspective: “Here’s how it works — talking US pay scale. (Can’t believe my UK colleagues were duped for so long.) “Years 1~3: Lawyers are overpaid. I didn’t even know ctrl+c/v was a function in Word when I started. “Years 4~6: Probably just about right. “Years 7 till partner: Increasingly underpaid given the extreme sacrifices required to make the leap. But the ‘carrot’ (real or imaginary) is dangling right in front of you, so you endure. “Junior partner: Here is the break. At the big big boys (top 7~10 US firms) the pay can be life changing. But at the middling “big” firms (next 10~20) who can’t keep up on profitability, the pay for the average partner is really not worth throwing your life away. “Senior partner: Well, pay is nice, but ask yourself (and your third wife): was it really worth it?” Glencore charges over Africa bribes imminentAfter a number of delays, the UK Serious Fraud Office is finally ready to announce charges against ex-Glencore employees over the company’s bribery actions in Africa.
The SFO has asked UK attorney-general Victoria Prentis for her consent to bring charges against the individuals allegedly involved in the conduct, a London court heard on Monday. A decision should be made by July 31 and the July 4 UK general election is not expected to interfere, even if a new attorney-general is appointed, according to a barrister for the SFO.
Glencore pleaded guilty to seven counts of bribery in 2022 and paid about £280mn after it was accused of using $29mn in bribes to gain preferential access to African oil. The conduct was described as “endemic” by Mr Justice Fraser, who presided over the case, and was focused on the commodity trading giant’s London-based West Africa desk, which sourced and traded crude oil from across Africa. The financial penalty is the largest the SFO has ever secured following a conviction. The agency opened its investigation into Glencore in 2019. As many as 11 former employees are facing the prospect of prosecution, with a court hearing expected to take place in September for those charged. The attorney-general’s permission to bring charges is needed when prosecuting under certain pieces of legislation. Unified Patent Court marks first anniversaryOn a trip to Milan recently, I popped into the local branch of Europe’s new Unified Patent Court and spoke with presiding judge Pierluigi Perrotti for the FT’s annual special report on Europe’s patent law firms. The UPC — a new system that allows companies to apply for one patent and use one legal system through one court, to cover 17 jurisdictions in the EU — marked its first anniversary on June 1. By most accounts it has been a success, with 373 cases filed in the court’s first year. I spoke with Perrotti in his office, where every other Thursday after lunch he joins a virtual “Judges’ Corner” meeting with his fellow European judges to iron out issues and ensure operations are running as they should. “There is great expectation on the UPC,” Perrotti told me. He first applied to be on the court’s bench more than 10 years ago — and the time it took for the UPC to begin its work is an illustration of “the hurdles that this institution met before starting to run effectively”, he explained. The Milan court is about to take on more responsibility next week as it upgrades to being one of the three central divisions of the court system responsible for hearing issues such as the revocation of patents in areas related to “human necessities”, including pharmaceutical and medical devices. Perrotti is optimistic the UPC will thrive after fighting for more than a decade to get up and running: “I think that the players are getting confident in the system.”  | Billionaire under sanctions could get $300mn in controversial US-Congo deal | | Washington proposal would ease restrictions on Israeli tycoon Dan Gertler imposed over alleged corrupt dealing |
|  | Apple set to be first Big Tech group to face charges under EU digital law | | Brussels to announce iPhone maker is failing to adhere to new rules designed to open up its app store to competition |
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Macfarlanes has hired corporate crime and investigations lawyer Brian Spiro as a senior adviser. Spiro was previously a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills. RPC has hired civil fraud partner Neville Byford and competition partner Zoe Mernick-Levene in London. They join from Eversheds Sutherland and Leigh Day, respectively. Colin Bowes-Carlson has joined the transactional practice at Baker McKenzie in Chicago. Bowes-Carlson was previously general counsel at the Illinois Department of Revenue. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has hired finance partner Daniel Abercromby in Hong Kong from White & Case. Debt finance partner Keith Fujiu has joined A&O Shearman in Los Angeles. Fujiu was previously at Paul Hastings. Milbank has hired antitrust partner James Weingarten in Washington, DC from the Federal Trade Commission.
This fantastic piece from the FT’s deputy editor Patrick Jenkins on how architecture and anachronistic traditions make the City of London what it is today is well worth a read. The takeaway: gossip and old fashioned garb rule the Square Mile. “Look at the Gherkin. That’s a beehive inside. You’ve got bankers, not bees. They make money, not honey.” [Peter Rees] looked over his audience. “What are the bees doing to make honey?” “They fly out and they find the juiciest flowers and they collect nectar.” “Exactly! At lunchtime, that’s what bankers do. They go down into the alleyways. They find the pubs and the restaurants. Their nectar is [information and] gossip. They take it back to their building and they make money.” Thanks for reading Full Disclosure. Get in touch with tips or feedback at fulldisclosure@ft.com. | 
