* Skadden was the world's leading litigation firm last year, according to research by The Lawyer, generating £450 million in fees from contentious work, which accounted for 45 per cent of its turnover. It was followed by US firms such as Latham & Watkins, Jones Day, Sidley Austin and Kirkland & Ellis. The highest-ranked UK firm on the table is Clifford Chance, at 19th, with fee income of £199 million. In contrast to Skadden, that accounted for only 15 per cent of its overall revenue, highlighting just how far British firms have moved away from contentious work in recent years. Only three other UK firms make the magazine's litigation top 50: Freshfields (£177 million), Herbert Smith (£151 million) and Allen & Overy (£122 million).

* Mr Justice Burton looked a trifle out of place as he sat attired in his new, clerical-style robe with red insewn "bands" and no wig to deliver the landmark mesothelioma judgment on Friday. Before him were no fewer than 19 counsel in their traditional wigs and gowns. The judge clearly wished he was still in his. The last day of the hearing of the case in July was the last day lf the summer term so the last time that the traditional civil robes would be worn by a High Court judge. Not only did he record that fact with "some sadness" in yesterday's judgment; he apparently had marked the occasion by organising a photograph of himself with all the counsel in the case - a total of 21 in all. Friday, he said, was another historic day: "probably the first time in the Lord Chief Justice's court that these new [civil] robes have been worn." Rather wistfully the judge noted counsel in their traditional garb, adding: "long may it continue."

* Freshfields has announced that it is sending David Higgins, its star young private equity lawyer, to head up its corporate practice in the Middle East and North Africa, based in Dubai. The firm hailed the appointment of Higgins, who has advised the likes of Goldman Sachs, Cinven and Dubai International Capital, as a sign of its commitment to the region. Already it boasts 50 lawyers in offices in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai. But while that may be true, are things really that quiet in London?

* Fountain Court, the leading banking and commercial chambers, has appointed two new clerks in an overhaul of its clerking function. Paul Martenstyn, currently at Hardwicke Buildings, will take on the position of team leader from December 1, while Sian Huckett, formerly of Keating Chambers, has already started as assistant to the senior clerk. The overhaul follows the appointment of Alex Taylor as director of clerking earlier this year and will include a revamp of the Clerk's Room itself, just in case the new arrivals didn't feel welcome.

* Will the retirement age of judges be raised? Those appointed since 1993 have had to go at 70. But now that judges are tending to be appointed later in their careers (fewer these days can afford to give up their lawyers’ earnings to go on the bench) should they be allowed to go on for longer? Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers seems to think so. The senior law lord pointed out at a seminar this week that three law lords will soon retire, each having reached the age of 75. Under present rules, judges in their 70s will no longer have the chance to make such a contribution at a final stage in their careers, he said.

* Lord Pannick, QC, used his maiden speech in the Lords on Tuesday to defend Mr Justice Eady, the judge criticised by the Editor of the Daily Mail, over privacy rulings. The QC said that judges did not need nor want to be protected from criticism. But in the face of ill-informed attacks, who should speak out for them? An independent judiciary should be seen, where necessary, to defend itself: Lord Pannick agreed that there is a role for training judicial spokesmen and senior judges to respond where necessary — as recommended by the Lords Constitution Committee. “Judges have a difficult job to perform,” he said. “By contrast with the judging on Strictly Come Dancing, people’s lives may depend on the result.”

* The latest budget cuts do not hold out much prospect of a decent Christmas bash down at the Ministry of Justice — if last year is anything to go by. According to a recent parliamentary answer, Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, hosted one official Christmas function in 2007-08, which was attended by 50 officials — and it was requested that each provide his or her own drinks. The minister Maria Eagle told the Commons: “A minimal amount was spent on the provision of refreshments, the total cost of which did not exceed £50.”

* The author Joanna Trollope can take much credit for the success of this year’s Association of Women Barristers’ dinner that raised £22,000 for two charities: INS, for those with neurological trauma or disease, and the Mulberry Bush School (for children deemed ineducable elsewhere). Top lots included time in a penthouse in Jaipur (scooped by Judge Alan Greenwood) and ten days in a Spanish villa (Sally O’Neill, QC). But immortality was the star prize, a lot secured by Kim Hollis, QC, who paid the winning bid to be a character in a Trollope novel. Melissa Coutinho, chairwoman of the AWB, said: “Stephen Leslie — auctioneer — would not listen to my bid of £1,200 so it went to Kim, my vice-chair, for £1,150.” (In the hard copy, we reported, incorrectly, that Mr Leslie was "[Judge] Leslie". He tells us he has never sought judicial office and has no intention of doing so: "the closest I got to it was controlling the Association of Women Barristers at their dinner," he said.)

* With Iraq in the legal news again thanks to Lord Bingham of Cornhill’s speech, it is timely that Christopher Greenwood, QC, has been appointed the British judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Dame Rosalyn Higgins, another British judge, is president of the court. Greenwood, who will serve initially for nine years, had backing from an array of leading lawyers — and they included Lord Bingham. Beyond lawyers he is better known as the QC who advised the then Attorney-General over the Iraq conflict and for drawing up the AG’s parliamentary answer in March 2003 that said invasion was lawful, without a second UN resolution.

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