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Innovation, innovation...

31 March 2011 / Steven Mcnab
Issue: 7459 / Categories: Features , Profession , Environment , Technology
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Law firms must develop their entrepreneurial spirit & adapt to prosper, says Steven McNab

The cleantech sector is one with enormous growth potential over the coming decades. With constraints on energy, water and other resources, the technology innovations across this diverse sector are exactly what needs to be encouraged to help us move toward a more sustainable future.

Investors certainly recognise the potential. During 2010, while financial conditions for most sectors were slowing or shrinking, the renewable energy sector, just one aspect of the cleantech pantheon, saw new investment rise by 30% to an unprecedented US$24bn globally. In the UK, security of supply, stability of energy costs, the imminent energy gap as old coal and nuclear plant fall offline, and carbon constraints are changing behaviour.

This, of course, throws up numerous opportunities for legal firms. Simmons & Simmons has a track record in the energy and environmental sector, and we wanted to build on this, supporting cleantech businesses across the spectrum. This was one of the main drivers for launching the Cleantech Curve

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Pillsbury—Steven James

Pillsbury—Steven James

Firm boosts London IP capability with high-profile technology sector hire

Clarke Willmott—Michelle Seddon

Clarke Willmott—Michelle Seddon

Private client specialist joins as partner in Taunton office

DWF—Rory White-Andrews

DWF—Rory White-Andrews

Finance and restructuring offering strengthened by partner hire in London

NEWS
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP [2025] EWHC 2341 (KB) continues to stir controversy across civil litigation, according to NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School—AKA ‘The insider’
SRA v Goodwin is a rare disciplinary decision where a solicitor found to have acted dishonestly avoided being struck off, says Clare Hughes-Williams of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) imposed a 12-month suspension instead, citing medical evidence and the absence of harm to clients
In their latest Family Law Brief for NLJ, Ellie Hampson-Jones and Carla Ditz of Stewarts review three key family law rulings, including the latest instalment in the long-running saga of Potanin v Potanina
The Asian International Arbitration Centre’s sweeping reforms through its AIAC Suite of Rules 2026, unveiled at Asia ADR Week, are under examination in this week's NLJ by John (Ching Jack) Choi of Gresham Legal
In this week's issue of NLJ, Yasseen Gailani and Alexander Martin of Quinn Emanuel report on the High Court’s decision in Skatteforvaltningen (SKAT) v Solo Capital Partners LLP & Ors [2025], where Denmark’s tax authority failed to recover £1.4bn in disputed dividend tax refunds
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