Herbert Smith has promoted 18 new partners within the firm, of which one third are female, reports legalweek.com. Senior partner David Gold said: "We have enjoyed a good start to 2010, as demonstrated by our ranking in the first-quarter M&A league tables and the string of partners we have recruited over the last few months. This latest intake of talent into the partnership will help maintain our momentum."

A recent decision of the US Supreme Court has gone some way to narrowing the breadth of animal cruelty laws, reports law.com. In what is seen as an endorsement of the First Amendment, the Court struck down a Federal law which prohibited the creation, sale or possession of certain depictions of animal cruelty. The statute was in place to combat the growing market for "crush films" depicting the purposeful maiming or killing of animals.

Eversheds has promoted 19 partners across its European, South African and UK offices, reports The Lawyer. Eight of the new partners will be based in the UK, spread out across the firm's offices in Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Leeds and London. The remaining 11 partners will be based abroad.

The chair of UK firm Walker Morris, Peter Smart, has announced he will step down following an overhaul of the firm's management, reports The Lawyer. Smart's resignation will mean the end of a 24-year stint with the firm's management, and a nine-year stint as chairman. He will remain as partner in the corporate department for another 12 months.

The chief legal officer sacked by Gucci America because he did not hold a valid practising license has filed an affidavit saying that he did not deceive Gucci, reports legalweek.com. The affidavit states that Gucci's reasons for firing him were "inconsistent with the facts and the law." He went on to cite outstanding performance evaluations and his many accomplishments while working as in-house counsel at Gucci.