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Most Web searching uses just a few providers. But according to technology writer Erik Sherman, there is a vast territory in the "invisible Web" that refers to databases connected to the Internet but not available for indexing by popular search engines, each with its own search capability.

The first priority of a young lawyer is to develop legal knowledge and skills, but learning marketing skills early can also be very fruitful in the future. Here are some steps partners can take to guide associates along the right marketing path, and also some tips to help associates be proactive in developing their own style and techniques for client development, as provided by Sharon Meit Abrahams, McDermott Will & Emery's Director of Professional Development.

A Syrian arms dealer argued Wednesday that he was merely helping Spanish intelligence when he explored a deal to sell weapons to Colombian terrorists for use against the United States. But the prosecutor in the case called the defense a "cat-and-mouse claim." New York federal prosecutors are trying to prove that Monzer al-Kassar and Luis Felipe Moreno Godoy agreed to sell millions of dollars in weapons to undercover informants posing as rebels with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is set to transfer private equity partner David Higgins to Dubai, as the magic circle firm continues to boost its presence in the region. City-based Higgins is due to move out to the Dubai office in January, where he will take up a new role as co-head of corporate for the firm’s Middle East and North Africa group, alongside partner Bruce Embley, who is also based in Dubai.

Nabarro has become the latest firm to feel the effects of the downturn, with the firm this week launching a redundancy consultation with 13 fee earners and nine business support staff. The consultancy started on Monday (17 November) and will last for one month, with the resulting cuts expected to be made across a number of practice in the firm’s Sheffield and London offices.

International facilities -company ISS is set to pilot a new offshore outsourcing process in a bid to reduce its legal costs. The company is planning to send some of its routine legal work out to India, with the agreement set to start, subject to approval, at the beginning of next year (1 January). ISS general counsel Richard Reade told Legal Week: “We need ways to support our -clients by saving them money.

Bird & Bird is set to become the latest firm to convert to a limited liability partnership (LLP), leaving fewer than 10 of the UK’s top 50 law firms yet to convert. Partners at City IP/IT firm voted to approve the conversion within the last few months, with the firm hoping to formally adopt the new status with effect from 1 December. It registered as an LLP with Companies House at the end of September.

The flight of lawyers to the Middle East shows no sign of abating even as the region starts to feel the impact of the global economic crisis and the falling price of oil. Top 10 UK law firms Eversheds and Ashurst are the latest to post additional lawyers to the region, with Ashurst installing a local head of real estate in Abu Dhabi and Eversheds set to relocate a partner to Doha next year.