10 May 2004
The Lawyer
A&O finally welcomes Paris rainmaker
Allen & Overy (A&O) has snagged Parisian banking star Jonathan Nabarro as the former Ashurst partner joins the magic circle firm today (May 10).
A&O results: billings flat at £649m
Magic circle firm Allen & Overy is set to post billings of £649m as the financial reporting season opens. The figure, which is still provisional, represents a slight increase on last year’s gross revenues of £647m. In common with most other top 10 City firms, profits are expected to be down on last year’s average of £675,000 per equity partner.According to an internal memo the magic circle firm ...
Akin Gump boosts energy with new partner
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has boosted its energy practice with the hire of John Cogan from King & Spalding. Cogan will join the firm as head of Akin Gump’s global energy transactions practice and will be based in London and Houston. The move follows the arrival in March of Vinson & Elkins energy partner Douglas Glass to Akin Gump’s London office, together with two members of his team.
Aviation sole practitioner joins asb law
Asb law is ramping up its aviation department, with the acquisition of a specialist aviation practice. Humphrey Dawson, formerly a sole practitioner, joins the firm as a consultant. His practice consists of litigation, mediation and arbitration and the purchase, sale and lease of aircraft, engines and parts. Clients of asb law’s aviation practice include First Choice, Unijet and Virgin Holidays.
Axa general counsel defects to Danone
Christianne Butte, the general counsel of Axa, has resigned after 13 years in the job to take the same role at food and drinks company Groupe Danone.
Balfour & Manson takes on rival’s PI team
Edinburgh’s Balfour & Manson has scooped the bulk of the personal injury (PI) practice of Aberdeen’s Burnside Kemp Fraser, gaining its first office outside the Scottish capital in the process.
Barclaycard lawyer joins council
Barclaycard’s Rachel Harris is to quit her post as general counsel and go on temporary secondment at Northamptonshire Council to develop her business skills. The Barclays Bank subsidiary is currently recruiting her successor.
Bates Wells makes double hire from Reid Minty
London-based firm Bates Wells & Braithwaite has scored two new partners from Reid Minty in an effort to beef up its practice. Martin Gunson joins as a property partner and corporate partner Jonathan Ebsworth is to head the newly created sports and media group. Additionally, solicitor Lesley Robinson has been promoted to property litigation partner, while Freemantle Media in-houser Andrew ...
Beachcroft Wansbroughs in triple partner hire
Beachcroft Wansbroughs has recruited three new partners for its property, employment and corporate finance teams in London, Bristol and Manchester.
Black Solicitors Network awarded seat on Law Society Council
The Law Society Council yesterday approved the allocation of a seat to the Black Solicitors Network (BSN).
BLP records forty per cent profits hike
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has posted a record set of figures for 2003-04 as the firm’s profitability has leapt by a stunning 40 per cent.
Boots dispenses with legal staff in rejig of head office
Boots is slashing lawyers and support staff from its in-house legal team as part of the pharmacy retailer’s radical drive to streamline its head office.
BPP challenges College of Law with new Manchester branch
BPP Law School is set to open a branch in Manchester, placing it in direct competition with arch-rival the College of Law.
Brucie bonus
Why fork out hundreds of pounds just for an hour of your lawyer’s time when you can spend an entire evening with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom European head Bruce Buck for the princely sum of just £40.
Bryan Cave brings in SAS for back-up as it scours Iraq for business
Increasing numbers of lawyers are braving hostilities in Iraq as reports emerged last week of US firm Bryan Cave sending an SAS-backed mission to the country’s southern cities.
Campbell’s Lords victory means £1m for Schillings
Schillings is set to reap in excess of £1m in fees after the House of Lords delivered its landmark judgment in favour of Naomi Campbell against the Daily Mirror.
Cazenove picks Travers for Dealogic AIM float
Travers Smith Braithwaite has scooped its first instruction from Cazenove, advising on what is the bank’s second successful AIM float – the initial public offering (IPO) of Dealogic.
CC opts for Maisto in Italy as Vitali association ends
Clifford Chance has signed an exclusive alliance with Italian tax boutique Maisto e Associati, after news that its former tie-up with tax firm Vitali Romagnoli Piccardi will end this month.
Clifford Chance reaffirms Prague commitment with new office
A year after the mooted closure of its Prague office, Clifford Chance is set to take new premises in the Czech capital.
Clifford Chance reinstates NQ salary benchmark
Clifford Chance has upped newly qualified lawyers’ salaries, returning pay scales to pre-September 2003 levels.
College of Law and LSC to create Legal Aid LPC
The College of Law and the Legal Services Commission (LSC) have teamed up to create the first legal aid orientated LPC.Called the ‘public legal services pathway’, the new LPC will be available from 2005 at the college and also Cardiff Law School. The course will offer two new modules, advanced criminal litigation and housing (subject to Law Society approval), and a bespoke curriculum-related programme, including legal aid master-classes run by experienced practitioners. The ...
Court listings gaffe creates Customs cocaine trial chaos
Blunders by court listings officers have been blamed for one of the largest existing Customs & Excise trials being delayed by an incredible eight months.
Crowning achievement
The Enterprise Act 2002 dispenses with the Crown’s preferential treatment in insolvency cases. Philip May and Robert Foote look at the likely effects of this sea-change
Davis Polk wins instruction on RBS acquisition
Linklaters’ UK client Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has turned to Davis Polk & Wardwell for its surprise £5.8bn acquisition of US retail bank Charter One. Davis Polk is working with Boston-based firm Goodwin Proctor on the transaction, which is being conducted through RBS’s wholly-owned subsidiary Citizens ...
Dawsons rejigs management for private client drive
Dawsons has appointed a lateral hire of 18 months to senior partner in a bid to drive forward its private client practice.
Dewey raids Shearman Germany for tax ace
Dewey Ballantine has poached Shearman & Sterling tax star Hanno Berger for its Frankfurt office.
DLA strengthens ties in Norway and Denmark
Scandinavian DLA Group member Lindh Stabell Horten (LSH) will today rebrand two of its offices as DLA Nordic, in a move that sees the firms strengthening their operational ties. In Norway and Denmark, LSH will now have the DLA name, with LSH in Sweden expected to rebrand in the near future.
Don’t bank on it
The Re Spectrum case has paralysed the insolvency profession. Anthony Elleray QC and Mark Cawson QC report
EDS awards top role to UK legal head
Computer services giant Electronic Data Systems (EDS) has reshuffled its in-house legal function following the promotion of its general counsel for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Eurotunnel panel review threatens Herbert Smith
Herbert Smith is bracing itself for the prospect of losing longstanding client Eurotunnel, as the tunnel operator’s new management conducts a shake-up of its legal and banking advisers.
Firm profile: Fisher Scoggins
Despite its status on the legal zeitgeist as a limited-liability partnership (LLP), at Fisher Scoggins tradition counts for a lot. “We’re a law firm that practises law rather than management,” says senior member Mark Scoggins, who along with Alan Fisher set up Fisher Scoggins in June 2002 after leaving Elborne Mitchell. “The danger is that, in a larger firm, we’d be managers rather than lawyers. We didn’t want to get drawn away from the law and into business.”
For the record...
PHILLIPE PINSOLLE In a story which ran under the headline ‘Clifford Chance snaps up ex-Argentine govt adviser’ on 26 April, it was incorrectly stated that Philippe Pinsolle was a partner in Freshfields’ Paris office. Pinsolle is actually a partner with Shearman & Sterling in Paris.
Gianni Origoni signs CC Italian tax firm
Leading Italian firm Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners has signed an alliance with tax boutique Vitali Romagnoli Piccardi e Associati, the former ally of Clifford Chance.
Gide looks south with new Belgrade office
French firm Gide Loyrette Nouel has launched a new office in Serbia and Montenegro in a bid to capture more privatisation work.
Givin’ it large
Lawyers can wheeze a sigh of relief and shove the Atkins diet, safe in the knowledge that the last bastion of discrimination – body fascism – has no place in the law.
Grapevine
Now and again a lateral hire hits the legal scene and shakes it to the core.
Halliwells see revenue jump in record year
Halliwell Landau has posted its highest-ever turnover for the last financial year after revenue grew by 12.7 per cent to £40m.
Harold Benjamin ramps up real estate team
Regional firm Harold Benjamin is undergoing expansion following the appointment of a partner to the real estate team. Stephen Reid joins the 14-strong department following a long-term tenure at property development company Rialto. The firm has also announced the opening of a new office in Hatfield.
Hearsay
Which two male City partners were hoodwinked into snogging each other on the promise of a threesome?
Heinz full of beans over DuPont legal capture
Food giant Heinz has raided DuPont’s respected in-house team for the appointment of its new European general counsel Janice Leiper.
Henderson Chambers offers free mediation through FRU
The Free Representation Unit (FRU) has launched a scheme that offers free employment mediation to those unable to afford the dispute resolution process. Henderson Chambers, Freshfields, Linklaters and the International Dispute Resolution Centre (IDRC) have teamed up with FRU to set the FRU Employment Relations Mediation (FERM) initiative in motion.
Hengeler Mueller selects new management
Slaughter and May’s German best friend Hengeler Mueller has elected a new management team replacing its managing partners for Frankfurt and Dusseldorf.
Hill Taylor counts third maritime insurance partner loss
Hill Taylor Dickinson’s maritime insurance department has been hit with the loss of another key partner, this time to Richards Butler.
I'll be there
Shaw Pittman London managing partner Alistair Maughan may be laid back, but there is one topic that still gets him riled – the Latham raid. Steve Hoare reports
International boundaries
International solutions to insolvency can lead to good results, but caution is needed to ensure that rules can be applied globally. Susan Moore reports
Ius laboris signs up Czech member
Worldwide employment alliance ius laboris has signed up Czech firm Prochazka Randl Kubr just in time for last week’s EU enlargement. The Czech Republic is the second firm from the new EU member states to join ius laboris, after Polish practice Soltysinski Kawecki & Szlezak was added last year. First revealed on www.thelawyer.com 4 May
Kemp Little finds new home for ambitious strategy
Technology boutique Kemp Little has finally exchanged contracts on new premises at Cheapside after a lengthy search.
Kirkland & Ellis partner selected for top civil rights role
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has elected a litigation partner from Kirkland & Ellis as co-chair.
Latham secures sale of debt-ridden Atlantic
Latham & Watkins’ London office has helped secure the future of Atlantic Electric & Gas after pushing through the company’s sale just hours after it was put into receivership.
Leader
Bryan Cave transaction partner David Pfeiffer speaks quickly and without emotion, characteristics which doubtless served him well during his two recent visits to Iraq. On both occasions he and his 11 fellow travellers, all Western businessmen, were escorted in bullet-proof vehicles and were each assigned an SAS bodyguard.
Legal widow
So there they were, halfway through the partners’ annual conference in their five-star hotel, listening to the boss drone on about vision and empowerment. All the squirrels, who hadn’t yet shaken their clients until the last penny came rattling out, were sitting quietly on their big, bushy tails and hoping no one would notice, while all the counter-squirrels were sitting with smug expressions on their faces and a hint of terror behind the eyes, knowing they were heading into the ...
Lester Aldridge to open Milton Keynes office
South Coast firm Lester Aldridge is launching a new office in Milton Keynes with the hire of a partner from Shoosmiths.
Linklaters boosts Paris with key hire
Linklaters has secured a leading private equity partner for its Paris office from Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Mark Edwards: Barclays Bank (Africa Legal)
Emma Vere-Jones meets Mark Edwards, the lawyer on a mission to turn around Barclays’ African legal operations
Masons loses two partners to Forsters and Edwin Coe
Masons has suffered a double blow with the departure of two more partners, taking the number of partners to quit the firm to seven in as many months.
Masons set for Dubai launch
Masons is set to open an office Dubai in an attempt to win rebuilding work in Iraq.
Maxwell Batley in motorsport sector drive
Maxwell Batley has launched a specialist motorsport business unit as part of a wider move to target particular business sectors.
Mayer Brown outdoes the agents in trademark ranks
Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw and Baker & McKenzie have barged aside the trademark agents to land top five positions in 2003’s community trademark filings chart.
Mediation upturn hit by Court of Appeal ruling
Hopes of a sudden rise in mediation have been shattered after the Court of Appeal ruled against fining two companies that refused to consider alternative dispute resolution.
Midlands set gains London star
Birmingham’s St Philip’s Chambers has scooped a senior barrister from premier insolvency set 3-4 South Square.
Milbank opens in Munich with top Freshfields hire
Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy has scored a huge coup by recruiting Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s global co-head of private equity to open its Munich office. Peter Nussbaum is expected to join Milbank Tweed in June with corporate partner Norbert R...
Nabarros gets sidelined by Eversheds on Broadmead
Eversheds has elbowed out Nabarro Nathanson to win a mandate to advise on letting and development work on the £500m Bristol Alliance development in Broadmead.
Net vet
Big hurrahs go to Collyer-Bristows, whose website was awarded the best of all law firms’ for the second year running by web consultants Intendance.
Niche TMT firm links up with Charles Russell
Telecoms specialist Daniel Prieskel has teamed up his three-lawyer niche practice with the technology, media and telecoms (TMT) practice at Charles Russell. Prieskel has launched a non-exclusive referral relationship with the firm and will be employed by Charles Russell as a consultant. “This is a part-time role that could lead to a full-time relationship,” said Charles Russell’s TMT head Mark ...
Opinion
On Saturday 1 May, we woke up to a larger EU and new opportunities brought by the 10 new member states. That date also saw the dawn of a new era in the enforcement of competition law. Many businesses seem inadequately prepared.
Orrick and Swidler Berlin set for merger as talks heat up
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe is close to securing a merger with respected Washington firm Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman.
Pillsbury loses team of six to Mayer Brown
Pillsbury Winthrop has lost a second group of lawyers in just over a week, this time in Washington DC, as its life sciences team joins Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw.
Pollack wins top litigation role at SJ Berwin
Tim Taylor, the head of SJ Berwin’s burgeoning litigation department, has been replaced after seven years in the post by South African litigator Craig Pollack.
Quest for justice in Rwanda moves slowly but surely
In an exclusive interview with Joanne O’Connor, the ICTR’s Judge Møse defends the tribunal’s record
Report on status of legal aid highlights crisis at the bar
Workload up, pay down; securing counsel is more difficult than ever, says LSC and DCA report
Shepherd+ Wedderburn records 13 per cent revenue hike
Scottish heavyweight Shepherd+ Wedderburn has posted a 13.4 per cent increase in revenues for the year 2003-04, with annual income rising from £25.6m to a record £29m.
Shorn of the head
Shrek, the renegade UK judge, has been shorn live on New Zealand television by a couple of champion Kiwi sheep-shearers. Those kind-hearted New Zealanders have now given our old judge a wool overcoat to keep him warm through the upcoming winter. Unlike the British, however, who tend to keep judges on until they are senile, the Kiwis have decided that Shrek is of little practical use. Too old even to be sold for mutton, is is understood that a career in marketing awaits the judge. Perhaps ...
Squire Sanders pursues China with Shanghai opening
Squire Sanders & Dempsey is continuing its push into China with the official opening of its Shanghai office.
Stephenson Harwood faces Porter in the BVI
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) will be the venue for the final part of law firm Stephenson Harwood’s case against disgraced former Conservative council leader Dame Shirley Porter.
The drain in Spain continues for accountancy-tied firms
Spain’s past and present accountancy-tied law firms have struggled to shrug off the tough economy during 2003, with all recording scant increases in overall gross incomes for the year.
The end cost
Liquidation expenses: a victory for floating charge-holders? Anne Sharp investigates
The magic spongers
The Inland Revenue’s attack on the football creditor rule could see the sport’s special status annulled. Amanda Milsom and Sohrab Daneshku report
Tower Snow demoted as CC gets tough on US
US review part of global shake-up; West Coast first to come under the spotlight
Wicket day out
There’s nothing Tulkinghorn likes more than a spot of cricket on a sunny bank holiday weekend. So imagine his glee when he heard the news that Taylor Wessing is sponsoring the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) Masters season for the next two years.
