11 August 2008
The Lawyer
A&O beats CC to Iberia-BA merger gig
Allen & Overy (A&O) has edged out magic circle rival Clifford Chance to win the lead role advising Spanish airline Iberia on its proposed merger with British Airways (BA). A&O Madrid managing partner Inigo Gomez-Jordana is running the team along with London corporate partner Alan Paul. Clifford Chance had ...
Appleby expands BVI team with double hire
Offshore specialist Appleby has boosted its British Virgin Islands (BVI) offering by recruiting two lawyers to the three-partner practice. Eliot Simpson joins as a partner from Jersey firm Mourant du Feu & Jeune, where he was an advocate, and will lead the BVI litigation and insolvency group. Litigation and insolvency barrister Andrew Willins leaves 29 Bedford Row, Nicholas Francis QC’s chambers, to become ...
Athletic privacy
As the Beijing Olympics Start, Athlete Privacy is High on the Agenda
BAE on cusp of appointing legal counsel for India
BAE Systems is creating the role of chief legal counsel for India as its business expands into new emerging markets.
Bakers revenue up a fifth; London lags behind
Baker & McKenzie has shrugged off the collapse of merger talks with Heller Ehrman by announcing turnover growth of 20 per cent for the year to the end of June.
Bakers seals Saudi miner Ma’aden’s £1.25bn IPO
Baker & McKenzie has completed the long-running SR9.25bn (£1.25bn) privatisation and IPO of Saudi government-owned mining company Ma’aden on the Saudi stock market.
Ban the bulge
Having an excellent in-house chef is all the rage these days, but at Taylor Wessing the partners have their cake but then don’t eat it.
Beachcroft lands £4m for injured football hopeful
Beachcroft has secured former Manchester United hopeful Ben Collett more than £4m in compensation after his football career was prematurely ended five years ago.
Beijing 2008
TheLawyer.com’s Beijing 2008 blog covers the games from the lawyer’s perspective, with posts from lawyers and other legal professionals in the city on the Olympic events, the gossip, the law firms and the atmosphere.
Beijing 2008
TheLawyer.com’s Beijing 2008 blog covers the games from the lawyer’s perspective, with posts from lawyers and other legal professionals in the city on the Olympic events, the gossip, the law firms and the atmosphere.
Beijing 2008
TheLawyer.com’s Beijing 2008 blog covers the games from the lawyer’s perspective, with posts from lawyers and other legal professionals in the city on the Olympic events, the gossip, the law firms and the atmosphere.
Beijing 2008: 'Go Beer!'
After years of preparation, the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony on Friday evening was accompanied by a sigh of relief that we can all finally get on with it.
Beijing 2008: 'Points to remember'
After years of preparation, the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony on Friday evening was accompanied by a sigh of relief that we can all finally get on with it.
Beijing bound
Beijing bound 15-August-2008In today's Beijing Blog, Norton Rose associate Steven Towell talks about the changing landscape in the Chinese capital as the preparations for the Games gathered pace.
Beijing gives Dechert green light for global drive
Dechert green light for global drive" /Dechert is gearing up for a real push in to the parts of the world where it does not have a presence after winning a licence to practice in Beijing last week.
BLG announces inflation-busting salary hikes
Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) ignored the credit crunch and boosted its trainee solicitor salaries by above the rate inflation.
Carbon-free energy: seeing isn’t believing
Experts are at last pointing out that the take-up of potentially excellent green technologies in the wrong locations can damage the credibility of the equipment, giving a good process a bad name.
CC makes savings by offshoring paralegals to India
Clifford Chance ramps up Indian operation as clients squeeze low-end work
CC to elect new Asia chief as Baird falls ill
Clifford Chance is holding elections for a new Asia managing partner after Jim Baird stepped down due to ill-health. Baird was taken ill when travelling in Asia earlier in the year and is in a critical condition in Hong Kong.
Clydes raids Pinsents, Simmons for Mid East talent
Clyde & Co has raided the United Arab Emirates offices of Pinsent Masons and Simmons & Simmons as it seeks to expand its contentious construction expertise.
Dancing queen
Tulkinghorn isn’t much of a dancer, reserving his gyrations for the brandy glass, but he is glad to see that the same could not be said for JPMorgan general counsel Tim Hailes.
Denton Wilde Sapte donates £50k to student grants
Denton Wilde Sapte is giving away £50,000 of dormant client funds to help London postgraduate students.
Dentons hit by £300K negligence action
Denton Wilde Sapte is facing a £300,000 professional negligence claim from two Indian company directors.
Dentons sends new partner to Dubai
Denton Wilde Sapte is ramping up its Middle Eastern presence by sending a newly-promoted London partner to Dubai.
Devils in disguise
Curses are generally the domain of cartoon witches and readers of Stephen King, but Tulkinghorn got a shiver when a mole told him of the supernatural goings on at US law firm Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy.
Diageo adds four to IP in global restructuring
Drinks giant Diageo has boosted its global IP team with four hires as the company restructures its IP function to focus on regions as well as product lines.
DLA Piper settles into new Abu Dhabi base
DLA Piper has moved into permanent offices in Abu Dhabi, having opened in the city earlier in the year. The Abu Dhabi team comprises eight lawyers and four partners. It is set to rise to five when real estate partner Duncan Pickering relocates from the London office in September. Office managing partner Stephen Webb said: “We now have a strong construction and project finance team in place and we’re replicating ...
Dorsey repairs London litigation with Eversheds hire
Eversheds hire" /Eversheds' former London litigation chief Tim Maloney has defected to US firm Dorsey & Whitney, where he joins as a partner.
Eversheds name switch hints at full integration
Eversheds has moved a step closer to integrating fully its international network after seeing member firms agree to put the Eversheds name ahead of their own in branding.
Fiscal fiesta
With its boom in IPOs and capital markets, Brazil is the latest hotspot that law firms are focusing on
Fladgate faces potential £10m payout as Izodia gets around to negligence action
Fladgate faces potential £10m payout as Izodia gets around to negligence action" /Fladgate may have to pay out in excess of £10m in damages if the negligence action brought against the firm by former dotcom company Izodia is successful.
Forsters snares four Withers partners
Forsters snares four Withers partners" /Mayfair firm Forsters has secured four partners from Withers following legal discussions over their accession.
Freezing order overturned in £25m Bolivian telecoms case
Reed Smith and Stephenson Harwood have secured a Court of Appeal discharge of a $50m (£25.44m) freezing injunction against the Republic of Bolivia and its state-owned telecommunications company.
Half of Aussie lawyers mull walkabouts as survey flags up dissatisfaction
More than half of Australia’s private practice lawyers are considering leaving their present firms.
Howrey wins through for new client Eli Lilly in human genes patent case
Howrey has won a groundbreaking patent case for new client Eli Lilly after the High Court handed down its first-ever judgment on the patentability of human genes.
HP sorcerer: James Ormrod, Hewlett-Packard
It may have taken Hewlett-Packard legal affairs director James Ormrod 11 years to make it back to Blighty, but the tricks he picked up from corporate America made it time well spent.
Links scores Centrica mandate as British Energy battle hots up
Linklaters has waded into the multibillion-pound battle for control of nuclear power station operator British Energy.
Michael Stevens: Cripps Harries Hall
If you were stranded on a desert island what two luxury items would you take?My wife and a bottle of Chateau Petrus.
Mills & Reeve in Carbon Trust tie-up
Mills & Reeve in Carbon Trust tie-up" /The Carbon Trust has formed a partnership with law firm Mills & Reeve and consulting and accountancy firm Grant Thornton.
Moves round-up: 11 August 2008
Bryan Cave’s Chicago office has hired five new lateral partners, two counsel and one associate from Bell Boyd & Lloyd.
No standing still for Chadbourne
Hires add to Latin America and Poland offerings.
Norton Rose woos DMH Stallard IP partner
Norton Rose has raided DMH Stallard for IP partner Jonathan Ball, who only joined the South East firm ;a ;year ;ago ;from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Only the public interest can justify invasions of privacy
Two weeks ago Max Mosley won his privacy case against the News of the World and received an award of damages in the sum of £60,000 plus costs. The case centered on Mr Mosley’s participation in an S&M session with a German prison theme involving consenting (and paid) adults.
Opinion divided as Shearman sacks associate for harassment
News that US firm Shearman & Sterling sacked a London associate after he allegedly sexually harassed a vacation student in a West End strip club (TheLawyer.com, 4 August) sparked a heated debate among readers.
Outsider influence
The current depression in the UK property market has attracted the interest of sovereign wealth funds. But while a number of concerns have been raised, these are mostly unfounded
Paul Weiss wins Sony deal on back of relationship
Scoring the lead role for Sony Music on its acquisition of Bertelsmann’s 50 per stake in Sony BMG is a feather in the cap for Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison.
Property special report
The lack of liquidity in the commercial housing market of late has piqued the interest of developers in Government-backed schemes – from shared equity initiatives to major infrastructure projects.
Seddons’ real estate team defects to Mishcon
Mishcon de Reya has bolstered its wealth-planning group after raiding West End firm Seddons for a specialist residential real estate team.
Separated at birth
Tony Soprano has slimmed down and got himself a job at Virgin Media disguised as deputy general counsel Scott Dresser. Apparently he will oversee matters such as M&A, corporate strategy, communications, government affairs and competition matters, in his own brutal style. No mention has been made of his role in the ‘waste disposal’ department of the media group.
Simmons ponders LLP switch
Simmons & Simmons is considering converting to a limited-liability partnership (LLP) and will make a decision by the end of the financial year. The firm has appointed corporate partner Jeremy Sivyer as chairperson of a dedicated panel to look into whether the move is viable. Converting to an LLP is especially complex in certain foreign jurisdictions, such as Hong Kong, where Simmons has 59 lawyers. Managing partner Mark Dawkins said: “There isn’t a huge pressure to do it. We’re only looking ...
Simpson ditches dead weight
Set against the cataclysmic lawyer reductions at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft last month, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s headcount tinkering appears mild.
Simpson Thacher gets tough on associates
A year into the credit crunch, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has become the latest US firm to review associate levels following the slowdown in M&A work.
Simpson Thacher in on KKR dual listing
A team from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett led by partner Alan Klein is advising Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) on its dual listing in Amsterdam and New York. The flotation will see KKR merge with KKR Private Equity Investors, which listed on Euronext Amsterdam two years ago. Citigroup and Lazard are the financial advisers for KKR and are both being advised by a
Switalski on course for record compensation payout
F&C Asset Management's former legal chief Gillian Switalksi has defeated the company's bid to have her discrimination claim thrown out.
Taylor Wessing taps Clydes for insurance hire
Taylor Wessing taps Clydes for insurance hire" /Taylor Wessing has hired Clyde & Co insurance litigation partner Anthony Menzies in a bid to become a bigger player in the insurance field.
Taylor Wessing, Nixon Peabody in ‘poaching’ row
Court fight in New York throws light on Taylor Wessing’s complex international partnership structure
Technically speaking...
Alexandra Harrison, a legal consultant at Kroll Ontrack and former barrister suggests why using technology in the preparation and presentation of evidence is key to controlling the cost of litigation. Edmund Lawson QC also talks about his first hand experience.
There may be rubles ahead
The increasing mobility of international families and its strain on relationships has made it necessary for private client lawyers to understand the complexities involved in dealing with international divorce.
Travers Smith freezes junior lawyers’ pay
Travers Smith has frozen salaries for its associates and trainees after announcing disappointing financial results for 2007-08. It means that the firm’s junior lawyers remain on last year’s rates of £36,000 for first-year trainees, £40,000 for second-year trainees and £64,0000 for newly qualified associates. Last month Travers revealed that turnover had risen by just 3.2 per cent during the last financial ...
US firms hit court for JPMorgan/Bear showdown
A quartet of US firms gathered in a New York courtroom yesterday (11 August) for a crucial hearing relating to the rescue takeover of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan.
Web week
The Lawyer’s Web Week is a weekly commentary on legal activity on the web. This includes an overview of the best of the week’s blogs. If you want to direct us to useful links, email webweek@thelawyer.com.
Weil Gotshal appoints Lyle as new DC head
Weil Gotshal & Manges has appointed its DC litigation head to managing partner of the firm’s DC office.
Which? Legal Service chief quits over reformation
The head of legal at consumer body Which? has left the organisation, claiming it is unwilling to look at reforms to its services.
Zurich cracks down on exaggerated PI claims
Insurance giant Zurich is to establish a hitlist of personal injury (PI) firms in a bid to crack down on claimant practices that bring exaggerated costs orders against it.
