11 February 2002
The Lawyer
29 Bedford Row loses four to 1 Mitre Court
Four tenants from Peter Ralls QC's 29 Bedford Row Chambers have moved to Bruce Blair QC's 1 Mitre Court Buildings
Addleshaws partner quits for Pinsents Manchester
Addleshaw Booth & Co corporate finance partner Mike McGrath is leaving the firm to join Pinsent Curtis Biddle's Manchester office, marking the office's latest lateral hire
Addleshaws tells partners: bill now
Addleshaw Booth & Co's management is getting tough with its partners over a mounting backlog of billings
Advice to die for Lapping it up
Tulkinghorn must praise the prompt response from Alexander Shepherd, a lawyer in the IT and communications group at Linklaters. Shepherd contacted Tulkinghorn to clear up the confusion in Tulkinghorn's mind as to why the chain of lap dancing clubs - apparently so popular with lawyers - is called Spearmint Rhino. The reason, says Shepherd, is not a reference to the hefty charge, but that the clubs ...
Anal-Eyes
Tulkinghorn would like to offer his thanks for a letter from one Maurice Millen, the head of IT at Macfarlanes. Millen was immortalised as the subject of The Lawyer's correction that won the highly acclaimed prize of Correction of the Year in Private Eye. For those of you who don't remember, the slightly tongue-in-cheek item ran: "Last week, The Lawyer incorrectly stated that Maurice Millen, ...
Andersen Legal steps up Asian securitisation drive
Andersen Legal's Malaysian practice has advised the government's asset management company on its first asset-backed securitisation, which is backed by a 570m-ringgit (£106.2m) portfolio of performing loans
Andersen Legal wins Airtours vote
Andersen Legal has survived a vote by Airtours shareholders and will retain its position on the company's panel of legal advisers
Bar Council gives lay clients opportunity to skip solicitors
Kentridge committee overcomes objections to propose direct access to barristers
BAR TALK
Did you know that after its monumental gaffe of wrongly linking Oryx - a diamond mining firm - to Osama Bin Laden, the BBC still has a defence? The Beeb is expected to plead a defence of qualified privilege. This was established in 1999, when The Times was sued by former Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds. The Times lost, but the ruling said that the media may have a defence to a defamation action even when stories are wrong or unprovable. Lord Philips devised a 10-point plan to illustrate ...
Bevan Ashford banks on Theodores hire
Bevan Ashford has hired banking lawyer Andrew Smith (right) from Theodore Goddard to its banking unit in Exeter
British Museum in legal fight over Elgin Marbles
An Anglo-Greek consortium is working with UK lawyer David Charity to investigate launching the first ever legal battle to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece
Brobeck slashes staff due to corporate slump
West Coast firm Brobeck Phleger & Harrison has laid off 50 associates and 85 other staff members in its latest round of cost-cutting measures
Cardiff University selects three for law panel
Edwards Geldard, Eversheds and Martineau Johnson have all won places on Cardiff University's legal panel. Edwards Geldard and Eversheds are longstanding advisers to the university, but this is the first time that Martineaus has grabbed a place. The appointments are for three years.
CC advises on Canary Wharf bond issue
Clifford Chance is understood to be advising on a £1.25bn bond issue secured against the future income of its own new London Docklands HQ and three other buildings under construction by Canary Wharf.Clifford Chance is acting for the property company, while Allen & Overy is understood to be taking its usual role for the banks. Canary Wharf is said to have appointed Morgan Stanley, ...
CC in client shake-up
Clifford Chance is to re-engineer its entire approach to relationship management after feedback from four key clients
CGNU demands force Hugh James Ford Simey to split
CGNU has prompted the demerger of Wales and South West firm Hugh James Ford Simey
Chelsea picks Mills & Reeve for planning work
Mills & Reeve planning lawyers have been selected to advise Chelsea Village on its application for planning permission to build a new training academy for Chelsea Football Club, following a competitive tender process.Chelsea Village, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, is a new client for the firm.The planning team, led by partner David Brock, beat off competition for the contract from other leading firms and will advise on the drawing up and negotiation of the planning ...
Class Law joins forces with US Cohen Milstein
First targets for transatlantic claimant alliance are Sotheby's and Christies
Clifford Chance tipped for expected Focus flotation
Clifford Chance has been widely tipped to be adviser to the Focus Group, if the country's second-largest DIY chain proves press speculation right and announces its plans for a flotation worth £1.2bn.While no formal announcement has yet been made, insiders are certain that Clifford Chance's longstanding relationship with Duke Street Capital, the private equity group that owns ...
Collyer-Bristow snaffles two Kingsford partners
Collyer-Bristow in Holborn has taken on two corporate and commercial partners from Kingsford Stacey Blackwell
Confidence boosters
Sean Corbett looks at the cases that are helping to shape the moral maze of privacy law
DAC, Berwin Leighton and Constants face £3m fee headache
Constant & Constant, Davies Arnold Cooper and Berwin Leighton Paisner could all face losing at least £1m each in fees on a piece of litigation because of an anomaly in the Conditional Fee Arrangement (CFA) system.The claimant, Yeheskel Arkin - whose claim relates to alleged anticompetitive practices - is funding his case through a CFA, and has taken advantage of his right ...
DEAL OF THE WEEK: Freshfields and A&O in ICI's £808m share issue
ICI's favoured law firms Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy (A&O) are acting on the chemical company's discounted share issue, worth £808m, which will raise money to reduce the company's £2.9bn debt.ICI has retained Freshfields to advise it on the issue. A&O has been instructed by established clients Goldman Sachs, UBS Warburg ...
Deals summary
Nicholson Graham & Jones (Piers Coleman) acted for Heron Portfolio Investments on the sale of its building occupied by the Office of National Statistics to Royal & SunAlliance Life & Pensions. Linklaters (Alex Smalley, Julian Innes-Taylor) acted for the buyer.Lovells (Michael Stancombe), Berwin ...
Deals summary
Ashurst Morris Crisp (Michael Smith) advised Daiwa Securities and Mizuho International as managers of a ¥21.8bn (£115m) securitisation of auto receivables originated by the Orient Corporation (Orico). Nishimura & Partners (So Saito) of Tokyo advised Orico.Allen & Overy (Andrew Harrow) advised the dealers on the $1bn (£707m) medium term note (MTN) programme of Hysan. ...
Deals summary
Baker & McKenzie's London and Paris offices (Eric Lasry, Adam Levin) advised Platinum Equity on its acquisition of the European operations of Alcatel's enterprise distribution and services business. Alcatel was advised in-house.Field Fisher Waterhouse (Charles Whiddington, Andrew Evans) advised Teradyne on international merger clearance following its acquisition ...
Dickinson Dees plans OFT appeal for Arriva
Dickinson Dees is expected to make an appeal on behalf of client Arriva against a £203,632 fine from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for breaking competition law by deciding to share certain bus routes with FirstGroup
DLA grows in Leeds with double partner hire
DLA has recruited two partners into its commercial and projects group in Leeds
Four New Square hires two from 11 Old Square
Four New Square, the chambers of Justin Fenwick QC (left), has hired two tenants from 11 Old Square. The new recruits are Nicole Sandells, of 1994 call, who specialises in property litigation with a particular focus on mortgages and commercial landlord and tenant, and Alex Hall Taylor, of 1996 call, practising mainly in mortgages, securities and guarantees work in addition to insurance, consumer contracts and credit. Four New Square is one of the leading professional negligence and ...
Freehills lands Blakes partner
Australian law firm Freehills has ramped up its financial capability by taking on highly rated Blake Dawson Waldron asset finance partner Mark Breheny
Freehills saves NAB from £20bn disaster
Australian law firm believed to have charged £14m in robust defence of bank
Freshfields breaks EU merger barrier
The UK competition team of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has become the first to get a US merger cleared by Brussels since Mario Monti blocked GE-Honeywell.
Get a Life
It comes easier to some than it does to others, but for lawyers retirement can be a bitter pill. Fiona Callister looks at the options and talks to those who have already quit the profession
Gray Cary gains DC office with Blumenfeld merger
Technology slump sees Valley firm look to the future with East Coast link-up
Halliwells scores Everton FC project
Halliwell Landau has won a tender to advise Liverpool City Council on the controversial Kings Dock development in the city
Hammonds loses out as Halifax reviews panel
Wragge & Co wins place; Walker Morris, Shoosmiths and First Title all reappointed
Herbert Smith alliance storms onto CSFB panel
UK, Dutch and German firms in huge boost; mystery surrounds absence of A&O
Hiring the big hitters
The Lawyer does not tend to cover lateral movement of associate solicitors, but Tulkinghorn must accept that for once his colleagues on the newsdesk have really missed a trick.Almost two weeks ago, a press release arrived at The Lawyer detailing the recruitment of two relatively junior lawyers to Freethcartwright's Leicester office. Not surprisingly, the release fell by the wayside and it wasn't until last week, when Tulkinghorn was trawling through the bins, that he ...
INSURANCE
If Lovells has its way at the High Court, this week should see the conclusion of Equitable Life's att-empts to steer a course for the less troubled waters of a compromise scheme of arrangement. Its progress has not always been smooth. A number of disgruntled former and current policyholders have attempted to run the scheme aground with threats of litigation. But, with Lovells at the rudder, Equitable seems set to achieve the outcome it needs.The mutual, although never far ...
It's a fair crop
Now, in Tulkinghorn's day, the job of a criminal defence lawyer was to try to get your client off, or at the very least reduce the charges to the barest minimum. But this, it seems, is no longer the case.The Guardian reported recently on the case of its columnist George Monbiot, whose legal team has just secured a rather unusual victory. Monbiot stands charged, along with four other GM crop protesters, with criminal damage over the trampling of GM maize crops at a Flintshire ...
Judge Steel to preside over Western Circuit
Mr Justice Steel has been appointed as a presiding judge of the Western Circuit
Keeping it real
IT companies seem to be chasing their own tails in the quest to come up with 'the next big thing'. David Naylor reports
La Fondiaria battle reaches next round
Ashurst Morris Crisp and Grimaldi Clifford Chance are engrossed in the latest twist in a seven-month battle for control of Florence-based insurer La Fondiaria.Ashursts' Milan office is acting for insurance company Società Assicuratrice Industriale (SAI) in connection with the acquisition of the majority ...
Latham scoops UBS senior debt mandate
Battle to offer senior debt and high-yield hots up as Latham snares UBS Warburg
Lawyers ordered to disclose costs
Litigation lawyers face having to disclose details of their costs evaluations to the losing party after a recent landmark ruling
Leader
It must be the most drawn out tease for a very long time. Allen & Overy (A&O) has been vigorously courted by a pack of lovesick Valentines just dying to become its next HQ. Chased by Spitalfields, 201 Bishopsgate, Lehman Brothers' Northgate Scheme and Canary Wharf, A&O has been making the most of the current letting market. But all the advantages of playing tenant in a market where tenant is king must be starting to wear off.No sooner does the partnership settle ...
Linklaters aids BHP on consortium bid
Linklaters is strengthening its tie with dual-listed company BHP Billiton following its merger, by advising it on a consortium bid for a 100 per cent interest in International Columbia Resources (Intercor) from Exxon Mobil Corporation.The deal value is undisclosed, but the net asset value of Intercor is $366m (£258.77m). Linklaters is advising the consortium, which consists of BHP Billiton, ...
Linklaters jilted as Skadden Arps partner makes U-turn
Linklaters has lost a new partner before he has even joined
Lovells saves the sarnie
Lovells has singlehandedly saved the sandwich
Lush becomes ICL's legal director after December's departure from Billiton
Billiton's former general counsel Paul Lush, who left his role on 7 December 2001, has resurfaced
McGrigors merger delayed by one month
McGrigor Donald is losing a partner to DLA's London office as it is forced to delay its merger
Media frenzy
The state of the media is under the spotlight, with both the Government and the EC involved in crucial debates concerned largely with the diversity of ownership. Michael Ridley reports
MoFo sticks with lockstep
Morrison & Foerster (MoFo) will retain its lockstep pay system for associates
Ofgem panel review sees Dentons axed
Olswang and Burges Salmon win places after panel review
Olswang announces corp head's departure
Olswang's high-billing former head of corporate Adrian Bott has left the firm
Osborne Clarke cancels drawings
Osborne Clarke has taken the step of cancelling its partners' quarterly drawings as a precautionary measure against the economic downturn
Our fair lady
Head of legal at the Office of Fair Trading Pat Edwards is relishing her growing remit and increased responsibility. Jennifer Currie investigates the world of the shark killers
Pinsents loses private equity head to DLA
DLA's Birmingham office has taken on Pinsent Curtis Biddle head of private equity Jim Lavery
Reed Smith management rejig sees two arrivals
Reed Smith Warner Cranston has appointed Mark Dembovsky as chief strategy officer and David Duckhouse as chief finance officer in a shake-up of the firm's management
Schilling & Lom opens up equity partnership
Media firm Schilling & Lom and Partners is opening up its equity partnership, sparked by the hire of three new partners and the loss of name partner Nicholas Lom
SEC's Becker opts for private practice
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) general counsel David Becker has decided to leave the commission and return to private practice
Seddons
A West End firm with a Prague office? Whatever next?
Shearmans loses two partners in NY and DC
Shearman & Sterling's tax practice has undergone more upheaval with two partners leaving the firm
SJ Berwin in Nomura corporate debut
SJ Berwin has scored its first corporate instruction for Nomura, acting on the bank's transfer of one of its major private equity portfolios to new investment company Terra Firma
Slaughters to sort out women problem
Slaughter and May is taking an active role in the Government-requisitioned 'Report into Women's Employment', published by Denise Kingsmill
Staffordshire lawyer charged with money laundering
A partner in a Staffordshire law firm has been charged with money laundering the proceeds of a multimillion-pound VAT fraud. Paul Winter Morris continues to work as a solicitor at the four-partner AH Brooks & Co.Listings staff at Birmingham Crown Court said Morris is due to appear on 9 September at the court with the five men accused of the fraud. The men are being prosecuted by Customs & Excise, which refused to comment. Morris is not accused of fraud and will be in court ...
Staying up
Camerons, Nabarros and Hammonds were overjoyed to snap up roles on the Nomura-Le Meridien deal. Helen Power asks if the three mid-size firms can maintain their momentum
Taiwan law rejig makes foreigners welcome
The Taiwanese parliament has passed a new law to make cross-border mergers and acquisitions involving local companies much easier
The weight of expectation
As we enter the second week of February, many among us will be feeling a little guilty, with all those grand plans and resolutions made at the start of the year having already gone out the window.But not so our smug senior clerk Ian Moyler down at Brick Court Chambers. Moyler has been on a diet - the Weight Watchers 38-point diet, in fact - and very successful he's been too, having lost more than one and a half stone. So successful in fact, that he's been forced to have ...
Time is the enemy
A couple of weeks ago, The Lawyer reported on the fine figures emerging from Dechert's London office. In its first full financial year following its transatlantic merger in July 2000, the London office recorded a turnover of £45.5m, with total firmwide income at £238m.Reading on, though, Tulkinghorn discovered the real reason for its success: The Lawyer revealed that Dechert's ...
Travers in record NTL recapitalisation
Travers Smith Braithwaite has been appointed to the $20bn (£14.2bn) recapitalisation of NTL, which is considered to be the biggest debt restructuring ever
UAE puts kybosh on money laundering
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has completed its phased introduction of anti-money laundering regulations some 15 years after it began the drive
Viviane Stulz, senior counsel, Clifford Chance, Paris
For those human resource professionals whose re-mit spans several European countries, France is notorious for being the country where laws are perhaps the most paternalistic towards employees.Reorganisations, restructuring and redundancy exercises in France have always been tricky from a personnel relations' perspective, in particular for companies employing more than 50 people which propose to implement more than 10 redundancies - for these, negotiations with the works council ...
Wedlake Bell will still refer to Buse
Wedlake Bell is putting a brave face on the loss of its German alliance member to the new European Legal Alliance, set up by Field Fisher Waterhouse (The Lawyer, 4 February)
White & Case loses partner to Latham
The Tokyo office of Latham & Watkins has taken on corporate partner Michael Yoshii from US rival White & Case in a rare example of a Japanese lateral hire
Worth fighting for
Zimbabwean lawyer Lydia Zigomo is taking a stand against President Mugabe's corrupt regime despite the threat of violent repercussions
