15 April 2002
The Lawyer
A&O acts for SSSB on Shell deal
Allen & Overy (A&O) has advised European investment bank Schroder Salomon Smith Barney (SSSB) on behalf of Shell Resources in its takeover of Enterprise Oil.The takeover of the leading independent energy company has been a crucial testing ground for the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The new legislation, which was enforced in November 2001, was introduced as a new civil offence for market abuses. However, there is huge uncertainty in the City over the extent ...
A&O opens German real estate practice
Allen & Overy (A&O) is stepping up its international real estate strategy with the formation of a new German real estate group based in its Frankfurt office
Allen & Overy promotes 34 to partnership
Allen & Overy has made up 34 new partners, 15 of which are in the London office
Barlows deals with AbilityOne acquisition
Barlow Lyde & Gilbert has won a new client advising AbilityOne, a distributor of rehabilitative and assistive device products, on its $101m (£71m) acquisition of Smith & Nephew's rehabilitation business.The firm won the work through its referral relationship with Chicago firm Winston & Strawn, which acted on the US aspects of the deal.A Pinsent Curtis Biddle team led by partners Jeremy Philips and Jon Harris advised Smith & Nephew in the UK, while ...
Barrister duo appeal after wasted costs are ordered
'Improper' allegations about Big Break creator leave barristers facing payout; case to go to the Lords
Camerons partner defects to head A&O's Beijing office
Allen & Overy (A&O) has taken on CMS Cameron McKenna partner Yongfu Li as chief representative (managing partner) of its Beijing office
Camerons sues Bedford police in prison riots claim
CMS Cameron McKenna is handling the Yarl's Wood asylum centre riots claim against the Bedford Police Authority (BPA) by Group 4 insurers DJ Pye, Lloyd's syndicate 692
Charles Russell takes on property consultant
Charles Russell has taken the innovative step of hiring a property buying consultant to work in its private property practice, headed by Ian Cooke
Cobbetts boosts Leeds with Irwin Mitchell team
Cobbetts has taken a team from Irwin Mitchell to boost its new Leeds office, which will come about via the forthcoming merger with Read Hind Stewart
Cooley Godward eyes up Bird & Bird for UK merger
US West Coast firm Cooley Godward is closing in on Bird & Bird
Cross-border Irish work recommences
Mason Hayes & Curran and Carson McDowell have won the first piece of cross-border work placed by the Northern Irish Assembly since the resumption of the peace process
Cuatrecasas to share profits and blend teams with Iberia alliance
Spanish firm Cuatrecasas is set to share profits and create joint practice teams with the members of its Iberian alliance
Date set for International Criminal Court inception
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is poised to become a reality
Davenport Lyons loses property chief to TJG
Davenport Lyons head of property dispute resolution Jonathan Aubrey is moving to Taylor Joynson Garrett (TJG)
De Brauw's wholesale rejection of Linklaters stuns Dutch market
Linklaters' relationship with De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek has been damaged almost beyond repair after the Dutch giant voted against a merger with the magic circle firm
DEAL OF THE WEEK - AVENTIS
Jones Day handles Aventis Animal sale to CVC Capital
Deals Summary
Pinsent Curtis Biddle (Alan Greenough, Duncan McDonald) has advised NBGI Private Equity on its investment in the management buyout of specialist recruitment agency Walker Hamill from the Marlborough International Group. Speechly Bircham advised the management team.Charles Russell (Clive Hopewell) ...
Deals Summary
Allen & Overy (Giancarlo Castorino) advised Merrill Lynch on the first collateral bond obligation transaction in Italy, which involved the securitisation of e889m (£544m) bonds issued by 117 different banks. Deutsche Bank and Société Générale also advised by A&O in Italy.Ashurst Morris Crisp (Simon Thrower) advised Crédit Industriel et Commercial on the ...
Deals Summary
Nabarro Nathanson (David Wright, John Staheli) advised Slough Estates subsidiary Farnborough Business Park on the lease of 1 Meadow Gate Avenue to Autodesk for a term of 15 years at an initial rent of almost £1m per annum. Field Fisher Waterhouse (Suzanne Middleton-Lindsley) advised Autodesk.
Eversheds instructed by Comet
Eversheds has beaten off competition from at least three law firms to be appointed as the sole adviser on employment for electrical goods retailer Comet Group
Eversheds' private client cast-off sparks mass exit
Following Eversheds' shake-up of its private client department (The Lawyer, 22 October 2001), four partners have left the firm to join Norfolk private client boutique Hansells
Freshfields to target growth companies
City firm in corporate strategy shift; aims at VC houses in bid for smaller clients
Garretts left hanging as Andersen caves in
Standalone firms desert international network; Tite & Lewis now in the frame
Herbert Smith makes part-timer a partner
In a rare move for a top City firm, Herbert Smith has promoted its first part-time assistant to the partnership
Herbert Smith replaces financial institution head
Herbert Smith partner David Willis has become head of the firm's financial institutions group following the retirement of insurance luminary Marian Pell
HOWES PERCIVAL
Howes Percival has all the new blood it needs to keep on growing
Influential justice
There has been an abundance of insurance and reinsurance cases recently. Julian Flaux QC and Rebecca Sabben-Clare comment on the most influential judgments
Italian merger gives B&M office in Bologna
Baker & McKenzie has opened a new office in Italy following its merger with Bologna-based Studio Bernini
Ius Laboris alliance takes on Seyfarth as first US member
Chicago-based employment specialist Seyfarth Shaw has become the US member of the Ius Laboris international alliance
Lastminute.com dumps Linklaters as main adviser
Herbert Smith wins corporate top spot; Bird & Bird continues as main adviser
Latham shakes up Asia management
Latham & Watkins has reshuffled the management of its Asian offices to replace former Hong Kong and Singapore managing partner Joe Bevash
Lawrence Graham to act against ITV Digital
Lawrence Graham has been instructed for the first time by the Football League to act on the £178.5m ITV Digital-related claims
Legal Widow
In an unfortunate incident involving children refusing to go to the loo before leaving Pizza Express and needing to run indoors as soon as we got home, I left the car keys in the ignition. Once everyone had calmed down and apologised for knocking each other over in the rush (I'd put money on Deminimus in a 100-yard dash, I must say), we had a good look round for the keys and realised we couldn't find them. Then we had a look outside for them and soon realised that they weren't the only ...
Liddle Italy
Tulkinghorn was bemused to read news of the latest recruits to join Scottish firm Liddle & Anderson.The firm, with offices in Bo'ness and Edinburgh, has recently (well it was actually in November, but don't let that detract from the story) recruited two Italian lawyers. Gianni Mana and Mirella Marchini, respectively a partner and associate of Pier-grossi Villa Manca Graziadei, have joined the firm as consultants in Italian law.Huh? When exactly did Scotland ...
Life support
James Oury has spent his career in efforts to save the lives of death row prisoners, but he wants to be known for more than just being a life-saver
Loyens shores up London with partner relocation
Benelux firm Loyens & Loeff has boosted its London office by relocating a second partner to join the office on a full-time basis
Maclays hires partner duo from Dundas & Wilson
Maclay Murray & Spens has recruited two banking partners from Scottish rival Dundas & Wilson
MEPs ditch Euro IP court for national alternative
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are trying to water down a strongly centralised EU 'community patent' system that would grant jurisdiction over disputes to a new EU intellectual property court
MG Rover turns to Eversheds in joint venture with Chinese manufacturer
Eversheds has advised MG Rover Group on a deal that could safeguard thousands of jobs in the UK and which will eventually lead to the creation of two new cars.The Eversheds team acted on a new joint venture between Rover and China Brilliance Industrial Holdings, a vehicle com-ponent manufacturer and sales specialist with an annual turnover of $2.8bn (£1.95bn).The two parties will cooperate ...
Nabarros teams with Essex County Council
Essex County Council's legal services team has chosen Nabarro Nathanson to take on a new partnering role, following a rigorous tendering procedure
New German Takeover Act used by Weil in Texas deal
Weil Gotshal & Manges has advised on one of the first German tender offers since the new German Takeover Act came into effect.A team led by Geza Toth out of the London office and Liza Kroeger out of Frankfurt advised Texas Instruments Incorporated on a voluntary cash tender offer for German company Condat.For the deal to be successful, Texas must acquire 95 per cent of all Condat shares. Condat currently owns 56 per cent, while Texas holds 16 per cent. Once Texas owns ...
New Orrick partner takes Vodafone along as client
McKenna & Cuneo partner joins Orrick after Vodafone requests wider geographical capability
Northern Irish Assembly causes local unrest in slew of external appointments
Irish government accused of 'straight to London' attitude as Northern Irish firms fail to win £100,000-plus contracts
Norton Rose chief joins Richards Butler in Greece
Richards Butler has hired the head of Norton Rose's litigation team in Greece
Norton Rose chooses 11 new partners
Norton Rose has promoted 11 new partners to take effect from 1 May
Norton Rose set to vote for new chief executive
Norton Rose will this week vote on who will replace current managing partner Roger Birkby to take the chief executive officer (CEO) role
NY Attorney returns to Debevoise
US Attorney Mary Jo White has left her position as the head of New York's prosecution department to return to Debevoise & Plimpton
Opinion
No addition, amendment or modification of this agreement shall be effective unless it is in writing and signed by and on behalf of both parties."Such words are commonly encountered in the 'standard template' clauses of commercial contract precedents. Practitioners might assume that the provision excludes subsequent variations (either orally or by conduct) by the contracting parties. But are such clauses always effective?Perhaps surprisingly, English law on the ...
Pillars of the modern world
News of developments in the regions have been arriving on Tulkinghorn's desk thick and fast this week, but none more groundbreaking than that from the Swindon office of Thring Townsend. Wait for it, wait for it… Thring Townsend has given up air conditioning.Yes, it's true. But the firm isn't going to risk the wrath of sweating, sticky and angry employees. Oh no, Thring Townsend has a revolutionary new brick. This one brick, the firm claims, will provide natural ...
Pinsents Leeds loses two partners
Pinsent Curtis Biddle is losing two partners from its Leeds office
Radcliffes mourns loss of partner Mike Thomas
RadcliffesLeBrasseur is mourning the death of its head of employment, partner Mike Thomas
Real estate
For a block move, it was a secret remarkably well kept… until, that is, The Lawyer revealed on 1 April that planning and environmental specialist Eldon Chambers had lost no fewer than five barristers, all to the same set.The market is still slightly stunned, not so much by the decision of the now famous five to quit the set, but because they chose to regroup at common and public law chambers 39 Essex Street. As one clerk put it: "39 are very good, but they don't know ...
Screen saver
BBC Scotland head of legal Alistair Bonnington's aim is to progress Scottish media law to the full. His achievements so far suggest he's the right guy for the job. Naomi Rovnick reports
Simmons corporate stars revolt against WFW deal
Opposition from a group of corporate partners at City firm Simmons & Simmons is making a merger with Watson Farley & Williams seem increasing unlikely
Slating the Bar Council
Robin de Wilde QC has been elected to the Bar Council after accusing it of 'pandering to the Government'. Jon Robins asks: can he repeat the success he had in the 1980s with rebel barrister group the Slate?
Structural damages
With the case closed, accident victims' financial future should be secure, but a lump payment may not always be the best option. Crispin Kenyon discovers another way
The heart of the Black Country
Exciting developments in the Black Country. Well, that's what last week's press release from Waldrons Solicitors promised at any rate. "Black Country solicitors have taken on a new recruit with a difference," it proclaimed.Said new recruit, a Mr Adrian Ruffhead, it transpires, is a 'radical' Christian, who has just spent two years on the Ivory Coast at a school for missionaries' children. "We'd spent so long in a privileged society that we just thought ...
The insurance trade
With huge amounts of money at stake, insurance and reinsurance claims arising from 11 September were inevitable. Matthew Line assesses the status of the ongoing litigation
The Leader Column
At The Lawyer, we hold these truths to be self-evident: if you want to generate a response that clogs up your inbox for days, write about lap dancing or PR.The Lawyer's associate editor Mat Swallow recently sparked a huge debate when he wrote in Grapevine, part of The Lawyer News Weekly email. Mat's rant was occasioned by a round table last week, organised by a PR agency and about the role of… er… PR in law firms. It was a pleasant, if slightly predictable, ...
Theodores forms global expansion committee
Theodore Goddard has appointed five partners and a human resources professional to head its newly created international expansion committee
US firms more to offer than money
Money is not the main motivation behind UK lawyers switching to US firms, according to a survey conducted by IQ Research for legal recruitment consultancy Graham Gill
Vinge boosts UK connection
Swedish law firm Vinge is boosting its UK regional relationships having acted on a referral from Halliwell Landau
Weil Gotshal email blunder adds to overcharging boob
Weil Gotshal & Manges has fallen foul of cyberspace communication
Wessing-TJG merger in trouble as five jump ship
Top billers leave for Latham & Watkins Frankfurt; fears that firm will split to accommodate merger
Wise counsel
Last Wednesday was the day for all the new Queen's Counsel to take silk, and what a day it was too. Typically, pandemonium reigned, with clerks rushing around madly, barristers all aflutter, and battles over transport. The sheer weight of numbers forced one set to resort to taxis while another opted for a 'pimp mobile' - aka a white limousine.But amid all the chaos, Hugo Page QC and Mark Shaw QC - the new silks at Blackstone Chambers - made sure there was time to ...
Woolf reforms fall short as litigation remains favourite
Arbitration and ADR prove unpopular; cases speeded up but costs remain high
Yo! Sushi seeks first legal panel as empire expands
Japanese restaurant operator Yo! Sushi is to set up its first panel of law firms in order to meet the growing needs of its business
