15 January 2007
The Lawyer
Clydes touts for footy shirt scam victims
Lean times at Clyde & Co, or just boring ones? The firm placed ads in the Manchester Evening News to club together enough Manchester United and England fans for a class action to be taken to the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) against football shirt retailers.
People
Bircham Dyson Bell has hired Rod Meade as finance director. Meade joined the firm last November from Allen & Overy, where he was business operations manager for the global tax and US law group.
3 Verulam moves into Old Square's former premises
Commercial set 3 Verulam Buildings has struck a deal allowing it to utilise Old Square Chambers' former home.3 Verulam, which already occupies the third, fourth and top two floors of Five Verulam Buildings, signed a lease with Lincoln's Inn at the end of last year enabling it to take over occupancy of the ground and first floors.
400 lawyers vote against Govt legal aid reform
Opposition to legal aid reforms grew today as 400 solicitors at a Law Society special general meeting unanimously voted to resist the Government’s proposals.
A&O seeks light relief
A&O's office move has left more than one partner with a headache.
Akin and Vinson win US energy tie-up
Texan heavyweights Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Vinson & Elkins have advised on a $1.5bn (£775.34m) merger between two US domestic independent energy companies. Vinson advised Forest Oil, an onshore exploration and production company focusing primarily on North America, on the acquisition of 100 per cent of stock in Houston Exploration Company, advised by Akin Gump. Houston Exploration was also advised by Deleware-based firm Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell. Akin Gump also advised ...
Akin Gump ditches Brussels office in favour of Beijing outpost
In an overhaul of its international strategy, US firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has pulled out of Brussels and has opened its first mainland China office in Beijing.
Al Jazeera lands top in-houser from Colt
Arab news channel Al Jazeera has raided telecoms group Colt for a senior in-house lawyer.
Altar-native career paths
Many is the managing partner forced to fret about the exodus of associates to investment banks these days. Allen & Overy (A&O) for one has lost more than its fair share.
Arnold & Porter promotes London biotech specialist
Arnold & Porter’s London office has a new partner after the US firm promoted a total of eight lawyers worldwide.
Arrow victory
Do you know which darts player is known as 'Hawaii 501'? Or 'Top Banana'? Or even 'The Fen Tiger'? No, thought not.
Ashurst dips toe in Asian talent pool
It's a softly-softly approach from Ashurst as it takes the first step on its bold new Asia strategy.
Ashurst in Asia push with key Singapore hire
Ashurst has made the first move in its plans for an Asia-focused overhaul of its international strategy, hiring an energy-focussed lawyer for its Singapore office.
Ashurst revamps management board
Ashurst has expanded its management board to include French finance partner Laurent Mabilat, increasing the representation of continental Europe on the firm’s board.
Ashurst, Nabarros, Norton Rose, SJ Berwin rush through Bath deal
Ashurst, Nabarros, Norton Rose, SJ Berwin rush through Bath ...
Assessment centres: the best talent scout
Assessment and development centres are increasingly relevant as law firms place more importance, and consequently more investment, in developing their talent. In what is now a talent-short marketplace, firms are under increasing pressure to attract and retain the top people.
B&M Euro disputes chief quits to form ADR boutique
Baker & McKenzie’s European disputes chief has quit to launch a new a new dispute resolution boutique.
Because he's worth it?
It takes some balls to demand $25m (£13m) over five years with no strings attached, particularly if you're not even a fee-earner. But then Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe's Ralph Baxter never got anywhere by being faint-hearted.
Bevan Brittan makes riverside move
Bristol-based Bevan Brittan has made the first move in its relocation to new premises.
Bigger is better for Ashurst
How to manage a law firm? It’s a tricky business. All those high performers can be high maintenance and associates nowadays really want all sorts of newfangled bonuses, career paths and the like.
BLG, Farrers victory deals hammerblow to AIDB
Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) and Farrer & Co have brought the effectiveness of an independent disciplinary body for accountants into question after successfully defending against its first attempted prosecution.
Bond Pearce lands White & Case finance whizz
Bond Pearce has appointed White & Case London chief operating officer (COO) Chris Schulten as its new finance director.
Bond Pearce winds up wind farm divestment
Bond Pearce has advised on the £130m sale of two of the biggest wind farms in the UK. RWE npower sold the facilities in Inverness-shire and Port Talbot to Beaufort Wind, a wholly owned subsidiary of the £400m Zephyr investment fund. Bond Pearce advised RWE npower on the sale, led by partner Sebastian Briggs, while Wright Johnstone & Mackenzie advised on property aspects. Hammonds advised Beaufort Wind, ...
BT GC appointed chair of global industry group
BT Global Services general counsel Tim Cowen has been named chair of industry best-practice group The International Association of Contract and Commercial Managers.
Can't get it out of my head
It was all feathers, gloss and glitter when DLA Piper kindly invited Tulkinghorn and a bunch of his cronies down to the campest show in town, Kylie's Showgirl, last Tuesday night (9 January).
CC and Weil secure instructions on GE's purchase of Vetco Gray
Clifford Chance has retained its role as lead adviser to a private equity consortium in its $1.9bn (£982.1m) disposal of an oil market supplier to Weil Gotshal & Manges client General Electric (GE).
CC partner quits law for LXB position
Clifford Chance real estate partner Richard Margree has quit the partnership, and the law, to take up a business opportunity with a client.
Chapter adapter
With the UK reluctant to recognise Chapter 11, Uncitral's new insolvency regulations will come as a fillip to the global market. By Lyndon Norley and Kon Asimacopoulos
Citibank denies largest fraud in Swiss history
Citibank has instructed one of Switzerland's best-known law firms to defend it in what has been dubbed the biggest alleged fraud in Swiss private banking history.
College of Law gets top marks
The Law Society has awarded all five of College of Law’s branches top marks after a recent assessment visit.
Co-op extends post-Legal Services Bill offering
The Co-operative Group has launched a new wills service as it capitalises on regulatory changes in the Legal Services Bill.
Debt of latitude
Many in the industry would argue that the UK would do well to look to the US insolvency system with regard to debtor liability. Nick Segal highlights the issues
Dewey exodus spreads to London as rainmaker joins LeBoeuf
Dewey Ballantine London-based capital markets rainmaker Camille Abousleiman has quit the firm for LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae.
Dewey London on slippery slope
It looks like meltdown at Dewey London (see story).
Diageo ends year-long search for US GC
Diageo has appointed Kellye Walker to fill its vacant North American general counsel role. Walker, who joins from warehouse retail stores chain BJ's Wholesale Club, replaces Wally Martinez, who quit the company to become managing partner at Hunton & Williams. She will report to Diageo global general counsel Tim Proctor and will be a member of the Diageo North America executive team. The North America general counsel position had been vacant for just under a year, after Martinez quit ...
DLA Piper tie-up signals Africa push
DLA Piper has signalled its intention to spread throughout Africa in 2007 by extending its network of associated firms in a link-up with a Ghana-based firm.
Duane Morris: Good morning Vietnam
Philadelphia-headquartered firm Duane Morris has confirmed its intention to open in Vietnam, only the second US firm to do so, opening two offices by March in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Enterprise tact
Given the haphazard information available on Farepak’s creditors, the fallout from the administration has seen the courts take a practical approach to the procedures laid out in the 1986 Enterprise Act. By Alison Goldthorp
Essar calls on Herbert Smith for telecoms showdown
Herbert Smith has scooped a role advising new client Essar in its $16bn (£8.27bn) bid for Hutchison Essar.
EU needs to find coherent cross-border legislation
Finding the right balance to provide a general roadmap for the law applicable to cross-border tort litigation within the EU has been a long process. Other European instruments dealing with cross-border cases are more accepted now: the Brussels Regulation, which allocates jurisdiction, and the old Rome Convention on the law applicable to contract ...
Eversheds' E&Y tax swoop sees firm challenge accountants
Eversheds' E&Y tax swoop sees firm challenge accountants" /Eversheds is set to expand its tax team after snaring a new head of indirect tax services in the form of property VAT partner Martin Scammell.
Eversheds, DWF in Welsh education coup
Eversheds and DWF have been appointed to the Welsh Further Education Purchasing Consortium (WFEPC) legal panel. They will be joined by regional firms Morgan Cole and Geldards.
Feuds for thought
We love lawyers. And we especially love feuding lawyers. The normally phlegmatic Swiss are at it today. See story.
Former NGJ associates win K&L Gates promotion
K&L Gates, the $750m firm newly formed from a merger between Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham and Preston Gates & Ellis, has announced its very first partner promotions, giving two new partners to the London office.
Fox Mandal bulks up with Khaitan team
India's largest law firm Fox Mandal Little has continued its expansion drive by hiring a team from New Delhi-based law firm Khaitan & Co.
Freshfields associates offered counsel path
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has continued its restructuring by overhauling its associate career path globally.
Freshfields bags EC director general
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Brussels office has bolstered its competition capability by hiring a key EU regulator.
Freshfields Germany loses one more as W&C strikes
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Frankfurt office has lost another partner, this time to White & Case, following last week’s three-lawyer defection to SJ Berwin.
Freshfields waits to pounce as Land Securities-Nabarros bond weakens
Nabarros is facing stiffer competition for Land Securities' big-ticket work. By David Middleton
Fulbright raids Jenkens for entire tax team
Houston-headquartered Fulbright & Jaworski has taken the entire tax team from Jenkens & Gilchrist’s Houston office, which includes Jenkens’ Houston managing partner Andrius Kontrimas.
Garrigues' CEE push begins with Poland
With the launch of its first office in Poland, Garrigues has embarked on an ambitious expansion plan for the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) market.
GE Finance reshuffles legal team
GE Commercial Finance has named Lorna Curry to replace Kevin Dunn as the new general council for European corporate finance.
Gibson Dunn appoints Goldman Sachs GC
Goldman Sachs associate general counsel Susan Grafton has quit the investment bank to join the Washington DC office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Grafton, a former Securities and Exchange Commission market regulation official, will join Gibson Dunn as of counsel. Her regulatory practice focuses on regulation and compliance issues for the securities industry. Grafton had been at Goldman Sachs ...
Guiltless by association
In the fallout from the collapse of Enron, the failed action brought against Alliance Capital threw up more than a few surprises from the courts. Mark Kirsch and James Moyle report
Hammonds extends Italian alliance
Hammonds Rossotto and Hammonds have signed a five-year deal to extend the firms' alliance. The agreement continues an initial affiliation in which Italian-based Hammonds Rossotto is part of Hammonds' international network and can use the top 20 UK firm's brand name. The agreement, which will be enforced this month, will see the four-partner firm, which is based in Milan, Rome and Turin, remain independent from Hammonds, as it has done for the past five years.
Helen Mahy inherits GC100 chair from Barclays' Harding
The General Counsel 100 has named Helen Mahy from National Grid to replace outgoing chair and Barclays legal head Mark Harding at last night’s group annual general meeting.
Heller Ehrman launches in London
West coast US firm Heller Ehrman is set to launch an office in London.
Heymann raids Jones Day's IP team
German firm Heymann & Partner has raided Jones Day’s Frankfurt IP team, leaving only one IP partner in the firm’s Frankfurt office.
Holman Fenwick names new senior partner
Holman Fenwick & Willan partners have elected litigator Richard Crump to take over as senior partner when Roderic O'Sullivan retires at the end of April.
Inchcape scoops new GC from Reuters
Inchcape’s UK office has appointed two new members to its executive committee, including Claire Chapman from Reuters, who joins as general counsel and group company secretary.
Insolvency Roundup
Large-scale insolvencies have been largely absent from the UK market over the past few years. That was until the spectacular collapse of hamper savings company Farepak hit the newspaper headlines.
Italy
The Italian market has a new law firm. Allen & Overy’s (A&O) respected Turin head Carlo Pavesio has left the magic circle firm to set up his own Turin-based corporate finance and compliance boutique.
Jetco travels to India for liberalisation talks
The UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee (Jetco) legal team is travelling to India this week (15-20 January) in a bid to progress talks about the liberalisation of the Indian legal services market.
JMW Solicitors
"Our new building is a statement about what JMW is about. We're not just talking about it, we've actually done it," says managing partner Bill Jones of JMW Solicitors' new Manchester premises at No 1 Byrom Place.
John Davidson, SABMiller
When John Davidson joined long-term client SABMiller as general counsel from Lovells, he got busy. By Joanne Harris
Kendall Freeman clears Sheikh's name by pulping terror book
Kendall Freeman’s managing partner Laurence Harris has negotiated an unusual libel settlement by making sure thousands of copies of a book titled “Unknown Soldiers - How Terrorism Transformed the Modern World” are to be pulped.
King & Spalding ramps up US IP team
King & Spalding has continued growing its US-based IP practice, hiring partner Richard Pettus from McDermott Will & Emery in New York. Pettus, a patent litigator specialising in the pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer products sectors, is the seventh ...
Kirklees Council to build panel of barristers
Kirklees Metropolitan Council in West Yorkshire is to create a panel for barristers, one of the first local authorities in England and Wales to do so.
Lambeth Council legal dept in paperless efficiency initiative
The London Borough of Lambeth’s legal team has embarked on a pilot project to create the public sector’s first paperless office in a bid to increase chargeable hours.
Lawrence Graham, Sidley bag TV programmes sale
Lawrence Graham and Sidley Austin have advised Entertainment Rights on a mandate to take over the US-based owner of cult classics Lassie and The Lone Ranger.
LCS chief: hours billing must be scrapped
The chief executive of the new Legal Complaints Service (LCS) has described the system of billable hours charging as "outdated", recommending firms look at "new and interesting ways of charging".
LCS's independence play
The Consumer Complaints Service is to be renamed the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) this month. The rebrand stems from the service's recent detachment from the representative side of the Law Society and is supposed to indicate a new independence from its estranged other half.
LeBoeuf lures Freshfields Paris partner
LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae has continued its hiring spree of former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partners, hiring insolvency specialist Philippe Hameau in Paris.
Linklaters loses five lawyers as Romanian boutique trend continues
Linklaters' Romania office has lost five lawyers who quit to launch their own independent boutique in the country's capital Bucharest.
Lobby groups slam Legal Services Bill
Three legal lobby groups have joined forces to send a briefing paper slamming the Legal Services Bill to every member of the House of Lords.
Lovells teams up with charity for Westminster disability project
Lovells has been working on a pro bono project to set up a new centre to provide services for the physically disabled.
Management
Dewey-Orrick merger scrappedThe New Year kicked off with news that the merger that would have created one of the world's largest law firms was off.
Material world
The convergence of global markets could signal the end of market-specific laws relating to the substances used in products, with manufacturers the world over keeping one eye on EU standards. By Christopher Bell
Merger gifts leading PI firm a commercial arm
Professional indemnity firm Plexus Law is to merge with commercial solicitors Gaston Whybrew (GW) at the end of this month.
Mishcon scores brewer acquisition
Mishcon de Reya has completed its first major corporate deal for Danish brewery Royal Unibrew. The successful $22.3m (£11.49m) acquisition of Dominica Brewery & Beverages, Antigua Brewery and Antigua PET Plant represents a good return for Mishcon.
Norr takes Lovells' Berlin partners
Two former Lovells Berlin partners have found a new home at Macfarlanes’ German ally Nörr Stiefenhofer Lutz.
Norton Rose partner quits for Threadneedle GC role
Norton Rose dispute resolution partner Philip Reed has quit the firm to join Threadneedle Investments, the UK’s fourth largest retail investment funds manager, as general counsel.
Norton Rose snares BLG reinsurance maestro
Norton Rose has dealt a blow to Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) by poaching highly rated reinsurance partner Michael Mendelowitz.
Norton Rose suffers in Dubai as Ashurst pounces
Norton Rose’s Dubai operation has been rocked by another partner departure, this time to a raid by Ashurst.
Offshore giant launches in Mauritius
Appleby Hunter Bailhache has lauched an office in Mauritius, the firm’s fifth offshore location.
Peverel in-houser to stand down
Property services company Peverel Group's top in-house lawyer Richard Bagley is to retire next month after six years as group solicitor. Barrister David Edwards will replace him. Edwards joins Peverel from hotel operator De Vere Group, where he was chief legal adviser and company secretary. Group solicitor Bagley oversaw the growth of the property management and investment business to include more than 130,000 units in 2,500 developments under management. Bagley was also heavily involved ...
Pinsents granted licence for Beijing office
Pinsent Masons has been given the green light to follow its Asia expansion strategy and open an office in Beijing.
Race is on for Linklaters top job as Angel calls time on tenure
Linklaters managing partner Tony Angel is to step down later this year, prompting a succession race at the magic circle firm.
Reed Smith hikes revenue by 14 per cent
Reed Smith's year-end figures before its merger with Richards Butler have revealed an increase in revenue of 14 per cent to $644m (£331.34m) in 2006. This year the firm is aiming for a 40 per cent growth in revenue to hit $900m (£463.05m). The figure takes into account the mergers with Richards Butler, which is predicted to rake in an extra $120m (£61.74m), and Chicago firm Sachnoff & Weaver, whose ...
Revealed: Baxter killed Dewey-Orrick merger
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe chairman Ralph Baxter demanded a guaranteed $25m (£12.92m) payout over five years had the proposed merger with Dewey Ballantine gone through, The Lawyer can reveal.
Salans takes 14 lawyers off Haarmann for Shanghai
Salans last week continued its programme of ramping up internationally with a 14-lawyer raid on Haarmann Hemmelrath in Shanghai.
Second Bird & Bird hire strengthens Spanish office
Bird & Bird has beefed up its banking and finance offering in Spain, recruiting Andrés Lorrio from Spanish independent firm Araoz & Rueda.
Separated at birth
The man behind The Office and Extras may have suffered a bit of a backlash over Christmas with his less-than-enthralling interviews with Christopher Guest and Jerry Seinfeld. But with the cash he’s coining from podcasts, books and the telly, he’s probably not too concerned. Tulkinghorn thought readers would appreciate a peak at an earlier incarnation of Gervais as a young lawyer at Norton Rose, when he ...
Simmons gets tough to realise £600K PEP
Simmons & Simmons managing partner Mark Dawkins has vowed to drag the firm's average profit per equity partner (PEP) beyond the £600,000 barrier during the next financial year.
SJ Berwin celebrated private equity trio defects to Kirkland
SJ Berwin celebrated private equity trio defects to Kirkland" /SJ Berwin faces losing a grip on its pre-eminent private equity clients following the defection of a trio of its star fund formation partners to Kirkland & Ellis.
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
It is probably the most exciting way a firm could celebrate its centenary: to grow headcount by 25 per cent and to muscle its way into the top 20 US firms. But those are the ambitious plans for 2007 laid out by Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal's new chairman Elliott Portnoy.
SRA kicks off debate on higher rights
Higher rights of audience for solicitors could be scrapped under new proposals that could open up higher courts to all solicitors.
Stonewall: firms not gay-friendly enough
Law firms have made giant strides forward in terms of providing equal opportunities for gay and lesbian people, but still have a long way to go to reach an acceptable standard, according to Stonewall, the lesbian and gay rights lobby group.
Taylor Woodrow returns to ditched panel firms
Housebuilder Taylor Woodrow has reviewed its property panel, re-appointing a number of firms it abandoned four years ago.
The green, green ass
And the race for the trophy for 'greenest of the green' starts here. Simmons & Simmons' Mark Dawkins and SJ Berwin's David Harrel have been slugging it out so far to see which of their firms has the teeniest carbon toeprint, although the heat they generated on that row probably undid ...
The Guardian splits legal group in two
The Guardian news and media (GNM) group are set for a massive restructuring of its legal department leading to expansion and the team splitting into two legal divisions, the newspaper announced today.
The work-life quiz: Fiona Woolf
What was your first-ever job?Delivering the post at Christmas for the Royal Mail.
Top Swiss firm in five-partner expulsion row
One of Switzerland’s largest firms, Pestalozzi Lachenal Patry, is locked in a dispute with a member of the group of five partners expelled last year over strategic and management differences.
Top Trials: The big decisions…
The must-read for litigators: last year saw a number of important decisions handed down in the UK's courts and 2007 looks set to be just as busy
Travers abandons Berlin for best friends strategy
Travers Smith has shut down its German operation, forcing all five of its Berlin-based lawyers to find a new home at Salans.
Tried and trusted
US antitrust laws are forever balanced between being too wide-reaching and too narrow. Current cases in the Supreme Court could go some way towards clarifying them. Karin DeMasi reports
Trowers handed bridge finance role
Trowers & Hamlins has firmed up is relationship with Saudi Binladin Group, having scooped a new mandate to advise on the $100m (£51.52m) financing of the Jamarat Bridge project in Saudi Arabia.
TwoBirds with one flown
Did Bird & Bird protest too much over the recent exit of star life sciences partner David Wilson to Herbies? Calls last week to TwoBirds' ever-efficient communication team were met with the classic "It's not really a story", along with the slightly less than accurate "He isn't really leaving".
Tyco goes on hiring spree to build Emea legal dream team
Tyco followed up its groundbreaking £10m agreement with Eversheds by recruiting a team of senior in-house lawyers to bolster the Europe, Middle East and Africa (Emea) team that has been revolutionised by general counsel Trevor Faure.
UK Govt declares in ECJ that strike actions be curtailed
The UK Government has declared that industrial strike action is not a fundamental social right, The Lawyer has learnt.
United states
Five years on and Enron still dominates the US legal landscape.
Uría London head joins the partnership
Uría Menéndez has promoted its top lawyer in London to partner in the latest round of partnership promotions.
W&C London banking team gains five new partners
White & Case’s London office has bolstered its banking and capital markets capabilities with the promotion of five lawyers as part of its wave of partnership promotions for the year.
Ward Hadaway opens third Newcastle office
North East firm Ward Hadaway is opening a new office on Newcastle's Quayside.
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.
Welcome to London Heller Ehrman
On this very day (16 January) a year ago, The Lawyer revealed that Heller Ehrman was ready to launch in London.
White & Case adopts UK LLP status
White & Case's London office has converted to a UK limited-liability partnership (LLP), with effect from 31 December 2006. Globally, White & Case will remain an LLP established under the laws of the State of New York. Last month Clifford Chance converted to a UK LLP almost seven years after becoming a New York ...
White & Case in hands-off India drive
As Clifford Chance senior partner Stuart Popham told The Lawyer last week (8 January): "The world is looking at India."
