15 October 2001
The Lawyer
Breaking News: Allen & Overy is close to agreeing a deal to make Spitalfields market home to its new headquarters.
The firm's backing for the £750m Spitalfields choice on the edge of the City follows a weekend partnership meeting.
Breaking News: Clyde & Co moves into Yugoslavia
Clyde & Co has opened in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. It is the first City firm to open in the area
Breaking News: Travers Smith launches in Germany
TSB dumps UK-only strategy and attacks German market with Berlin hire
ABN Amro hire boosts in-house legal in Asia
ABN AMRO has boosted its in-house derivatives capacity in Asia with the hire of Tony Corcoran as regional counsel with responsibility for lending operations and derivatives throughout North East and South East Asia.
Addleshaw Booth & Co (Paula Dillon) advised Highstone Estates, part of the Paul Sykes Group,
on its £26.5m acquisition of 101 Barbirolli Square, Manchester, from Hermes Property Asset Management. Hermes advised by Maxwell Batley (Orla O'Sullivan).
Addleshaws launches health and safety unit
Addleshaw Booth & Co has created a specialist health and safety unit today (15 October) to coincide with European Health and Safety Week.
Air support
The European Commission doesn't like it, but can it stop governments buoying up their flagship airlines? Jon Robins investigates the fallout from 11 September
Allen & Overy (Stephen Kensell) advised JP Morgan and Mediobanca - Banca Di Credito Finanziario
on a euro8bn (£5bn) revolving credit facility for Telecom Italia. Slaughter and May advised Telecom Italia.
Argent St George sticks with Lovells for £1bn job
Lovells has advised leading UK developers Argent and St George on an innovative contract which marks a turning point in the £1bn regeneration scheme for King's Cross.Argent St George, a joint venture between the two developers, has entered into an acquisition and development agreement with London & Continental Railways (LCR) and Exel over the 50-acre site, which is north of King's Cross mainline station.LCR, advised by Herbert Smith, is responsible for the high-speed Channel ...
Ashurst Morris Crisp (Erica Handling) advised JP Morgan
as the lead arranger on a collateralised debt obligation for Intermediate Capital Group (ICG). Ashursts (Michael Smith) also advised ICG.
Ashurst Morris Crisp (Jan Sanders) advised Barclays European Infrastructure
on the acquisition of shares in a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) involved in an £85m schools PFI in Liverpool. Linklaters & Alliance advised AXA Investment Managers UK and Barclays Bank, which financed the SPV. Addleshaw Booth & Co advised SPV shareholder Jarvis.
Berrymans reshuffle sees new head for London office
Taylor makes way as Capstick takes up City reins; local focus to plug gaps left by national spread
Brandford-Griffith quits Veil Armfelt with M&A team to launch own firm
Paris boutique to look for UK best friend as corporate star targets global work
Brief Encounter: Wacks Caller
Wacks Caller likes playing with the big boys and rapid growth shows it can
Camerons speeds past Linklaters for Railtrack work
CMS Cameron McKenna has derailed Linklaters & Alliance as the Government's main adviser on Railtrack.
Caught in the net
Bird & Bird CEO David Kerr is determinedly weathering the technology storm, convinced that dotcom consolidation is just around the next corner
China's entry to WTO opens up joint venture opportunities
Joint legal ventures could soon be an option for foreign law firms looking to crack the difficult Chinese legal market.
Clyde & Co helps ailing Lloyd's member
Clyde & Co's investment in the insolvency market is already starting to pay off, with its latest instruction coming from Mike Jervis and Beth Rees at Grant Thornton. A team led by Mark Fennessy has acted for Riverside Corporate Underwriters on its provisional liquidation.Riverside, a corporate member ...
Cobbetts consolidates its pro bono initiatives
Manchester firm Cobbetts is launching its first firmwide pro bono scheme.
Covington to take on trainees in London
The London office of Covington & Burling has underlined its strategy of organic growth in the UK by launching a trainee scheme.
David Lock MP joins Littletons
David Lock MP, who has just finished his term as parliamentary secretary in the Lord Chancellor's Depart-ment, has joined Littleton Chambers as a door tenant.
Davis Polk associates get empty stockings
Slaughter and May's best friend in New York Davis Polk & Wardwell has cancelled Christmas for its lawyers.
Davis Polk opens in Madrid
US firm builds nest for lawyers stationed in Spanish capital; plans to boost Latin American practice
De Montfort shuts down Birmingham law school
De Montfort University has been forced to close its second law school this year.
Deal of the week - One 2 One
A&O and Kemp Little handle UK's first 3G cost-sharing
Dentons first firm to step into Uganda
Denton Wilde Sapte has become the first major UK firm to target Africa via an association with Uganda's Kampala Associated Advocates.
Dewey Ballantine opens in Texas
Dewey Ballantine is opening an office in Houston after taking on Alan Gover from Weil Gotshal & Manges.
DJ Freeman (Antoinette Jucker, Tony Leifer) advised Xtreme Information
on a management buyout in conjunction with Veronis Suhler International, advised by Ashurst Morris Crisp (Graeme Ward, Jonathan Angell).
DLA (Philip Butler, Alex Monk, Alison Gowman) advised Barclays Bank
on a debt facility to help fund a management buyout of the Early Learning Centre from John Menzies. Osborne Clarke (Greg Leyshon, Roma Linton) advised equity stakeholder 3i. Dechert (Dick Russell) advised the management.
Eversheds nets Man City FC to defend Royle action
Kuit Steinart conflicted out of contract clash as ex-manager claims foul play
Field Fisher e-government team wins Lewisham work
Field Fisher Waterhouse worked with two in-house teams in completing the final stage of a £60m e-government project for the London Borough of Lewisham.The project involved the outsourcing of the council's IT and internet services to comply with Government plans to put council services online by 2005.Head of IT and e-commerce Michael Chissick led the firm's e-government ...
Fladgates open for Shoosmiths partner
Midlands-based firm Shoosmiths has lost partner David Bickford in a defection to London-based Fladgate Fielder.
Formula One boosts in-house legal team
Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula One (F1) management group has expanded its in-house legal team with a hire from Memery Crystal.
Freshfields' balls dropped
Despite - or perhaps because of - the worst weather in the history of the tournament, the Taylor Root Law Society Sevens 2001, supported by The Lawyer Group, was won by Clyde & Co. The firm beat the bookies' favourites, holders and 11-time winners Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer by a resounding ...
Gianni set to expand domestic reach
Linklaters' Italian ally Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners plans to open further offices in Italy and strengthen practice areas to become a full-service firm.
Gordon Dadds (Michael Jepson, Ben Crichton) advised the management of WT Foods
on a £128.5m buyout and refinancing of the company. Ashurst Morris Crisp (Robert Ogilvy Watson, David Carter) advised acquiring company WT Tiger Three and Bridgepoint Capital, which will control 82.55 per cent of the shares. Allen & Overy advised Rabobank International Leveraged Finance, which will provide £79.2m ...
Healthy breakfast?
We are all aware that the recession is closing in, but who knows how bad it is really going to be. Catrin Griffiths reports on a breakfast briefing that predicted the future of the economy
Highway to sell
Now, if you were a road, which road would you be? This may sound like a stupid question, but the choice of Leeds-based firm Lupton Fawcett borders on the ridiculous.Unlike Tulkinghorn, who if pushed would have to plump for London's Mincing Lane, Lupton Fawcett has opted for the M1. Yes, the firm really wants to be one of the most dangerous, unpleasant and crowded motorways in the country.
Knowles knows
Last Tuesday witnessed the DLA Art Awards. Tulkinghorn was dismayed that there were no landscapes, and while tempted by the large glass and water sculptures on show that would house Tulkinghorn's goldfish admirably, he baulked a little at the prices.However, DLA managing partner Nigel Knowles has an eye for a bargain, as Tulkinghorn discovered reading down the entry list, complete with prices. The award is a prize of £5,000 and the guarantee that the firm will buy one ...
Law Society poised for court battle to recover Southall costs
The high Court is set to hear a claim by the Law Society for the £280,000 it spent in the biggest raid in its history.
Leader
The news that De Montfort University has closed its LPC course in Birmingham and Wolverhampton are its local rivals, and neither has anything like the same take-up among commercial firms. What's more, in a move that can surely not be coincidental, De Montfort has recommended to its students that they transfer over to the College of Law.The College of Law - stung by its pointed omission from the consortium of LPC providers chosen by the City Eight - has clawed back large ...
Legal Widow
The Lawyer has been struck down by a nasty virus and has spent the last week at home with me. It's not often you have a companion to tell you that he doesn't like his shirts being ironed collar first, but frankly the charm of an altered routine wore off by lunchtime.He has occasionally made it to the computer to run over some documents emailed to him by his secretary, although he spent most of the time on the company website, pulling up the various partners' photos and laughing ...
Lovells rebuilds private equity with hire of Baird
Lovells' private equity practice has fought back against the loss of its star performer to Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom with the hire of Derek Baird from Dickson Minto.
M&A figures reveal top players
While Freshfields and Linklaters take the top spots as team players, Slaughters' Underhill pushes out alone on value
Magnetic North
The regional bar has long lived in London's shadow. But as Eleanor Levenson reports, tactics springing from a greater determination to retain top-quality work are paying off
Mansell ditches Masons for regional firm
City-based construction specialist Masons has lost out to Nottingham firm Freethcartwright, which has been appointed to act as national construction company Mansell's primary adviser.
Maples lures Sidley partner to City office
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood is losing securitisation partner Margaret Boswell to the London office of Cayman Islands firm Maples and Calder Europe.
Maxwell Batley acts on Hermes acquisition
Maxwell Batley has advised investment manager Hermes on the sale of Thatcham Business Village, Berkshire, to property investment group Good Harvest.The relationship goes back to Hermes' previous incarnation as Postel, the in-house manager of the UK's unified Post Office pension plan and manager for the BT pension fund after its privatisation in 1983. It changed from Postel to Hermes in 1995, reaching its present format after the BT fund bought out the Post Office fund's ...
Middletons Moore & Bevins splits after ten-year marriage
'Differences in direction' blamed after financial integration talks founder; firms set to go head-to-head
Morgan Lewis gets rid of 50 associates
US firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius has responded to the sluggish economy by laying off 50 associates.
Nabarro Nathanson (Nick Collins) advised Credo Properties International
in its purchase of Millennium Bridge House, EC4, for £91.4m. The transaction took place through special-purpose company Millennium House Investments, which acquired the property from Karl H Pepper Real Estate England. Linklaters & Alliance (Jeffrey Bailey) advised Karl H Pepper.
News in brief
A round up of stories from the UK and around the world
No office and set fees for Rouse's new firm
Peter Rouse, who founded Rouse & Co in 1990, is returning to the law - and wants to revolutionise legal practice by setting up a collaborative commercial law firm.
NY firms in WTC pro bono push
Top US law firms in the UK follow New York lead by offering free legal advice worth millions for victims' families
NY lawyers pledge not to make a penny from WTC victims
New York lawyers have signed up to a pledge not to make money from claims relating to the World Trade Center attack.
Opinion
In June, the Law Society Regulations Review Working Party (RRWP) issued a consultation document on the reform of the rules on conflicts of interest. This document is of vital importance to all major national and international law firms and their clients.The RRWP draws heavily on a report by the City of London Law Society (CLLS) published last year. It sought to achieve a balance between the objectives to: ensure that clients receive impartial advice untainted by conflicting interests ...
Philippines drafts new money laundering law
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has to decide if new anti-money laundering legislation, rushed into the Philippines’ statute, is satisfactory.
QXL general counsel to slash legal spend
QXL has taken on a new general counsel, who plans to slash the company's legal spend by 75 per cent.
Readie readie catchie Birdy
Tulkinghorn has always been staggered by the percentage of the population who believe the term 'honest lawyer' is an oxymoron. But Bird & Bird has helped in Tulkinghorn's quest to show that if you want to know the truth, ask a lawyer.He was browsing the firm's website the other day (if Tulkinghorn was any more modern, he would be in the 22nd century) when he noticed a rather ...
Real estate
So Rowe & Maw is doing a Dechert. As The Lawyer revealed last week, the identity of its US sweetheart has yet to become clear as rivals Mayer Brown & Platt and White & Case compete for the prize.But needless to say, either suitor ...
Sidleys and Dentons in heavyweight restructuring
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood and Denton Wilde Sapte are advising Federal Mogul Corporation in one of the largest cross-border restructurings to date.Federal Mogul's UK and US subsidiaries simultaneously filed petitions on 1 October for administration and chapter 11 proceedings respectively. Sidley's US office has a longstanding relationship with Federal Mogul and brought in Dentons to advise ...
Simmons on brink of Nolst Trenité merger
Final stages of talks with Rotterdam firm; Dutch deal to complete European reach
SJ Berwin (Steven Davis) advised nCoTec Ventures and Royal Bank Ventures
in a euro10m (£6.26m) investment round in elata. Bond Pearce (Stephen Pierce) advised elata.
Solicitors face slew of claims after House of Lords decision
At least 100 cases against solicitors for negligent advice to wives who handed over their assets to their husbands as loan security are likely to go ahead after a House of Lords ruling last Thursday.
Stevens & Bolton (Tudor Alexander) advised Equinox Converged Solutions
on its agreement to supply and maintain a broadband system infrastructure for the London Grid for Learning (LGfL) project. LGfL, a consortium of all 33 local education authorities in London, was advised by DLA (Michael Longden, Stewart James).Bevan Ashford (David Hunter) advised Swindon & Marlborough NHS Trust on a PFI residential accommodation deal for staff at its new Commonhead hospital. Unite Integrated Solutions will provide the accommodation. Unite advised by Beachcroft ...
Sullivans seduces Freshfields partner
New York firm Sullivan & Cromwell has succeeded in prising the Goldman Sachs relationship partner from the Frankfurt office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
The bar's black sheep?
Fighting against the solid independence of individual practitioners and the employed bar's feelings of exclusion, the Bar Council has got its work cut out. Brendan Malkin reports
The knowledge
Satish Mistry is the new head of legal at the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Eleanor Levenson reports on the man who, after working for six boroughs, knows London inside out
Weightmans takes Vizards team to open London office
Liverpool firm responds to client pressure; professional indemnity a key target
