16 March 2009
The Lawyer
MIPIM2009
Arriving at Cannes at first nothing really looked different from any other year - the expanses of additional tented exhibition space, the hoardings bearing the names of various agents and banks adorning the front of various hotels and the sun glinting off the boats bobbing along the Jette Albert Eduoard.
A&O finalises details of redundancy packages
A&O has finished consulting on its redundancy packages, with everyone expected to work at the firm until the end of May to receive the full payout.
AIG restructuring calls on US elite
Davis Polk & Wardwell, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Sullivan & Cromwell and Weil Gotshal & Manges won lead roles on the restructuring of US insurance giant AIG.
Amey GC takes top legal role at BAA
The British Airport Authority (BAA) has recruited Carol Hui as general counsel from construction group Amey.
Ashurst makes second major foray into Libya
Ashurst is homing in on the Libyan market after completing its second part-nationalisation in the oil and gas sector there in a month.
Axed DLA staff vent spleen over packages
A leaked internal memo has exposed the scale of anger over DLA Piper’s job-cutting programme, with employees confronting senior staff about the redundancy ;packages offered by the firm.
BA counsel steps down to embark on ‘third career’
British Airways (BA) general counsel Robert Webb QC is stepping down from the role at the end of March.
Biggart Baillie names new chief
Biggart Baillie has appointed corporate partner Alasdair Peacock as its new managing partner. He takes over from Derek Ellery, who will return to practice and head the corporate recovery practice.
BLP boss vows to target corporate practice growth
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) managing partner Neville Eisenberg has pledged to expand the firm’s corporate practice as an “absolute priority”, following his election for a fourth term.
Camerons institutes de-equitisation plan
CMS Cameron McKenna is asking partners to volunteer for de-equitisation as part of the ongoing shake-up of its partnership.
CAT names users’ committee members
The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has picked the members for its first users’ committee, nine months after CAT president Gerald Barling announced he was to launch it.
CC's Medwick to serve second terms as US chief
Clifford Chance has re elected Craig Medwick as regional managing partner of the Americas.
Chadbourne claims tax victory in Madoff case
Chadbourne & Parke is claiming a major victory on behalf of clients who are victims of Bernard Madoff and his $65bn Ponzi scheme following a ruling today by the US Internal Revenue Service.
Clydes recruits two partners to Abu Dhabi
Clyde & Co has boosted its Middle East presence with the hire of Islamic insurance (takaful) partner Peter Hodgins.
Commercial & Chancery Special Report: Brussels clout
A new pre-action conduct direction flags up the importance to the plaintiff of securing the court first seized, ensuring their jurisdiction of choice isn’t scuppered by the defendant’s delaying tactics. By Keith Oliver, Steve McCann and Katie Brown
Commercial & Chancery Special Report: Shorter and sweeter
The Commercial Court working party’s recommendations are not set in stoneand, as such, will be a shot in the arm for the country’s litigation framework, says Simon Davis
Commercial & Chancery Special Report: Staying Power
London has a deserved reputation as an axis for arbitral excellence, but reputation alone will not ensure its continued supremacy. By Khawar Qureshi
Commercial & Chancery Special Report: The big issues
A working party set up by the Commercial Court Users Committee has tried to streamline and deliver precision to the court’s methodology. Gregory Banner reports on what could be achieved
Coughlin and Cherie Booth look to sue RBS
California-based Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins has instructed Cherie Booth QC of Matrix Chambers to investigate whether two UK local authorities can lead a US class action against the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
Davis Polk, Shearman sort out Ford debt
Davis Polk & Wardwell and Shearman & Sterling are advising on Ford Motor Company’s debt restructuring.
Dentons cuts 76 jobs at end of consultation
Denton Wilde Sapte has laid off 76 people after holding a redundancy consultation with a number of departments across its London and Milton Keynes offices.
Dewey keeps job cuts in check
Merged firm stands by its global strategy and forges ahead with new offices.
Dewey slashes pay for 66 partners
Dewey & LeBoeuf has overhauled its compensation system, cutting pay for more than 60 partners across the firm.
Do believe the hype: litigation funders remain committed to UK possibilities
The hype surrounding litigation funding has been inflated in part by those providing the funding. With the litigation market now hotting up, is there really a place for litigation funders in the UK?
Eastwell to leave the law after 27-year love affair with Links
Retiring Linklaters stalwart Nick Eastwell is to leave the law altogether once his 27-year stint at the magic circle firm comes to an end in October.
Eversheds wins slice of stricken Lehman’s private equity sale work
Eversheds has landed a place alongside a host of US firms in a deal to spin off the ;European ;private equity business of Lehman Brothers.
Focus: Orchard Solicitors, Til debt do us part
Epitomising the term ‘boom and bust’ is Orchard Solicitors, the collapse of which left individual partners’ future earnings tied up with creditors for five years or more and which should leave equity partners everywhere looking over their shoulders
FSA boosts fraud team with double hire
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has bolstered its criminal prosecution team by hiring David Kirk as its chief criminal counsel.
LG contact gifts firm Lukoil panel place
LG has muscled its way onto Lukoil Overseas’ legal panel after hiring a US consultant who has contacts with the business.
Local vs central govt lawyers in showdown
Local government lawyers are up in arms because they pay more for their practising certificates than central government lawyers, who receive a statutory discount.
Lord Hunt calls on City firms to get involved with regulation
The Tory peer responsible for the Law Society regulatory review is appealing to City lawyers to engage in the study after they snubbed his initial call for evidence.
McDermott looks to replace Freishtat in leadership election
McDermott Will & Emery is gearing up a leadership election to select the next chairman of the US firm.
Miller Rosenfalck
With a focus on English, French, German and Scandinavian law, Miller Rosenfalck is attempting to forge an identity by building a bridge from the UK to the Continent. The firm started life in 2002 when Osborne Clarke lawyers Stuart Miller and Steen Rosenfalck believed there ...
MIPIM blog 6: Less is more
Arriving at Cannes at first nothing really looked different from any other year - the expanses of additional tented exhibition space, the hoardings bearing the names of various agents and banks adorning the front of various hotels and the sun glinting off the boats bobbing along the Jette Albert Eduoard.
Norton Rose to offer four day week to partners
Reduced hours for all employees could save £5m a year in wages and profit payouts
Olsen exit loses FFW 15-strong team, 80 clients
Former Field Fisher Waterhouse (FFW) trademark and brand protection head John Olsen is taking his entire team of 15 to Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge (EAPD), including six associates, three paralegals and six administrative staff.
Opinion: Private equity can be our saviour – if it’s not demonised
This year the private equity industry has been delivering a clear message to governments around the world: far from being a cause of the current crisis, it is an important part of the solution. In the UK at least, that message has not fallen on deaf ears.
Opinion: Teaching - an easy escape route from law? You've got to be kidding
As a lawyer/teacher couple my girlfriend and I are always debating who has the toughest job.
People
Pensions lawyer Carol Jones has moved to Hammonds as a senior associate. She joins from Pinsent Masons.
Postcard from... Moscow
Considering that I am the most notorious expat in Moscow, there’s probably no one better to convey the experience of living in Moscow than I. In short: it’s the kind of place you end up notorious in without doing a thing to merit it.
RBS launches workout group in legal shake-up
The legal team at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is discarding its traditional model of working in specific sector groups. Instead it will launch a restructuring team that will draw in lawyers from all of the other teams.
Reprieve seeks anti-death penalty champion
Reprieve, the charity that represents inmates in Guantanamo Bay, is to expand its ranks with the newly created role of death penalty director.
Richard Tett: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Who’s your hero and why? Steve Redgrave – he’s a fantastic oarsman who changed the face of British rowing. To keep up that commitment and intensity of hard work for two decades is awesome.
Rodés & Sala turns down Landwell to keep place in Nabarro’s Euro alliance
Nabarro’s Euro alliance" /Nabarro’s Spanish ally Rodés & Sala Abogados has walked away from merger talks with Landwell, the legal arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Round 2: White & Case London fails to dodge axe
White & Case London fails to dodge axe" /The London office of White & Case escaped relatively unscathed last November when the firm announced 70 associate layoffs, mainly from its US network. But this time London was not so lucky.
Special Reports: Commercial & Chancery
This month the Commercial Court Users Committee adopted, for a trial period, recommendations from a working party set up in 2007.
SR Group brings in former KLegal head
Former KLegal managing partner turned headhunter Nick Holt has been recruited by SR Group, the recruitment organisation that includes Taylor Root.
Talking shop: Leon Shelley, Westfield Shoppingtowns
As corporate counsel at retail centre operator Westfield Shoppingtowns, Leon Shelley remains optimistic about the sector’s future. Tom Phillips reports
Tesco case breaks new ground as CAT chief shows bargaining powers
Incoming chair has begun a new era for the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
Travers Smith guides Juridica on secondary £35m AIM deal
Travers Smith has advised litigation funding group Juridica on a £35m secondary fundraising on London’s junior market.
Trowers secures spot on Crown Estate panel
The Crown Estate has expanded its urban residential panel to two firms, gifting Trowers & Hamlins a place after the firm pitched, but missed out on the role, three years ago.
Tulkinghorn: The frost reports
The recruitment market may well be in a deep freeze at the moment, but as this picture shows Lovells is taking full advantage of the situation to boost its headcount.
US firms lead the way on Merck’s $41bn bid for pharmaceuticals rival
A quartet of US firms have won lead roles on Merck’s $41bn (£27.77bn) bid for pharmaceuticals rival Schering-Plough.
Web Week
The Lawyer’s Web Week is a commentary on legal activity on the web. This includes an overview of the best of the week’s blogs.
What a difference a day makes
I’m not sure if Norton Rose staff really will vote for the option of a four-day week, but the firm’s initiative has suddenly made the debate over reduced hours relevant to the City.
