17 October 2011
The Lawyer
A&O aids Capstone on Bristol Water buy
Allen & Overy (A&O) has helped Canada-listed company Capstone Infrastructure Corporation acquire a majority stake in Bristol Water.
Beachcroft-DAC tie-up halts trainee intakes
Beachcroft and Davies Arnold Cooper (DAC) have both put their trainee recruitment schemes on hold indefinitely just before their merger goes live on 1 November.
BLP called in to redraft £15bn RMBS transaction documents
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has acted for the issuers of 16 residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) worth £15bn, redrafting transaction documents in light of changes to the Direct Debit Scheme rules.
Boutiques step in where mid-tier fears to tread
The conflict-free firms taking full advantage of the litigation boom by acting against rivals’ prize clients.
Case for the defence
Firm chair Hugh Verrier and London chief Oliver Brettle have shored up White & Case’s storm-tossed City office, but can they now make headway globally?
Chinese firms get in shape to take on Western big-hitters in Hong Kong
With UK and US firms vying for dominance in the Hong Kong legal market, a number of Chinese firms are also emerging as serious contenders in the Asian financial hub.
City quartet pitch in on £121m sale of BBC magazine portfolio
Hogan Lovells, Olswang, SJ Berwin and Travers Smith won advisory roles on BBC Worldwide’s £121m sale of magazine titles including Radio Times and Top Gear to Exponent Private Equity.
Cynical litigation will remain par for the course
The decision by the Government and the Mayor of London that the Olympic Stadium should remain in public ownership has put the judicial review process firmly in the spotlight.
Diverse action
New work streams are emerging alongside regulatory work in Norway, Denmark and Sweden as the countries’ finance sectors face tighter controls.
DLA Piper to roll out US all-equity model in UK
DLA Piper is set to unveil plans to move to an all-equity partnership model in the international LLP side of its business.
Doughty corporate plan aims to beat fee squeeze
Doughty Street Chambers is planning to launch a subsidiary incorporated body to channel direct access work.
Dundas dumps all-equity partnership
Dundas & Wilson has dropped its all-equity model and introduced a fixed-share tier into its partnership.
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Enter Story Headline
From here to paternity: gay parenthood at SNR Denton
Becoming a parent while juggling the demands of a high-pressure job is never easy, but for SNR Denton banking and finance associate Alexander Semernin the journey to fatherhood has, to some extent, been a greater challenge than for many of his peers.
Irwin Mitchell moves 81 staff to BPO outfit
Irwin Mitchell is to transfer 81 support staff to business process outsourcing (BPO) company OCS as it looks to streamline its cost base in preparation for converting to an alternative business structure (ABS).
Landlord’s Gaddafi link stalls BLG’s office switch
An investment company linked to fallen Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi could dash Barlow Lyde & Gilbert’s (BLG) hopes of moving into merger partner Clyde & Co’s London offices soon after the deal goes through.
Legal vets join Speakers for Schools’ list of inspirational business leaders
Slaughter and May senior partner Chris Saul, three former magic circle senior partners and a Clifford Chance associate have joined a panel of inspirational speakers on the Speakers for Schools initiative founded by BBC business editor Robert Peston.
Line manager
Claudia Junker, general counsel at Deutsche Telekom, moved from private practice to take up her role a year ago, seeing it as a chance to broaden her horizons.
Links dismisses talk of employment group rift
Employment and incentives may not be the words that get most people’s hearts pumping, but for Linklaters the practice area has been a source of strife of late.
Map to mediation
Paul Randolph lays out a roadmap for a new mediation world.
Molitor: Michel Molitor
Luxembourg firm Molitor began life 15 years ago advising mainly small- and medium-sized businesses in the Grand Duchy. These days, although the firm remains small, it advises much bigger international clients, including banks and major corporations.
Norton Rose helps Eni UK on £513m oil acquisition
Norton Rose advised Eni UK on its €590m (£512.7m) acquisition of GDF Suez’s stake in Elgin Franklin Oil & Gas Limited (EFOG).
On the move
Maclay Murray & Spens has boosted its London corporate capabilities with the lateral hire of Darius Lewington as a partner.
Safety in numbers?
New regulations and a generally tougher market are prompting much introspection, often as a prelude to merger, at law firms in Scandinavia.
St Johns Buildings QC hit with negligence action
Manchester firm GLP has launched a professional negligence case against St Johns Buildings silk David Berkley QC in a bid to recover a portion of damages it paid out to settle a claim against it by a former client.
St Johns’ three-way merger creates UK’s biggest chambers
Manchester set St Johns Buildings (SJB) is to become the largest chambers in the country following the completion of its merger with Liverpool’s India Buildings Chambers and an agreement to combine with Sheffield’s Paradise Chambers by December.
Supreme Court feels the strain as cases back up
Two-year wait for hearings at highest court as recession sees litigants dig in for the long haul
Take me to your leader
The tricky question as to the legal status of governments in times of upheaval routinely falls to the English courts to wrestle with. By Charles Brasted
Taylor Wessing ready to go Dutch
Taylor Wessing is turning its attention to the Netherlands and aims to have a presence in the country by this time next year.
Tending the borders
Multinationals need to adopt high regulatory principles if they are not to fall prey to increased cross-border activity by, and cooperation between, authorities. By Geoff Nicholas
Tulkinghorn: Belly vision
Talk to any Clifford Chance financial regulatory lawyer these days and chances are they’ll shout out: “Sea of change.”
Umpire state building
With the New York Convention as standard-bearer, arbitration is making moves to supplant the more traditional forms of international litigation. Andrea Dahlberg and James Freeman report
White & Case: no loitering
Funny how multijurisdictional firms are viewed in binary. First, there’s the global elite made up of the super-profitable group of New York and London transactional firms.
Work Life Quiz: Vicky Sandry, BSkyB
