17 October 2011

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. The gay lawyer and his partner, a director of a boutique real estate […]

Map to mediation

Paul Randolph lays out a roadmap for a new mediation world. The mediation landscape for the Bar is likely to change dramatically over the next twelve months. The Government is proposing to introduce reforms of the civil justice system in England and Wales which are intended to significantly increase the take-up of mediation, and barristers […]

Hugh Verrier
18

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? Eighteen months ago White & Case was in turmoil. Its London office in particular was displaying all the hallmarks of a firm on the brink. Over the course of a […]

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). The deal is dependent on third-party consents but is expected to close before year-end, while the sale price of €590m is still subject to certain adjustments. EFOG is a joint venture between French […]

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. Capstone bought a 70 per cent interest in Bristol Water from a subsidiary of Suez Environment called Agbar (Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona) for around C$215m (£133.5m). The deal is Capstone’s first in the UK and was […]

Tamara Box

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. The RMBS were originated by Paratus AMC, which was formerly GMAC RFC. BLP was charged with restructuring 13 RMAC RMBS, two Rathmount RMBS and one […]

BBC Worldwide: will retain editorial interests in sold-off titles

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. The deal sees Exponent acquire 11 BBC magazines including Radio Times, olive and Gardens Illustrated. The private equity house will acquire the licence to 18 further […]

Clive Zietman

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. The economic pressures of the recession have led to the ­emergence of a group of firms that are trumpeting their enthusiasm for suing financial institutions. With mid-tier firms mostly locked out of this lucrative market due to conflicts, these […]

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. One in particular is King & Wood, which is understood to be in merger discussions with Mallesons Stephen Jaques. Due to China’s regulations regarding profit-sharing […]

Gillian Chapman

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. Two partners have left the City team that acts for the firm’s corporate clients, including HSBC and RBS, in the past month. The Lawyer (26 September) reported that […]

Dundas dumps all-equity partnership

Dundas & Wilson has dropped its all-equity model and introduced a fixed-share tier into its partnership. At least some, if not all, of the four partners made up at the firm in May became fixed-share partners and The Lawyer understands that a number of equity partners at the firm have been de-equitised. The news comes as ­merger talks […]

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. After the merger the combined firm will make a decision about the future of its graduate recruitment campaign. A Beachcroft spokesperson said: “Our training contract recruitment process is currently on hold […]