17 September 2001
The Lawyer
4 Field Court loses tenant to 199 Strand
Steven Gee's 4 Field Court has lost another barrister following the departure of six tenants in recent months.
A view from New York
New Yorkers take perverse pride in their ability to deal with the plagues of everyday life in Gotham with a shrug, a smirk or a wisecrack.
Addleshaws and Pinsents in £200m education deal
Addleshaw Booth & Co and Pinsent Curtis Biddle have negotiated one of the largest education outsourcing deals ever witnessed.Addleshaws advised EduAction and Pinsents advised the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) on a £200m contract for EduAction to manage and deliver education services to the London Borough of Waltham Forest.EduAction is a joint venture between Addleshaws' client Nord Anglia and Amey, which was set up specifically for this deal. It will ...
Ashursts takes on financing work for Ark
Ashurst Morris Crisp has acted for biotech company Ark Therapeutics on a £14.4m secondary equity financing.The share issue valued Ark at £62m. Funds were subscribed by financial institutions that included Nomura International, Merlin, BankInvest, Gartmore and Northern Ventures.Ashursts head of life sciences and IT Mark Lubbock led the team for Ashursts, and Ashursts lawyer David Arnold ...
Best friends network pays off for Addleshaws
Addleshaws wins two clients through US contact; best friends links offer merger opportunities
Bevan Ashford opts for non-lawyer chief exec
Bevan Ashford has appointed a non-lawyer from engineering conglomerate GKN as its new chief executive for Bristol, Birmingham and London.
Brachers quits NFU South East legal panel
Maidstone firm Brachers has withdrawn from the National Farmers' Union (NFU) South East England legal panel.
Bryan Cave acted for Gardner Denver
on its $45m (£30.9m) bid for Invensys' Hoffman business, which was advised by Jones Day Reavis & Pogue.
Clifford Chance (Malcolm Turner, Dan Reynell) advised lead arrangers Banco Santander Central Hispano, Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank and others
n a euro2.4bn (£1.48bn) syndicated loan for Retevisión. Retevisióadvised by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Presley Warner).
Deal of the week - Greene king Greene King acquisition leaves Gouldens out in cold
Gouldens has lost one of its longest-standing clients as a result of the Foot-and-Mouth crisis.The firm is advising on the £102.6m sale of Old English Inns to pub operator and brewer Greene King. Tourism-reliant pub chain Old English went on the market after the Foot-and-Mouth epidemic affected its target earnings.The sale to Greene King, which should be announced today (17 September), is likely to mean a client loss for Gouldens.Old English issued two profit ...
Dewey Ballantine (Douglas Getter) advised Riverdeep Group
in its $60m (£41.2m) acquisition of the Learning Company from Gores Technology Group. Gores Technology Group advised by Riordan & McKinzie.
Doctor Spin
It's been a good few weeks for brand fans. First, there was the mass of publicity which greeted BT Wireless's new name O2. End-of-silly-season hacks had great fun laughing at the new identity and the amount of money the company had spent without checking that a shopping centre in London and Oprah Winfrey didn't already have dibs on the name.And then there was the strange case of Häagen-Dazs. After its recent campaign encouraging the ice-cream-eating public ...
Field Fisher Waterhouse (David Wilkinson) advised Intercern Holdings
on securing second round funding worth £1.7m from venture capitalist 3i. 3i advised by Osborne Clarke (Kate Davies).
Frome hits the ground running with Marconi
Clifford Chance's newest banking and restructuring partner Nicholas Frome has taken on a massive piece of work for the firm.
Gilberts and technology company join forces
Sydney technology and telecoms firm Gilbert & Tobin has formed a strategicalliance with niche technology company CyberResearch.
Herbert Smith (Michelle Howie) advised Michael Page International
n the prelet for 2,973sq metres of offices at Victoria House, Bloomsbury Square, London for its new head office. Developer Garbe advised by Travers Smith Braithwaite (Simon Rutman).
KLegal restructuring drive sees technology and IP merge and hire of Tarlo Lyons partner
KPMG's associated law firm KLegal is bulking up its focus on IT with a new partner and a change of some departments' structures.
Knock once for M&A…
Communication is possibly the most vital tool of any law firm. For most firms this means investing heavily in an IT infrastructure and keeping up with the latest technological developments. Lawyers can thus communicate with one another and with clients anywhere in the world with just a laptop and a mobile phone.London-based Hamlins, meanwhile, has come up with a rather different communications system that could save the firm a bundle. Just take a look at one of the images from ...
Lathams shores up West Coast tech group
Latham & Watkins is hiring a new partner for its West Coast emerging technology company practice.
Law firms poised for Korean welcome
Officials from the World Trade Organisation, the Korean government, lawyers and academics are meeting today (17 September) to discuss the possibility of opening up the Korean legal market.
Law Soc hits 'rock bottom' as no confidence vote looms
A large dissident section of the Law Society Council is close to uprising against the present executive, according to former president Martin Mears.
Leader
Lawyers spend their lives analysing, managing and controlling risk, but last week we all contemplated the unimaginable.
Ledingham Chalmers
It may not be big but Ledingham Chalmers' reach is worldwide
Legal Widow
Liability started school this year, and during the drive to the school on her first day she took all her clothes off and threw them out of the window without me noticing. To tell the truth, I ignored Subjudice's laconic remark that Liability was bare naked in the back because I was so keen to get rid of them all and return to a bit of peace at home. I suppose I should take it as a compliment that she should prefer my company to that of schoolteachers, but parking nine times on double ...
Lewis Silkin keeps alive auctioneer website
Lewis Silkin's corporate team is advising on a placing and open offer proposal to save internet auctioneers iCollector from liquidation.iCollector, a directory of art, antiques and collectables for auction houses, dealers and galleries, has given 40 per cent acceptance to a bid from AbleAuctions.AbleAuctions, which operates and broadcasts liquidation auctions on the internet, made ...
Linklaters blue as Eversheds nabs client
Eversheds' property practice has won a prestigious new appointment to replace Linklaters & Alliance as adviser to Lend Lease on its flagship project, Bluewater Shopping and Leisure Centre.
Marketing measures
When a downturn is looming, the marketing department is often the first to see its budget get slashed. David Benady discovers how law firms are spending their money wisely
Masons (Alistair Crellin) advised Pathfinder Properties
on its successful takeover offer for Pathfinder Recovery 1 of £8m. Pathfinder Recovery advised by Howard Kennedy (Keith Lassman).
McDermotts in Brussels move
McDermott Will & Emery is launching an assault on European competition work with a possible expansion into Brussels.
Nabarro Nathanson (Tim Herbert-Smith) advised German fund HansaInvest
on the sale of the freehold of Brookmount House, 62-65 Chandos Place, London for £13.5m. Purchasers Longford Estates and Teesland Group advised by Woolf Simmonds.
National treasure
The Treasury Solicitor's Department may be short of lawyers and snowed under with work but, as Brendan Malkin discovers, it is still managing to keep its standards up
News in brief
A round up of stories from the UK and around the world
Norton Rose (Margaret Coltman) advised Dexia Banque Internationale à Luxembourg
on its acquisition of Ely Fund Managers, which has euro830m (£510.8m) of assets under management. Ely Fund Managers advised by Wedlake Bell.
Old Square barrister helps with Kosovo law
A barrister at Old Square Chambers has been appointed to assist in the rebuilding of Kosovo's legal system.
Opinion
The Gambling Review Body report received wide publicity, but the casual reader might have been left with the impression that the main recommendation was for Las Vegas-style gambling in Blackpool. In fact, it contains far-reaching proposals for reform of the law governing betting and gaming. In practice, the report may well suffer the same fate as similar reports and gather dust on a minister's shelf. The Government may well conclude that any gain in tax revenue is insufficient ...
Orrick hikes Tokyo presence with head of A&O's Japanese practice
San Francisco firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe is ramping up its Japanesesecuritisation practice with a hire from Allen & Overy's (A&O) jointventure partner.
Osborne Clarke (Patrick Graves) and Maclay Murray & Spens (Ronan Cunning) advised ROK Property Solutions
on its acquisition of Retail Maintenance Services for £4.6m. Retail Maintenance Services advised by Macdonalds.
PruPIM set to overhaul panel for the first time in ten years
Challenge to Lovells, Berwin Leighton and Camerons as Allen looks around
Real Estate
Imagine the following scenario: you've bought that dream home in the country you promised yourself all these years… only to discover now that the land is contaminated. The local council says it has to be cleaned up. No matter, because under the UK's new contaminated land regime, liability falls primarily on those who "cause or knowingly permit contamination", a so-called 'class A' person. So you are off the hook… except that in this instance, Mr X has long ...
Receiving reforms
The Government's insolvency white paper has come under fire for being 'a campaign against banks' after the last recession. Jon Robins reports on the controversial reforms
Revealed: Slaughters' new best friend in Oz
Slaughter and May is increasing its commitment to the Asia Pacific region by setting up a best friends relationship with Australia's Allens Arthur Robinson and keeping alive its presence in Singapore.
Separated at birth
Is there anyone who doesn't want to become a lawyer? It seems not. The comments made by so-called Philip Boursnell when he joined Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (The Lawyer, 10 September) take on new significance when one realises that he is, in fact, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. "I couldn't see myself spending the last 10 years of my career there," he said, with most ...
Shearmans ups Paris leveraged finance
New York firm Shearman & Sterling is boosting its Paris leveraged finance capability with a hire from local banking boutique De Pardieu Brocas Maffei & Leygonie.
Shell snubs Beachcrofts on external law firms list
Shell International has set up a new legal panel to handle its UK and international claims work in partnership with newly appointed Claims Management Group Limited (CMGL).
Sherrington to head up Lovells' litigation dept
Patrick Sherrington, who gained notoriety in legal circles when he defended the Hong Kong government in the region's longest civil trial, has taken over as Lovells' head of litigation.
Sidley scores Morgan Stanley hat trick
The London office of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood has pulled off a hat trick of commercial mortgage-backed securitisations for longstanding client Morgan Stanley International.The deals are the fifth, sixth and seventh securitisations of this kind done by Morgan Stanley, and Sidley Austin has worked on all but one of them. The firm won the work on the second deal from
Simmons & Simmons (Nick Norris) advised Cazenove
in its role as financial adviser to China Insurance International Holdings on its purchase of a 62.5 per cent stake in Tai Ping Life Insurance for HK$522.4m (£45.98m). China Insurance advised by Woo Kwan Lee & Lo, Tai Ping advised in-house.
Simmons focuses on worldwide property with new HK group head
Simmons & Simmons is ramping up its property capability in Hong Kong as it pursues a worldwide property expansion strategy.
Six De Bandt partners defect over Linklaters merger doubts
Belgian firm's managing partner leads mass breakaway as mid-size clients prove a sticking point
SJ Berwin (Nick Minkoff) advised Delancey Estates
n the letting of its £25m, 200,000sq ft Millennium Plaza to Regent Inns, with a further 13,000sq ft let to Luminar. Regent Inns advised by Infields (Roger Newhall) and Luminar advised by Morgan Cole (Rosemary Morgan).
Small Pieces Loosely Joined by David Weinberger
to be published by Perseus Books, spring 2002 (ISBN 0738205435)
Still missing
Sidley Austin and Harris Beach & Wilcox assess human loss; other US firms escape
The fight goes on
As Kamesh Bahl prepares for her appeal gainst the Law Society, she speaks out about how the case has affected her sanity and her finances
Three go head-to-head for Lovells top job
Lovells senior partner Andrew Walker is facing a challenge from two of his colleagues when the senior partner position comes up for election.
Turkish government passes law to formally accept foreign firms
The Turkish government has just passed a law allowing foreign firms to give international legal advice in the country.
Up for the downstroke
Insolvency accountants, so long out of the frame, are set for a major comeback. Catrin Griffiths asks: can Deloitte & Touche and Ernst & Young edge out PwC and KPMG?
Watson Farley loses ex-Piraeus head to Dentons
Watson Farley & Williams' former Piraeus office head has left the firm to take on a new role as head of Denton Wilde Sapte's ship finance practice in London.
Weil Gotshal tries new Italian strategy
Weil Gotshal & Manges has rewritten its Italian strategy following its failed merger attempt last year, and is building relationships with a number of domestic firms.
Wragges scoops work on PFI courts project
Wragge & Co has closed a £31m magistrates court PFI scheme and is working on three similar instructions after completing a pathfinder project for the sector last year.The latest scheme will see the building of new courts in Chesterfield and New Mills and the restoration of a Grade 1-listed former courthouse in Derby.Wragges head of PFI Stephen Kenny led the team advising Derby City Council ...
You scratch my back…
The work is increasingly cross-border, but insolvency law has not kept pace. Gordon Stewart reports on initiatives that should improve cooperation across different jurisdictions
You're all a load of lawyers
It might have been a sunny Sunday at the end of the summer, but these were lawyers, and a competition is a competition, even if it was just football.The third annual The Lawyer Legal Fives was no walk in the park, as those members of The Lawyer's team still hobbling around the office testify. Special mention must go to Lisa O'Neal, member of the self-styled Amazing Overys, who took home both the top scorer and player of the tournament in the women's event.Mere ...
