18 May 2009
The Lawyer
Amarchand in revolutionary move to stay one step ahead
Our story last week about Indian firm Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co hiring two corporate partners set TheLawyer.com’s Backchat discussion board alight.
Ashurst and Herbert Smith bag Lonmin work
Herbert Smith and Ashurst have won places on the $457m (£303m) cash call made by platinum miner Lonmin.
Baker & McKenzie to shed 70 positions
Baker & McKenzie has concluded its redundancy consultation, resulting in the loss of 70 jobs.
Borough boy: Francis Fernandes, Northampton Borough Council
Public sector legal services have seen a revolution recently. Francis Fernandes tells Kit Chellel how he’s steering Northampton Borough Council through the modernisation
Burges Salmon partner joins police board
Burges Salmon commercial partner John Smith has left the firm to become chief executive of the Avon and Somerset Police Authority.
CC, Links land roles on Travis Perkins rights issue
Clifford Chance and Linklaters have scored lead roles on Travis Perkins’ £300m rights issue.
Competition hots up for London Legal walk
Having reported many times on the financial plight of law centres and legal advice agencies The Lawyer is now taking part in the London Legal sponsored walk 2009.
Darwin Gray bags Hugh James insolvency head
Cardiff firm Hugh James has lost commercial litigation and insolvency head Ian Herbert to local rival Darwin Gray.
Dentons seals end of Qatar monopoly with Vodafone IPO
Denton Wilde Sapte has advised Vodafone Qatar on its $950m (£621m) IPO on the Doha Securities Market - one of the first multinational companies to list on a Middle East exchange.
Dundas appoints non-executive chairman
Corporate partner David Hardie has been elected as non-executive chairman of Dundas & Wilson.
Eversheds gets Blackpool Council boot as duo step in
Blackpool Council has dropped Eversheds as its external legal partner and appointed Trowers & Hamlins and Weightmans.
Female courage pays dividends as Al Tamimi relaunches Baghdad office
United Arab Emirates firm Al Tamimi has reopened its office in Baghdad three years after the Iraqi security situation forced the firm’s lawyers in the country to withdraw.
Firms break mould and pull together to recover lost billions of Madoff scam
Retrieving cash from the fraudster’s companies is proving challenging.
Flexible friends?
Recent cases in Jersey have highlighted the need for perspective and pragmatism in small jurisdictions, says David Cadin
Focus: Shoosmiths deferrals, Mud sticks
When Shoosmiths decided not to pay compensation to trainees for deferring their start dates, it could hardly have imagined the collateral damage it would cause
Fresh blow for trainees as A&O shuts up shop early
Prospects for aspiring trainees have taken a turn for the worse with Allen & Overy (A&O) becoming the latest firm to close its applications before the traditional July deadline.
Freshfields profits from crunch advice
Partners at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer bill up to £715 an hour for their work advising the Bank of England, The Lawyer has discovered after requesting the information under the Freedom of Information Act.
Hammonds Direct partners set for court showdown
Battle commences as one partner rejects £2.3m cash call following collapse of volume business
Herbert Smith and Simmons to fight it out on Bramdean row
Herbert Smith and Simmons & Simmons have been called in to advise on a dispute between fund manager Bramdean Alternatives and property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz.
Kaplan adds Manches to list of LPC clients
Kaplan Law School has signed Manches to its Legal Practice Course (LPC) client list less than a month after it struck a similar deal with Trowers & Hamlins.
Ledingham
It was always unlikely that Aberdeen-headquartered firm Ledingham Chalmers was going to match its stellar financial performance of the 2007-08 financial year.
Linklaters to fork out £50m to leavers
Linklaters will have to pay up to £50m in compensation to departing partners, as new details emerge of the cost of the firm’s New World restructure.
Mazars UK recruits first-ever legal head
The London office of international accountancy firm Mazars has appointed its first-ever legal head after hiring an in-house lawyer from Grant Thornton.
Notts colleges unite for joint legal panel
The University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University are joining forces for the first time to create a joint legal panel.
O’Melveny exodus continues
But optimism at the firm is the official line.
On the move
Move of the weekClyde & Co corporate partner Tim Matthews has joined the London office of US firm WilmerHale. He arrives as a partner in the corporate group and will work under UK head of corporate Joe Pillman. The hire increases the size of WilmerHale’s London corporate offering by a third, bringing the number of City partners to three.
Opinion: A good business plan should be the weapon of choice
The “knee-jerk slashing of partnership positions” (The Lawyer, 11 May) this year was kind of inevitable, given the torrid economic conditions in the global economy.
Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence Special Report: Health Checks
Will justice ever be seen to be done when a profession regulates itself? Nicholas Braslavsky QC of Kings Chambers says it’s time for the independent regulation of healthcare professionals
Richard Larking: Ashton Morton Slack
If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you have been?A ladies’ hairdresser.
Sullivan: let us entertain you – in a thrifty manner
Sullivan & Cromwell was deservedly lauded in this year’s Transatlantic Elite for its string of roles at the heart of the global financial crisis.
Thrown to the lions
This is nothing short of a debacle. When Shoosmiths decided to defer its September 2009 intake of trainees it was not alone; as we reveal today, plenty of firms have done the same.
Training vacancies plummet as deferrals rise
Vacancies for training contracts for 2011-12 are set for a dramatic fall as the number of law firms deferring trainee start dates continues to rise.
Trinity International makes first addition to its partnership
London-based boutique Trinity International has made its first-ever partner promotion with the addition of corporate lawyer Conrad Marais.
Tulkinghorn: There once was a lawyer from Freshfields…
Last week The Lawyer News Daily email marked the arrival of Carol Ann Duffy as the first female Poet Laureate by highlighting some gifted wordsmiths among those in the legal profession.
Turkey Special Report: Access all areas
The bid for EU accession is forcing Turkey to rethink its unfriendly attitude to foreign law firms. Julia Berris reports
Vodafone brings in general counsel from Telefonica Europe
Vodafone UK has appointed former Telefonica Europe general counsel Justine Campbell as its legal and government affairs director.
Walkers drops Cayman teams in global revamp
Offshore giant Walkers has overhauled its management structure in a radical move that will see the firm adopt a global practice hierarchy.
Weightmans delays 2009 promotions
Weightmans has pushed back its 2009 promotions from May to November, with managing partner Patrick Gaul citing the need to give the process more time.
