19 January 2004
The Lawyer
Hello! to face £4m legal bill for Douglases’ privacy case
Addleshaw Goddard has charged the Douglases’ and OK! Magazine £2m for acting in their confidentiality case against Hello!, a costs judgment expected in the next fortnight will reveal.
A&O and Freshfields win places on Strategic Rail Authority panel
Allen & Overy (A&O) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have benefited from the chaos in the rail industry to secure places on the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) panel.
Allen misses out in White & Case management elections
Maurice Allen has missed out on a place on White & Case’s management board.
Allens Arthur Robinson takes on ASIC chair
Slaughter and May Australian best friend Allens Arthur Robinson has hired former Australian Securities and Investment Commission chairman David Knott as a special adviser. Knott will advise clients on regulatory, corporate governance, financial services and commercial issues.
An offshore thing
Offshore arrangements are under more scrutiny than ever before. Neil Gerrard and Jonathan Pickworth offer advice on compliance
B&M secure finance boost for Frankfurt
Baker & McKenzie has bolstered its Frankfurt office with the recruitment of debt and securitisation partner Mark Odenbach.
Baker & McKenzie strengthen Hong Kong litigation
Baker & McKenzie’s Hong Kong office has dipped into the bar for new dispute resolution and commercial litigation partner.
Bar plans links with EU accession countries
The bar is attempting to forge a series of informal associations between the UK’s circuits – the bar’s regional representative bodies – and the first wave of EU accession countries.
Barclay brothers choose Skadden Arps for Hollinger bid
The Barclay brothers have called on Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom to act on this weekend’s surprise £259m offer for Lord Black of Crossharbour’s controlling stake in Hollinger International.
Beachcroft Wansbroughs rejected by Clark Holt in hunt for merger partner
Beachcroft Wansbroughs has been secretly scouting out potential merger partners as it emerges that it approached niche Swindon firm Clark Holt.
BLP scoops AIG fund’s first ever Russia investment deal
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has won instructions from new client AIG Emerging Europe Infrastructure Fund (EEIF) to advise on its first ever investment in the Russian Federation.
BLP sees off Linklaters to win GUS instruction
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), led by banking partner Marc Palley, has won out against Linklaters to scoop its first major financing deal for retail group GUS. BLP, Linklaters and one other firm were asked to pitch on a transaction that saw the company sign a new £900m multi-currency five-year committed ...
Body blows
Although the Law Society and Bar Council viewpoints concerning David Clementi’s review into regulation may be worlds apart, both are adamant that they are not ‘attacking’ the other’s position. Is this sustainable? By Jon Robins
Bryan Cave raids McGuire Woods for four-partner Chicago team
US firm Bryan Cave has boosted its Chicago office with a four-partner raid on McGuire Woods.
Camerons wins in bittersweet partner loss
CMS Cameron McKenna is losing a partner but potentially gaining more work as one of its lawyers joins the insurance and reinsurance division of US conglomerate GE.
Charles Russell in three-partner raid on Stephenson Harwood
Stephenson Harwood has lost three partners and two consultants from its private capital and family teams.
City bolsters Euro links with Brussels outpost
The Corporation of London is attempting to strengthen relations between the City and the European Union’s (EU) government by establishing a new Brussels-based office.
Civil justice system overrun with 'hopeless cases'
Senior civil judges called for reform of the legal system last week to stop "obsessive litigants" with "hopeless" cases wasting the Court of Appeal's time and money.
Cole hole
Tulkinghorn was not particularly surprised to see another two departures from troubled firm Morgan Cole last week.
Commission slams slow legislators
France, Germany and Belgium are worse than other member countries at putting the EU’s internal market laws into effect, and have lagged even further behind since May 2003, the European Commission has announced.
Court of Appeal upholds damages for parents in 'adoption from hell' case
A couple whose lives were made a misery by the disturbed and uncontrollable boy they adopted had their claim for damages upheld last month, in a landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal.
Denton Salès Vincent & Thomas in name change
Denton Salès Vincent & Thomas has changed its name to Denton Wilde Sapte.
Equity capital markets hike gifts CC with Permira float
Clifford Chance could be in line to benefit from the expected rise in equity capital markets in the US, as long-term client Permira plans a New York float for semiconductor group Memec.
EU member states in court over France and Germany
The stage has been set for one of the most fierce internal EU legal battles in recent years following a decision by the European Commission to take the EU’s member states to court over their refusal to punish France and Germany for breaching the eurozone rules last November. The commission has asked for a fast-track procedure, meaning a decision could come within six months.
Europe looks to Allen in White & Case vote
London finance head is frontrunner; Europe challenges US in election showdown
Ex-BDW partner in capital markets offering
Former Blake Dawson Waldron (BDW) partner Fred Pucci has resurfaced after a brief spell at the Australian Stock Exchange to open a boutique capital markets consultancy. The Bligh Consultancy will practise only debt capital markets and securitisation work. He is assisted by two junior lawyers and is seeking a senior lateral hire in 2004. He is known for his work on the debt aspects of the A$5.5bn (£2.33bn) Sydney Airport acquisition. Other clients while at BDW included British American ...
Faegre gains Gaines for US home base
Former London-based Vinson & Elkins and Baker & McKenzie partner Peter Gaines has quit the UK to join Minneapolis-based Faegre & Benson.
Field Fisher Waterhouse scoops social care role
Field Fisher Waterhouse (FFW) has won out against 47 other law firms to become sole legal adviser to the General Social Care Council (GSCC), the regulator of the social care workforce.
Firm profile: Whitehead Monckton
Last November, Kent firm Whitehead Monckton underwent a complete rebranding in a bid to raise its profile, not only in Kent but also across the South East. Its aim was to signal that the firm was no longer just a high street practice.
Freshfields poaches Linklaters associate
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has made a rare raid on Linklaters in a bid to boost its banking department. The firm is hiring banking and restructuring associate Chris Howard, who will be the first ever associate hire into partnership in London.
Grapevine
Today is an important day at White & Case.
Hague Lambert absorbs Crewe & Brister
Manchester firm Hague Lambert has absorbed Urmston-based property conveyancing practice Crewe & Brister. The takeover will add property conveyancing expertise to Hague Lambert’s existing company, commercial, employment, family and probate law practices. The 10-partner firm will retain the Urmston offices, with Hague Lambert partner Edward Cooper becoming managing partner there.
Herbies’ Taylor quits for DLA real estate top job
High-profile Herbert Smith consultant David Taylor is leaving to head up DLA’s real estate practice.
Holmes Hardingham loses five-strong shipping team
Five key shipping litigators at City firm Holmes Hardingham have left to set up their own firm.
Hunter-Appleby Spurling merger spells change for offshore market
Caribbean firms Hunter & Hunter and Appleby Spurling & Kempe are set to merge in a deal that will reshape the offshore legal market.
Information Commissioner slams use of Data Protection Act as 'smokescreen'
The Information Commissioner Richard Thomas hit out at companies and services for hiding behind the "smokescreen" of the Data Protection Act (DPA) and engaging in practices that "no reasonable person would ever find acceptable" last week.
Irwin Mitchell bolsters fraud group with Withers hire
Irwin Mitchell has recruited Withers’ former head of its fraud, trust and tracing group as a boost to its regulatory and investigations practice.
Jones Day Gouldens lose corporate partner
Jones Day Gouldens’ London office has suffered the loss of a second legacy Jones Day partner in just over three months.
Klegal finds new leader for London
KLegal’s head of property has stepped up to become London managing partner following the departure of firmwide managing partner Nick Holt last year.
Konstantin hopeful
Freshfields co-senior partner elect Konstantin Mettenheimer could teach his UK counterparts a thing or two about candour.
Law firms in big mix-up
Tulkinghorn would like to apologise sincerely to his readers for taking five years to spot this one. Mishcon de Reya, the firm whose chairman Anthony Julius stepped down from running the Diana Memorial Fund amid a media scandal over the firm’s fees, is an anagram of ‘Di Shame Croney’. (This, we hasten to add, is purely an anagrammatical coincidence formed by the rejigging of the letters, and is in ...
Law firms stand firm against Microsoft over fee fight
A group of 35 law firms is fighting Microsoft for a $269m (£147m) legal bill after winning a consumer antitrust class action against the technology giant.
Leader
When you think of Lovells, do you still think of a cuddly, caring, sharing firm? Well, I’ve got news for you: Lovells is more ruthless than Linklaters in its own quiet way. The Lawyer can reveal this week that Lovells has embarked on a partner cull in Germany and plans to do the same thing in London before April.
Legal campaign against mobile phone masts "irrational"?
The legal campaign against the siting of mobile phone masts continued undeterred this week, despite the dismissal of health concerns as "irrational".
Leigh Day & Co and Richard Meeran
In an article on page 3 in the 15 December issue of The Lawyer, we suggested that Leigh Day & Co and Richard Meeran had a finding of sexual discrimination upheld against them. In fact, an employment tribunal dismissed claims brought by Jemima Brewer that she had been unfairly dismissed by reason of her pregnancy and also dismissed her claim of sexual discrimination. The tribunal, however, found that although she was likely to have been made redundant in any event, the firm had ...
Lewis Silkin opens Oxford office after swoop on Boodle Hatfield
Lewis Silkin opens Oxford office after swoop on Boodle Hatfield" /Lewis Silkin is to open an Oxford office after prising a corporate employment team out of Boodle Hatfield, led by highly-rated partner Russell Brimelow.
Litigation round-up
Last week Morgan Stanley was ordered to pay e30m (£20.7m) to Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) for publishing artificially negative investment advice on the luxury goods giant to boost the fortunes of its rival Gucci. The merchant bank is set to appeal. The case was heard before the Paris Commercial Court. Morgan Stanley was represented by Gide Loyrette Nouel and LVMH by Jeantet & Associés.
Lovells dumps partners and de-equitises in Germany
Lovells has axed two partners and de-equitised a further four in Germany.
Lovells’ German chief steps downBy Helen Power
Lovells managing partner for Germany Oliver Felsenstein is stepping down from the role after just a year and a half in the job.
Martineaus pensions chief quits for Pinsents
Martineau Johnson’s head of pensions Simon Laight has quit the firm to join Pinsents’ Birmingham office.
Merricks-Fairmays tie-up founders after ten months
National firm Merricks’ merger with London firm Fairmays last March has all but collapsed after just 10 months.
Microsoft firm selects new chairman
Preston Gates & Ellis, the Seattle firm founded by Microsoft guru Bill Gate’s father, has elected a new chairman.
Midtown draw pulls Pillsbury
Pillsbury Winthrop New York has opened the doors to its Times Square co-headquarters as it becomes another law firm to choose midtown Manhattan over a downtown location.
Missed photo opportunity
In last week’s eagerly awaited Hot 100 there erroneously appeared a photo of Bevan Ashford partner Stuart Whitfield. The firm’s PR company JBP Public Relations has asked us to point out that neither Whitfield – nor any other Bevan Ashford partner for that matter – made it onto this year’s list. The correct photo should, of course, have been of high-profile and successful Dorsey & Whitney litigator Simon Whitehead. We are delighted to set the record straight.
Mobile phone operators limber up for Customs court battle
3G operators demand £3.35bn VAT refund that Customs insists was never paid. By Brendan Malkin
New criminal contract – if not unlawful, then certainly unfair
Fights don't come much more one-sided than the current stand-off between a besieged criminal defence profession and a government hell-bent on redrafting the legal aid contract, but the lawyers launched an interesting broadside against their paymasters last week.
New money laundering rules: solicitors beware
Solicitors were warned this week to be on guard for money launderers in new guidance published by the Law Society's Money Laundering Task Force in anticipation of the Money Laundering Regulations 2003, which come into force on 1 March 2004.
New Year’s substitutions
As some of you may know, several of Tulkinghorn’s scribes have committed to an alcohol-free January in a post-Christmas toxins purge. What most of you won’t know is that friendly lawyers have been falling over themselves to suggest alternative ways in which the innocent young journalists can get off their boxes. The following are among the most alarming: Snorting the gas canisters that are used to vacuum-seal wine (from an
New York’s top cases in 2004
New York’s litigators are set for some dramatic courtroom battles this year, when the city’s courts host some of the biggest pieces of litigation of modern times.
Nicholson-Pinsents talks break down
The merger talks between Pinsents and Nicholson Gra-ham & Jones, first revealed by The Lawyer in November, have been cut dead.
Norton Rose partners still waiting for profit shares from 2002
Norton Rose has still not paid its partners a considerable proportion of profits owed for the financial year ending April 2002 after cashflow problems in 2003.
O’Melveny breathes new life into London strategy
O’Melveny & Myers is kickstarting its UK office by appointing a founder of SJ Berwin’s private equity group as London managing partner.
Offshore giant goes to the bar for litigation leader
Conyers Dill Pearman has appointed a barrister from Manchester set 8 King Street Chambers to lead litigation in its British Virgin Islands office.Called to the bar 15 years ago, Mark Forte has spent 13 years at 8 King Street Chambers, where he will retain a door tenancy. Conyers Dill Pearman spans seven offices with its largest centred in Bermuda.
One law to rule them all
A single set of European regulations? Jonathan Herbst assesses the development of two new directives which may bring that day closer
Opinion
Should professional funders who maintain litigation for profit be liable for the costs of successful defendants if the claim that has been funded fails? This was the issue that Mr Justice Colman ruled on in the recent case of Arkin v Borchard Lines & Ors (No 2).
Powering up
The FSA’s tough new approach to evidence gathering may have serious consequences for business. Sidney Myers reports
Pru brings Camerons in on sale of Lovells’ base
CMS Cameron McKenna has been drafted in by Prudential to advise on the sale of Lovells’ building Atlantic House to German fund Deka.
Reed Smith gains Denton partner in real estate boost
Reed Smith has added a fourth partner to its London real estate department with a lateral from Denton Wilde Sapte. Richard Perkins, whose client list includes Burleigh Estates plc, Helios Properties, CapReal, The Restaurant Group and Somerset House, joins as three Eversheds associates also jump ship to Reed ...
Riders on the Storm
High-flying lawyers might appear to be models of discretion and good behaviour, but even the most successful can have a past.
Salans continues European onslaught with hire of Weil Gotshal & Manges duo
Weil Gotshal & Manges duo" /Salans has continued its attack on Central and Eastern Europe with the hire of high-profile Weil Gotshal & Manges property and finance partners Evan Lazar and Eric Rosedale, plus a pair of associates.
Separated at birth
Tulkinghorn can reveal the truth about former Asda legal director Denise Jagger’s shock decision to take up partnership at Eversheds. It was all a ploy to protect her true identity. Jagger, we can reveal, is in fact none other than the Countess of Wessex. Her exit from Asda has nothing to do with helping the national firm develop its client relationship management programme, as the firm has claimed. ...
Shepherd + Wedderburn picks new chief executive
Scottish firm Shepherd + Wedderburn has elected property partner Patrick Andrews as its new chief executive, replacing incumbent Paul Hally.
Shoosmiths new property head slams City fees
Shoosmiths has elevated a former Nabarro Nathanson senior assistant to lead its Thames Valley property team.
Simmons hires ex-Shearman projects ace in HK
Simmons & Simmons has taken on former Shearman & Sterling projects lawyer Jack Su as a consultant in the firm’s corporate practice in Hong Kong. Su had only been at the US firm since 2001, where he was a special projects attorney rather than a partner. He left the firm in the middle of last year. Prior to his time at Shearman, Su was senior vice-president and counsel for Vivendi Water Asia. ...
SJ Berwin partner jumps ship as overhaul gets going
SJ Berwin partner jumps ship as overhaul gets going" /SJ Berwin has lost real estate partner Sally Pinkerton to Wragge & Co, three months into a full-scale review of the department.
Smyth scoops lead role on Morris Inquiry
Clifford Chance partner Michael Smyth, fresh from his role as the solicitor to the Hutton Inquiry, has been given a similar role in an inquiry into aspects of alleged racism in the Metropolitan Police.
Spain forges new laws in modernisation move
Spain has published a new United Nations-based act aimed at making the country the first choice for Latin American businesses hoping to arbitrate within the European Union.
Speed read creed
There is nothing wrong with wise spending, particularly if it’s public money, but according to England’s most senior criminal silks,calculations used by Government funders to work out their pay seems rooted in Alice in Wonderland-style fantasy.
Stanbrook suffers lawyer exodus
Respected Brussels trade and competition boutique Stanbrook & Hooper has lost a quarter of its lawyers in the space of a month as the firm ends its growth ambitions.
Staying stationery
Slaughter and May’s current head of corporate Nigel Boardman’s frank paperclip-related admission last week, where he moaned that he’d had enough of his role, got Tulkinghorn thinking about how many other similarly grand types are disenchanted with their lot. Miraculously, it seems very few.
Stikeman downsizes HK presence
Canadian firm Stikeman Elliott has become the latest casualty of the continued economic slump in the Far East.
Strategic Rail Authority plumps for Eversheds
The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) appointed Eversheds ahead of other panel firms, including Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance and Linklaters, to ...
Vinson & Elkins in associate cull
Vinson & Elkins is cutting up to 10 per cent of its associates following a year-end review. According to the New York Lawyer, the firm has asked 40 of its associates to seek new jobs, which is due in part to recent reviews and a lack of available work opportunities. All offices, bar Moscow, will be hit. First revealed on www.thelawyer.com 14 January
Web head
Taking over Yahoo!’s European legal affairs was the perfect move for Jonathan McCoy, a champion of the freedom of the internet.
Weil Gotshal looks to FTC for anti-trust drive
Weil Gotshal & Manges is continuing to build its anti-trust expertise by taking on two senior antitrust officials from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Weil hikes German capability with Munich base
Weil Gotshal & Manges has continued its European expansion with the launch of a Munich office. The firm, which already has an office in Frankfurt, will open its Munich branch at the beginning of next month.
Wiseman Lee fields legal team at Upton Park clinic
East London firm Wiseman Lee has teamed up with West Ham United Football Club to run a free legal advice clinic. It is the first time in the UK that a legal clinic has been run in conjunction with a football club.
Wragges lands first deal for Lloyds TSB
Wragge & Co has scooped its first ever deal for Lloyds TSB Development Capital (LDC).
