19 March 2012
The Lawyer
A brief’s moment in crime
Tony Soprano used his lapdancing club; Mickey Blue Eyes sold paintings. But in real life money laundering is much bigger business.
Ambitious vision at SJ Berwin
New senior partner Kon commits to international growth
Baker & McKenzie
London is the global firm’s largest office, where internal promotions remain the main route to partnership and retention rates are high
Case of the week: Insolvency
Grim cases take a toll on lawyers
Hearing and seeing evidence of abuse can affect professionals, who need training to cope
Hacking firms told to take party line
Phone-hacking costs must be cut or claimants will have to join forces
Job Watch: Paris
Paris is one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities, but what does it have to offer UK lawyers? Plenty, according to Melanie Tremblay, head of the Paris office at recruitment consultancy Shilton Sharpe Quarry.
Judgment call: 19 March 2012
The court was entitled to refuse to recognise a Ukrainian judgment on the basis that it involved a flagrant breach of the principle of legal certainty contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 (ECHR) art.6 and, as a result, to have refused to set aside an English default judgment.
Keeping the endings in sight
Lord Justice Jackson’s reforms need special measures applied when it comes to insolvency cases
Ken wants closure
Justice secretary Ken Clarke suspected of caving in to US pressure on closed courts
Lehman Brothers: the billion-pound insolvency
More than three years since the unthinkable happened, Joshua Freedman sifts through the wreckage to find out which firms gained the most from the wind-up of the banking giant
Maclays keeps on knocking after Bond Pearce talks end
News that Bond Pearce and Maclay Murray & Spens have called off merger talks after months of discussions (TheLawyer.com, 14 March) sheds new light on the rush to consolidate among mid-market firms – all the mergers that have been announced in the past few months and all the merger talks known to be going on at the moment are only the tip of the iceberg.
Moves: 19 March 2012
Simmons & Simmons has hired a real estate partner from Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), its seventh partner hire from BLP in less than a year.
New orders
With real estate and energy in the doldrums, legislative reform is keeping lawyers busy as the government attempts to cure Spain’s recession hangover
Number crunching: Mexico
Mexico, dragged down by the slump in US consumer spending, has not done as well out of the recession as many of its Latin American neighbours. However, things started to look up in 2010 when its economy grew by 5.5 per cent - its fastest annual growth rate in more than a decade.
On your marks, get set, wait
UK law firms are hesitant about moving into the recently liberalised South Korean market
Rights’ balance
Nearly 15 years on, the Human Rights Act is still dividing judges, the public and Parliament - and don’t even mention the media
Shoring up the wall of debt
European loans maturing soon will require some novel solutions when it comes to refinancing
Speed bumps on the road to ABS
Speed up authorisation or risk scuppering finance deals, SRA told
The Lawyer Management: Howard Kennedy
My key responsibilities can be summarised as: ensuring the availability of IT systems for 24-hour BAU (business as usual) operation in a secure and integral fashion; and maintaining awareness of technical advances and regulatory changes.
White Hart reign
After a recent spate of high-profile cases, Spurs director of football administration and barrister Darren Eales is aiming to keep future disputes out of court
Wising up to the wise guys
Organised crime is using international arbitration to launder money. Can you spot the signs?
Work Life Quiz: Nicky Richmond, Brecher
Yap rap
How’s this for a generalisation - clients have certain expectations of their lawyers and tend to distrust those who don’t fit the mould.
