19 November 2001
The Lawyer
Breaking news: Child rights lawyer 2001 announced
The winner of this year's UNICEF Child Rights Lawyer Award is Peggy Ray of Hackney firm Goodman Ray.
Breaking news: Cleary Gottlieb partner to join SEC
Alan Beller, partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, has been named Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Breaking news: Linklaters signs up Commerzbank lawyer to boost German Securitisation team
Linklaters Oppenhoff & Rädler has hired Kurt Dittrich from Commerzbank to head up its German Securitisation Group.
A fine romance
The recently merged Allens Arthur Robinson has surprised many in the Australian legal world - hardly anybody has left and it actually seems to be working. Nicole Maley reports
AAR tops Australian league tables
Top three Australian deals this year put AAR in pole position; Linklaters, Slaughter and May and Clifford Chance all in top ten
AAR-Slaughters best friends relationship off to £3bn start
Slaughter and May and Allens Arthur Robinson (AAR) are reaping the benefits of their best friends arrangement
Addleshaws sneaks client from Travers
Addleshaw Booth & Co has poached a client from Travers Smith Braithwaite.
Andersen Legal wins out over Norton Rose for EBRD work
Andersen Legal has nabbed a massive capital markets instruction for the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) from under the nose of Norton Rose.
Asim members demand block discount of FSA regulation fees
The Association of Solicitor Investment Managers (Asim) is locked in a conflict with its members' new regulatory body, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), over regulation fees.
Attorney-general calls for national guidelines
Australia's state-run legal system's competitiveness is called into question
Bar talk
Shock horror. Birmingham counsel have been instructed on the biggest case ever heard in the city's mercantile court. Is the regional commercial bar finally catching up with its London peers and offering a service that the leading national firms are prepared to pay for?Well, let's not get carried away, but if there has been a transformation, it can probably be dated back a couple of years to when the commercial bar was really suffering. The London bar went on an aggressive ...
Beachcroft Wansbroughs shakes up equity partnership
Beachcroft Wansbroughs has undertaken a wholesale overhaul of its internal structure.
Birmingham set for record court hearing
Birmingham's mercantile court is hearing its biggest ever case - a £35m dispute over a franchising agreement.
Blakes on the lookout for new chief exec
Blake Dawson Waldron is preparing for a management reshuffle.
Blom-Cooper picked for Lloyd's litigation
Sir Louis Blom-Cooper QC of Doughty Street Chambers has been appointed lead counsel to represent the appeal by Sir William Jaffray's group of Lloyd's Names.
BLP acts for the Abbey on shopping centre deal
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) advised Abbey National Treasury Services on its £60m facility to a US Delaware limited partnership to buy and operate Edinburgh's Cameron Toll Shopping Centre.
Brief encounter: BRACHERS
Brachers knows where to trim to make the firm grow stronger
Brobeck appoints new chairman ahead of time
San Francisco's Brobeck Phleger & Harrison has announced a new chairman and managing partner to follow in the footsteps of Tower Snow.
Captain's log
Dressdown Fridays have been a problem for many firms, with some even forced to bring in the design consultants to dictate to partners what they should and should not be wearing. Tank tops, legwarmers, black shoes with white socks and shell suits are definite no nos, for example, but what of the latest offering from Michael Skrein's wardrobe?Richards Butler's head of media litigation actually asked the head of human resources (HR) whether he would get into trouble for ...
Checking the bill
Marriott Vacation Club's senior counsel Jonathan Cole is trying to expand the company in Europe and the Middle East while staving off the economic downturn. Julia Cahill reports
Clarke Willmott returns to NFU
Clarke Willmott & Clarke has won a reappointment to the National Farmers' Union (NFU) panel after Bond Pearce withdrew from the scheme over a clash with its work for agricultural lenders.
Clifford Chance changes Asian focus to concentrate on China
Following a partners meeting in Hong Kong earlier this month, Clifford Chance has decided on a change to its Asian strategy.
Coca-Cola team joins Latham
Los Angeles firm Latham & Watkins has ramped up its global antitrust practice and added a new capability in London with a team from Coca-Cola.
Competition
The only people in Brussels who are busier than top competition la-wyers are headhunters trying to poach top competition lawyers. The European Commission (EC) has gone into overdrive since the GE-Honeywell decision, blocking mergers and acquisitions at an unprecedented rate and keeping Brussels' lawyers busy.It is an open secret that a new wave of US law firms, mesmerised by the regulatory frenzy, wants to move into the city on the back of high-profile lateral hires. A sharp ...
Conyers Dill launches Singapore office
Conyers Dill & Pearman has become the first Bermuda-based law firm to open an office in Singapore.
Corrupt fee-sharing prompts IBA to draft new ethical code
Concerns about corrupt fee-sharing practices at the international war crimes tribunals have led to the drawing-up of an ethical code by the International Bar Association.
Czech lawyer in CC case arrested on fraud charges
Nova TV lawyer suspected of $23m damage to CME, as CC awaits arbitration appeal
DAC wins partner-client package from Landwell
Compaq drops PwC's law firm; hire signals strategy shift towards more general practice in Madrid
DEAL OF THE WEEK - bank one Pinsent Curtis represents Bank One on £60m facility
National firm completes its most complex syndicated loan deal to date
Deals summary
Allen & Overy (Pierre Gissinger, Siamak Mostafavi, Armelle Walters-Renaud), advised Deutsche Bank on the f850m acquisition of a 42 per cent stake in GMB Group from Carrefour and the structuring of a related equity swap with Casino. Deutsche Bank also advised by Bredin Prat (Sébastien Prat) on the acquisition. Casino advised by Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier (Emmanuel Brochier, Hervé ...
Deals summary
Travers Smith Braithwaite (Richard Skelton, Margaret Moore) advised Premium TV on a restructuring of its media and sponsorship arrangements with Newcastle United. Newcastle United advised by Pinsent Curtis Biddle (Martin Shaw, Simon Pigden).Clifford Chance (Thierry Schoen, Dominique Bompoint) advised ...
Deals summary
Maples Teesdale (Chris Wilkinson, Declan Power) advised Royal & Sun-Alliance on the forward funding of a £50m retail park in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, to be jointly developed by Castlemore Securities and Dixons Stores Group. Castlemore advised by Wragge & Co (Marcus Blick). Dixons advised by SJ Berwin (Martin Wright).
DTI bows to pressure from lenders over Enterprise Bill
Government abolition of administrative receivership limited to deals instigated after bill's inception
EC appoints two new officers to cope with antitrust boom
The European Commission has appointed two new hearing officers to deal with the rising tide of merger and antitrust investigations.
Eversheds to defend £100K bullying claim
Eversheds’ Newcastle office has been slapped with a £100,000 claim for damages from a former employee.
Foreigners given go-ahead to practise Taiwanese law
Taiwan's parliament has sanctioned a law permitting overseas lawyers to set up practices providing advice on local law.
Fox & Gibbons off the hook
Seven partners of a former Middle East firm bought out by Denton Wilde Sapte have avoided a claim of more than $600m (£419m) made by a company owned by the ruler of Dubai.
Gadens and Bowdens merge in Brisbane
The Brisbane office of Australian firm Gadens has merged with local firm Bowdens Lawyers.
Gouldens gains Thales via buyout instruction
Gouldens has underlined its strategic focus on the private equity market by advising US private equity firm JF Leh-man & Co and private investment fund Thomas Weisel Capital Partners on a buyout.
Hackney Council hires law director
A former solicitor of Brighton & Hove City Council has joined Hackney Council as its director of law and probity.
Hammonds and DLA target Asia market with new offices
Hammonds chooses Hong Kong for its first non-European office; DLA applies for licence to open in China
Having a whitey
Tulkinghorn's young scouts tell him that London discotheque Fabric used to be the venue of choice among the hip young dudes of the capital. Used to be, because recently it hosted a White & Case party full of suits. Not exactly cutting edge.Anyway, Tulkinghorn's scouts overheard a conversation between the cloakroom attendants, who were clearly appalled at the events occuring on the ...
Home and away
Some report a flood, others a mere trickle, but how is the Australian legal profession really affected by the brain drain? Nicole Maley reports on the comings and goings
Ian Hislop: defamation process is 'about fees and not justice'
Hislop launches attack on conditional fee agreements in libel cases; Peter Carter-Ruck and Partners cites access to justice
ING and UBS instruct A&O on Moscow eurobond
Allen & Overy (A&O) has advised ING Barings and UBS Warburg on a g300m (£184.4m) eurobond for the City of Moscow.
King & Spalding changes structure
Atlanta firm King & Spalding is overhauling its management structure to prepare for future expansion.
Lattice takes on legal head from ABF
Lattice Group has hired a new lawyer to head the in-house legal function of its real estate arm Lattice Property Holdings.
Leader column
There is no getting away from the fact that the world is heading into a cycle of economic downturn, forcing businesses in all corners of the globe to seek new sources of revenue. Yet, while UK and US law firms bit the bullet some years ago, opening what are now flourishing offices outside their own borders, most Australian firms are struggling to find their place on the international stage.This year saw Allens Arthur Robinson signing up to an Anglo-Australasian best friends relationship ...
LeBoeuf puts project heads together
New York firm LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae is setting up a project finance practice to be run jointly by its London head and a New York partner.
Ledinghams scores Bahrain ministry work
The government of Bahrain has chosen Scottish firm Ledingham Chalmers to advise it on oil and gas-related matters.
Linnells in corporate boost with Farrers hire
Linnells is taking on a corporate partner from City firm Farrer & Co. Robert Foster will join the company and commercial department at the beginning of next year.
Lovells closes Healey & Baker deal
Lovells has advised big-five surveying firm Healey & Baker on the West End's largest letting deal in 2001.
Manches sues hypnotherapist
Manches has successfully sued to recover costs a hypnotherapist it represented in a three-year libel case against TV hypnotist Paul McKenna.
Manhunters
Much fun was had by The Lawyer amid the canapés and booze at Lovells' press party last week.When senior partner Andrew Walker grabbed the microphone to make a welcoming speech, he proudly told the gathering that there were partners present from Germany, France and the Netherlands. Tulkinghorn cleverly spotted this as a telltale sign of the firm's cunning plan to take over the world - all Walker needed was a leather chair and a cat.But when one of Tulkinghorn's ...
Minter Ellison plots global onslaught in strategy rejig
Three Asian hubs targeted; London and New York offices to boost numbers; new West Coast site mooted
MoFo adds govt IT team to DC office
San Francisco firm Morrison & Foerster (MoFo) is setting up a government business and technology group in its Washington DC office.
National firms sweep the board in hospitals work
National firms have cleaned up on work for the Government's fourth wave of new hospital schemes.
New global competition forum gets underway
Competition enforcement looks set to dominate the agenda in global legal services over the next decade.
News in brief
A round up of stories from the UK and around the world
News in brief
A round up of stories from the UK and around the world
Norton Rose aids Budget with insurance captures
Norton Rose has acted for long-term client Budget Financial Services on its acquisition of a group of major brokers in the motorcycle insurance sector.
Opinion
The email is a mixed blessing for the lawyer involved in litigation and regulatory investigations. The volume and informality of it is appealing to anyone attempting to find the 'smoking gun', but a regulated business may wish it had never been invented when a regulator can use enforcement powers to search quantities of emails covering a period of years. Unfortunately, most corporations' email practices and retention policies are not prepared for the burdens of disclosure ...
Ozmosis
With the economic downturn looming, can Australian law firms keep their foothold in the top-end Asian market? Nicole Maley reports
Penningtons in Newbury corporate push
Penningtons has hired a corporate partner from Denton Wilde Sapte to run the commercial department at its Newbury office.
Piper Alpha case gets ready for conclusion
After thirteen years and £20m in fees it reaches the Lords
Public domain?
After Railtrack, is PPP doomed? And is it the end of the line for project finance lawyers? Jon Robins reports
PwC Legal chairman quits after two years
John Churchill, the legal chairman at Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (PwC) Legal, has left the firm less than two years into his term.
Reaching for the stars
In Tulkinghorn's day, the only interview process needed was a quick chat about how many of the partners' sons would need an office in the future. Now, however, with many firms strangely insisting on taking on lawyers who are not related to the partnership, recruiters are using ever-more-sophisticated methods of selection - psychometric testing, whole days of building towers and making rafts while graphologists analyse their handwriting.Peter Rouse, a founding partner ...
Richards Butler wins anti-piracy court victory
Richards Butler has won the UK's largest anti-piracy case, involving a fraudster who had been sought since the late 1980s.The British Phonographic Industry, the body that represents the music industry, instructed the firm's specialist anti-piracy unit headed by Mike Northern. The scale of the case meant that local trading standards and police in Essex did not have the resources to cope with the prosecution singlehandedly.The prosecution involved proving the link ...
Shearman rejigs global strategy with Asia focus
Pidot to relocate to Singapore to spearhead firm's expansion in Asia; joint ventures on the agenda
Stop the press
Keith Schilling, through fighting celebrities' privacy battles, doesn't make many newspaper buddies - but then he prefers a good book anyway
Swepstones collapses after tribunal rulings
Media firm closes as former partner struck off; insurance premiums unsustainable
The 'luck' of the Irish
Strange tales of a recent Pinsent Curtis 'training' weekend in Dublin have reached Tulkinghorn's ears. In a novel attempt to make downing copious amounts of alcohol seem constructive (perhaps so that the beer can be put on expenses), Pinsents merely renamed the evening a 'team building' exercise.As part of this 'team building', partners had to dare each other, with the forfeit being to down further copious amounts of alcohol. Dares included serving ...
The Leader Column
There are all sorts of fun and games in the defamation world at the moment. Schilling & Lom loses Mark Thomson and gets ready to sign up Martin Cruddace from The Mirror. Swepstone Walsh comes to a sticky end. And most spectacularly, Peter Carter-Ruck and Partners gets stung when Condliffe •Private Eye - the case it handled on a conditional fee basis - collapses.Most editors would have trouble repressing that twinge of Schadenfreude at the predicament of Peter Carter-Ruck ...
Tite & Lewis hires Texaco legal head
Ernst & Young's law firm Tite & Lewis has hired Texaco's chief legal adviser as the company's in-house department reshuffles post merger.
Top at the bottom of the world
Australian firms have had an outstanding year, with the top 20 all witnessing an increase in turnover. Nicole Maley analyses the performance of the top ten and asks: will their work sustain their practices through the tough times ahead?
Trade act review causes concern
The Australian government's planned review of the Trade Practices Act could disappoint big business pundits by awarding even more power to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Alan Fels.
UK and Singapore alliances fight off Australian firms to win top bank work
UK and Singapore alliances fight off Australian firms to win top bank work
UK and US firms get ready for Japan boom
UK and US firms have been piling into Japan in preparation for an expected flurry of overseas listings.
UK magic circle beats US firms for project finance
Global project finance deals for the third quarter of this year place the UK magic circle firms above their US counterparts according to market share.
Whistle while you shirk
Tulkinghorn was dismayed to receive an anonymous call from a disgruntled employee of Buchanan Ingersoll, claiming that a ban on singing or whistling had been imposed on the London office. Not only that, said the caller, but from now on staff were to be charged for any personal calls made from the office. Tulkinghorn naturally could not believe that any law firm could be quite so curmudgeonly, and so put in a call.Once she had stopped laughing, the charming office manager Marion ...
