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2 June 2003

The Lawyer

  • 4 New Square loses civil liberties expert

    2-Jun-2003

    Nick Brown has quit 4 New Square for Doughty Street Chambers to develop his civil liberties and clinical negligence practice. Brown's broad-based professional liability practice has increasingly focused on clinical negligence and personal injury claims. He also developed a niche civil liberties practice. He is presently acting for Mumia Abu-Jamal, the prominent black activist on death row in Pennsylvania.

  • A&O Hong Kong founder quits for Jardine Matheson inhouse job

    5-Jun-2003

    Allen & Overy partner Jonathan Gould is leaving the firm to take up the role of general counsel to the Jardine Matheson Group, based in Hong Kong.The Asian-based conglomerate comprises Jardine Pacific, Jardine Motors Group, Hongkong Land, Dairy Farm, Mandarin Oriental, Cycle & Carriage and Jardine Lloyd Thompson. A senior corporate partner, Gould will have been with the firm for almost 30 years by the time he retires in December. He was instrumental in establishing ...

  • A&O's Harrison takes on Asian top job

    2-Jun-2003

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has appointed banking partner Brian Harrison as the regional managing partner for its Asian practice with effect from today (2 June). Harrison, who replaces Chris Roberts, will be based in Hong Kong and will also head that office. Harrison has been a partner at A&O since 1997 and launched the firm’s Canary Wharf office. In the past 12 months, Harrison has worked on the financing that allowed Network Rail to take over Railtrack and pay off the ...

  • An American tale

    2-Jun-2003

    Before we write off the idea of professional involvement in legal education, Geoffrey Bennett says consider the US

  • Another one bites the dust

    2-Jun-2003

    With the failure of yet another group action - this time the army veterans' claim against the MoD - the costs argument is overshadowing the real issues. Are defendants being given an easy way out? Jon Robins reports

  • Asb Law sees profits surge 20%

    2-Jun-2003

    South-East firm Asb Law has continued its rapid expansion of the past 24 months, taking on small Kent-based practice Mere-dith Smith and Pratt (MSP) as well as announcing an increase in turnover of almost 20 per cent.

  • Barrister appeals on charge of negligence

    2-Jun-2003

    A professional negligence barrister is seeking leave to appeal to the House of Lords to overturn a finding of negligence against her.

  • Be an Auntie mentor

    2-Jun-2003

    For any lawyers out there who fancy becoming TV stars, Tulkinghorn has the perfect opportunity: production company Century Films desperately needs a successful City lawyer.Century is looking for a City-type mentor for a just-out-of-jail young offender who can point the kid in the direction of the paths of righteousness.The lucky lawyer will fill the role for a week and the programme will go out on BBC2.If the mentoring stuff sounds too fluffy and ...

  • Blake Dawson furthers corporate ambition with Mallesons hire

    4-Jun-2003

    Australian firm Blake Dawson Waldron is continuing to build its corporate department with the appointment of Mallesons Stephen Jaques partner Leigh Warnick.Warnick specialises in contested take-overs as well as in the energy sector.He recently advised Woodside Petroleum on its response to Shell’s attempted hostile take-over. The bid was ultimately blocked. Warnick also acted for South African mining company Iscor on its acquisition of an interest in the Australian mining ...

  • Blake Dawson hires Brits for Japanese practice

    2-Jun-2003

    Australian firm Blake Dawson Waldron has significantly boosted its Japan practice by making two UK hires. The firm, which operates a Japanese practice out of Australia, has bolstered the group with the appointment of former Lovells corporate partner Rupert Lewi and Allen & Overy senior finance associate Jim Hunwick.

  • Boutique dissolves as Loyens & Loeff takes on name partners

    2-Jun-2003

    The Brussels office of Loyens & Loeff has recruited the name partners of intellectual property (IP) and IT boutique Van Asbroeck & Cottenie, resulting in the dissolution of the seven-lawyer firm.

  • Brodies records high turnover after busy year

    2-Jun-2003

    Scottish firm Brodies has reported a 16 per cent rise in turnover and a total fee income of £14.6m in the last financial year. The growth is attributed to significant instructions in Scotland received over the past year, including advising the Strategic Rail Authority on the reletting of the ScotRail franchise, acting for the MoD on the outsourcing of engineering services and facilities management at HM Naval ...

  • Burges Salmon beats SW rivals in turnover results

    2-Jun-2003

    Burges Salmon has stormed ahead of its South-West rivals with a turnover increase of almost 15 per cent.

  • Burnetts wins work from housing association

    2-Jun-2003

    Burnetts has been appointed by Wyre Housing Association as its new legal adviser on the right to buy and the sale of former local authority housing stock. The appointment, made after a competitve tender, adds to the firm's existing portfolio of northwest-based housing associations.

  • CC Thai feud rages as ex-partner spurns offer

    2-Jun-2003

    Expelled partner set to sue in New York; Clifford Chance rejects £30m demand

  • Cheque fate

    2-Jun-2003

    Tulkinghorn feels compelled to clarify the situation regarding Eversheds' finances.Embarrassingly for the firm, it has been having a few problems with cheques bouncing at the bank. This led to all sorts of spurious allegations that the firm was suffering from a cash crisis. But Tulkinghorn is here to inform you that it is nothing so sensational. It's all down to some new printers ...

  • Corporation of London cuts back City's votes

    2-Jun-2003

    The voting powers of lawyers working for law firms based in London's Square Mile have significantly declined following a change of rules by the Corporation of London.

  • Covington recruits specialist for life sciences

    2-Jun-2003

    Covington & Burling's London office has bolstered its life sciences practice by recruiting a regulatory specialist from Lovells. Gabrielle Turner joins Covington as special counsel, becoming part of its eight-strong team in London, which is headed up by Richard Kingham, who splits his time between the UK and US. First reported on www.thelawyer. com/lawyernews, 30 May

  • Credit worthies

    2-Jun-2003

    MBNA Europe is a major player in the credit card market. Husnara Begum meets the woman who has to deal with everything from service agreements to securitisations

  • Deacons slashes Hong Kong numbers

    2-Jun-2003

    Australian firm Deacons has axed 21 staff in its Hong Kong office.

  • EasyGroup to shake up City advisers as in-house team flexes its muscle

    3-Jun-2003

    EasyGroup, the vehicle launched by entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou, is undertaking a radical review of its external lawyers to significantly reduce the amount of legal work it outsources.

  • Eversheds eyes China with Khattar Wong launch

    3-Jun-2003

    Eversheds is to gain a foothold in China through Singapore best friend Khattar Wong. After the usual lengthy wait, Khattar Wong has finally been granted a licence by the Government of the People’s Republic of China to practice on the Chinese mainland.The firm will operate from an office in the Stock Exchange building in the Pudong District of Shanghai. The office will be headed by Khattar ...

  • Fighting for justice?

    2-Jun-2003

    Tulkinghorn's special contribution for pro-bono week comes from the depths of Africa, and relates to the controversial death penalty imposed by a sharia court on Amina Lawal.Now, members of the human rights community who all provided pro bono assistance to the young woman are arguing over who has the right to claim to be her lawyer, and the disagreement has now become the subject of litigation in a Lagos high court.Forgive Tulkinghorn for being cynical, ...

  • Finding their feet

    2-Jun-2003

    Don't trust Reed Smith lawyers with a map. Tulkinghorn under-stands that the team of lawyers, in one of its last games of the season, took a trip down to East Sussex to play client Family Assurance. It is not clear at this time whether it was the firm's lack of client knowledge or the client's directions that were misleading, but basically the team got very lost. They ended up at what ...

  • First biotech IPO this year advised by Dechert

    2-Jun-2003

    Dechert has advised on the first biotech IPO to get away in the UK this year. London partner David Vogel (left) led the team that advised Yesterday BioProgress on its admission to AIM. The company's subsidiary BioProgress Technology International was previously listed on the US Over the Counter Bulletin Board but, as part of the deal, its existing shareholders swapped their US shares for UK shares in the new company.

  • German funds become the UK's new big spenders

    2-Jun-2003

    Emma Vere-Jones gives the lowdown on the City firms involved in German real estate funds

  • Grimaldi scoops Italian govt work

    2-Jun-2003

    Clifford Chance's former Italian senior partner Vittorio Grimaldi has surprised competitors by winning the role of adviser to the Italian government on Italy's first major infrastructure project.

  • Heller Ehrman grows in Asia with Hong Kong boost

    5-Jun-2003

    Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe’s Hong Kong office has scooped a team of lawyers from Siao Wen and Leung in order to bolster its local law capability.The San Francisco-based firm has taken the bulk of Siao Wen’s corporate securities, commercial and China practice. The 19-strong group comprises four partners –founding partner Carson Wen, Michael Phillips, Katherine U and Susan Yu – 15 associates and six trainee associates. The additions will bring ...

  • Heller Ehrman grows in Asia with Hong Kong boost

    5-Jun-2003

    Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe’s Hong Kong office has scooped a team of lawyers from Siao Wen and Leung in order to bolster its local law capability.The San Francisco-based firm has taken the bulk of Siao Wen’s corporate securities, commercial and China practice. The 19-strong group comprises four partners –founding partner Carson Wen, Michael Phillips, Katherine U and Susan Yu – 15 associates and six trainee associates. The additions will bring ...

  • Hengeler gets mullered

    2-Jun-2003

    Tulkinghorn is disturbed to discover the evolution of a surprising degree of bitchiness in the German legal market. After the defection of a number of associates from Hengeler Mueller to Allen & Overy (A&O), it seems that A&O's German operation has been dubbed Hengeler-Lite.

  • Herbert Smith asks Lightman J for £2.5m costs in SMG case

    2-Jun-2003

    Herbert Smith is about to submit a whopping £2.5m costs application to Mr Justice Lightman for work for the Scottish Media Group (SMG) in its recent action against Chris Evans. Judge Lightman recently slammed lawyers for making litigation so expensive.

  • It ain't over till it's over

    2-Jun-2003

    The firms whose future trainees now take the 'City LPC' have had to adapt their post-graduate training programmes. Suzanne Fine reports on the improvements that have been made

  • Jacob urges patent agents to advocate

    2-Jun-2003

    Mr Justice Jacob has attacked "timorous" patent agents in an attempt to encourage them to take a more active role in advocacy.A

  • Judiciary set to welcome Government lawyers into the fold

    3-Jun-2003

    Government lawyers are to be offered posts in the judiciary under controversial plans announced by the Attorney General today. Lawyers working for the Crown Prosecution Service, the Government Legal Service and the Serious Fraud Office will be eligible to sit as civil recorders and deputy district judges. The Attorney Gerneral, Lord Goldsmith indicated full-time judicial posts are likely to be created in the future. The Attorney General conceded that the move is likely to ...

  • Leader

    2-Jun-2003

    The Accident Group's (TAG) founder Mark Langford is not known for his personal touch. Earlier in the year, an attempt at an interview with The Lawyer had to be called off after he became indisposed at the last moment. Not a problem, his PR guy said, we'll just send in his QC and you can attribute his words to the boss. Call us fussy, we replied, but it is a journalistic convention that the subject of a profile be in attendance for his own interview. So it's not surprising to learn that ...

  • Learning law

    2-Jun-2003

    With so many law degrees available, new guidelines are needed argues Nigel Bastin

  • Linklaters defectors help hike firm profits

    2-Jun-2003

    Linklaters has saved an estimated £9.6m as a result of the continued partner exodus from the firm.

  • Linklaters rejig drives out Cologne real estate chief

    2-Jun-2003

    Linklaters has refocused its German real estate practice to handle only high-value international or European transactional work, a move which has led to the departure of the head of the firm's Cologne real estate team.

  • Lord Irvine set to raise fees in civil court cases

    2-Jun-2003

    The Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine has launched a full-scale review of civil court fees in an attempt to lift the £55m deficit faced by the Supreme Court and to turn all civil courts into profit-making bodies.

  • Lovells against pro-consumer product liability directive

    2-Jun-2003

    Lovells has completed a ground-breaking study of product liability law for the European Commission. The City firm has recommended that the commission drops plans laid out in its 1999 green paper for radical reform of the product liability directive.

  • Maclay hires for London corporate practice

    2-Jun-2003

    Scottish firm Maclay Murray & Spens has bolstered its London-based corporate practice with the appointment of Jonathan Brooks, head of Boodle Hatfield's corporate department. Brooks specialises in a wide range of work for private companies and joint ventures with particular focus in the healthcare, financial services, computer software and e-commerce sectors.

  • Maclay Murray & Spens goes all out in London with Fenners scoop

    2-Jun-2003

    Maclay Murray & Spens is raising the stakes among Scottish firms in London after securing the takeover of niche City practice Fenners.

  • Mishcons scoops Watford FC work from Eversheds

    2-Jun-2003

    Watford Football Club has ditched Eversheds for Mishcon de Reya to fight the £2m claim brought by former coach Gianluca Vialli.

  • Moby dicks

    2-Jun-2003

    You can't take Denton Wilde Sapte's lawyers anywhere. Only a couple of week ago a group of the firm's scamps hired a 30-foot yacht to take part in the Manches Cup, the annual boating shindig for legal seamen.Little did they know, though, that the person they rented the boat off is actually the legal director in the financial services division of a well-known car manufacturing group. Tulkinghorn is sure that had they been aware of this, the lawyers would not ...

  • Network Rail gears up for autumn panel review

    2-Jun-2003

    Network Rail, the private company that replaced the old Railtrack, is setting up a brand new legal panel in the autumn.

  • Nicholson Graham faces £9m claim from Al Fayed

    2-Jun-2003

    Nicholson Graham & Jones is facing a massive legal claim of almost £9m, over advice provided to Mohamed Al Fayed on his purchase of Fulham Football club.

  • Off their cake

    2-Jun-2003

    One of Tulkinghorn's solicitor friends trekked up to the Central London County Court last Tuesday morning (27 May) only to find the whole place locked. Perturbed, he dialled the central switchboard number, which rang… and rang… and rang. He then scoured the court for some kind of notice as to why it was deserted: again, nothing.After making his own enquiries, Tulkinghorn discovered that the court was closed for the Queen's official ...

  • OGC and Law Society give best practice guidelines

    2-Jun-2003

    Lawyers will be warned about the public interest implications of their work for the Government under new guidelines being drawn up by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the Law Society.

  • Opinion

    2-Jun-2003

    Have you ever sat down and asked yourself: "What am I worth?" It is a question concerning (some may say plaguing) many senior lawyers at the moment as they seek to move from one firm to another

  • Oppenheimer unsettled after mass defection

    2-Jun-2003

    The future of Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly's Silicon Valley office is hanging in the balance with the imminent defection of 25 of its lawyers to Dechert.

  • Penningtons property department drives profits hike

    5-Jun-2003

    Penningtons has seen a continued increase in turnover and net profits this year, with fee income hitting £21.2 million and net profits rising to £4.4 million.Fee income was up a total of 14.6 per cent, with net profits rising 11 per cent. However, profits per equity partner fell from £140,000 to £120,000 after the firm last year extended its equity partnership from 20 partners ...

  • Pillsbury hires Wilson Sonsini’s New York co-founder for East Coast push

    5-Jun-2003

    Pillsbury Winthrop has widened its recruitment drive to the US East Coast after taking on the co-founding partner of West Coast rival Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s New York office. Babak ‘Bo’ Yaghmaie is joining the firm’s corporate and securities group where he will specialise in high-tech, life science, investment bank and venture capital clients. His departure will leave Wilson Sonsini’s New York office with two partners and five associates. ...

  • Playing doctors

    2-Jun-2003

    Tulkinghorn hears that some fragile souls at Clifford Chance are still reeling from an incident that involved a bit too much of the old global reaching. There they were idly bantering by the window, when one of them looked out and nearly dropped his coffee.Clearly visible in Barts Hospital was a couple going at it like the clappers. "The thing was," a shocked lawyer told Tulkinghorn, ...

  • QC hauled over the coals by Medical Defence Union

    2-Jun-2003

    Leading medical negligence silk Paul Rees QC is himself being sued for negligence by the Medical Defence Union (MDU).

  • Real estate deals round-up

    2-Jun-2003

    Nabarro Nathanson (Malcolm Iley) advised Leicester City Council on a £300m integrated waste management PFI project. The contract will be delivered by Biffa, advised by Cripps & Shone (John Gabbitas) and on construction matters by Lester Aldridge.

  • RPC hires Hammonds partner to build up corporate business

    2-Jun-2003

    Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RCP) has seen its turnover rise to £40m, a 12 per cent increase on 2001-2002, and has started to build on its corporate department with the hire of Hammonds partner Barry Stimpson.

  • Russell Jones & Walker says New Claims Direct is no TAG

    2-Jun-2003

    Russell Jones & Walker (RJW) has sought to distance its New Claims Direct service from that of The Accident Group (TAG), which collapsed last week, as well as from the old Claims Direct service, which RJW purchased in February 2003.

  • Russell McVeagh wins in Privy Court

    2-Jun-2003

    Russell McVeagh, the leading New Zealand law firm which has faced 180 complaints of misconduct, has won a battle against the Auckland District Law Society to keep hold of legally privileged documents.

  • Shearman shakes up Singapore

    2-Jun-2003

    Shearman & Sterling has had a rejig in Singapore, transferring two partners, including Asian managing partner Whitney Pidot, to other jurisdictions, and relocating a third back into the Singapore office.

  • Sidley defections trigger Gide London launch

    4-Jun-2003

    French firm Gide Loyrette Nouel has grasped the opportunity to open a London office after being approached by four partners from US best friend Sidley Austin Brown & Wood.UK-qualified partners Michael Doran and Colin Mercer and US-qualified partners Scott Cameron and Christopher Mead will launch the office with Gide partner Arnaud Duhamel, who will relocate from Paris. The haul of Sidley ...

  • Son of the desert

    2-Jun-2003

    After being banished to the Sahara by the Spanish government, Rodrigo Uría is now bending its ear on law reforms. Naomi Rovnick reports

  • Squire Sanders raids Coudert in Beijing push

    3-Jun-2003

    Squire Sanders & Dempsey’s China practice has scooped a team from the Beijing office of Coudert Brothers.The US firm has added US-qualified partners James Zimmerman and Sungo Shim and three associates to its Beijing office, taking the number of lawyers to eight.Zimmerman advises on foreign inward investment matters in China, including joint ventures, liquidation and dissolution ...

  • TAG founder slams PWC over text message redundancies

    2-Jun-2003

    PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) partners Michael Horrocks and Craig Livsey shocked commentators last Friday when they used text messages to fire employees of defunct no win no fee personal injury claims business The Accident Group (TAG). TAG’s administrator PwC, which is advised by DLA Manchester partner Peter Somekh, sent further messages informing employees that they would not receive May’s salary. TAG’s founder and former chairman Mark Langford criticised ...

  • The story so far

    2-Jun-2003

    Last week, The Lawyer reported on the new pro bono protocol that, for the first time, defines what legal pro bono is. The protocol sets out basic standards for legal pro bono work. It defines pro bono legal work as "legal advice or representation provided by lawyers to individuals and community groups who cannot afford to pay for that advice and where public funding is not available". The protocol also states that only qualified lawyers should undertake pro bono work and that "the lawyer ...

  • Tods Murray boosts status with takeover

    2-Jun-2003

    Scottish firm Tods Murray has taken over Glasgow-based boutique Browning & Bowes.

  • Trainee solicitor salaries swell as Law Society Council steps in

    2-Jun-2003

    Trainee solicitors have welcomed a "modest" pay in-crease, which sees minimum salaries for trainee solicitors rise from £14,600 to £15,300 in central London and from £13,000 to £13,600 in England and Wales, following a review by the Law Society

  • Training ways

    2-Jun-2003

    In suggesting that the Government has "decided to let" universities charge top-up fees, Lawyer 2B's deputy editor Jennifer Farrar (Lawyer 2B, May 2003) should have said that the white paper proposals give vice-chancellors little option in view of stipulations on increased student intakes, but without additional funding

  • Two more jump ship at Khattar Wong

    2-Jun-2003

    Eversheds' Singapore best friend Khattar Wong & Partners (KWP) has this week lost a partner and an associate, the latest in a string of defections over the past few months.

  • Wacks Caller

    2-Jun-2003

    Wacks Caller is is secretive about its figures, but claims turnover is up

  • Winston & Strawn's plan for London finally realised

    2-Jun-2003

    The former London managing partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius has defected to Winston & Strawn in order to spearhead the Chicago firm's much-anticipated move into the UK market.

  • Worldly wise

    2-Jun-2003

    Gaining an international legal capability doesn't just happen, and a cross-fertilisation of knowledge certainly helps. Peter Jones and Jill Janney investigate

  • YSG slams Law Soc over new clause

    2-Jun-2003

    The Young Solicitors' Group (YSG) has hit out at the Law Society after being compelled to enter into the Recognised Groups Agreement. The YSG was told by the Law Society that it had to sign the terms of the agreement by 30 May or risk losing its annual grant. A controversial clause requires the YSG to write to all its members to ask them if they want to be part of the group, a clause which does not apply to the Law Society itself.

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