The Lawyer
2 June 2008
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Image scrimmage
2-Jun-2008
In a bid to update its image, Macfarlanes has hung a collection of unusual photographs in its new Cursitor Street offices.
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People
2-Jun-2008
#Clifford Chance partner Daniela Weber-Ray has been appointed as a member of the board of directors at BNP Paribas. She remains a Clifford Chance partner.
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Sides splitting
2-Jun-2008
The Suez-Gaz de France (GdF) merger has been complicated by some lawyers playing musical chairs. Agathe Soilleux, a French M&A lawyer formerly at Suez adviser Linklaters, moved to Weil Gotshal & Manges. Fortunately Weil was also instructed on the same side.
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The Apprentice analysed...
5-Jun-2008
Each week we watch as Sir Alan Sugar yells 'YOU'RE FIRED!' at one of The Apprentice wannabes.
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A&O launches Romania outpost
2-Jun-2008
#Allen & Overy (A&O) has launched a presence in Romania, signing an exclusive association with local firm Radu Taracila Padurari Retevoescu (RTPR). The alliance will be up and running from the start of July. A&O has announced the move in the same week that magic circle rival Linklaters signalled a retreat from the Romanian market. The associated office will be renamed 'RTPR in Association with Allen & Overy' and will form part of A&O's Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) practice, ...
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A&O takes on Lehman real estate chief
2-Jun-2008
#Allen & Overy (A&O) has recruited Lehman Brothers head of global real estate as a partner in its New York office. David Broderick, who was senior counsel at the investment bank, joins the real estate group and will focus on property debt and equity investments for private equity funds, financial institutions and real estate investors. A&O New York managing partner Kevin O'Shea said: "David's unique experience and skill set will be critical to continuing to build our strong relationship ...
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A&O takes top role on Corporate Express deal
2-Jun-2008
Allen & Overy's (A&O) Amsterdam office has scored a lead role on one of the biggest corporate deals to hit the Netherlands this year, advising Corporate Express on its e1.7bn (£1.35bn) takeover of wholesaler Lyreco.
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Addleshaw Goddard: babies and bathwater
5-Jun-2008
It’s been a disappointing year for Addleshaws’ national real estate practice group, which nudged turnover up just two percent.
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Addleshaws' City banking team holds its own
2-Jun-2008
Addleshaw Goddard's turnover increased by 10.6 per cent, hitting £195.4m after last year's £176.7m.
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Arnold & Porter bags Winston & Strawn lawyer to head Euro corporate
6-Jun-2008
Arnold & Porter has boosted its London office with the hire of Geneva-based Winston & Strawn corporate partner Carl Liederman.
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Baby boom
2-Jun-2008
Recent legislation on maternity rights gives women contractual benefits for the whole of their maternity leave.
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Bar Council launches in Europe
4-Jun-2008
The Bar Council today (3 June) launched a new Brussels office in a bid to expand the representative body's reach into the European Union.
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Bircham promotes duo to partnership
2-Jun-2008
Bircham Dyson Bell has made up two to the partnership, bringing the overall number of partners to 52.
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Bird & Bird sees stellar year with £27m turnover boost
2-Jun-2008
Bird & Bird has emerged as one of the fastest-growing technology and media outfits in the top 100 firms, outstripping its peers with a 23.7 per cent increase in turnover to reach £143m.
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BLP, Simmons & Simmons in £635m MoD training deal
5-Jun-2008
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), Linklaters and Simmons & Simmons have scored roles advising on a £635m contract to provide flight training for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
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Chadbourne & Parke launches in Brazil
5-Jun-2008
Chadbourne & Parke has confirmed that it is to follow its recent opening in Mexico with an office launch in Brazil, The Lawyer can reveal.
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Childs 'pleased' despite drop in CC's growth rate
2-Jun-2008
Clifford Chance global managing partner David Childs said he was pleased with the firm's 2007-08 financial performance, despite seeing a slowdown on the previous year's rate of growth.
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China's Zhonglun builds links in Europe
2-Jun-2008
Chinese firm Zhonglun W&D Law Firm is continuing its assault on the European market with its first associations with firms in the UK and Italy.
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Cravath, Paul Weiss win Time Warner deal
2-Jun-2008
Cravath Swaine & Moore and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison snared lead roles on Time Warner's $9.25bn (£4.68bn) spin off of its cable television operations. Longstanding adviser Cravath advised Time Warner on the deal, which has separated the media conglomerate from Time Warner Cable. Corporate relationship partner Richard Hall led the team. Paul Weiss corporate partners Ariel Deckelbaum and Robert Schumer led the team advising Time Warner Cable.
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Cripps shakes up leadership to create four new departments
2-Jun-2008
South East firm Cripps Harries Hall has revamped its internal leadership structure with the creation of four new departments.
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Cuatrecasas associates study for US degree
2-Jun-2008
Leading Spanish firm Cuatrecasas has launched an international training programme for star associates, giving them the chance to study for a masters degree in the US.
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Dentons sheiks its booty
2-Jun-2008
David Pfeiffer, the partner that Dentons has nicked from Bryan Cave to set up shop in Kuwait (see front page) says there was a host of reasons why he had virtually no competition when he was at Bryan Cave.
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Dentons swipes Bryan Cave office for Kuwait launch
2-Jun-2008
Denton Wilde Sapte is launching in Kuwait, poaching the entire office of Bryan Cave, the only international law firm in the country.
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Disabled solicitors group elects new chair
2-Jun-2008
#David Merkel has been elected chairman of the Group for Solicitors with Disabilities following the death of acting chair Sue Maynard last month. Merkel, who is partially sighted, is a former local government solicitor who now lectures at a number of colleges and trains entrants to the Army and the Royal Air Force. He said: "I intend to continue Sue's work. As I said in a eulogy given for Sue at the May Law Society Council [meeting], there can be no place for negative words such ...
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Employment
2-Jun-2008
Gillian Switalski's £13.4m sexual discrimination claim against F&C Asset Management has put sexual discrimination in the headlines. F&C's former general counsel claims she was overlooked for management positions in favour of her male counterparts. F&C deny such claims and is trying to have the case heard by the Court of Appeal.
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England Lawyers World Cup squad
2-Jun-2008
He will have to make do instead with the Lawyers World Cup in Alicante, also known as the Mundiavocat 2008. At least the English lawyers have a chance of winning it, represented by the boys from London Lawyers FC, the reigning European champions.
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Eversheds joins diversity group after 2nd Tyco deal
3-Jun-2008
Eversheds has become the first law firm to become a member of the diversity promoters Minority Supplier Development UK (MSDUK).
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Eversheds tax head to return as consultant
2-Jun-2008
#Eversheds tax chief Tom Daltry has resigned from his post, but from September will return to the firm as a consultant. Daltry's post has been filled by Leeds and London-based tax planning partner David Jervis. Jervis said that he was surprised by Daltry's retirement, but that he was keen to step up to the challenge. "It'll be business ...
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Eversheds: green-eyed or just naive?
2-Jun-2008
Over the past couple of weeks, few lawyers can have missed the avalanche of publicity associated with Eversheds' report The Law Firm of the 21st Century.
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Ex McGrigors chief, banking partner join Eversheds
4-Jun-2008
McGrigors’ former managing partner, Colin Gray, has left the firm for a role at Eversheds, where he will be joined by McGrigors banking partner Colin McKay.
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Exchange wins Peel Court criminal team
2-Jun-2008
Manchester's Exchange Chambers has raided Peel Court Chambers for a three-barrister criminal team.
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Former Milberg head sentenced to 30 months jail
2-Jun-2008
The former head of Milberg Weiss Bershad & Shulman (now known as Milberg), Melvyn Weiss was sentenced to 30 months in prison today (Monday 2 June) for his role in a kickbacks scheme relating to securities class action cases.
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Freshfields and Slaughters seal £2bn TNS merger
4-Jun-2008
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May have been handed places on the £2.2bn merger between market research companies Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) and Germany's GfK.
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Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer PEP surges 39 per cent
2-Jun-2008
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has seen a 39 per cent rocket in average profit per equity partner (PEP), with partners now taking home an average of £1.44m. Total turnover has jumped 19.5 per cent, to hit £1.18bn.
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Freshfields moves two more partners to Middle East
2-Jun-2008
Two more Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partners have relocated to the Middle East, with Charles July and Ian Poynton joining Bob Charlton in Dubai.
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Freshfields to launch office in Abu Dhabi
3-Jun-2008
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is to launch an office in Abu Dhabi under Charles July, who relocated to the Middle East last week (The Lawyer, 2 June).
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Gaz de France gets green light for €67bn Suez merger
2-Jun-2008
News that the Gaz de France (GdF) works council has issued its formal opinion on the proposed e67bn (£53.07bn) merger between French utility company Suez and GdF allows the companies to proceed to board and shareholder approval.
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Google faces legal action by top brands
2-Jun-2008
Legal chiefs at some of the UK's leading brands convened a crisis meeting last week to look at the legality ;of ;Google's revamped keywords policy, which they believe infringes their trademarks.
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Heller chairman coy over merger rumours
2-Jun-2008
The chairman of US firm Heller Ehrman has refused to rule out a merger after respected litigator Paul Alexander became the seventeenth partner to leave the firm this year.
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Holier than thou
2-Jun-2008
Tulkinghorn is an admirer of the game of golf and its followers. He feels that golf has the advantages of being a sport where the consumption of alcohol is encouraged and younever need break into a sweat.
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Islington Council turns to 11KBW to defend religious discrimination suit
2-Jun-2008
11KBW is defending Islington Borough Council in a discrimination?claim brought by a Christian registrar who refuses to marry same-sex couples.
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Latham raids Davis Polk for structured finance hire
5-Jun-2008
Latham & Watkins has raided the New York office of Davis Polk & Wardwell for a structured finance and capital markets partner.
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Latham reveals restructuring ardour
2-Jun-2008
Next month in London, a rather swanky West End hotel will play host to a panoply of insolvency and restructuring specialists keen to offer their insights into the state of the market
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Law Soc lashes out after fine for poor performance
4-Jun-2008
The Law Society has lashed out at the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner Zahida Manzoor after it was fined £275,000 for inadequate complaints handling.
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Linklaters ditches CEE presence for 'virtual offices'
2-Jun-2008
Linklaters is set to launch a series of virtual offices based in London as it axes its real offices in Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest and Prague.
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Linklaters ditches CEE to follow fashionable Eemena
2-Jun-2008
The legal industry may be traditional, but it is not immune to changing fashions.
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Linklaters litigation star quits for Vinson & Elkins
3-Jun-2008
Vinson & Elkins is ramping up its Asia disputes offering with the hire of Linklaters litigation and arbitration star Christopher Walker.
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Linklaters, Cleary in TPG's £150m B&B investment
2-Jun-2008
Linklaters has won a role alongside Cleary Gottlieb advising US private equity giant Texas Pacific Group (TPG) on its £150m investment in UK bank Bradford & Bingley.
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Littleton unveils mediation service
2-Jun-2008
Commercial and employment set Littleton Chambers has launched a rapid mediation service.
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Lovells promotes 46 to of counsel
5-Jun-2008
Lovells has promoted a total of 46 lawyers to its of counsel role, with the appointments spread across a broad range of practice groups.
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LSA inspires Hodgart-Kite merger
2-Jun-2008
Alan Hodgart's consultancy H4 is merging with Julia Chain's consultancy Kite Partnership as Hodgart prepares to take advantage of the Legal Services Act.
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Martineau Johnson PEP surges 48 per cent
4-Jun-2008
Birmingham-based Martineau Johnson has grown average profit per equity partner (PEP) by almost half.
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Martineau Johnson: mission accomplished?
6-Jun-2008
Birmingham-based Martineau Johnson may only just scrape the nether regions of the UK 100, but this year’s PEP result suggests it is a firm on the rise.
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Mauritius revamps legal sector to lure global firms
2-Jun-2008
Mauritius is on the verge of overhauling its legal sector in a bid to entice international firms to set up shop in the jurisdiction and to raise its financial services profile.
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McGrigors leads Indian power company AIM listing
2-Jun-2008
McGrigors has scored a coup for new client OPG Power Ventures, floating the Indian power plant business on AIM.
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Michele Pullan: Marsh & McLennan
2-Jun-2008
After 10 years at insurance broker Marsh & McLennan, even a high-profile price-fixing claim couldn't faze Emea legal head Michele Pullan.
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Mourant CEO leaves to join hedge fund
6-Jun-2008
Top offshore firm Mourant du Feu & Jeune is facing a change of leadership as current CEO Stephen Ball steps down to join a hedge fund.
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Norton Rose grapples with team transfer
2-Jun-2008
The continuing global focus of law firms has seen an increasing number of lawyers relocating to different offices, throwing up a raft of HR issues.
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OFT raids banks on law firms' loans investigation
3-Jun-2008
The OFT has raided Barclays and the RBS as it launches an investigation in to the price-fixing of loans to professional services companies such as law firms.
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Outside influences
2-Jun-2008
New law makes employers liable for the harassment of staff by third parties. How will this affect the legal profession? Rachel Dineley reports
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Pastures new for Freshfields
3-Jun-2008
What do Wachtell, Cravath and Sullivan & Cromwell have in common?
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PLMJ rejigs management and launches merit-based pay initiative
2-Jun-2008
Portugal's largest law firm PLMJ has revamped its management structure and set up a new partner remuneration scheme.
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Prior desire
2-Jun-2008
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Quinn Emanuel recruits magic circle talent for London launch
4-Jun-2008
US litigation powerhouse Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges has bolstered its new London presence with the hire of a trio of associates.
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Reed Smith taps Clydes for energy hire
5-Jun-2008
Reed Smith has ramped up its energy, trade and commodities group with the hire of Clyde & Co partner Robert Parson.
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Reid Minty issues 'come and get us' merger plea
2-Jun-2008
West End litigation boutique Reid Minty has taken the novel step of putting itself up for sale.
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RPC media litigation head moves inhouse at Daily Mail
4-Jun-2008
Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) media litigation head Liz Hartley is to take up an in house role at Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail and London's Evening Standard.
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Separated at birth
2-Jun-2008
Fans of cinema will be pleased to hear that Hollywood legend Burt Lancaster has resurfaced as a construction partner at HBJ Gateley Wareing. Lancaster had been lying low at Simmons & Simmons in the guise of the firm's construction head Robert Bryan, but could not help but hit the headlines when he jumped ship to HBJ. How long he stays at his new firm is open to speculation, but HBJ will be hoping it's From Here to Eternity.
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Simmons doesn't believe in magic, just the reality of its global sectors
2-Jun-2008
Since ditching its magic circle dreams, Simmons is following a global sector-focused strategy.
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Sorry is the hardest word
3-Jun-2008
In its final report on the near-collapse of Northern Rock, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) says that in future its supervisors should watch out for ‘dominant or aggressive individuals’. No names, no pack drill – and no comfort at all to the 2000 staff expected to lose their jobs over the next three months as the lender tries to halve its £110 billion mortgage book. But In an admirable display of candour the FSA has confessed to major failings in its handling of Newcastle-based Northern Ro
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Stephens & Scown
2-Jun-2008
When he joined South West firm Stephens & Scown in 2005, chief executive Andy Steele says he identified gaps in the firm's offering. Since then he has spent his time "filling".
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Technology firms: RPP reveals all
4-Jun-2008
On the surface, Bird & Bird and FFW seem to be shooting ahead of the pack, with TwoBirds having added 23.7 per cent to turnover this year, FFW 30 per cent.
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Test position 2
3-Jun-2008
Test position 2
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THE LAWYER AWARDS 2008 PREVIEW
2-Jun-2008
The Lawyer Awards 2008 is the premier event in the legal calendar. Every June around 1,500 of the industry’s leading lawyers gather in the Great Room of the Grosvenor House Hotel to celebrate their achievements of the previous year.
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The magic circle - a new ring leader to emerge?
2-Jun-2008
Clifford Chance and Freshfields have both announced their financial figures for the 2007-08 financial year but, rather than giving a clear picture of how the magic circle as a whole has fared, the numbers have thrown up more questions than they have answered.
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The work-life quiz James Stewart
2-Jun-2008
What was your first-ever job?As a farmer's son, I helped with farmyard tasks while I was home from boarding school.
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Top firms retain FTSE stranglehold amid tough times
2-Jun-2008
In the past three months several of the FTSE100's biggest names have fallen victim to takeovers, leaving City firms to wave goodbye to some of their most prized clients.
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UK braced for downturn as redundancies hit US
2-Jun-2008
The turmoil in the US legal market hit a new peak last week when Chicago-based firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal announced that it was cutting 31 lawyers and 93 support staff from core practices.
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US trio acts on vodka giant buyout
2-Jun-2008
Three US firms won roles on UK private equity house Lion Capital's $600m (£303.58m) purchase of Russian Alcohol. Weil Gotshal & Manges corporate partner Ian Hamilton, London managing partner Michael Francies and tax partner Sarah Priestley represented Lion Capital. Russian Alcohol instructed Hogan & Hartson Paris corporate partner Xenia Legendre, while the Central European Distribution Company, which provided $156.5m (£79.18m) of equity used Dewey & LeBoeuf M&A partner Stephen ...
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Wachovia hires Citigroup general counsel for in-house chief role
2-Jun-2008
Wachovia has snared Citigroup's global consumer group general counsel to head its 400-strong in-house legal team.
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Walker Morris year-end figures prove disappointing
2-Jun-2008
Walker Morris has announced a turnover rise of just 0.6 per cent. Revenue was £48m in the last financial year, up from £47.7m.
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Ward Hadaway opens in Leeds with raids on rivals
3-Jun-2008
Newcastle-based Ward Hadaway is to open in Leeds after poaching five partners and two associates.
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Ward Hadaway PEP grows just 2.5 per cent
5-Jun-2008
Newcastle-based Ward Hadaway has increased turnover 13 per cent to £28m, from £25.1m this time last year.
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Watson Farley & Williams turnover up 9 per cent
4-Jun-2008
Watson Farley & Williams has increased turnover to £59m, a 9.3 per cent increase on last year’s figure of £54m.
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Web week
2-Jun-2008
The Lawyer's Web Week is a weekly commentary on legal activity on the web. This includes an overview of the best of the week's blogs. If you want to direct us to useful links, email webweek@thelawyer. com.
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Weil set to join Middle East influx
2-Jun-2008
Weil Gotshal & Manges is on the cusp of entering the Middle East, with a Dubai office launch planned for the end of the year.
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Whistle Weil you work
6-Jun-2008
The long-awaited sigh of relief breathed by Weil Gotshal & Manges yesterday (5 June) could be heard in Manhattan.
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Withers partner joins Stevens & Bolton
2-Jun-2008
#Surrey-based Stevens & Bolton has hired private client partner Stuart Skeffington from Withers. Skeffington specialises in advising on taxation of investments, complex offshore structures, business exits and reconstructions, tax planning for international families and employee remuneration strategies. Skeffington was at Withers for five years. He said: "I'm very sad to leave Withers, but I need to be closer to home and Stevens & Bolton is a very good firm."
