2 May 2005
The Lawyer
Firm gripe
Tulkinghorn had a busy seven days last week. Not only was he out and about with the Kirkland chaps, he also made it over to a private view at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art.
3/4 South Square adds two new associates
Top insolvency set 3/4 South Square has hired two associate members, bringing its number of door tenants to 12. Sydneybased barrister John Sheehan SC specialises in insolvency and banking law. He also practises in competition law, which the set is looking to grow. Oxford University professor William Swadling is also joining as an academic associate member.He specialises in restitution, personal property, land law, trusts, torts and constitutional and administrative law.
A&O leads NatWest quest for Lords' insolvency law ruling
Allen & Overy (A&O) was in the House of Lords last week in a case that could have far-reaching repercussions for insolvency law.
A&O scoops Raiffeisen IPO
Allen & Overy (A&O) has won Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding as a new client after advising the group on the largest IPO in the history of the Vienna Stock Exchange.
ABN boosts Linklaters' Dutch offering
Linklaters appears to have finally won its battle to establish a Dutch law capability. The firm has advised ABN Amro Rothschild on the €2.5bn (£1.7bn) share offering by ABN Amro Holding, the largest equity offering by a Dutch issuer in several months.
Access to Justice Alliance pans Govt for legal aid laxity
There is "a demographic timebomb" ticking at the heart of publicly-funded community legal services, warned Nony Ardill, chair of the Access to Justice Alliance (AJA), at its first public meeting at London's City University, which was organised by this new coalition of community groups and lawyers.
Ashurst to lead Constellation in Allied Domecq scrummage
What promises to be a battle for the booze is proving something of an extravaganza for UK law firms, with no fewer than four UK firms advising on bids and possible counter-offers for Allied Domecq.
Auntie sallies
The BBC Trust is designed to prevent conflicts in the regulation of the corporation. But the Green Paper throws up just as many issues as it resolves. By Daniel Sandelson
Bar fails to lure ethnic minorities and women
The number of barristers in independent practice rose last year to more than 11,500 for the first time - but the percentage of women and ethnic minorities in the profession has remained static.
Bar's pupil numbers plummet by 20 per cent
The number of pupils at the bar crashed by 20 per cent between 2003 and 2004, statistics published in the Bar Council Annual Report reveal.
Bates Wells & Braithwaite stays firm favourite for charities work
Bates Wells & Braithwaite has scored a second successive year at the top of an annual league table for law firms with charity clients.
Bevan Brittan raids Beachcrofts for health team
Regional player Bevan Brittan is accelerating its push into the health sector with the hire of a team from Beachcroft Wansbroughs.
BLP raids Dentons for asset finance star
Berwin Leighton Paisner has raided Denton Wilde Sapte for its highly rated asset finance head Lisa Marks. A senior equity partner, Marks has been at DWS for almost 20 years and sources describe her as superior client manager and a popular figure at the firm. Clients include RBS Structured Asset Finance and Cenargo.
Calyon to shake up advisers
French corporate and investment bank Calyon is launching its inaugural panel review of external law firms two years after its formation, which came about through Crédit Agricole's acquisition of Crédit Lyonnais.
Camerons joins the rush to become an LLP
CMS Cameron McKenna has become the latest UK firm to jump on the limited-liability partnership (LLP) bandwagon. Camerons partners voted in favour of LLP conversion last week and the change will take effect on 1 May. Other firms converting in time for the start of the new financial year include Freshfields Bruckhaus ...
Careers: In brief
Staffordshire University law students Shula Hickey and Eddy Bainbridge have won the 2005 national Negotiation Competition held between law schools across the UK. The competition, now in its eighth year, demonstrates the skill of negotiation in the UK's future lawyers. This year the competition was supported by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, whose judges were impressed by the Staffordshire winners' consistent ability to achieve successful
Careers: People
West Country firm Ashfords has made a trio of partnership promotions, with Flora Wood, Jason Squire and Michelle Bevan becoming partners in the employment and personal injury groups.
Cedr link-up targets US ADR work
The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (Cedr), Europe's biggest provider of mediation services, has struck an international strategic alliance with its US equivalent, Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (Jams).
Chadbourne lures back White & Case insurance ace
Insurance partner John Sarchio has rejoined Chadbourne & Parke from White & Case.
Cleary Gottlieb elects new chief
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has elected Mark Walker to become its new managing partner.
Clifford Chance elects new Dutch managing partner
Clifford Chance has elected banking specialist Jan ter Haar as its new Dutch managing partner.
Cobbetts in management rejig
Cobbetts is undergoing a management shake-up as senior partner Stephen White steps down to be replaced by commercial property partner Stephen Benson. Benson is already on the firm's partnership board and has been a member of the operational executive since 1996. White is due to retire in April 2007. Corporate partner Maurice Cowan will become the chair of Cobbetts' partnership board, and managing partner Michael Shaw continues in his present role. First revealed on www.thelawyer.com 26 April
Cobbetts ramps up Birmingham property with DLA Piper hire
Cobbetts is continuing a push into the Birmingham property market with the hire of a partner from DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary.
Coming on strong
Simmons is trying to arrest three years of decline with an astonishing thirty-five per cent profit hike. Can Mark Dawkins keep it going? By Catrin Griffiths
DAC loses partner to George Davies
Manchester firm George Davies Solicitors is strengthening its sports department with the hire of Davies Arnold Cooper (DAC) partner Gareth Williams.
DAC secures swimmers' right to use Hampstead Heath pond
Davies Arnold Cooper (DAC) has secured an important victory for the Hampstead Heath Winter Swimming Club in its case to swim in the Mixed Pond on Hampstead Heath unattended by a lifeguard.
Demonstrating Value in HR
For many years, senior management teams in law firms have only used one performance indicator when gauging the health of their businesses - financial data. Now this is of course vital, for reasons that do not need rehearsing here.
Down to the wire
Traditional telephony providers are right to be worried by the advent of wifi and WiMAX, as it will blow fixed-line services out of the water. By Simon Rendell
Driving force
No other organisation has done more towards reforming the provision of legal services than RAC Legal Services. Joanne Harris talks to its legal chief about playing the long game
Ernst & Young QC attacks Herbert Smith disclosure in Equitable Life case
Herbert Smith yesterday (3 May) found itself on the receiving end of claims that it has not made full disclosure of vital documents in the Equitable Life case.
Eversheds IP head jumps ship to Taylor Vinters
Eversheds has suffered another blow to its IP practice with the loss of national IP head Patrick Farrant to Taylor Vinters.
Firm profile: Dickinson Dees
“Fact: we can provide a service that is equal to or better than most major City of London law firms.” This is the declaration on the homepage of North East firm Dickinson Dees’ website.
Flavour of the month
Nabarro Nathanson's fragrant and lovely managing partner Nicky Paradise has a new nickname. Around the byways and highways of Theobald's Road, she's apparently now known as 'Golden Wonder', and all because of her "crisp management style", as described in The Lawyer's leader two weeks ago.
Freeth Cartwright boasts 30 per cent hike in profit
Midlands firm Freeth Cartwright is celebrating a record financial year, with a profit rise of 30 per cent.
Freshfields sees EWG through buyout of Aviagen from Advent
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has landed its first instruction from the Erich Wesjohann Group (EWG), the privately-owned German poultry-breeding business - beating German rival Hengeler Mueller for the job.
Freshfields to rejig finance as global head calls it a day
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer global head of finance Simon Hall is to step down a year early – triggering a wholesale shake-up of management roles in that practice area and prompting internal speculation over succession.
Freshfields, Linklaters to act on Pyaterochka IPO
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters have scooped the lead roles on the IPO of Russia's largest grocery retailer Pyaterochka.
Gide bolsters New York office by two
French giant Gide Loyrette Nouel is beefing up its US practice dramatically by hiring two partners for its New York office.
GrapevineWhite & Case's defined benefits pension pops its clogs
More pensions shake-ups: White & Case has scrapped its defined benefits pension scheme in favour of a cheaper defined contribution system. A spokesperson says it had recognised that the scheme was "increasingly difficult to maintain". The move affects all of White & Case's US staff, as well as all partners globally.
HallMark eyes new litigation launch and AIM placement
Trademark and IP group HallMark IP has unveiled radical plans to acquire litigation capability and for a potential float on AIM, just one week after the group was bought out by brand consultancy Nucleus.
Hammonds' Italian rebels deliver the final ultimatum
Rossotto threatens to split from UK firm; Turin partners demand immediate action on profits
Hammonds loses insolvency partner to SJ Berwin
Hammonds has lost its first fixed-share equity partner since the institution of a 14-month lock-in for equity partners.
Hearsay
Which US firm ran up an £800 bar bill between four people in an effort to recruit an associate, and still failed?
Herbert Smith defends disclosure record in Equitable case
Equitable Life’s lead counsel Iain Milligan QC today (4 May) rebuffed claims that instructing solicitors Herbert Smith had failed to carry out a full disclosure exercise in preparing for the assurance society’s claim against former auditors Ernst & Young (E&Y).
Herbies grows BPE links by advising on Admiral sell-off
Herbert Smith has strengthened its relationship with Barclays Private Equity (BPE) after advising it on the sale of a stake in motor insurer Admiral Group.
Lauris: the lovely Latvian lawyer
More from the website of Tulkinghorn's favourite Latvian lawyers Borenius & Kemppinen.
Law Soc rails against Appeal Court torture ruling
The Law Society and 13 other organisations will make representations to the Law Lords when they hear an appeal against a Court of Appeal ruling that found evidence obtained by torture is admissible in UK courts. The case, A & nine ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department, was heard in the Court of Appeal last year and dismissed. The appellants are 10 foreign nationals detained in the UK without charge or trial. The Law Society has instructed Leigh Day & Co and Doughty Street Chambers' ..
LeBoeuf snares five Thelen partners
Thelen Reid & Priest has lost five partners to LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae.
Linklaters’ NY push sees London partner go Stateside
Linklaters’ burgeoning New York office is beefing up its corporate capability with the addition of London-based partner Andrew Mackie. The move is part of an overall aggressive US hiring policy aimed at relaunching its 30-year-old New York office.
Minnesota doter
Tulkinghorn had the rare pleasure of meeting a bunch of Kirkland & Ellis partners the other day. Bumping into the gathered throng at the Vertigo bar in Tower 42, the great man was regaled with tales of the success of the London office, the success of the new Munich office and the plans for world domination.
New clients: the be all and end all
Lawyers are increasingly being judged on their ability to win new business and convert it into long-term clients, thus effective new business developers (or rainmakers) are in high demand. Research has shown that winning new clients takes persistence, systems and hard work. It takes an average of 18 months and/or six independent 'contacts' with your prospect ...
Opinion
Will the decision on the Beckhams' nanny give carte blanche to careers in backstabbing?
Osborne Clarke gettin' techy wid it
Osborne Clarke, the one-time cheerleader for all things TMT, has had its head down these last few years. On 28 April, however, TMT was back. Top tech partner Simon Rendell was even heard to utter the word "convergence".
Pemberton Greenish and M Law link up with referral agreement
Pemberton Greenish and M Law link up with referral agreement" /West end media boutique M Law has formed a strategic alliance with Knightsbridge-based private client and property firm Pemberton Greenish.
Peter Charlton emerges as favourite to become CC global corporate chief
Clifford Chance is preparing to anoint London managing partner Peter Charlton as global head of corporate following soundings taken among the firm's partners.
Peters & Peters senior partner steps down
Peters & Peters senior partner steps down" /Monty Raphael (left), senior partner at West End litigation boutique Peters & Peters, is stepping down, to be replaced by civil fraud head Keith Oliver. Raphael will return to full-time fee-earning and continue to lead the fraud and regulatory practice. He will ...
Pitmans makes London incursion
Reading-based Pitmans is opening an office in London tomorrow (3 May) to service its growing workload. Turnover has increased by more than 20 per cent in the last five years, together with a steady growth in banking, corporate and planning work in the City and Docklands. It has also maintained its traditional technology, media and telecoms client base in the South East. The new offices will be at No 1 Cornhill Row. Pitmans has 20 partners, two consultants and a staff of 215.
RAC initiates forum to progress legal issues
RAC Legal Services is setting out to be a proactive voice campaigning on political and legal issues affecting both itself and its panel of law firms.
Restructuring costs Egg counsel his job
Egg has made its chief legal officer and company secretary Marcus Ezekiel redundant as part of a forthcoming costs restructuring exercise.
Richards Butler sinks insurance fraudsters
Richards Butler has recorded a victory in a highly unusual shipping case in which shipowners were found guilty of bombing their own vessel.
Ring the ring of posers
If ONE is working in Paris it's important to distinguish oneself on matters of style. And for two of the Paris legal market's leading lights, this extends to more than just dress sense.
Russell-Cooke acquires media boutique
Forty-partner London firm Russell-Cooke has bolted on a media and entertainment team in the shape of former boutique Harrison Curtis. It is the firm’s second merger this year, following March’s takeover of niche personal injury and clinical negligence practice Evill & Coleman.Harrison Curtis was founded in 1998 by former The Simkins Partnership partners Lawrence Harrison and Tim Curtis. It ...
Separated at birth
He's a rogue, there's no doubt about it - but a charmer too.
Shearman & Sterling senior partner quits for Morgan Stanley role
Shearman & Sterling has lost its senior partner to US investment bank client Morgan Stanley.
Takeover panel must retain flexibility
The Takeover Panel’s imposition of a bid deadline on the Glazer camp in the Man-chester United saga is just the latest edict to a potential bidder to put up or shut up. In the old days, the panel pretty much confined itself to refereeing the action once the formal bid timetable began. In the last year or so, though, the panel has become much more interventionist. That put up or shut up rulings have simply mushroomed is mainly thanks to the rise of the virtual bid – a phenomenon driven ...
The intellectual choice
It is only natural that Ireland, the birthplace of copyright law, should be a world leader in the provision of IP services. John Whelan reports on a promising future
The law's a bore
The times they really are a-changing, for telecoms made a healthy return to Osborne Clarke last Thursday evening (28 April).
The work-life quiz
Mark Pinder, co-head of international corporate, Bird & Bird
Train plotters
Aggrieved Railtrack shareholders will have to stump up yet more money to continue their class action. Jon Robins on how the Government and Jonathan Sumption have escalated the court costs
Unfitting behaviour
'Work hard, play hard' is all very well, but if you're a lawyer it's probably a good idea to make sure you pay your way.Sajid Hussein, Bank of America in-houser, used to be a regular down at LA Fitness (like LA Law, but with more Lycra). Now it appears the Stairmaster is beyond his reach. Hussein, it is believed, has been sued for not paying his bills. That should work up a sweat.
Wedlake Bell snaps up private client boutique
London firm Wedlake Bell has acquired boutique private client outfit Beattie & Co.
'Well and truly Flucked'
The commercial property seat on the Law Society Council was one of the profession's most hotly contested elections ever. Some 21,000 lawyers were entitled to vote, making the election the largest in the society's history. Palmer Capital Partners head Christopher Digby-Bell and former Wragge & Co real estate head honcho Gerald Bland were battling it out for places. Also campaigning was slightly less well-known ...
White & Case partner takes up top FSA post
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has raided White & Case for its new director of enforcement.
White & Case partner takes up top FSA post
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has raided White & Case for its new director of enforcement.
