2 May 2011
The Lawyer
Adapt to survive
From initially being seen as a threat, the ever-flexible Cayman is tackling the new regulatory environment head-on, says Robert Duggan
Addleshaws hikes transaction services
Addleshaw Goddard’s transaction services team (TST) has grown almost eightfold since it was piloted in November 2010.
All for nothing
Recent reassurances that Guernsey’s funds will be unaffected by changes to tax regulation cement the island’s position as a funds domicile of choice, argue Stuart Tyler and Jesse Owens
Ashurst, SNR Denton land Centrica-Qatargas deal
Ashurst and SNR Denton have advised on a £2bn tie-up between British Gas parent company Centrica Energy and Qatargas.
Breaking China
China has set up a number of obstacles to hinder investment into and out of its growing economy. By Guy Coltman
CC, Freshfields picked for Metrovacesa restructure
Clifford Chance and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have landed roles on Spanish real estate group Metrovacesa’s e5bn (£4.4bn) restructuring.
CC, Hogan Lovells, Travers act on Barclays’ acquisition of The Mill
Clifford Chance, Hogan Lovells and Travers Smith secured the top mandates on Barclays Private Equity’s (BPE) £119m acquisition of post-production business The Mill.
Chrysler turns to Sullivan as Fiat puts auto giants on road to full integration
Sullivan & Cromwell has represented Chrysler Group on a $1.27bn (£77m) purchase by Italian car maker Fiat of an additional 16 per cent stake in the US car giant.
Flight of the phoenix
Private equity activity has been reborn, with a bevy of new challenges and opportunities for those who provide the legal expertise. By Richard Addlestone
Focus: The Lawyer Awards 2011 Shortlist: The runners and riders
The race is on for the industry’s most sought-after trophies at The Lawyer Awards 2011, highlighting star performers in a year of recovery. The ceremony will take place on Tuesday 21 June at Grosvenor House. And the contenders are…
Give thanks for the Manx
The Isle of Man’s ability to attract international investment and promote growth makes it a central plank in the UK’s recovery strategy. By Geoff Kermeen
Global partner promotions plummet
The number of international partners made up by UK firms in 2011 has dipped, despite this being the first round of promotions since last year’s spate of transatlantic mergers.
GTM blames first-year loss of £3.3m on start-up costs
Greenberg Traurig Maher (GTM) London chief Paul Maher is remaining bullish about the merged firm’s fortunes after its LLP accounts revealed that it had made a loss of more than £3m during its first 10 months in the capital.
Haven forbid
Jonathan Betts and Ernest Morrison relate how Bermuda sprang into action to escape the OECD grey list and rid itself of its ’tax haven’ label
Honey for nothing, kudos for free
It is not actually a secret that there is a beehive on a rooftop in Middle Temple Gardens, but few of the barristers and staff who work nearby seem to know about it.
Isles apart
Stephen Moverley Smith QC examines some recent cases involving fund investors’ redemption rights that reveal a BVI-Cayman split
Law firms braced for third year of stagnant financials
Top firms anticipate another year in the doldrums this results season; picture more positive away from City giants
Nicky Bizzell, Eversheds
I like my colleagues a lot. But I’m not sure I’d want to see them at the weekend.
On the move
Reading-based Boyes Turner has boosted its commercial and technology group with the hire of CMS Cameron McKenna partner Isabel Davies.
Paper trails and trials
The massive scale of the Madoff fraud has affected investors the world over. Philip Kite reports on liquidator Irving Picard’s attempts to claw back funds in Cayman and BVI
PJH law
It is not every law firm founder who can say they have done jobs as varied as working in a haulage firm, an estate agents and at McDonald’s, but Phil Hyland is one.
Questionable trust
There are potential weaknesses inherent in the BVI Vista trust structure, warns Jonathan Russen QC
Rock solid
A competitive rate of corporate tax and an investment manager-friendly environment is keeping Gibraltar at the cutting edge of EU jurisdictions. Joey Garcia highlights the benefits
Savings grace: Liz Kelly, Nationwide Building Society
Nationwide GC Liz Kelly has created the building society’s legal team from scratch to cope with a host of regulatory challenges in markedly altered business environment.
Secrets and agents
A recent BVI Court of Appeal decision has evolved the use of Norwich Pharmacal orders in asset-tracing cases. Mark Forté and Tameka Davis report
Slaughters’ sports practice: more for show than dough
Elite firm appreciates the value of backing a winning sports team. By Gavriel Hollander
Steady as she goes
And so the rituals of the financial results season begin. As The Lawyer went to press the day before the Royal Wedding, most firms we contacted were still hoping their partners would be making one last push on billing.
Takeover Code tweaks do not augur an M&A revolution
After taking longer than expected, in late March the Takeover Panel published draft proposals to implement the much-trailed amendments to the Takeover Code in response to the political outcry following Kraft’s acquisition of Cadbury.
Taylor Wessing mulls due diligence spin-off
Taylor Wessing’s new in-house due diligence division, which the firm launched last week (The Lawyer.com, 20 April), could be spun out as a separate business in a move that represents a challenge to outsourcers.
The battle of Hastings-Bass
It just became more complicated to set aside transactions on the basis of poor tax advice, say Paul Tracey and Richard Wakeham
Top firms get street smart on social mobility
The legal sector is finally starting to take social mobility seriously.
Tulkinghorn: Sweet meets
News reaches Tulkinghorn from Hogan Lovells Towers that the firm’s always innovative PR and marketing team has devised a new method of enticing partners into their office to talk.
Work Life Quiz: Jon Vivian, Irwin Mitchell
Where’s the best place to go to find out what’s really going on in the office? Our local pub The Boardroom.
