The Lawyer
21 February 2005
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£96m Law Society budget approved
25-Feb-2005
The Law Society Council yesterday (Thursday, 24 February) approved the latest version of the society’s 2005 budget, which proposes a practising certificate fee of £1,017.
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A truly magical evening
21-Feb-2005
The power of Tulkinghorn was on show last week at the Baftas.
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Abbott appoints new general counsel
25-Feb-2005
Laura Schumacher has been promoted to the post of senior vice president, secretary and general counsel at US healthcare company Abbott Laboratories, succeeding Jose de Lasa who will retire at end-March.
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Addleshaws takes on third premises
21-Feb-2005
Addleshaw Goddard has signed a lease for a third City office, despite plans to move all of the firm's London-based staff into one building by 2009.
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AIMing high
21-Feb-2005
A boom in mining, oil and gas and a resurgence in TMT in the last year has made AIM the place to be for law firms. Steve Hoare gives the lowdown on The Lawyer's AIM survey
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Ashurst proves its premier position at Apax with Woolworths bid instruction
21-Feb-2005
Ashurst has reaffirmed its position as Apax's adviser of choice by acting for the private equity house on its bid for Woolworths.
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Avon rejigs as legal chief retires
21-Feb-2005
Avon, the beauty products company, has shaken up its legal function following the departure of its European legal chief.
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B&M acquires Paul Hastings IP team
22-Feb-2005
Baker & McKenzie has bagged a six-lawyer IP team from the San Diego office of Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker.
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Barclay brothers weigh up Littlewoods offers
21-Feb-2005
Lovells clients the Barclay brothers got on the retail merry-go-round with a review of the future of their Littlewoods chain.
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Blake Lapthorn notches up coup for IP with specialist hire from Taylor Vinters
21-Feb-2005
Blake Lapthorn Linnell has delivered a blow to Cambridge firm Taylor Vinters, securing its head of technology Simon Smith.
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Bryan Cave in revenue and profit dip
23-Feb-2005
US firm Bryan Cave’s 2004 revenues have dropped slightly on its record 2003 but firm chairman Don Lents has claimed the year was a success as 2003’s figures included a massive contingency fee.
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Careers: In brief
21-Feb-2005
UK-based Professional Services Marketing Group (PSMG) launched a marketing qualification tailored for the professional services sector last week. The new initiative, which has been developed in partnership with the Cambridge Marketing Colleges, offers the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Professional Diploma in Marketing, which is tailored for those in the professional services industry. The course addresses the skills and development needs of a marketer working in the professional ...
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Careers: People
21-Feb-2005
Trethowans has appointed Pye Smiths' head of personal injury (PI) and clinical negligence David Healy as a partner in its PI team in the Salisbury office. It has also hired Lester Aldridge's head of employment Simon Rhodes as partner and head of employment at its Southampton office.
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CC NY bankruptcy team defects to Kaye Scholer
21-Feb-2005
Clifford Chance's volatile New York operation has lost its heavy-hitting, five-partner bankruptcy and restructuring team to US firm Kaye Scholer.
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Chadbourne swoops on White & Case for Poland energy launch
23-Feb-2005
Chadbourne & Parke has boosted its Polish energy presence with the hire of a high profile group from White & Case.
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Dechert conflict gifts FFW BHS work as retailers pick over Allders carcass
21-Feb-2005
Four major retail deals are on the shelves, which have provided City lawyers with a much needed boost in M&A work
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Developer Lovell slashes legal panel to three
21-Feb-2005
Affordable housing provider Lovell has installed its first law firm panel, slashing the number of legal advisers on property acquisition and development work from more than 35 to just three.
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DLA Piper signs up new Asia project finance head
21-Feb-2005
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has raided Hong Kong-based power company China Light & Power (CLP) to boost its Asian project finance practice.John Yeap, CLP’s director of group development, is joining DLA Piper to head up the firm’s project finance group.Yeap, who will be based in DLA Piper’s Hong Kong office, has gained a combination of senior management and legal experience after nine years at CLP.
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DLA Piper's success in Allders case a relief for administrators
21-Feb-2005
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary's insolvency team has won a High Court case that could have jeopardised the sell-off of department store Allders. The case also had far-reaching implications for insolvency professionals.
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European judiciary fail to cooperate
21-Feb-2005
A multi-million Euro European Union (EU) project designed to boost cooperation between the EU’s national judicial sectors has failed to promote European judicial cooperation. A European Commission report into the 2002-6 scheme on "activities to facilitate judicial cooperation in civil matters" says that there has been a "virtual absence of projects providing for the exchange of judges or for information (swapping) initiatives". Branding this "unfortunate", the Commission report ...
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EY Law quartet quits for Baker & McKenzie
21-Feb-2005
Baker & McKenzie (B&M) has expanded its Bologna office, taking four lawyers from EY Law. Commercial partner and former head of EY Law's Bologna office Gianvincenzo Lucchini joins B&M with three associates. He specialises in outsourcing and distribution networks. First revealed on www.thelawyer.com 15 February
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Firm profile: Dawsons
21-Feb-2005
Lincoln's Inn Fields-based Dawsons was among the firms to make it into last year's The Rising 50, the first guide to the 50 largest UK firms outside the top 100 by turnover. Unlike the majority of those firms, however, Dawsons is anticipating that its turnover this year will fall, not rise.
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Former EY Law chief Bignon launches consultancy
23-Feb-2005
Former EY Law global head Patrick Bignon is setting up his own legal management consultancy firm.
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Freshfields, Cazenove run the gauntlet on Man Utd bid
21-Feb-2005
Love Manchester United FC or hate it, City advisers agree that Malcolm Glazer's latest bid for the richest football club in the world is a fascinating rematch.
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FSA broadens search for enforcement chief
21-Feb-2005
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has opened up its search for a replacement head of enforcement to target overseas jurisdictions.
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Grapevine
21-Feb-2005
Dorsey turns the big guns on EuropeDorsey & Whitney's central management team is sending one of its heavyweight corporate partners to London from its Minneapolis HQ.
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Hammonds finance chief jumps ship to Hunton
21-Feb-2005
Hammonds has suffered again at the hands of Hunton & Williams, losing its third partner to the US firm. This is the sixteenth partner to quit the firm since January 2004.
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Hammonds makes entrance in Bologna
21-Feb-2005
Hammonds has secured its fourth Italian office after taking on the two-lawyer Bologna outpost of Sciumè Zaccheo & Associati (SZA).
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J Sainsbury's legal takes the strain over product recall
25-Feb-2005
J Sainsbury’s in-house legal department is playing a key role in steering the FTSE 100 retailer through the biggest product recall in UK retail history.
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Law Soc green light for training framework overhaul
24-Feb-2005
The Law Society Council today (Thursday 24 February) gave the go-ahead for the next stage of the controversial Training Framework Review, which has split the profession’s educational establishment.
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Lewis Silkin wins social housing expert
21-Feb-2005
Lewis Silkin has snagged a rated social housing partner from boutique firm Jenkins & Hand. Naomi Goode joined Lewis Silkin on 14 February as a partner in its housing and project finance team, where she will bolster housing association work. Goode's clients at Jenkins & Hand included London-based associations the Islington & Shore-ditch Housing Association, Mosaic Homes and the Family Housing Association, as well as the Berkshire-based Housing Solutions.
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Linklaters sheds clients to avoid conflicts
21-Feb-2005
Linklaters has reviewed its financial services client base to avoid conflicts with its key institutional clients.
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Lloyds TSB ignites corporate and litigation clash at Herbies
21-Feb-2005
Mahme Trust case pitches litigation team against corporate department's darling Lloyds; lack of conflicts protocol highlighted
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Love bugging
21-Feb-2005
Last week's issue featured a Valentine's Day story, appropriately enough. Since then, another similar tale of outrageous cheesiness has emerged that is so cringeworthy in its desperation, it has to be aired.
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Lovells keeps MacDonagh with new management role
21-Feb-2005
Former Lovells managing partner Lesley MacDonagh has decided to stay on at the firm in a significant U-turn.
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Lovells loses Berlin head partner
21-Feb-2005
Lovells has been hit with the departure of another partner from its Berlin office.
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Martin Robert Staples memorial
21-Feb-2005
There will be a memorial to celebrate the life of Martin Robert Staples, the former senior partner of Vizards Wyeth and one of the UK's best known insurance lawyers. The memorial will take place in the Common Room at the Law Society on 4 March 2005 at 11am. To request an invitation, please contact Val Shears at Vizards Wyeth on 020 7903 5669, or email vs@vizardswyeth.com.
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Mayer Brown hires ex-EU ambassador
21-Feb-2005
Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw has taken on the former EU ambassador to the US Gunter Burghardt for its regulatory team. Burghardt will join former German polititican Friedrich Merz, who started at the US firm in January following a stint as parliamentary leader of the German Christian Democratic Party. Prior to his role as ambassador, Burghardt was director general for external relations at the EU and also deputy chief of staff for former European Commission president Jacques Delors.
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McGrigors set for group claim against Customs
21-Feb-2005
McGrigors is gearing up to lead a group action against Customs & Excise on behalf of traders who believe that an opinion delivered in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last week means they are owed damages.
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MoD flies in Wragges to advise on ship purchase
21-Feb-2005
Birmingham giant Wragge & Co has scooped an instruction to advise the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on the £3bn production of two new aircraft carriers. The work will net the firm several millions of pounds in fees over its expected five-year duration.
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Morgan Lewis raids Orrick for Paris team
21-Feb-2005
Morgan Lewis & Bockius has made its first significant French hire since opening in Paris last June with the arrival of Stéphan Alamowitch from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. Alamowitch, who was Orrick's head of structured finance, will help establish a global finance practice for Morgan Lewis. He brings with him two associates. Alamowitch joins Morgan Lewis after a decade at Orrick and Paris forerunner Watson Farley & Williams. Morgan Lewis opened in Paris in June 2004 with a 15-lawyer ...
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New London chief for Stibbe
25-Feb-2005
Herbert Smith’s Dutch alliance Stibbe is relocating corporate and capital markets partner Derk Lemstra to London to head the firm’s City arm.
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Ofgem ups stable of legal advisers to reduce outlay
21-Feb-2005
Ofgem, the gas and electricity regulator, has added three more firms to its six-strong legal panel in a bid to slash its legal spend.
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Opinion
21-Feb-2005
Are draconian laws causing us to miss a golden opportunity to fight money laundering?
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Orrick wins Heller Ehrman tech team
21-Feb-2005
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has raided West Coast start-up expert Heller Ehrman Venture Law Group to secure a five-partner technology team.
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Ozannes elects new managing partner
21-Feb-2005
Leading Guernsey firm Ozannes has appointed litigation partner Robert Shepherd as its new managing partner.At the same time the firm has launched a dedicated trusts practice, to be led by partner St John Robilliard. Shepherd, who joined the firm in 2001 from Clifford Chance, succeeds Peter Harwood as managing partner. The firm is renowned for its strong litigation practice and in the last year advised Westminster City Council on its case against Dame Shirley Porter.
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Panel limits Cazenove's Man Utd role
21-Feb-2005
Manchester United FC corporate adviser Cazenove will not be able to give formal financial advice on Malcolm Glazer's takeover bid because of the investment bank's joint venture with JPMorgan, the American's financier.
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PEP figures rocket at Shaw Pittman
21-Feb-2005
Shaw Pittman has reported a 34.5 per cent hike in profit per equity partner (PEP) to $740,000 (£392,000) ahead of its merger with Pillsbury Winthrop.
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Poison pill letter
21-Feb-2005
Thanks must go to the Slaughters-friendly well-wisher who sent this anonymous email to Tulkinghorn the other day: "I was intrigued by Slaughter and May's job ad in last week's The Lawyer, headed 'Pension funds - the new poison pill?' Presumably there's no one at Bunhill Row who can remember the 1980s (or even the early 1990s) when stuffing poison pills into pension schemes was all the rage. Even more fascinating is the claim that "we have no billing targets". Funny, all the Slaughters ...
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QC selection panel appoints Butler-Sloss
23-Feb-2005
Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, the highly-respected retiring president of the High Court’s Family Division, is the first named member of the new selection panel for QCs.
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Robert Aitken and Stephen Ross: Man Investments
21-Feb-2005
Man Investment's unusual tack of having huge legal coverage gives it the edge in the investment funds market. Joanne O'Connor reports
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Russell-Cooke to merge with PI boutique
24-Feb-2005
Personal injury boutique Evill & Coleman is to merge with London solicitors Russell-Cooke.
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Salans partner moves in-house to Amgen
21-Feb-2005
International biotechnology giant Amgen has appointed Salans' Robert Sexton as its new European general counsel.
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Scoobie Doodle Do
21-Feb-2005
Readers familiar with the Law Society (we're sure that's most of you) will be used to the sight of council member Sue Nelson, a hard-working part of that august body. Often on her feet to debate a difficult point at meetings, Nelson is one of the more outspoken members of the Law Society Council, taking time out from her day job as a conveyancing solicitor in Surrey for the good of the profession.
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Separated at birth
21-Feb-2005
Midlands firm Rutherfords takes its law enforcement seriously. The three-partner outfit is headed by none other than The Bill's Jim Carver. Known as being earnest, intense and scrupulously honest, Carver is an ideal figurehead for a firm that bases its work on conveyancing, family and personal injury. Of course, Carver has had his troubles in the past, so despite his undeniable qualities he's going undercover at Rutherfords. Now known as Peter Wiseman, Carver may be an old hand, but ...
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Shearman expands partnership by ten
23-Feb-2005
Shearman & Sterling has mined its vast international network to promote ten lawyers to its all-equity partnership.
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SIF reports £20m growth in accumulated surplus
21-Feb-2005
The Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF) last week reported an increase in its accumulated surplus of more than £20m.
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SJ Berwin Paris head leads fight against French tax laws
23-Feb-2005
SJ Berwin’s Paris managing partner George Pinkham is leading a fight to clarify complicated tax laws which could lead to French members of a UK limited liability partnership (LLP) being taxed twice.
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Softly softly spankee monkey
21-Feb-2005
Oh the trials and tribulations of making equity. As if the general back-breaking workload and grovelling required to join the exalted few weren't enough, it appears that the former Pinsents (pre mad merger with Masons) liked to put its high-rollers through a pre-equity pantomime.
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Somerfield turns to Dickson Minto after Baugur offer
21-Feb-2005
Private equity boutique Dickson Minto is advising one of its biggest corporate clients Somerfield on an approach from Icelandic conglomerate Baugur.
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Song for the tsunami
21-Feb-2005
The response to December's Asian tsunami appeal has of course been overwhelming, with the legal market well represented among the donators. In March another event will be held to raise money for a variety of charities relating to the disaster.
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Stephenson Harwood hires new Islamic finance head
23-Feb-2005
Stephenson Harwood has hired a new head of Islamic finance.
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Straight Britain
21-Feb-2005
Companies need to tighten up their practices to comply with new anti-corruption laws. Daren Allen warns that the UK Government means business
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Testa Hurwitz partners demand return of capital
21-Feb-2005
Eight former partners of dissolved Boston firm Testa Hurwitz & Thibeault are trying to force the partnership into involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
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The AIM of the game
21-Feb-2005
Many of the firms interviewed for The Lawyer's 2004 AIM survey seemed giddy with success, raving about deals to come in 2005 without ever articulating a coherent strategy.
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The inside job
21-Feb-2005
The seemingly uncontroversial Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is turning out to be a thorn in the side of companies trying to clean up their acts. Alexander Cohen reports
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The jazz singers
21-Feb-2005
Berlin lawyers rejoice. Especially those in good voice.
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The long arm of the law
21-Feb-2005
With jurisdiction boundaries becoming increasingly blurred, managers have to be extra careful that they don't fall foul of the law. Arun Srivastava reports
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The work-life quiz
21-Feb-2005
James Pinder, head of fraud, Silverbeck Rymer
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Time to shut up and tie up
21-Feb-2005
Alison Diamond explains how to get the most out of that inevitable merger.
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Virgin raids Slaughters to fill new role
21-Feb-2005
Virgin Group has raided Slaughter and May to fill the newly created role of group general counsel.
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Watson Farley goes down LLP route
21-Feb-2005
Watson Farley & Williams has become the latest firm to announce that it is converting to a limited-liability partnership (LLP). The City firm's decision to convert follows the publication of research by Zurich Professional last month, which showed that 37 per cent of UK firms have ruled out converting to LLP status (www.thelawyer.com, 31 January). The report also found that 52 per cent of firms are yet to decide on the move. Watson Farley will convert to a UK LLP on 1 May 2005.
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Wedlake Bell international network bolstered by Eastern European firms
21-Feb-2005
Four new law firms have joined the legal network Trans European Law Firms Alliance (TELFA), building on its Eastern Europe expertise.
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Weil forms West Coast disputes practice
21-Feb-2005
Weil Gotshal & Manges is set to attack the California litigation market with the launch of a full-scale disputes practice.
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Weil Gotshal puts Kids at the forefront of its pro bono efforts
21-Feb-2005
Weil Gotshal & Manges has boosted its commitment to pro bono and charity work in London by picking disabled children's charity Kids as its UK charity partner.
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Wiggins' Olswang swoop reaps TV instructions
21-Feb-2005
Wiggin & Co is set to scoop new instructions from TV stations Channel 4 and Five after recruiting senior associate Amali de Silva from Olswang.
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Wilson Sonsini overhauls management group
21-Feb-2005
West Coast technology firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has revamped its management board following a tough year, which saw a small drop in revenues to $377m (£200.2m) and static profit of $865,000 (£459,000) per partner. Chairman and chief executive officer Larry Sonsini has stood down from the latter role, with John Roos filling the position, while Jeff Saper has been appointed vice-chairman. Sonsini will continue as chairman, focusing primarily on the firm's strategic direction ...
