21 November 2011

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CC partner dishes up the food of love

Clifford Chance staff are ­getting a treat, being spoilt with a series of lunchtime concerts by eminent musicians. The initiative is spearheaded by enigmatic and passionate Clifford Chance capital markets partner Esther Cavett, a former professional musician and lecturer in music at the University of Oxford. Last week staff, clients and local schoolchildren were invited […]

Work Life Quiz: Louise Griffiths, Stephensons

What was your first-ever job? A shoe shop assistant. What was your worst ­experience as a trainee? Coming into work in a lilac suit to find that I was unexpectedly going to court. As I walked into the courtroom the judge exclaimed: “A vision in violet!” Embarrassing, to say the least. Where’s the best place […]

David Pritchard

People moves

Move of the week Manches Thames Valley has announced the arrival of David Pritchard as head of litigation. Formerly a partner at Buckinghamshire-based BP Collins, Pritchard brings 20 years of dispute resolution experience to the firm. In recent years he has focused on the legal needs of medium-sized enterprises. “Manches has a can-do culture that I […]

Nabarro takes Indian client through Aim IPO

Nabarro has advised an Indian biofuel producer on its £16m IPO on Aim. On 9 November Nandan Cleantec, backed by ­billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, raised £16.1m on Aim. According to the London Stock Exchange, ordinary shares were issued at 60p, valuing the company at around £166.1m. Nandan, which is based in Hyderabad, is a vertically integrated biofuel producer […]

Capsticks and Wragges secure NHS hospital deal

Capsticks and Wragge & Co both scored roles advising on the first takeover of an NHS hospital by a ­private company. Wragges advised NHS Midlands and East Strategic Health Authority (SHA), and Hinchingbrooke Healthcare NHS Trust on a 10-year agreement that will see Hinchingbrooke Hospital run by social enterprise ­Circle, Europe’s largest healthcare partnership. After two years of ­planning […]

Links, Skadden lead as Evraz sets sights on London listing

Linklaters and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have taken lead roles on Russian steelmaker Evraz’s London listing. The company, which is part owned by Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, has been valued at around £4.7bn after redomiciling in London and is widely expected to enter the FTSE100 when the index is reshuffled in December. […]

Linklaters works with Dutch bank on £1bn Basel III bond

Linklaters and in-house lawyers at Rabobank advised on the first tier-one bank bond compliant with Basel III since the new ­regulatory regime came in. The $2bn (£1.26bn) hybrid bond, issued by Netherlands-based Rabobank, has an 8.4 per cent yield and will be ­written down if the bank breaches certain capital ­limits. It is compliant with […]

International firms set sights on Beijing

In recent months a number of international firms have set up shop in Beijing, mainland China’s largest legal market in terms of lawyer numbers and ­revenue. Several other firms are understood to be applying for Beijing licences. Canada’s Gowlings opened a representative office in the city in September, extending its coverage to Asia for the first […]

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Focus: Legal Process Outsourcing – Distance earning

LPO is booming, but as a new report highlights, there is more to consider when going outside than cost savings Managing partners talk about the primacy of culture and quality over costs when entering into alternative sourcing arrangements such asoutsourcing, offshoring and nearshoring, but one look at figures exclusively provided to The Lawyer by management consultancy OMC Partners […]

Eric Lewis
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Lewis Baach

On 1 November US firm Baach Robinson & Lewis changed its name to Lewis Baach. Name partner Jeffrey Robinson’s exit prompted the move, but the firm took the chance to put founding partner Eric Lewis’s (pictured) name first, to “recognise the contribution of the fraud and insolvency practice” he developed. It is difficult to imagine […]

Michael Webster
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Ethnic minorities find top jobs out of reach

People from ethnic minority communities are still struggling to reach the highest ranks of practice in UK law firms, according to a five-year trend highlighted by the Black Solicitors Network’s latest Diversity League Table (DLT). The results show that 16 per cent of all trainees in this year’s DLT sample are from ethnic minority backgrounds, compared with 11 per […]

Alex Brassey

Opinion: Politicians should put up collateral if they want to buy votes

The world has been in some sort of crisis or other since 2008. The reason? Debt. Initially it became clear that too much money had been lent to subprime ­borrowers in the mortgage market. Governments in many cases had to stand in to ensure bank solvency. The latest phase of the crisis, however, is not […]