22 February 2010
The Lawyer
The Lawyer Offshore Survey 2010: The offshore elite
It is a bumper Special Report this week with The Lawyer’s annual offshore survey providing a snapshot of a market in flux.
2-3 Gray’s Inn Sq opens in Cardiff to source Admin Court mandates
London set 2-3 Gray’s Inn Square is to open an office in Cardiff to capture work emerging from the regionalised Administrative Court.
Addleshaws, Norton Rose instructed on Trinity’s Guardian Media takeover
Addleshaw Goddard and Norton Rose have grabbed headline roles on the sale of Guardian Media Group’s (GMG) regional media business to Trinity Mirror.
Appleby takes offshore crown from Maples
Appleby has overtaken Maples and Calder as the world’s largest offshore firm by partner numbers thanks to its October 2009 merger with the Isle of Man’s Dickinson Cruickshank.
Ashurst targets India via Asia base
Ashurst’s India group head has said the firm is looking to Asia to promote its Indian presence after a ruling in the Bombay High Court effectively forced it to shut its New Delhi liaison office.
Blandy & Blandy
Thames Valley firm Blandy & Blandy has survived tougher things than the recession during its 275-year history.
Brown Rudnick London grows against the grain
?’Under the radar’ is probably a fair description of Brown Rudnick’s London office. The US firm has never really been one to shout about what it does.
Calling the shots: David Frolio, GSM Association
As counsel for the GSMA, handling the legal side of the mobile telecoms industry has kept David Frolio at the forefront of the technology, says Corinne McPartland
Circular deluxe
Will Luxembourg become a European hub for Islamic finance? Chokri Bouzidi says new, clearer definitions will help
Cobbetts posts a profit despite prior reticence
When Cobbetts filed its long-awaited LLP accounts a few weeks into this year, it closed a mysterious chapter on the firm’s history.
Devereux barrister wins crucifix ruling for BA
Devereux Chambers’ Ingrid Simler successfully acted for British Airways (BA) in defence of an indirect discrimination claim brought by an employee who was refused permission to wear a cross visibly at work.
Dinah Rose QC hailed for actions that led her to apologise in torture hearing
An apology from a leading barrister to the country’s most senior judiciary in the Court of Appeal is not an everyday occurrence, but that is exactly what happened earlier this month (The Lawyer.com, 11 February).
Fasken signs White & Case South Africa mining head
White & Case has been left without a head for its metals and mining practice following the departure of Johannesburg executive partner Tanneke Heersche, who has joined Fasken Martineau as a partner.
Focus: Travel, Journeys into the unknown
The opportunity to travel may be one of your reasons for pursuing a legal career, but it’s not all business class and fancy restaurants, warns Corinne McPartland
Gateway to Africa
Politically stable, geographically well-positioned and with a robust legal system, Mauritius is the ideal stepping stone for African investment, say Craig Fulton and Anthony Whaley
Geldards, KCC team up to offer councils legal service
The legal department at Kent County Council (KCC) is teaming up with regional firm Geldards to create a single brand for public sector work capable of taking over local authority legal departments.
Hogan-Lovells tie-up okayed by Poland
Hogan & Hartson and Lovells have passed a final regulatory hurdle in their bid to merge.
HR is pivotal to success in a shifting legal environment
Law firms in the future will be structured quite differently. A well-developed HR strategy will be fundamental to success as firms grapple to address a range of people-centric issues.
Isle of Man management
Amid accusations of supporting an unacceptably predatory tax system, the Isle of Man should be left to its own devices, argues Nick Verardi
Links’ all-equity plan back in the picture
Linklaters is on track with its plans to move to an almost all-equity partnership, with the firm expecting its salaried ranks to account for 10 per cent of the partnership at the year-end.
Macfarlanes, Travers make the best of a beleaguered private equity market
Old-school practices reveal the benefits of their experience.
Magic circle firms’ prestige under threat as salaries at US rivals reach record levels
The magic circle may no longer be the obvious choice for the UK’s top students after a survey highlighted the massive earning potential for junior lawyers at US firms.
Marrache bros back in custody, assets frozen
Gibraltar law firm Marrache & Co’s founding partners have been rearrested and the firm’s worldwide assets have been frozen amid further allegations of false accounting at the firm.
Morgan Lewis arbitrator joins Eversheds
Morgan Lewis arbitration partner Neville Byford is to join Eversheds after the US firm announced it would be scaling back its UK litigation exposure.
NDA plumps for practice group-orientated panel
The new legal head at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has shortlisted advisers for a radically altered panel structure.
Outer Temple goes global with post-LSA strategy
Outer Temple International set to revolutionise barrister model
People moves
Fasken Martineau has hired partner Richard Cliff from Eversheds, where he has been a partner since 2006.
Reader’s Digest demise sees BLP advise administrators
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) is advising the administrators of the Reader’s Digest Association (RDA), with the company going into administration after failing to reach an agreement over the funding of its pension scheme.
Reed Smith: the future model?
Greg Jordan, the global chairman of Reed Smith, was locked away in one of the boardrooms in the firm’s New York office last week with several other key members of the management team. Their task? Wading through the annual equity partner compensation allocation process.
Super prime time
The economic downturn has provided opportunities for foreign investors to buy into the UK property market using offshore vehicles, say Mark Summers and Philip Beckerlegge
Taylor Wessing brings in planning chief
Taylor Wessing has hired former CMS Cameron McKenna senior associate Alistair Watson as a partner to head its planning and environment practice.
Telecity coup sees Reed Smith pick up new client
?Reed Smith finance partner Phillip Slater has won the firm a new client by securing the mandate on TelecityGroup’s £200m refinancing.
TLC for TCBs
After a tough few years for Jersey’s trust company businesses, the courts have adopted a softer approach for when a company is in trouble.
Trusts worthy
Questions over the fairness of trusts speak volumes about critics’ misreading of the difference between ’privacy’ and ’secrecy’. By David Harvey
Tulkinghorn: Snow mobile
There are many ways of trying to get rid of a legal hack. There’s the run-of-the-mill “I’m just going into a meeting”, which obviously can have a stalling effect, or the “I’m in the middle of lunch with an important client” delaying tactic.
UK financial climate triggers hedge fund advisory practice to launch in Switzerland
A London law firm that specialises in advising hedge funds has opened an office in Zurich amid the growing hostility from the City’s financial services sector towards UK tax rates.
Walkers sets up Cayman employment practice
Offshore giant Walkers has launched a dedicated employment practice in its Cayman Islands base.
Wild in the country
Public sector poster boy Geoff Wild is at it again. Not content with generating a £1.42m profit for Kent County Council (KCC) in 2008-09 - which was used to fund frontline services and allowed the authority to set the lowest council tax rise in its history - the legal chief has teamed up with regional firm Geldards to punt out services to public bodies across England and Wales.
Work Life Quiz: Denise Loney, Optima Legal
If you weren’t a lawyer what would you have been? A singer, a chef or a hairdresser to the stars.
