24 January 2011

Withers’ global push leads to Zurich launch

Withers is to launch in Zurich in the next phase of the firm’s major investment in its international office network. Initially the firm will ­relocate three partners to the jurisdiction, with Geneva managing director Justine Markovitz becoming head of Swiss operations. Newly appointed Zurich office chief Judith Ingham said the ambition was to grow a […]

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Fund praising

Despite the country’s economic malaise, Ireland’s funds industry is at an all-time high. Joanne Harris reports One of Ireland’s greatest unsung successes over the past few years has undoubtedly been the growth of its funds industry. Back in 2000 the assets under ­management (AUM) of funds domiciled in and administered from Ireland amounted to barely e300m (£253m). By the end […]

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In clover

Joanne Harris explores the reasons why, despite the economic chaos in the country, Irish lawyers are still optimistic Observers could be forgiven for expecting every tale to come out of Ireland at the moment to be one of doom and gloom. After all, that is the depiction in the mainstream media. But where lawyers are […]

Tulkinghorn: Denton put on hold

Is SNR Denton really the one big happily merged family that its lawyers and PR people would have you believe? ­Tulkinghorn suspects not. One of the great man’s spies recently discovered that the newly minted global behemoth had taken delivery of a glut of new Windows 7 phones. Well, to be more accurate, the shiny […]

Links, Hogan Lovells bag Paternoster acquisition by Rothesay

Hogan Lovells and Linklaters have secured instructions on the £260m sale of pension buyout house Paternoster to Goldman Sachs subsidiary Rothesay Life. Corporate partners Guy Potel and Charles Rix led the Hogan Lovells team for Paternoster. Linklaters advised Goldman Sachs, fielding a team fronted by corporate partners Matthew Middleditch and Matt Bland and featuring global insurance co-head Duncan Barber. […]

Osborne Clarke, Bond Pearce act jointly for Kandahar

Bond Pearce, Jones Day and Osborne Clarke have advised on the £240m sale of Plymouth’s Drake Circus Shopping Centre to British Land. Drake Circus majority unit holder Kandahar Real Estate turned to both Bond Pearce and Osborne Clarke. Head of corporate Adrian Bott led the Osborne Clarke team acting for longstanding client Kandahar on ­corporate, […]

Tim_Morris

CC, Akin Gump scoop Lukoil bond issue as capital markets improve

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Clifford Chance have landed the key advisory roles on a $1.5bn (£940m) convertible bond issue by Lukoil amid signs of ­recovery in the spluttering capital markets. Akin Gump acted for Russia’s largest oil producer Lukoil. The US firm fielded a team led by London-based debt finance partner Robert Aulsebrook. Clifford Chance […]

Linklaters opposite Freshfields on BP share swap with Rosneft

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters have been handed the prize mandates on BP’s £10bn share swap with Russian state-owned oil giant ­Rosneft. London corporate partner Sebastian Lawson, along with Moscow associate Sergei Diyachenko, led the Freshfields team acting for Rosneft. At Linklaters London ­corporate partner Stephen Griffin and Moscow ­corporate partner Grigory Gadzhiev acted for BP. The deal will […]

Tim Wright

Pillsbury financials benefit from revamped hiring strategy

A change of recruitment strategy at ­Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman helped the firm post record profit figures for the 2010 financial year. Last week Pillsbury unveiled figures ­showing that, while total revenue was ­effectively flat at $532m (£333m), average profit per equity partner (PEP) broke through the ­million-dollar mark for the first time to reach […]

Trevor Soames
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Partner exodus and office closures continue as Howrey ‘restructures’

Long-term health of US firm now in question. The pain shows no sign of ending for Howrey. Last Thursday (20 ­January) one of the firm’s best-known European partners, co-chair of its global antitrust practice and managing partner of the Brussels office Trevor Soames, confirmed that he had become the latest high-profile lawyer to quit the […]

Stephan Swinkels
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Sextet of employment boutiques band together to form international network

Six boutique employment law firms from across Europe and the US have joined forces to create an international employment law alliance. L&E Global, which launched on 21 January, has six member firms focusing on employment, labour, workplace privacy, employee ­benefits and immigration law. The founding members are Bufete Suárez de Vivero in Spain, Flichy Grangé […]

Hogan Lovells lures Sidley partner in City

Hogan Lovells has boosted its London debt capital markets team with the hire of Sidley Austin partner Dennis Dillon. Before joining Sidley’s London office Dillon worked for the firm in Singapore and New York. Co-leader of Hogan Lovells’ finance group David Hudd said: “A key part of our strategy is to develop a prominent structured […]