Former Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw securitisation star Mark Nicolaides has resurfaced at Latham & Watkins to spearhead its drive into the European asset-backed securities market. Christopher Hall, vice chair of Latham’s global finance department, told The Lawyer: “In London we have a footprint in leveraged finance, project finance and debt restructuring. Mark’s practice is […]
Media boutique Swan Turton has achieved victory in hypnotist Paul McKenna’s libel claim against the Daily Mirror. Partner Jonathan Coad instructed 5 Raymond Buildings’ Desmond Browne QC for McKenna as he fought claims by Mirror journalist Victor Lewis-Smith that he had fraudulently obtained a doctorate from a US university. This morning (24 July) Mr Justice […]
The Allen & Overy and Sidley Austin debt teams have dominated the European capital markets during the first half of 2006. Linklaters continues to lead the charge in equities while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer wins top spot in IPOs in Thomson Financial’s European capital market tables for the second quarter. A&O maintained its lead position for […]
Clifford Chance has moved to increase its Amsterdam finance and capital markets offering, taking three lawyers from magic circle rival Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. The firm has hired two senior associates and a junior from the Amsterdam office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Sander Klaasen and Robert Masman will join as senior associates in August, while Wouter […]
Macfarlanes has poached Hammonds’ respected international benefits head Jane Marshall to boost its employment, pensions and benefits group. Marshall becomes the second equity partner to leave Hammonds’ London office since the end of the firm’s 14-month lock-in on 30 June. She joins Macfarlanes in September. Marshall has been a partner at Hammonds since 1994. Until […]
Hill Dickinson has won a competitive tender to advise on a series of innovative pieces of work for independent radio producers. The firm has been appointed as the official lawyers for the Radio Independents Group (RIG) Law Scheme, and will draw up the first ever unified set of standard contracts for the independent radio industry. […]
Vinson & Elkins is facing a $10m lawsuit from former client the City of San Diego over claims it failed to properly conduct an independent inquiry into allegations of financial wrongdoing by City Hall officials. The case is reminiscent of the Enron debacle in which Vinson is still a defendant in a multi-billon dollar lawsuit […]
A total of five sets of chambers have benefited from the dissolution of Birmingham Three Fountain Court by picking off new tenants. England’s two largest regional sets, St Philips and No 5 Chambers, have taken the bulk of Three Fountain Court’s members. St Philips has agreed to take on 18 members including criminal silks Stephen […]
Human rights firm Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) and Matrix Chambers’ Rabinder Singh QC have won a significant Court of Appeal victory which could lead to an inquiry into the Iraq War. PIL was representing the families of four soldiers killed on duty in Iraq. The relatives are seeking a judicial review of the government’s refusal […]
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has signed on for new office space in downtown New York, setting a new Manhattan record for rent and giving the firm an annual rent bill of more than $20m. Akin Gump has taken 203,000 square feet in the Bank of America tower at Sixth Avenune and 42nd Street. […]
The new unified courts services is costing £1.5bn to run, its first annual report revealed yesterday (25 July). Her Majesty’s Court Service (HMCS) was set up in April 2005 to integrate the running of magistrates’ courts, Crown courts and country courts as well as the Royal Courts of Justice. It covers 650 courts and employs […]
LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae is the latest firm to profit from the dissolving German outfit Haarmann Hemmelrath, with two Moscow hires. CMS Hasche Sigle took most of the Moscow office of Harmann Hemmelrath in late June (The Lawyer, 22 June) with about 28 lawyers moving to the German ally of CMS Cameron McKenna. Moscow […]