24 March 2003
The Lawyer
4KBW seeks £1m from bankrupt Claims Direct
Robert Rhodes QC's embattled 4 King's Bench Walk (4KBW) is in talks with Claims Direct administrator Deloitte & Touche over some £1m owed for work it did for the claims management company.
5 Fountain Court
First it wanted London, but now No 5 is conquering the rest of the world
5 Fountain Court links up in Spain
Birmingham super-set 5 Fountain Court has launched an association with a Spanish firm, making it only the second regional chambers to establish a permanent overseas home.
A&O wins High Court approval for TXU Chinese walls
Allen & Overy has had its decision to act for the administrator and multiple competing creditors on the TXU administration approved by the High Court. The Court approved Allen & Overy’s use of Chinese walls on the administration today, 28 March. See The Lawyer on Monday for more details.
A&O reaps £31m from Marconi restructuring
Allen & Overy (A&O) is set to bill more than twice the combined amount notched up by Clifford Chance and Bingham McCutchen as the restructuring of Marconi nears its conclusion.
A&O-DLA best friends relationship hits snag
The burgeoning best friends relationship of Allen & Overy's (A&O) technology group and DLA's technology, media and communications group has been interrupted by an A&O conflict of interest.
Addleshaws wins Holman Fenwick consultant
Addleshaw Booth & Co has hired Holman Fenwick & Willan consultant Douglas Grant as a senior consultant. Grant has expertise in all aspects of commercial insurance and reinsurance, acting for companies in both the Lloyd's and Company markets.
April marches
If you've been spending a bit too much time and money worshipping the great god Bacchus in City eateries, it may be time to spare a thought for the excellent and underfunded Law Centres movement, which is offering you a good opportunity to walk off some of those lunches.Wandsworth & Merton and Kingston Law Centres, in order to raise money to give legal advice to more people without access to justice, are holding a sponsored walk. It's only 10 miles, between ...
Ashursts wavers on lockstep
Ashurst Morris Crisp has changed its position yet again on the issue of remuneration in the run-up to the partnership vote on a merger with Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson.
Bahamas set to introduce controversial vehicles
A Bahamian draft bill is likely to lead to the intro-duction of investment foundations, the vehicles sometimes associated with fraudsters such as Robert Maxwell.
Benji Pell uses Cripps in Express hostilities
South-East law firm Cripps Harries Hall has scored Benji 'the Binman' Pell as a new client.
BLP drives out six in equity partner rejig
Berwin Leighton Paisner is the latest firm to resort to a process of managing out and de-equitising partners in a bid to keep profits on an upward curve in tough market conditions.
Building support
For a market-leading DIY retailer, B&Q relies surprisingly heavily on help from its external counsel. Husnara Begum finds out why Gary Shillinglaw believes that outsourcing is best
Camerons plugs insolvency with two new City partners
CMS Cameron McKenna has relocated a Bristol insolvency partner to London and wooed back an old assistant in an attempt to plug the gap left by star restructuring partner Stephen Foster, who went to Lovells.
Cash back
Expenses for insolvency practitioners relating to the liquidation of a business have been identified and given the attention they deserve. But is it all good news? asks Alison Klarfeld
Charles Russell slashes 19 in staffing review
Charles Russell has made eight lawyers and 11 other staff redundant across its three offices in London, Guildford and Cheltenham. No associates - the grade above assistant at the firm - or partners have been affected. First revealed on www.thelawyer.com/lawyernews on 20 March
Clarke Wilmott backs Sedgwick for second term after rapid growth
Bristol firm Clarke Wilmott & Clarke has backed managing partner David Sedgwick for a second term. Sedgwick has led the firm through an aggressive business plan that has seen turnover rise from £12.6m in 1999 to £22m last year. Profits per partner have grown from £95,000 to £135,000 over the same period. The firm’s six offices around the South West have been slashed to two major centres in Bristol and Taunton, while its merger with sports firm Ensor ...
Client throws a spanner in the works for A&O on TXU
Hearing rescheduled as Barking and AES Drax reject Chinese walls protocol.
Clifford Chance Bangkok rebel just won't go quietly
Clifford Chance's former Bangkok managing partner is set to launch a rush of new claims against the firm after bringing in a New York employment specialist to take up his case.
Clyde & Co-Kendall talks folded over lease
Problems with lease obligations were at the centre of failed talks between Clyde & Co and soon-to-be-launched niche firm Kendall Freeman.
Corus bondholders turn to Cadwalader for help
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has been appointed to defend the interests of the bondholders of ailing steelmaker Corus. The Corus bondholders have instructed Cadwalader alongside US restructuring boutique Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin amid fears that the steelmaker may be restructured or broken up.
Cravath quits Hong Kong
Cravath Swaine & Moore is pulling out of Hong Kong, leaving the white shoe firm with offices in just New York and London. The firm will relocate two partners and five associates to New York after completing a series of redundancies in the region. Cravath’s decision to close in the Far East mirrors that of a number of US firms, including Dewey Ballantine, which are winding down their Far Eastern operations. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Orrick Herrington ...
Cuatrecasas in Portuguese tie-up
Cuatrecasas has completed the first ever Spanish-Portuguese merger through a tie-up with its longtime best friend Gonçalves Pereira Castelo Branco & Associados.
DEAL OF THE WEEK - WORKSPACE
Workspace sidelines Norton Rose with Richards Butler instruction
Dentons to defer trainees
Denton Wilde Sapte has become the latest firm to ask future trainees to defer.
Different endings
Administrators of insolvent insurers could soon be shouldering a heavier load as the new Insurers Winding-Up Directive begins to bite. Mark Fennessy and Jamie Leader report
DiscourteoUS
American hostilities are not confined to Saddam Hussein - the emerging International Criminal Court has been attacked by the US administration. So just how effective will it be without the Yanks? asks Jon Robins
Eat your way to heaven
Tulkinghorn had a fine old time last year at the Variety Club celebrity chef gastronomic evening at the Dorchester. Not only did he stagger away after several delicious courses and wonderful wine, but he staggered away happy in the knowledge that thousands of pounds had been raised for disadvantaged children - as well as several electric wheelchairs for disabled kids.The good news is that the event is happening again, on Tuesday 6 May, with chefs from the Greenhouse, Zaika, ...
Eversheds raids Bakers arbitration specialist
Eversheds has scooped arbitration specialist Stewart Shackleton from Baker & McKenzie. Shackleton’s move comes just over a year after Baker & McKenzie hired him from Simmons & Simmons, where he was head of public international law.Eversheds said Shackleton would be bringing his entire practice with him. This includes acting for French, Belgian, Spanish, Swiss and UK companies in ...
Field Fisher, patent attorneys team up
Field Fisher Waterhouse has entered into a unique relationship with attorneys Mathys & Squire to offer the patent expertise of both firms under one virtual roof.
Getting a grilling
Tulkinghorn feels he should warn potential recruits to Reed Smith (formerly Warner Cranston before it got all Yankee) to watch what they say. Just around the corner from the firm's sparkling new offices near Borough Market is a local fry-up institution, Maria's Café, which featured in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Bridget Jones's Diary. But anyone going for an interview ...
Gleiss Lutz appoints new partner as Warsaw chief
Gleiss Lutz has replaced Johannes Nieworth as head of its Warsaw office, bringing the real estate lawyer back to Berlin. Nieworth, who managed the office for three years, has been replaced by Berlin partner Torsten Bogen. The Warsaw office has 20 lawyers.Nieworth will join Detlef Schmidt and Christian Steinke in Gleiss’s real estate and projects practice.
Going for a song
Tulkinghorn likes nothing better than warbling the odd parlour song with his good lady wife, so he was delighted to see that singing is the new, erm, rock 'n' roll in law firms. Why, some of Tulkinghorn's scribes have even introduced the City's finest to a certain karaoke bar in Soho, with predictable results.Tulkinghorn can only applaud this attempt to bring close-harmony singing to the legal profession, but feels some lawyers may be taking it a little ...
Hang the DJ
There are no regrets for DJ Freeman's David Kendall and Laurence Harris as Kendall Freeman is born. Emma Vere-Jones investigates
Hardwicke Buildings loses chief to Ely Place
Hardwicke Buildings head Nicholas Stewart has resigned to join Ron Thwaites QC's Ely Place Chambers. He will be replaced by Hardwicke's civil group head Nigel Jones QC and head of the criminal group Patrick Upward QC. Stewart has been head of the 100-strong set for two years.
Herbert Smith IP/IT partner joins Norton Rose
Norton Rose has bolstered its technology group with the appointment of intellectual property (IP) and IT litigator Matthew Harris, who is currently a partner at Herbert Smith. Harris has acted on a number of high-profile IP/IT disputes recently, including Capital One's IT dispute with a Fujitsu subsidiary and the AA's copyright dispute with Ordnance Survey.
Hill & Barlow partner defects to Dechert in Boston
Dechert's Boston-based financial services and securities litigation practice has appointed Hill & Barlow partner Frances Cohen. Cohen's experience includes securities actions, theft of intellectual property, actions relating to the sale and purchase of businesses, and actions against directors and operators in closely held businesses.
Holland & Knight elect managing partner
In an eventful election battle, partners at Florida's Holland & Knight have voted for New York partner Howell Melton as the new managing partner.
Holman Fenwick, Watson Farley in Gulf war shipping litigation
Holman Fenwick & Willan and Watson Farley & Williams are engaged in the early stages of disputes stemming from decisions by chartered ships not to deliver goods to Iraq prior to the outbreak of hostilities because of the risk of being embroiled in a war zone. The disputes centre on losses suffered by cargo-owners, which are in dispute with either shipowners or the parties that chartered their ships, arising out of the late or non-delivery of goods, most of which were bound ...
How Isaacly did this happen?
JD Wetherspoon's director of legal services and licensing David Isaac was bemused to find himself centre stage of The Lawyer's recent exposé of troubled firm Morgan Cole. It seems the gremlins may have interfered with our picture library and sneaked a picture of the in-house lawyer into the feature in place of private practice lawyer David Isaac.That Isaac did indeed leave ...
How Olswang swooped on DJ Freeman's property team
Olswang's bold acquisition underlines its push into the real estate market.
In the war zone
As war gets underway, Brendan Malkin reports on the measures Western law firms are taking to protect staff in the Middle East.
Ince and Weil Gotshal set for insurance litigation face-off
Ince & Co and Weil Gotshal & Manges could end up suing each other as a result of a complex film finance litigation suit.
Irwin Mitchell hires PI specialist for London team
Irwin Mitchell's London office has hired Claire Fazan, head of Bingham & Partners' personal injury and clinical negligence group. Fazan specialises in complex cases, particularly claims arising out of obstetrics, anaesthesia and surgery, as well as failure to diagnose cardiac conditions. She focuses on severe injuries to children and profound long-term injuries to adults as a result of failings in medical care.
Kendall Freeman sticks with Harris and Kendall for top jobs
Laurence Harris and David Kendall have been elected managing and senior partner respectively of new firm Kendall Freeman.The result is hardly surprising. Harris is the former DJ Freeman chief executive and a key strategist in the formation of the new firm moving forward. As a name partner of the new firm, Kendall also looked set to scoop the role as senior partner.Kendall has been elected for a five-year term and Harris for three.The new roles will be effective from ...
Langleys targets local rivals for PI and employment laterals
North Yorkshire giant Langleys has bolstered its employment and personal injury (PI) departments with the appointments of partners from York firm Corries and Grimsby firm Beetenson and Gibbon.David Newby, who managed Corries’ PI department, joined Langleys’ PI team in Lincoln. Meanwhile, Robert Powell, a partner at Beetenson, joined Langleys’ employment department.Mike Williamson, ...
Law Society goes Underground for legal director
The Law Society has appointed Frances Low, the company secretary and legal director of London Underground and London Transport, as legal director, a position that has only recently been created. Low joined London Transport, the statutory body of which London Underground is a subsidiary, in 1979 to handle prosecutions for the British Transport Police, after qualifying with the London Borough of Hackney. She was appointed to her current position in 2001.At London Transport ...
Lennox Lewis ruling rings in changes for foreign litigants
The ruling in a case brou-ght by Lennox Lewis means foreign litigants have a much greater chance of having their overseas damages awards being enforced in the UK.
Linklaters hires boost Brazil and Madrid
Linklaters' Brazilian arm Goulart Penteado Iervolino e Lefosse has hired KPMG tax consultancy partner Gustavo Lian Haddad. Haddad joined KPMG in 1994 after a period with the Federal Revenue Service, and was admitted to the Brazilian Bar in 1996. Meanwhile, Linklaters' Madrid office has hired Ignacio Díez Picazo, professor of procedural law at the Universidad Complutense. Picazo is due to join Linklaters ...
Linklaters scoops US side of SNCF financing
Norton Rose has lost the US aspects of French national railway SNCF's $1.3bn (£831.6bn) cross-border lease financing deal to Linklaters, which boasts the New York capability required to handle a deal essentially governed by US law. Norton Rose's Paris office retained the French aspects of the deal, despite the loss of ...
Lords stamps on shipowner's use of Himalaya clause to escape liability
Parties in a unique shipping action before the Lords have sought to reinterpret a strange clause that automatically exempts a party from liability even if it has previously been found guilty.
Mallesons boosts London presence
At a time when many overseas firms are cutting back their London presence, Australia's Mallesons Stephen Jaques is bulking up its corporate and finance teams in the City with the hire and transfer of four new lawyers to its office.
Mathesons M&A star posted to UK
Dublin firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice is moving high-profile M&A partner Andrew Doyle to its London office in a strategic bid to bolster its UK presence.
McDermott swallows Campbell & Flores
McDermott Will & Emery has taken over West Coast-based Campbell & Flores, adding 10 lawyers specialising in biotechnology intellectual property (IP).
Middle East law offices stand firm as war rages
In the last Gulf War, most western lawyers and staff in the regions closest to the fighting in Iraq were evacuated or relocated.
Money matters
While many welcome much of the Enterprise Act’s initiatives, Nick Brainsby says that rules on providing finance for struggling businesses should have been included
Moving experience
What are the problems that can arise when an office-holder leaves one firm for another? Simon Moore offers practical guidance on how firms can retain or transfer appointments
Olswang planning head goes independent
Olswang's head of planning Richard Max is leaving to set up his own firm, opening the door for DJ Freeman's head of planning Karen Howard to take over the reins.
Opinion
There is a chance that 'enterprise' will be no better off as a result of the changes that the Enterprise Act will make to the Insolvency Act and to our everyday lives. Credit will get tight due to the new law, and tighter credit tends to harm enterprise
Orchard in bid to raise international profile with former LSE chief exec
City firm Orchard has appointed former London Stock Exchange (LSE) chief executive Gavin Casey in a bid to help the firm pursue its ambition to become an international law firm.Casey, who will act as special counsel to the partnership on a part-time basis, was credited with transforming the LSE from a mutual society to a public limited company."The job at Orchard represents an exciting opportunity to help with the growth of the firm, both in the UK and internationally," ...
Osborne Clarke wins Advent deal
Osborne Clarke has sealed its first deal for global venture capitalist Advent International, advising alongside Lovells. The south-west firm's Danish office was brought in to handle the due diligence in relation to Advent's buy-in of ILVA, Denmark's second largest furniture retailer, for an undisclosed sum.
Partners de-equitised in Linklaters shake-up
Magic circle firm wields axe on property partners as corporate dominance takes hold.
Paul Hastings, Linklaters lawyers create new firm
Two associates from the London office of Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker have teamed up with a former Linklaters litigator to launch their own firm.
Real estate deals round-up
Clifford Chance (Cliff McAuley), DJ Freeman and KSB Law advised Warner Estate Holdings on a 50-50 joint venture with Bank of Scotland Corporate Banking on the formation of the Agora Shopping Centre Fund, valued at £223m. Bank of Scotland advised by Stephenson Harwood.
Salans lands two more of Theodores' partners
A spat over money has seen two more Theodore Goddard partners announce their departures to join four former colleagues at Salans.
Separated at birth
While a revival in results and a worthy League Cup win over Alex Ferguson's (the subject of Separated at Birth a fortnight ago) Manchester United must have relieved some of the pressure on Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier, Tulkinghorn was surprised when the manager of the UK's most successful football club was recently appointed chairman of the Bar Council under his pseudonym Matthias Kelly QC. After a half-time heart attack last year (Leeds' tactics can often have this ...
Suffer dude
It's not just a fine game of football that Holman Fenwick & Willan lawyers get to watch from their executive box in the North Stands of White Hart Lane, the home of Tottenham Hotspur - they also get a good laugh out of watching their arch Ince & Co shipping litigation rival and Spurs season ticket holder Bob Deering being rather unfortunately placed at every home game in a seat just below Holman's enormous advert on the West Stand.So far Deering has made ...
Taking the pissed
Tulkinghorn is relieved to hear that it's not just legal hacks who run up the expense accounts of lawyers now and again, as this cautionary tale reveals.A few weeks ago a couple of unwitting Dechert partners shouted a client to lunch. On arriving at the restaurant, the client said: "Oh, last time I was here we had a very good red." Unfortunately, even with the help of the wine list, the ...
The Leader Column
RIP the MTF. For those not versed in EU acronyms, this translates as may the Mergers Task Force (MTF), now effectively disbanded, rest in peace.
The story so far
Last week The Lawyer reported on US law firms' continued assault on the UK's magic circle. Shearman & Sterling poached senior corporate partner Peter King from Linklaters and Davis Polk & Wardwell recruited its first UK lawyer in Nick Segal, Allen & Overy's (A&O) highly-rated insolvency partner. The high-profile raids follow Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy's recent ...
Theodores, Addleshaws are no fools
Theodore Goddard and Addleshaw Booth & Co have scrapped the date of 31 March for their merger vote to avoid announcing the result on April Fools' Day.
Turning Page
Tulkinghorn would like to congratulate the Law Society's commerce and industry (C&I) group for the splendid dinner it hosted at Café Royal last Thursday. But a special congratulation goes to the Solicitor General Harriet Harman QC MP, who abandoned an emergency constituency meeting on Iraq to grace the event.Tulkinghorn, though, was a little disappointed when he met Ann Page, chair of the C&I group, as contrary to popular opinion she looks nothing like ...
UK court claims jurisdiction over company in Chapter 11
Eversheds, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Sidley Austin Brown & Wood have advised on a groundbreaking cross-border insolvency. A High Court ruling in Brac Rent-A-Car International gives UK courts jurisdiction ...
UK lawyer in £8m fraud
An English lawyer has been sentenced to five years for his involvement in one of the UK’s largest money laundering scams associated with a solicitor.
Wallace & Partners scoops two new department heads from Steptoe & Johnson
Wallace & Partners has poached two corporate partners from US firm Steptoe & Johnson.David Judah and Rex Nwakodo will join the firm on April Fool’s Day as partners in the firm’s corporate-commercial department.Judah will become Wallace & Partners’ head of corporate. He advises on mergers and acquisitions and management buyouts, with a particular focus on e-commerce. Clients have included Demon Internet and the Redbus group of companies.Nwakodo ...
Watson Burton wins Ballast work
Watson Burton has scored construction company Ballast as a new client. The firm will act for Ballast in the North East on contracts and joint ventures and will provide financial advice and contract support on development work. Ballast is involved in a number of projects in the North East, including new developments at Dalton Park, Whitley Bay High School. First revealed on www.thelawyer.com/lawyernews ...
Watson Farley grows London and New York
Watson Farley & Williams has hired an Allen & Overy (A&O) lawyer and two others to bolster its London and New York offices.Tax specialist Patricia Landoli, formerly an A&O senior assistant, has joined the New York office as a partner. Head of Watson Farley’s international tax group Chris Preston said the move is a step towards building up the firm’s international structured finance group. Ron Stuber, a specialist in international finance, will join ...
Wella picks A&O for P&G takeover
Allen & Overy's (A&O) German practice has continued its assault on corporates with a role on the M&A deal of the moment, Proctor & Gamble's (P&G) E6.5bn (£4.4bn) friendly takeover of Wella AG.
