24 March 2008
The Lawyer
Englishmen in old York lose their rights
The Welsh and Scottish can breathe a sigh of relief, thanks to the House of Lords launching a spring clean of the statute books.
People
• South East firm ASB Law has hired solicitor Andrew Frake to strengthen its recovery and insolvency department. Frake joins from Essex-based Sanders Witherspoon.
4 Pump Court hire adds to IT capability
Commercial set 4 Pump Court has ramped up its information technology (IT) practice with the hire of Henderson Chambers barrister Terence Bergin.
A&O wins rare Anglo-Russian mining deal
Allen & Overy (A&O) has won a rare instruction on a mining deal, advising Russian mining giant Mechel on its $1.498m (£750m) bid for London-based Oriel Resources.
Akin gump, wachtell on Halcyon NY listing
US firms Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz are playing key roles in the New York listing of hedge fund company Halcyon Asset Management.
Anti-doping panel names legal experts
Five QCs, two other barristers, two senior solicitors and a magistrate have been appointed to the National Anti-Doping Panel (NADP) to help tackle drugs cheats in UK sports.
Attorney General gets twenty-first century overhaul
The Attorney General is set to lose its power to green light particular cases and government prosecutions, it was announced yesterday (25 March).
Bear legal team braced for axe
Little market sympathy as giant crumbles
Bin end bargain
Like Tulkinghorn, most people in the legal profession would agree that undertaking any kind of transaction while under the influence of alcohol could end up a bit of a headache.
Bird brained
Back in the good old days before endless PR exercises, networking jollies and client entertainment, Tulkinghorn recalls how he would go hunting and falconing with his favourite clients in the country for the pure love of the chase and the bringing back to London of dozens of freshly slain hares, if the winds were good.
BLP, Eversheds, Ince join Law Soc trade mission to Nigeria
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), Eversheds and Ince & Co are among 18 firms accompanying a Law Society delegation to Nigeria to promote English and Welsh law firms.
Boom or bust? Go figure
Panic on Wall Street? You wouldn't think so from the top law firms' financial results.
Brodies brings in tax director
Scottish firm Brodies has beefed up its tax capabilities with the hire of chartered accountant Isobel d'Inverno as director of corporate tax.
Browne Jacobson tax chief made top dog
Midlands firm Browne Jacobson has elected a new senior partner and is promoting two associates to the partnership for 2008-09.
BT appoints new Latin America team head
BT Global Services has sent a senior European lawyer to head its Latin American legal team as the company expands its operations in the region.
BT rejig puts Global Services GC at head of retail legal team
BT has appointed a new general counsel for its retail arm BT Retail, promoting a senior BT Global Services lawyer into the top job.
Bupa: Paul Newton
Legal spend is a big issue for healthcare company Bupa. That’s why group legal director Paul Newton is busy drawing up the company’s first-ever legal panel.
Burges Salmon promotes six to partner
Burges Salmon has made its largest round of partnership promotions in three years, with six associates joining the equity.
Burges Salmon talks the talk
Burges Salmon has long talked the talk about growing its own, and this year’s promotional round is further proof that it also walks the walk.
CC wins green light for broadcast giants to merge
Clifford Chance has convinced the Competition Commission to allow terrestrial broadcast transmission companies Macquarie UK Broadcast Ventures and National Grid Wireless Group to merge.
CC's crunch talks centre on US-UK regulatory unity
With the collapse of Northern Rock in the UK and Bear Stearns in the US, the spotlight is on how regulatory bodies deal with the credit crisis.
CJC pushes for overhaul of UK class action system
Procedures governing group actions could be overhauled to improve access to justice, the Civil Justice Council (CJC) has told The Lawyer.
Clifford Chance and Simmons clinch £13bn fleet deal
Clifford Chance and Simmons clinch £13bn fleet deal" /Simmons & Simmons and Clifford Chance advised on the £13bn deal to replace the RAF air-to-air refuelling fleet, one of the UK’s largest ever PFI projects.
Clifford Chance faces race discrimination suit
Clifford Chance is being sued for $75m, accused of racial discrimination in its New York office.
Clifford Chance hit with sex discrimination claim
Clifford Chance hit with sex discrimination claim" /Clifford Chance is facing another sex discrimination claim and is due to defend itself in a Budapest court next month.
Clydes hire boosts Simmons' Dubai push
Simmons & Simmons has continued its Dubai push with the lateral hire of Vanessa Abernethy from Clyde & Co.
'Confident' Macfarlanes hits three-year promotions high
Macfarlanes has promoted five associates into the partnership, a slight increase on the last two years, when the firm made up four associates.
Court of Appeal allows document disclosure in English arbitration
XXIV Old Buildings has scored a Court of Appeal victory allowing documents generated for an English arbitration to be disclosed for the purposes of proceedings in New South Wales (NSW) and British Virgin Islands (BVI).
Cuatrecasas closes in on China office opening
Leading Spanish firm Cuatrecasas has taken a step towards opening its first office in China, winning a Shanghai practice licence and applying for a national licence.
Dickinson Dees fills Blair's shoes
Dickinson Dees fills Blair's shoes" /Dickinson Dees has appointed Sally Dallow as head of the insolvency and corporate recovery team, replacing Jonathan Blair who stepped up to the role of managing partner this month.
EAPD, Amicus form anti-corruption link
US law firm Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge (EAPD) has joined forces with anti-corruption agency Amicus Legal Consultants.
Edwin Coe man wins top spot at litigation authority
Edwin Coe partner David Greene has been voted in as the new president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association (LSLA).
Eversheds loses NHS job to Ward Hadaway
The Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Trust has chosen Newcastle firm Ward Hadaway over long-standing sole legal adviser Eversheds.
Former Denton International firm launches in Zurich
Denton Wilde Sapte’s (DWS) former German network firm Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek is set to open an office in Zurich in April.
Freshfields makes up 25 to partnership
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has announced 25 new partners in the first round of partnership promotions.
Herbies promotes record number of partners
Herbert Smith has made up a record 18 associates to the partnership and a third of them are women. The bulk of the promotions were made around the firm's international network with just eight of the 18 based in the London office. As last year, when the firm made up a total of 10, the corporate practice gained the highest number ...
Herbies shakes things up
Herbert Smith likes to vaunt its diversity statistics and this year it’s really practising what it preaches - a third of its new partners are women. That’s six out of 18.
Herbies...continued...
…Meanwhile, Herbert Smith’s practice focus has seen little change, with corporate again gaining the largest number of new partners.
Howrey launches Scandinavian practice with DG Comp hire
Howrey has boosted its Brussels antitrust practice with the hire of the head of the energy and environment unit at the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition (DG Comp).
ICC arbitration court outlines plans to set up shop in Asia
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration is set to launch two new offices in Asia by the end of the year.
Influx of retired judges threatens to flood arbitration and ADR markets
There is a world beyond the bench - provided practitioners know where to look for it.
It's good to talk: how news gets around BLP
Internal communications is one of the trickiest issues for any law firm's management. But how to avoid an overly corporate approach?
It's the vay ve tell 'em...
Tulkinghorn has invariably found most press releases to be duller than a week spent with his great aunt Nora without his trusty hip flask.
ITV reshuffles legal team as compliance chief retires
ITV's managing editor and director of compliance Ian McBride is to retire in June after more than 30 years with Granada and ITV.
King & Spalding hires for Abu Dhabi venture
King & Spalding is set to launch in Abu Dhabi, having recently been granted official approval for the launch, and is making a wave of hires across its offices in the Gulf.
Kirkland star leaves law for Tchenguiz
Kirkland & Ellis private equity partner Raymond McKeeve is set to join client and property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz as an investment professional in mid-April.
Labruna's year-two revenue jumps 80 per cent to hit €18m
Italian independent firm Labruna Mazziotti Segni has recorded a revenue rise of 80 per cent to hit e18m (£14.17m) in its second year of business.
Linklaters IP team quits for Olswang
Linklaters IP team quits for Olswang" /Olswang has taken on a star team of eight lawyers from Linklaters in Germany, doubling the size of its burgeoning Berlin office.
Links, jones day to act on kazakh mega-deal
Linklaters and Jones Day have been handed key roles on a proposed mega-deal that would see the creation of a £20bn mining giant in Kazakhstan. Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) has made an approach for copper producer Kazakhmys, with the former understood to have turned to Jones Day European head of capital markets Giles Elliott, who represented it during its £136bn London Stock Exchange IPO in December.
Lovells bags role on sale of Moscow hotel and offices
Lovells has landed a role advising the vendors on a major real estate deal in Moscow, with the transaction being led out of London.
Lovells restructuring partner quits for UBS role
Lovells restructuring partner Matthew French is to leave the firm to become restructuring chief at banking giant UBS.
Lovells to act on ICTS europe holdings sale
Lovells has landed an instruction from German private equity house Deutsche Beteiligungs advising on its e100m (£78.73m) acquisition of ICTS Europe Holdings.
Macfarlanes predicts a good year
Macfarlanes is confident about the year ahead, promoting five to the partnership - a three year high - with three of those falling within the firm’s heavy-hitting corporate department.
Magnificent '07: The Lawyer US Top 50 2007
Despite, or perhaps even because of, the rocky trading conditions, 2007 will be remembered as a banner year for the top US law firms - as The Lawyer’s exclusive research reveals
MoFo doubles up on first Korean AIM float
Morrison & Foerster (MoFo) has taken on two roles in the first flotation of a Korean company on AIM.
Nick Henchie: Mayer Brown International
Mayer Brown International" class="inline_image inline_image_left" src="/pictures/web/images/11193_14_nick.gif" /What was your first-ever job?Packing Christmas hampers at Harrods - I was sacked for chucking a Christmas pudding at a colleague.
Out of the shadows
Gabriela Kennedy reports on measures to clampdown on shadow companies operating in South East Asia
Paul Hastings parachutes real estate head into London as investors shun New York
Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker is beefing up its London senior management with the relocation of global real estate chairman Phil Feder from Los Angeles.
Pensions Regulator gets tough on conflicts
Firms with burgeoning pensions practices could face a threat to their client lists under conflicts of interest guidance set out by the Government's Pensions Regulator.
Pigeon treat
From a cosy leather seat in his country pile, Tulkinghorn enjoys the savage wilderness that is the great outdoors.
Rawlinson succeeds Jones as Freshfields corporate chief
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer corporate partner Mark Rawlinson is to succeed Tim Jones as the firm's London corporate head, taking up the new post on 1 April.
Real estate lawyers eye CIS as Middle East reaches saturation
So the Middle East is hot. Big news. If another firm cottons on to the fact then Ashurst client Serco had better get the Dubai metro up and running quick sharp or there will be nose-to-tail traffic all the way to Muscat.
Reed Smith moves to boost shipping teams
Reed Smith Richards Butler is upping its focus on its international shipping practice with the relocation of a lawyer apiece to Dubai and Hong Kong.
Reed smith wins role on AOL's bebo buyout
The London office of Reed Smith Richards Butler has won a minor role in a major US technology deal, handling UK issues on AOL's $850m (£424.24m) cash buyout of social networking site Bebo.
Rewriting the rules
Investors had high hopes for Indonesia's first directly elected president, who took office in 2004. But has Yudhoyono made good on his pledge to open up the economy?
Scottish in-housers win lower SLCC fee
Scottish in-house lawyers have welcomed the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission's (SLCC) willingness to offer in-housers a reduced annual levy, despite the escalating size of the commission's overall budget.
Separated at birth
Tulkinghorn was cheered to see that incoming senior partner David Morley has Grand Designs for Allen & Overy (A&O) after posing as Channel 4's architectural guru Kevin McCloud. Tulkinghorn was pleased as it gave him an opportunity to use the Grand Designs pun, which greatly amused him.
Serle silk to open first set in Qatar
Serle Court silk Khawar Qureshi QC is set to launch the first licensed barristers’ set in Qatar by the end of the month.
Sexism in the city
Tulkinghorn understands that trainees go through a lot at their law firms. Demeaned by performing the lowest tasks available, such as photocopying and carrying out reams of mind-numbing due diligence on corporate deals, they are often right to feel aggrieved.
Show me the money
This week's publication of The Lawyer US Top 50 ruffled a few feathers in New York.
SJ Berwin expands European coverage
SJ Berwin's European teams have been shored up with two lateral partner hires in Milan and Paris.
Skadden prepares for Brazil launch
US firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom is set to launch an office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Corporate partner Jonathan Bisgaier, a fluent Portugese speaker, will manage the new office working with Paul Schnell, the New York-based head of Skadden's Latin America practice.
South east asia
Many international law firms in South East Asia were overjoyed late last year by Singapore's announcement that it is to allow foreign firms to practice Singaporean law.
Sub-prime report slams O'Melveny and KPMG
O'Melveny & Myers and KPMG have been slammed in a highly anticipated report into the collapse of sub-prime mortgage company, New Century Financial filed yesterday (Wednesday 26 March) in the US bankruptcy court in Delaware.
Sugar was sweeter
Sugar was sweeter 28-March-2008As if being a toffo would-be lawyer wasn't a disadvantage already, aspiring barrister Nicholas De Lacy-Brown has done himself no favours on the PR front since.
The art of moving offices
Macfarlanes has revealed it is moving into a shiny new office at the end of May.
The Rocky road to ruin
After weeks of threats it looks as if the Government is finally going to be sued over its handling of the Northern Rock fiasco.
Tods Murray elects new boss
Tods Murray elects new boss" /Scottish firm Tods Murray has elected a new executive partner in the shape of corporate head David Dunsire, who takes over from incumbent Peter Misselbrook in June.
Trowers promotions dwindle
After four years of steady growth, the dearth of promotions at Trowers & Hamlins was unexpected.
Trowers slashes promotions
Trowers & Hamlins has slashed its number of partner promotions by almost three quarters since last year.
US top 50's £46.8bn haul makes 2007 the best year ever
The top 50 US firms last year generated a total of $46.8bn (£23.4bn) in revenue - an increase of more than 16 per cent on the 2006 total of $40.27bn (£20.14bn).
Web week
The Lawyer's Web Week is a weekly commentary on legal activity on the web.
Weil launches mentoring scheme to promote diversity
Junior and senior lawyers at Weil Gotshal & Manges will take part in a new mentoring scheme designed to promote diversity in a series of discussion groups at the US firm.
Why getting down with the kids could reap dividends on the diversity front
The eye-opener was dropped during the 'steps to qualifying as a solicitor' session.
Why I disagree with BPP's strategy of premium pricing
The recent fee increases announced by providers of the LPC have far wider implications than triggering a newsworthy spat - they go straight to the heart of the future of education and training for solicitors.
Winckworth Sherwood: Roger Fitton
Winckworth Sherwood: Roger Fitton" /As one of only a handful of firms permitted to introduce private bills in parliament, Winckworth Sherwood has some stellar clients on its roster. Despite having only 28 partners, the Westminster-based firm routinely acts for Sainsbury's, BP, Network Rail, the Church ...
Working it out
The 2007 SIAC Rules have gone a long way to cement the arbitration body’s authority in Singapore, say John Champion and Mark Errington
