25 April 2005
The Lawyer
3/4 South Square spreads international reach with new hires
Top insolvency set 3/4 South Square has taken on two new associate members, bringing the total number of door tenants to 12.
A cracking year
Ireland's economic growth, low interest rates and healthy corporate activity, along with the creation of the IEX, gives cause for optimism for the coming years. By Brian O'Gorman
Angel pulls off running feat
Tulkinghorn would like to congratulate Linklaters managing partner Tony Angel for finishing the London Marathon in just under four and a half hours. Angel, who ran the marathon to raise money to help find a cure for cystic fibrosis, finished the 26.3-mile course in a highly creditable four hours and 28 minutes.
Baker Botts targets energy work with new Dubai office
US firm Baker Botts has opened a Dubai office to expand its Middle East and North Africa practice at the same time as Ashurst reveals its plans to launch in the region.
BD: giving clients that little bit extra
A business development function need not be the albatross it is often deemed, says Darren Francis
Blake Lapthorn set for High Court fight over £300K claim
Blake Lapthorn set for High Court fight over £300K claim" /Blake Lapthorn (now Blake Lapthorn Linnell) is being sued in the High Court for professional negligence for a sum in excess of £300,000.
BLG and Ince shrug off downward trend of reported shipping litigation
The number of reported shipping litigation cases dropped sharply between 2003 and 2004 - but some firms are still seeing an increase in work.
Camerons to take LLP plunge
CMS Cameron McKenna has become the latest UK firm to pile onto the limited liability partnership (LLP) bandwagon.
Careers: People
Mace & Jones' former head of clinical negligence and managing partner of its Knutsford office Melanie Rowles is to join Pannone & Partners. Pannone head of clinical negligence John Kitchinghman said: "We're looking forward to Melanie joining our team and adding her areas of expertise and interest."
CC edges Beachcrofts out of East Surrey Holdings disposal
Clifford Chance has muscled in on longstanding Beachcroft Wansbroughs client East Surrey Holdings on the acquisition of its utilities business by Terra Firma Capital Partners.
CC lands finance mandate on Pernod Ricard bid
Clifford Chance has landed the mandate to advise Pernod Ricard’s banks in relation to the French drinks group’s offer for Allied Domecq.
CC loses two partners to SJ Berwin and BLP
Clifford Chance has lost two partners in the space of a week to mid-sized rivals.
Commercial breakdown
On the surface, the selection panel for new QCs looks respectable - a couple of high-profile silks, a chief Crown prosecutor, several lay members who have held major public appointments... But there is no true commercial representation - nobody from a major commercial set or City firm.
Commercial success
Ireland's new Commercial Court has speeded up the trial process with efficient management and experienced judges. Alison Fanagan and John Whelan report
Constructive advice
Whether your client is a tenant, developer, builder or financier, advising on a major development involves a lot of work. Michael Walsh reports on Dundrum Town Centre
Counsel vote China, India as best emerging markets
China and India were rated the most attractive emerging markets for UK businesses in a report on the role of general counsel in emerging markets.
Different strokes
Failure to recognise the differences between Northern Irish and English law can be very costly. Leeanne Whaley and Emma Cooper report on some key areas of separation
DLA Piper targets Eastern Europe with EY Law raid
Transatlantic firm in advanced talks to add 100-lawyer CIS network as global office count hits 50
Egg legal chief made redundant
Egg has made its chief legal officer and company secretary, Marcus Ezekiel, redundant as part of a cost restructuring exercise.
ELF appoints new chief
David Whiting has been appointed as the new chief executive of the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF).
Firm profile: Rowe Cohen
Earlier in the month, Mohamed Al Fayed was refused leave to appeal to the House of Lords in a final attempt to sue the police for wrongful arrest.
Firms wait on full-scale UBS review
UBS Investment Bank has concluded a full-scale review of its law firms in a bid to rationalise those it uses in the US, Europe and Asia.
Freshfields fights 'rearguard battle' on MTN merger block
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has waded in on behalf of client MTN in the mobile company's last-ditch attempt to block the merger between Celtel and Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC).
Get with the programme
Everybody knows there's never anything decent on TV, but surely things can't be getting this bad?
Gide in US swoop with dual New York hires
French giant Gide Loyrette Nouel is dramatically beefing up its US practice by hiring two partners for its New York office.
Ginestié acts on dept store privatisation
France's Ginestié Magellan Paley-Vincent is advising the Moulin family on the privatisation of department store Galeries Lafayette.
Hammonds office plagued by return of the shoe soiler
Hammonds' Birmingham office was rocked last week by the revelation that an unknown individual has been urinating in the footwear of female staff members.
Happy Howrey adds Paris joy to US patent reform bill boost
US FIRM Howrey threw a bash last week at its Ropemaker Street office as a double celebration. Principally, it was to celebrate the opening of its first outpost in Paris, a three-partner, five-lawyer foothold based on the former French IP boutique Cousté & Cousté.
Insult to injury?
The BBC is devoting a series to 'the Rottweilers of the PI industry' Amelans, with partner Andrew Twambley headlining. Jon Robins reports on the lawyer's angle for repairing the profession's image
Irwin Mitchell staff have a spell teaching kids to read
Lawyers went back to school in Sheffield last term to help fight the slipping levels of literacy. "I find it shocking that, although we might be the fourth-biggest economy on earth, according to research there are 3.5 million people who go to work who can't read," says Adrian Budgen, the Irwin Mitchell partner who has just launched the firm's 'Right to Read' scheme. "In the UK, one in four adults are ...
Law Soc win leave to intervene in torture evidence case
The Law Society has been given leave to make representations to the Law Lords when they hear an appeal against a Court of Appeal ruling that found evidence obtained by torture is admissible in British courts.
Lawyers made to wait for partnership
The average age of new partners at the top 10 City firms is now almost 35, as associates face a longer wait before being made up.
Legal Widow
We survived the St George's Day celebrations on the local rugby fields at the weekend, although Deminimus was hit by a stray longbow arrow and Subjudice and her little coven of friends unpicked St George's chain-mail while he wasn't looking, leaving his bottom exposed to the biting winds.
Lovells ends Trinidad's Corporal Punishment Act
Lovells has secured a major victory in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, resulting in the abolition of corporal punishment in Trinidad and Tobago.
Lovells, Howrey end BAA-Ryanair fuel levy fight
Lovells and Howrey Simon Arnold & White have ended a dispute between the British Airports Authority (BAA) and Ryanair respectively. Ryanair claimed BAA's fuel levies were excessive, while BAA claimed Ryanair owed charges.
Management shake-up at Cobbetts as Benson takes the helm
Cobbetts is undergoing a change in management as senior partner Stephen White steps down, to be replaced by commercial property partner Stephen Benson.
Mediation giant CEDR in transatlantic tie-up
The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), Europe’s biggest provider of mediation services, has struck an international strategic alliance with its US equivalent, JAMS.
Mid-tier firms gear up for bumper year as PEP predictions set to challenge City elite
Mid-tier firms are predicting another strong year, with Addleshaw Goddard, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), Nabarro Nathanson and SJ Berwin all anticipating sharp increases in profits per equity partner (PEP).
Monsoon legal chief takes lead role in Primark design rights battle
Monsoon company secretary Rosalynde Harrison has taken a lead role advising the retailer on a claim against budget store Primark for allegedly copying its clothing.
More Fisher lands Richards Butler shipping ace
Shipping partner Andrew Hughes has left Richards Butler after 25 years to join specialist shipping firm More Fisher Brown today (25 April).
New APIL president calls for small claims reform
The new president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), Allan Gore QC, is calling for a more efficient small claims system.
Norman's wisdom
With the onset of spring, Tulkinghorn has been feeling in a benevolent mood. In addition to a week of undercover sleuthing-cum-self-indulgent pampering at Champneys, Mrs Tulkinghorn was recently treated to a shopping trip to Paris. This gave the accompanying Tulkinghorn the opportunity to pay a visit to a few old friends in the legal market - an experience he found most agreeable.
Oliver to succeed Raphael at Peters & Peters' helm
West End litigation boutique Peters & Peters senior partner Monty Raphael is stepping down at the beginning of May, to be replaced by civil fraud head Keith Oliver.
Opinion
Non-executive directors should be keeping a close eye on the developments of Equitable Life
Pitmans to launch in London
Reading-based firm Pitmans is opening an office in London from 3 May 2005 to service its growing workload.
Private equity market slates LMA form for pro-bank bias
The Loan Market Association (LMA) has put its leveraged finance standard form out for review amid criticism that it is too biased towards lenders.
ProSieben turns to Milbank for sell-off
Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy has landed the lead role on the sale of the listed German television broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1.
Pub rub
Tulkinghorn is worried that he may not be able to enjoy a few pints at his favourite watering holes come summer, as it seems even specialist licensing solicitors don't understand the new Licensing Act.
Publish or be damned
The implementation of the EU Prospectus Directive in Ireland will mean big changes for issuers. Brendan Heneghan gives the lowdown
Reading falls prey to review as Nabarros relocates staff
Nabarro Nathanson is to shut its Reading office following a strategic review.
Recruitment giants to return
Two of the most influential legal recruiters of their generation are separately gearing up to launch new businesses in London.
Return of the recruitment giants
There's a sweet symmetry to the news that Joe Macrae and Gareth Quarry are both hatching plans to get back into the London legal recruitment market: both built their businesses from scratch; both companies were taken over by much larger ones, allowing their founders to pocket plenty of money - £30m in Quarry's case. Their parallel careers may have made them rivals, but happily with a certain amount of good temper.
Richard Shoylekov: Corus
Corus has clawed its way back from the brink of collapse and its legal team is now upping its profile and showing the company how it can help streamline costs. By Deborah Rothfield
Righting a writing wrong
Tulkinghorn's scribes are really mixing it with the best these days.
Russian discussion
Never a firm to shy away from the grand gesture, DLA Piper is poised to grab four offices from the disintegrating EY Law network. These hires certainly have the whiff of opportunism. Although EY Law's Polish firm Domañski Zakrzewski Palinka blossomed after splitting from its accounting parent, the Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev and Tbilisi offices, profitable though they are, seemed unlikely to survive alone ...
Safety first
The tightening of Irish health and safety legislation could result in personal liability for employers. Donal Dunne reports on the key changes
Shamed Italian judicial system puts off Euro pressure until June
A threatened censure by the Council of Europe against the notorious inefficiency of the Italian judicial system has been postponed because the Italian government failed to promptly supply a report on the problem.
Shoosmiths becomes AA members' sole adviser
Shoosmiths has won the mandate from the AA to be the motoring organisation's sole legal adviser for members' insurance claims.
Soft property market entices law firms to improve their lot
Law firms continued to ride the property market wave in the first quarter of 2005, with a raft of firms taking advantage of the soft market to secure new space at bargain rates.
Special treatment
Ireland's favourable tax regime has helped boost the use of special purpose vehicles and created a healthy financial services industry. Fergus Gillen reports
Tackling police corruption - more than just a hobby
The challenge of reconciling the demands of a busy practice with a valuable pro bono contribution has proved too much for Paul Weiss litigator Mark Pomerantz.
Taylor Wessing bags first AWG deal on Broadway Plaza sell-off
Taylor Wessing has completed its first property deal for Anglian Water Group (AWG) on the sale of Birmingham's Broadway Plaza.
The work-life quiz
Bert Heikens, Netherlands managing partner, AKD Prinsen Van Wijmen
Treasure ireland
Double tax treaties and exemptions from withholding tax make Ireland an attractive place to do business. Turlough Galvin reports
White & Case makes major Mexican hire
White & Case has enhanced its Mexican offering by hiring corporate rainmaker Thomas Heather from leading local firm Ritch Heather y Mueller.
White & Case partner to be new FSA enforcement chief
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has raided White & Case for its new director of enforcement.
