25 February 2002
The Lawyer
'Money launderers' used mobile phones as front
The Staffordshire lawyer charged with money laundering the proceeds of a £30m VAT fraud, which involved the import of mobile phones from Europe, is alleged to have laundered some of the money through a Spanish account
4-5 Gray's Inn loses third head as Mole joins bench
4-5 Gray's Inn has to find its third joint head of chambers in just over two years, as its longstanding and successful tenant David Mole QC has just been appointed as a circuit judge
A&O takes on Camerons Hong Kong partner
CMS Cameron McKenna has lost Hong Kong restructuring partner David Kidd to Allen & Overy (A&O)
ABA opens billable hours investigation
The American Bar Association (ABA) has launched an investigation into billable hours
An instruction to choo over
Tulkinghorn does not claim to completely understand the criteria used by companies in the process of selecting their external legal advisers, but this little tale has left him totally bemused.Law firms are forever being told by their clients to justify their continued instruction on the basis of cost, quality of advice, locality, specialist knowledge and partner representation - at least, that was the way Tulkinghorn understood it. In the case of one FTSE 250 company, however, ...
Andersen boosts German IP
Andersen Legal's German arm Andersen Luther is to beef up its intellectual property (IP) practice in anticipation of the imminent changes to European IP law
Appeal Court blasts employment tribunal
An employment tribunal (ET) accused by a lay representative of being racist has had its wrists slapped by the Court of Appeal
BA in-housers raise £600m with plane mortgages from GE Capital
British Airways (BA) was advised in-house when it mortgaged part of its aircraft fleet to raise £600m. The company mortgaged 26 planes, 22 of which were mortgaged to GE Capital.GE Capital has a strong relationship with BA and has been used on previous financings. It was advised by longstanding adviser Clifford Chance.According to sources, the move is testament to the company's ...
BAE Systems' new head of legal to squeeze value from law panel
A new head of legal at BAE Systems has pledged to examine his legal panel to ensure that he is getting the best value possible from the chosen firms
Baker & McKenzie chief follows colleague to NY's Kronish Lieb
Baker & McKenzie's head of securities has left the firm in favour of 30-partner New York practice Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman
Bank of Scotland sues McCanns over conflict
Four Seasons Hotel £23m overspend leads to negligence claim against Irish firm
Bernard Matthews gets a roasting over turkeys
En gardE! It's turkey drummers at dawn for the duel between Bernard Matthews and the French Ministry for Agriculture
Bevan Ashford handed Equitable assessor role
A team of Bevan Ashford mediators is gearing up for its first round of cases involving Equitable Life, after it was appointed as an independent assessor for disputes between the troubled mutual and its policyholders
Birmingham College of Law judged 'very good'
The newly-opened College of Law in Birmingham has had its presence in the city endorsed by a 'very good' rating from the Law Society
Blake Lapthorn hires new head of insolvency
Blake Lapthorn has hired partner Nick Oliver from niche London commercial practice Moon Beever to head its insolvency and business recovery team in London
Blood oaths
The eyes of airlines, passengers and lawyers alike are on a number of test cases concerned with whether flying has caused deep vein thrombosis. Sally Roberts reports
Cadwalader partner joins 2 Paper Buildings
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has lost Vinay Ganga, one of its project finance partners, to 2 Paper Buildings, the chambers of Desmond de Silva. The set specialises in crime and civil work. Ganga is already a UK and Indian-qualified lawyer, but needs approval from the Bar Council in order to requalify as a barrister.
CC handles its first no-win no-fee court action
Clifford Chance has handled its first no-win no-fee case
CC Pünder employment team quits
A top employment team from Clifford Chance Pünder's Düsseldorf office has resigned from the firm, citing client conflict as an increasing frustration
Challenging the gods
Arnold Simanowitz has been guiding clinical negligence victims for 20 years. One would think he'd be universally applauded, but as Jon Robins reports, not everyone is happy
Citigroup opens the floodgates
Satellite firms receive boost as bank's general counsel paves the way for new faces; ten firms in dogfight for placings
City firm lands Hollywood instruction
Richards Butler has scooped a glamorous new client
Clarification
In an article in last week's issue on US firms in London, a picture caption mistakenly stated that Bernd Ratzke is at Jones Day Reavis & Pogue. As stated in the text, Ratzke is head of corporate at Baker & McKenzie. In the same feature, it should also have stated that the London office of Debevoise & Plimpton has 13 UK-qualified lawyers, not three.
Cloisters victorious in HRA school wrangle
Cloisters Chambers last week won the first case under the Human Rights Act (HRA) in the High Court relating to school admissions
Cobbetts sends top guns to Read Hind
Manchester firm Cobbetts has sent a team of partners and senior solicitors over to its merger partner Read Hind Stewart in Leeds
Corporate
Last year, corporate departments emerged as the number one fan of private equity. But charming the venture capitalists was not everyone's corporate strategy. Hammond Suddards Edge had a great year and it had nothing whatsoever to do with private equity. The firm hauled itself into Thomson Financial's UK M&A top 25 for the first time by focusing on mid-cap corporate M&A work.
Costs case forces the House of Lords to introduce CFAs
Lack of procedure for conditional fee arrangements almost collapses case; Lords three years behind other courts
DEAL OF THE WEEK - PUNCH PUB COMPANY
Slaughters sees Punch through a loss of Spirit
Deals summary
Stephenson Harwood (David Cuckson) advised the Newmount consortium on a £22m schools PFI project with Dudley Council. Devonshires (Paul Buckland) advised the council. Pinsent Curtis Biddle (Kate Peacock) advised the Royal Bank of Scotland, which financed the consortium.Maxwell Batley (Orla Sullivan) advised Hermes Property Asset Management on the sale of a freehold retail block ...
Deals summary
SJ Berwin (Philip Goldenberg) advised Canaccord Capital on $25m (£17.5m) rescue finance, which was used to recapitalise Navan Mining. Navan (Pii Ketvel) advised by Clyde & Co (Martin Byatt) and bank syndication, led by Deutsche Bank, advised by Allen & Overy (Jonathan Brownson).Matthew Arnold & Baldwin (Alistair Bacon) advised liquidator Maidment Judd on Organic Clothing's ...
Deals summary
Macfarlanes (Nicola Richards, Simon Perry, John Skelton, Luke Morris) advised majority shareholders Cinven and Royal Bank Private Equity on the merger of brick manufacturers Chelwood Group and Ambion Brick Company. At the same time, the existing debt was refinanced by a £50m syndication loan led by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Barclays Bank. Management advised by Hammond Suddards Edge. ...
Death list
Nigel Godsmark QC puts Government plans to publish surgeons' patient mortality rates under the microscope
Dentons hires to strengthen Asia
Denton Wilde Sapte has shaken up its Asia practice with a series of internal moves and lateral partner hires
Don't get the bars mixed up
Traditionally, journalists, as with lawyers, welcome a bevy as much as an Englishman his Bedouin oasis. But now, in this crazy world of the health obsessed, reporters' tongues yearn carrot juice as much as they once sought out fine wines, or whatever else was on the menu.However, 29 Bedford Row is doing its utmost to revert journalists and lawyers to their former state of alcoholic craving in the shape of a spankingly fantastic bar in its basement room, a former strongroom. ...
Dust devils
Asbestos poisoning claimants have suffered a series of setbacks recently. Adrian Budgen reports on how the legal system is letting down the victims
ECJ rejects claims that Italian compulsory fee scale is illegal
Claims that the compulsory scale of fees paid to Italian lawyers is illegal under EU competition legislation have been thrown out by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which has ruled that the system is a reasonable act of the national government
Enron loses top lawyer
Enron Corporation's general counsel James Derrick Jr is to retire from the company at the beginning of March
Eversheds bio head to launch Olswang group
Olswang is bringing in Eversheds equity partner and London head of biosciences Michael Burdon to set up a new full-service biosciences group
Freshfields and Hengeler await Cartel Office decision on Liberty
Lawyers fear negative outcome; German Cartel Office ruling due end of February
Heini Junior takes the spoils as Thyssen case settles
The Thyssen dispute in Bermuda has finally settled, but not before it had incurred legal fees estimated to be in excess of £100m
Herbert Smith faces battle with French star
Herbert Smith faces a potential legal wrangle following its reluctance to let go of French competition ace Claude Lazarus
Holding council
Newham's Gifty Edila was a one-council woman, that is until Kensington and Chelsea swept her off her feet with the offer of a new challenge. Jennifer Currie reports
IBA fund aims to fight law abuses
The International Bar Association (IBA) has created a fund to finance rapid response missions to countries where the rule of law has come under threat
James Chapman wins Keoghs PI specialist
James Chapman has taken on Keoghs personal injury (PI) specialist Roger Brooks (left) as a partner
Joseph's magic dreamsuits
Being an old and portly sort of chap, Tulkinghorn has enormous trouble buying a new suit, even at the most respectable of gentleman's outfitters. So imagine his envy when he met Jason McCue, partner at media firm H20, who has no trouble fitting into the trendiest of designer suits. Why? Because some of them were designed for him.As a young chap, McCue went out to Tokyo for a job with Slaughter ...
Latham grows Valley office with Cooley duo
Palo Alto-based Cooley Godward has lost two partners to Latham & Watkins
Linklaters and Pinsents get thumbs up from BOC lawyer
Global gas company BOC has formalised its panel of legal advisers in the UK under recently-instated head of legal Nick Deeming
Locked up for the kids' sake
Do you know anyone who deserves to be locked up with Sir Walter Raleigh and Guy Fawkes for a few hours? Now, Tulkinghorn is sure that there are more than a few trainees and junior associates out there that would just love the opportunity to put their partners behind bars, if only for a few hours. Well, now's your chance to imprison those soulless ones who have made your life a misery with punitive amounts of photocopying.To serve a three-hour stretch before being released ...
Lords aims to resolve issue of judicial review time lapse
The unresolved issue of when an applicant can apply to judicially review a planning decision of a local authority will be put before the House of Lords on 4 March
Male problems
Email 'abuse' in the workplace has been big news in recent months. It's not surprising, then, that one law firm has decided to conduct a breakfast meeting for clients on the very subject.The briefing asserts that the firm will "consider the use and abuse of email by employees, including confidentiality issues, an employer's liabilities to employees and to third parties and the preservation, disclosure and use of email as evidence". No doubt very useful, but ...
Manches partner to head Richards Butler property
Richards Butler has hired Manches partner Nigel Brown to replace John Aylwin as head of the firm's development projects unit
MDPs suffer European setback
European Court of Justice grants Netherlands the right to refuse MDPs citing incompatibility of advisory and supervisory roles
Milberg Weiss leads fight against Enron
Class action firm wins out as judge picks University of California as lead plaintiff
Morgan Cole revamps to target health and social care industry
Morgan Cole has chosen health and social care as its latest target industry group as it continues to overhaul its structure
Opinion
Earlier this month, the House of Lords in a landmark case against David Shayler, the former MI5 officer, was asked to rule that Margaret Thatcher's Official Secrets Act 1989 (OSA) was incompatible with human rights legislation guaranteeing free speech in this country. The House of Lords will have to grapple with the conflicting rights of a security and intelligence service (SIS) determined to protect its secrets against 'the public's right to know', particularly ...
Regional firms continue filching work from City
National and regional firms are continuing to make inroads into City legal work, according to recent research
Return of the lawyer
The rise of PI 'specialists' seemed to spell doom for the friendly neighbourhood personal injury practitioner. But Keith Miles discovers that the lawyers were just biding their time
Reynolds Porter appoints media consultant
Reynolds Porter Chamberlain has hired Jane Anderson as a consultant in its media department
Scottish Lord Advocate wants court on the box
The Scottish Lord Advocate Colin Boyd QC has come out in favour of live television broadcasts in Scottish courts
Shanghai authority gets tough on lawyers' rates
Greater transparency drive leaves foreign firms unsure if law applies to them
Stars in your lies
Tulkinghorn is a little glum this week. Normally the first to sign up for conferences, particularly if they are on foreign shores, he has missed out this year on the annual real estate love-in that is Mipim.It seems that one of The Lawyer's journalists has chosen real estate as her specialist subject and so has assumed responsibility for covering the event. Tulkinghorn is not impressed and would like to point out to cynical readers that his absence has nothing to do with ...
The Leader Column
As if Enron wasn't bad enough, last week's ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) came as yet another blow to the cause of accountancy-tied law firms.The ECJ's decision, which upheld the Dutch Bar's ban on multidisciplinary partnerships (MDPs), was the culmination of years of litigation. That litigation was sparked by Andersen Legal and PricewaterhouseCoopers in response to the Dutch Bar performing a U-turn on the matter back in the early 1990s, just ...
The proud father
DLA managing partner Nigel Knowles is still shouting about his firm's ambitions to conquer London and Europe. City firms - sneer at your peril
The Schilling
Most stars hoping to sue a newspaper would settle on the fiercely independent media and entertainment firm Schilling & Lom. But as Naomi Rovnick reports, there's a queue
The Woolf reforms
All personal injury lawyers, both claimant and defendant, have horror stories to tell about Lord Woolf's reforms
Top Brunei lawyer accused of 'threatening' behaviour
Courts to hear country's first ever civil claim to be brought against practising lawyer
Watson Burton
Client retention is North East firm Watson Burton's recipe for success
Weightmans shapes up for Vizards merger
Weightmans has reviewed its internal structure in preparation for the opening of its London office
White & Case in Finnish property first
White & Case has acted on the largest foreign real estate investment in Finland to date, acting for Sponda on the k322m (£196.9m) disposal of the Itakeskus Shopping Centre to Dutch real estate company Wereldhave."I'm not aware of any foreign investment in the real estate market that would even come close," said Petri Haussila, the partner at White & Case's Helsinki office who acted on the deal.Sponda also used Van Doorne for Dutch legal advice and ...
White & Case loses commodities star
White & Case has lost its French commodities practice following the departure of a partner to Denton Wilde Sapte
Wilsons hire boosts charities capability
Salisbury firm Wilsons has appointed Alison McKenna, barrister and former assistant commissioner at the Charity Commission, to join the firm as head of its charities practice. The hire will enable Wilsons to offer specialist advice on Charity Commission inquiries and review visits. It plans to offer charities a new health check service.
