25 March 2002
The Lawyer
'Lovells' to become global name for firm
Lovells is rebranding itself - from 1 July, it will be known worldwide purely as 'Lovells', in line with the merger agreement between Lovell White Durrant and Lovells Boesebeck Droste
A quick end
Kerrie Lloyd-Dawson reports on insolvency reforms and the progress of the Enterprise Bill
A&O launches pro bono first with pan-European work for Child Focus
A&O Brussels office leads the way with internationally coordinated pro bono work for child protection
AAR star quits for Credit Suisse
Allens Arthur Robinson (AAR) rainmaker Peter Cameron will begin work at Credit Suisse First Boston in April
AAR strengthens Asian resolve with PCCW hire
Hong Kong and Shanghai offices to be doubled in size in two years; Singapore office also set to open
Allen & Gledhill sees off its rivals for Asian M&A
Singapore firm Allen & Gledhill topped the rankings for Asian M&A in 2001, beating off competition from UK, US and Australian rivals
Altheimer plans for Serbian office
US firm to focus on PFI/PPP in Central and Eastern Europe
Andersen Legal network faces massive claims over Enron
The Andersen Legal Network has received another blow as US class action law firms indicated they would sue the Andersen Worldwide Partnership
Andersen member lifts spirits with Malaysian govt instruction
Andersen Legal's Malaysian practice has provided the accountancy-tied network with a welcome boost as the Andersen accounting arm battles against the fallout from the Enron scandal
Australia's top firms get to grips with HIH inquiry
Like a ball of string, failed Australian giant HIH Insurance is slowly being unravelled by a royal commission that is unrivalled in Australian legal history for its scope and the number of players involved
Austrim yet to receive claim from Vidal
Former Clayton Utz partner Veronica Vidal has yet to issue legal proceedings against ex-employer Austrim Nylex, despite the January release of a statement saying she would pursue a multimillion-dollar constructive dismissal claim
Bar poised for unrest as rebel barrister wins council place
The Bar Council is facing the threat of major disruption and fierce internal opposition following the election of a leading member of the Anti Bar Council Establishment to the council
Bar talk
The shipping world has not been gripped by so much excitement since the discovery of time instruments to precisely locate a ship's position on the high seas.Stephenson Harwood is full steam ahead with its merger with the once mighty Sinclair Roche & Temperley, and Watson Farley & Williams (albeit a minor fish in the shipping law firm ocean) has Simmons in its scope.Also, ...
Barclays grows African function
Barclays' legal department is undergoing a significant restructuring in Africa, which will create an entirely new legal team in Johannesburg
BBC Scotland dumps McGrigors from panel
BBC Scotland has asked McGrigor Donald, its longest-standing legal adviser, to leave its panel, The Lawyer can reveal
Bevan Ashford joins regional giants to win panel place in AWM retender
Pinsent Curtis Biddle and Wragge & Co snubbed as Midlands development agency chooses four law firms for new panel
BIGGART BAILLIE
Biggarts is sure that by doubling in size in five years profits will follow suit
Bloody Sunday Inquiry set for London move
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry is moving to London in September, which will save the UK taxpayer £50,000 a week and £1.7m a year in legal fees
Brunei lawyer accused of 'threatening' behaviour
The Brunei courts are set to hear their first civil suit against a lawyer accused of unfit conduct
Camerons whips up sports store deal over night
CMS Cameron McKenna advised Sports Soccer on its multimillion pound acquisition of the Lillywhites Group. Ashurst Morris Crisp acted for the vendor, Portuguese company Jeronimo Martins.Partner Richard Price led a small team at Camerons. They received the instruction at 6pm on a Monday and had a deal signed and sealed by ...
CC and Linklaters in Indian tax row
Clifford Chance is appealing an Indian tax tribunal's decision that it has underpaid on tax
CC heads towards Italian showdown
Grimaldi in last-ditch talks with London as crisis looms over leadership structure
CC hires HK partner for China office
Clifford Chance in Shanghai is taking on a partner from the Hong Kong office of US firm Pillsbury Winthrop as part of its China office push
CC Pünder's joint China head quits
Clifford Chance Pünder is losing the co-head of its global China practice following a dispute over the firm's strategy in Asia
CC sets up task force in response to the Andersen fallout
Clifford Chance has set up a risk management taskforce in response to the Andersen fallout
Cedr chooses Wragges litigation partner as non-executive director
Wragge & Co senior litigation partner Andrew Manning-Cox has been appointed as a non-executive director at the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (Cedr)
China crisis as Shanghai erects ceiling on charges
Local govt places limit on fees; ambiguity concerning foreign firms' inclusion
Clayton Utz in brand overhaul to reflect regional office integration
Clayton Utz is to rebrand this financial year in a bid to communicate its regional integration more effectively and to highlight its non-transactional practice
Complaints against barristers on the up
The number of complaints against barristers rose last year by 260, by far the largest increase since the regime to improve standards at the bar was launched five years ago
Cooley Godward tests water for international expansion
A London office could be on the agenda for Silicon Valley firm Cooley God-ward
Corporate
It seems that Carnival has ruined the party for dual-listed companies (DLCs). The Takeover Panel has now had a change of heart and decided that the Takeover Code should apply to dual-listed mergers.From one perspective this is a shame. If the P&O Princess-Royal Caribbean merger had been covered by the code, we might have been deprived of one of the juiciest hostile takeover bids for a while. Unlike most takeover battles, where the investment bankers and the chief executive ...
Davenport Lyons IP head signs up with Abbott Tout
Mid-tier outfit Abbott Tout has signed up London intellectual property partner Stephen Digby as a member of its Sydney entertainment practice
DEAL OF THE WEEK - GROUPE PARTOUCHE
Veil Armfelt wins new client with Partouche casino deal
Deals summary
Ashurst Morris Crisp (Jeremy Hill) advised motor insurer Ockham Holdings on its announced placing and open offer to raise £25m. Ashursts (Ian Webb) also advised Numis Securities, the organisation underwriting the placing. The offer is on the basis of 17 new Ockham shares for every 30 existing shares and has to be approved by shareholders.
Deals summary
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (Alan Samson, Stephanie Bess) represented Apollo International Real Estate Fund in the formation of two joint ventures with clients of Reit Asset Management to acquire seven UK shopping centres from Land Securities and Legal & General for £350m. HypoVereinsbank (HVB) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) funded the acquisitions. Reit represented by Kanter Jules (Simon Kanter), Land Securities by
Deals summary
Allen & Overy (Trevor Borthwick) advised the Royal Bank of Scotland and Deutsche Bank as joint arrangers on the £560m acquisition of Regional Independent Media Holdings by Johnston Press. Johnston advised by Ashurst Morris Crisp. Regional Independent Media advised by Macfarlanes.
Dentons hires boost Asia practice
Denton Wilde Sapte has made a series of internal moves and lateral partner hires in Asia
Enron reels under level of legal fees
Former employees of Enron Corp have been astounded at the fees commanded by law firms handling the collapsed energy trader's bankruptcy
Eversheds faces Eurofi claims of negligence
Claim amounts to more than £125,000 after call centre litigation with Teletech
Eversheds relocates Manchester star to fill Leeds property head position
Eversheds has appointed a new head of property in its Leeds office following the resignation of current head John Foster
Eversheds replaces head of international
Eversheds has appointed Alan Jenkins (left) as its new head of international following the announcement that Victor Semmens will retire from the firm in early May
Ex-Billiton legal chief to join ICL
Billiton's former general counsel Paul Lush, who left on 7 December last year, has resurfaced at IT services company ICL as its commercial and legal director
Fladgate pulls out Formula 1 victory
In a landmark judgment, common law was applied for the first time in an exploitation of identities case because of a vacuum in related UK legislation.Fladgate Fielder litigation partner Mark Buckley applied the common law of passing off to defend Formula 1 racing driver Eddie Irvine.Talksport, formerly Talk Radio, had altered a photograph of Irvine speaking into a mobile phone to make it look ...
Freehills' Singapore ally axes team in Asian overhaul
Freehills' Singapore affiliate Alban Tay Mahtani & de Silva (ATMD) has axed its conveyancing team as part of a strategic plan to bring the Asian practice more into line with its Australian sibling
Freshfields and A&O clean up on Zurich/BoS venture
Allen & Overy (A&O) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have shown that when it comes to handling meaty corporate transactions, there is no substitute for the magic circle. Bank of Scotland (BOS) and Zurich Financial Services have pooled resources to form an online banking joint venture - Zurich Bank.An A&O team led by corporate partner Richard Slynn represented ...
Freshfields ramps up partnership in Germany
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has elected more new partners to its partnership in Germany than it has in the UK
G+T strikes gold with Newmont work
Largest three-way hostile takeover in Australia's history has brought Sydney's Gilbert + Tobin into the limelight
Harbottle gives Pop Idol personal touch
Harbottle & Lewis has been appointed as personal legal adviser to Pop Idol winner Will Young in response to press revelations about his sexuality. Harbottles has a longstanding relationship with his management company, Simon Fuller's 19, but has only been appointed to handle Young's media work. Charles Moore at Denton Wilde Sapte is handling his music-related work."We were appointed by Young himself to be his personal lawyers and have been working for him since he ...
Herbert Smith creates eleven partners
Herbert Smith has announced the appointment of 11 partners globally, the majority to its London corporate department
Illinois throws spanner in works for Mayer Brown
UK firm Rowe & Maw and US firm Mayer Brown & Platt will not be able to merge fully until the State of Illinois gives the go-ahead for limited liability partnerships (LLPs)
Insuring change
The law surrounding UK insurance company insolvency is set to be modernised to make the process faster and more efficient. Laurence Elliott reports on the alterations
Japan bar penalises foreign joint ventures
The Japan Federation of Bar Associations has passed a protectionist measure designed to penalise Japanese firms in joint ventures with foreign lawyers
Landwell fronts global tax fight
Landwell, PriceWater-houseCoopers' tied law firm, has been appointed lead counsel on a £1.5bn case brought by foreign companies about UK taxation
Largest arbitration in history ends first stage
An arbitration described as history's largest has completed its first stage, with legal costs of tens of millions of pounds and the resignation of one arbitrator and the death of another.The first stage - a dispute over delay and quality of work relating to the conversion of a 125-ton bulk carrier into a pipelaying vessel - began in 1996 and has finally concluded after a mammoth nine awards, the arbitration equivalent of court judgments.There have been four major hearings ...
Leader
After years of demanding that we all accept that law is now a business rather than an old school tie profession, it seems that firms are finally cracking on to the fact that a business is nothing without its people.Perhaps they have been spurred into action by an unstable world economy, or maybe it is the effects of 11 September, but finally, after years of treating staff, clients and just about everybody else as little more than commodities, lawyers are waking up and realising ...
Lincoln National elects general counsel
US company Lincoln National Corporation has elected Dennis Schoff to the position of general counsel and senior vice-president
Luxembourg and the Netherlands face ECJ
The Luxembourg and Dutch governments both face court after breaking a deadline to implement EU free establishment directives
Malaysia gives brush off to foreign law firms
The Malaysian government has turned down several applications from foreign law firms desirous of opening offices in the country, despite a public commitment to open up the legal sector
Mallesons ramps up HK team with two-partner relocation
Mallesons Stephen Jaques will transfer two senior partners to its Hong Kong office later this year as part of its post-Linklaters strategy of flying solo in Asia
Masons lands Peru airport instruction
Masons has won its first instruction in Peru as it pushes a strategy targeted at projects in Latin America
Master builder
Minter Ellison managing partner Phil Clark has taken not one but two Australian firms from relative obscurity to international stardom. Nicole Maley talks to 'the man who made Mallesons'
McDermott appoints London tax partner
McDermott Will & Emery has added a new partner to its London tax practice
Medvei makes Mipim miracle
Tulkinghorn would be the first to agree that the legal profession displays many a saintly, nay godly, characteristic. And it would seem that Eversheds' head of property Cornelius Medvei is no exception. After arriving at the Majestic hotel for the Mipim fund managers dinner, Medvei was seen quite literally walking on water. However, gasps of "it's a miracle" quickly died down when it became ...
Mipim slams DJ Freeman and Lovells
DJ Freeman and Lovells both got a ticking off from Mipim organiser Reed Midem this year after declining to take exhibition stands
Monckton loses Lister to 11 New Square
Graham Lister, the senior clerk of European and competition law specialists Monckton Chambers, is due to leave in June to join expanding chancery set 11 New Square
Nicholsons property head steps down
Head of property at Nicholson Graham & Jones Richard Smith (right) is stepping down after 13 years to return to fee-earning
Norton Rose opens Hong Kong practice
Three-year restrictive covenant ends; old HK team reunited
Norton Rose senior assistant takes on GCC arbitration role
A Norton Rose lawyer is the first English solicitor to be appointed as an arbitrator in the Middle East's leading arbitration centre, the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC)
Opinion
At this time of year, many re-aders will be reviewing their tax and financial planning to capitalise on potentially valuable tax breaks. If you miss the deadline, you will almost certainly lose out, both in the short and long term. And luckily for partners, they can be uniquely well placed to maximise available tax breaks.During the past few years there has been a gradual erosion of the advantages of pension saving. But pension funding is just one part of financial planning for ...
Orb Estates plumps for Fladgate on £600m acquisition of Thistle Hotels
Fladgate Fielder advised Euro & UK Property and the Orb Estates group on the £600m acquisition of 37 Thistle Hotels and the companies that own them, effectively giving the West End firm a new client.Thistle Hotels, advised by David Pudge at Clifford Chance, sold a 37 hotel-package that it will continue ...
Orrick lures CC star for German advance
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has poached a Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells partner from the firm's New York office to boost its German practice
Osborne Clarke suffers three-partner defection
Osborne Clarke is losing three partners, including London head of competition Neil Baylis
Paul Hastings scores its biggest London deal with Brack Capital
US firm Paul Hastings' London office has teamed up with three other firms to lead on its biggest deal yet, acting for Israeli-backed Brack Capital Real Estate on its e1.46bn (£903.5m) recommended bid for Anglo-Dutch property company Hasle-mere.The deal is a major milestone for Paul Hastings, which launched here in 1997, with Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP),
Raslan Loong creates first Malaysian office in Europe
Raslan Loong has become the first Malaysian law firm to open offices in Europe
Sage Group to hire new legal chief from Pinsents
Software supplier Sage Group is close to filling the position of group head of legal, five months after its former incumbent Nick Cooper left to join JD Wetherspoon
Shaken but not stirred
Those who have been there will know that lap dancing in London has nothing on the shenanigans of Mipim… but as for those who frequented the Spearmint Rhinos of Cannes, that would be telling.As ever, there was an awful lot of lawyers chasing after the punters. CMS Cameron McKenna seemed to do particularly well with its James Bond themed nights on board the Star of Kaitos. So well, in fact, that ...
Shearmans in pro bono anti-Mugabe endeavour
A Shearman & Sterling team has added its voice to the mounting criticism concerning the manner in which the elections in Zimbabwe were conducted
Shock result in Theodore Goddard election as non-lawyer takes over
Theodore Goddard has elected a non-lawyer as a chief operating officer (COO) in place of a managing partner
Simmons and Watson Farley discuss marriage
Top-10 UK firm Simmons & Simmons is in merger talks with top-30 firm Watson Farley & Williams to create a 1,000 fee-earner firm with combined revenues of more than £200m
Simpson Grierson in shares for fees deal
New Zealand firm Simpson Grierson has signed newly-listed software developer Feverpitch as the first participant in its services for shares scheme
Simpson Grierson lawyer heads up monumental Sri Lankan power deal
The World Bank has appointed New Zealand lawyer Rabin Rabindran as a legal specialist to assist the Sri Lankan government with the development of a multimillion-dollar power project, the largest to have ever been carried out in the country
Singapore firms slash bonuses
Singapore's top local law firms have slashed associate bonuses this year by around 60 per cent
Six firms make The Sunday Times top ten
Six law firms were among The Sunday Times top-100 UK employers
Skadden's Asia chief returns to New York
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom's head of Asia has returned to New York
Smiley happy people
The recent release of Australia's best employers list had the corporate community popping the corks and the country's law firms… nowhere to be seen. Nicole Maley investigates
Steptoe appoints new London head
Steptoe & Johnson has shaken up the management of its London office and given the reins to relative newcomer Maury Shenk
Sticky fingers
Friendly competition is rife at Mipim. But sometimes things get a little out of hand and Tulkinghorn did hear a few cries of foul play. The Lovells crew was most upset when its supply of Lovells-branded chocolate bars failed to arrive this year. One Lovells insider felt sure he had spied the affable Geoffrey Lander of Nabarro Nathanson with a tell-tale smudge of chocolate around his mouth. Geoffrey?
Supermarkets get go-ahead to give legal advice
Supermarket customers will soon be able to put 'legal advice' on their shopping lists, as the Law Society has agreed to let businesses provide legal services directly to the public
Supply and demand
Land Rover refused to give in to KPMG, receiver of an ailing supplier, and its High Court victory has been hailed by some as the saviour of the Midlands. Jon Robins reports
Taking stock
The Barings and Enron scandals have brought to the fore the functions of company directors, accountants and auditors. Simon Barker asks: what will be the effect on their future roles?
The calling
BT's selection procedure for law firms is akin to a secret recipe, but a rejig is seeing a liberal use of firms. Naomi Rovnick gets the lowdown from group general counsel Anne Fletcher
The dude of tax
If anyone can make a child cry 'I want to be a tax adviser', it's Theodore Goddard senior partner Paddy Grafton Green, the 'it boy' of the tax world
The Leader Column
Good God. The-odore Goddard in radical move shocker. As re-vealed in this issue, the firm has elected a non-lawyer to take charge. Instead of having a managing partner, Theodore Goddard will have a chief operating officer.Well, yes, it does sound a bit 1990s. Non-lawyer managers were more in fashion five years ago, but for a partnership like Theodores this is nevertheless a giant step. Actually, you can see a pattern emerging. Every four years, Theodores gets into merger talks; ...
The outsiders
Can an 'outsider' such as an accountant run a law firm better than the traditional partnership model? Jon Robins finds out if the trend towards corporatisation is all it's cracked up to be
Thomson Playford opens in the East
Adelaide firm Thomson Playford is expanding its operation with the launch of two offices along Australia's eastern seaboard
Twin towns
Now China has joined the WTO, firms will be able to open more than one office, ending the problem of choosing between Shanghai and Beijing. Helen Power reports on the regulatory changes that will give firms the best of both worlds
Victoria calls
The Victoria Government has called for firms to tender for a role on its new legal panel. Nicole Maley discovers why the places are so coveted and reveals what the client is looking for
Vizards employee benefits chief joins Thomas Eggar
Thomas Eggar Church Adams has expanded its pensions and trusteeship team with the appointment of Graham Chrystie, formerly head of the employee benefits department at Vizards Wyeth, to its London office
Watson Farley aviation partner snubs Simmons talks to join DLA
DLA is continuing with its expansion in aviation as it takes on the head of world-wide aviation at Watson Farley & Williams
White & Case Feddersen drops four from its Berlin partnership
Four White & Case Feddersen partners are to leave the Berlin partnership as the worldwide management streamlines the Euro-pean practice
