26 April 2004
The Lawyer
A new beginning
When Louise Woodward returned to England after her manslaughter conviction in the US, she had made a decision – to become a solicitor. She is now almost there. Woodward talks to Gemma Charles about her experiences
A&L Goodbody tops M&A table after last-minute intervention
Mergermarket computer bug throws M&A rankings into confusion; Clifford Chance comes top in deals by value table
Ahold reveals €170m legal bill in year-end results
Recovering Dutch supermarket group Ahold last year shelled out €170m (£114.2m) in advisory fees, with the lion’s share going to White & Case, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Wilmer Cutler & Pickering.
Alstom general counsel quits after disclosure row with CEO
Alstom general counsel Andrew Hibbert will leave the French industrial giant this July following a disagreement with chief financial officer Phillipe Jaffre over what should be disclosed in Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Ashurst advises developers of world’s dearest apartment
Ashurst advises developers of world’s dearest apartment" /Ashurst has advised new clients Manresa Developments and Candy and Candy on the sale of the most expensive apartment in the world.The former global head of global exchange at Citigroup Julian Simmonds – the man behind Manresa – bought the Manresa Road ...
Bank of America in challenge to Bondi
Bank of America and Parmalat’s Irish subsidiary Eurofood is attempting to oust special administrator Enrico Bondi with an attack on the legality of his appointment in the Italian Administrative Tribunal.
Bevan Ashford initiative gives a lift to Princetown
Bevan Ashford is advising a number of fledgling businesses on a pro bono basis as part of a burgeoning rural regeneration scheme in Princetown, Devon.
Bond Pearce ups the ante on South West with new premises
Bond Pearce has signed a deal to take 50,000 sq ft of space in a new Bristol development as the firm continues its attack on the South West market.
Boot camp for ex-White & Case fraudster
A former White & Case lawyer has been sent to a Buffalo boot camp after stealing money from the firm. Jennifer Hampton pleaded guilty to first degree fraud and second degree grand larceny after charging $111,913 (£63,300) of personal expenses to her corporate American Express card and for helping to defraud investors of more than $260,000 (£147,200). She was sentenced to between one and a half and ...
BPI litigation threat means even the kids aren’t alright
Individuals downloading music illegally could well be on the UK regulator’s hit list. By Matt Byrne
Camerons’ Woolf win Law Society deputy role
One of CMS Cameron McKenna’s leading energy partners is retiring to take the reins as deputy vice president of the Law Society.
Canada’s Blakes Cassels makes Chicago debut
Blakes Cassels & Graydon has become the first Canadian firm to set up shop in Chicago.
Celador wins Warner Brothers head of legal for commercial role
Celador International, the company behind TV quiz show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” has recruited Warner Music International’s director of business and legal affairs.
Chadbourne gains senior Bank of New York lawyer
New York-based Chadbourne & Parke has boosted its banking practice with the appointment of the Bank of New York’s head of legal for global securities and capital markets.
Cleary Gottlieb finally bags A&O Italian rainmaker
High profile Allen & Overy (A&O) Italian senior partner Roberto Casati has at long last confirmed his long-awaited departure to Cleary Gottleib Steen & Hamilton’s Milan office.
Clementi regulation gets City law firm backing
City law firms are backing David Clementi’s B-model of legal regulation, according to Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva. City firms favour an amended B-model, involving limited reform, whereby regulatory functions would be retained by the Law Society but overseen by a central regulator. It is proposed that, while high street firms would ...
Client conflicts forces Weil Gotshal to drop NYC gun case
Weil Gotshal & Manges has dumped client New York City just months before its high-profile trial against more than 40 gun-makers and distributors after citing potential client conflicts.
Clifford Chance in the cold as tax ally Vitali teams up with Gianni Origoni
Clifford Chance’s associated Italian tax boutique Vitali Romagnoli Piccardi e Associati has dumped the magic circle firm in favour of a deal with flourishing Italian firm Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners.
Clifford Chance snaps up ex-Argentine govt adviser
Clifford Chance has hired a key Argentine government lawyer involved in the world’s largest series of arbitrations linked to the collapse of the South American country’s economy in 2001.
Court summons
Ireland’s new Commercial Court will drastically reform a tediously slow legal system. Terry Leggett reports
Cravath recaptures Shell as client for titanic battle with SEC
Shell has drafted in Cravath Swaine & Moore to fight off claims by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – although the firm helped write the report that led to the regulator’s probe in the first place.
Deals round-up
Allen & Overy (Andrea Bartolucci) has advised Lehman Brothers on its acquisition of 12.38 per cent of Seat Pagine Gialle from Sub Silver for €804m (£538m). Seat Pagine Gialle advised by Dickson Minto.
Deloitte’s French legal arm finalises split from audit business
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in France has completed the separation of its audit practice and its tax and legal division, Deloitte & Touche Jouridque & Fiscal. The law firm, which comprises about 10 per cent of Deloitte’s business in France, has been rebranded as TAJ.The relaunched TAJ will have 370 lawyers and offices in Paris and six regional cities, making it one of the largest firms in France.
Elan loses fourth lawyer as Mason Hayes swoops
Ireland’s leading pharmaceutical lawyers find new homes as Elan restructures
EU accession spurs law firm tie-ups
The consolidation of Central and Eastern European law firms is gathering speed in the face of upcoming the EU accession after a group of eight practices have banded together to form a new alliance.
Eugenes appoints first ever head for competition group
Dublin-based Eugene F Collins has taken on its first competition partner.
EuroDisney counsel bows out to take role with construction group
EuroDisney has lost its general counsel Pascal Quint to Cegelec, the French construction and industrial services group.
Ex-Nabarros boss names firm after his kids
Nabarro Nathanson’s former head of commercial IT is keeping his law firm in the family by naming it after his children. TRG Law, which launches on 4 May, is named after Paul Golding’s children Tim and Rebecca. Golding is launching the firm to focus on commercial contracts involving intellectual property and information technology. First revealed on www.thelawyer.com 19 April
Fair exchange
Ireland’s first exchangeable bond – a new vista for Irish bond issuance. Hugh Beattie reports
Fee-earners’ pay-packets swell as support staff suffer
Average fee-earner salaries in small to medium-sized law firms have risen by 10.6 per cent over the last year despite continuing pressure on practices to cut costs.
Firm profile: Gardner Leader
Times have changed a lot since Berkshire firm Gardner Leader was set up in 1895. Nowadays firms are brand-aware, have state-of-the-art IT systems, work through management committees and even, in the case of the present day Gardner Leader, allow clients to provide ‘qualitative appraisals’.
Gleiss Lutz seconds partner to Herbert Smith
Gleiss Lutz is seconding a partner to best friend Herbert Smith for the first time. Corporate partner Andreas Woelfle moved to London last week. Last year, Herbert Smith sent corporate partner Philip Talboys to Gleiss’s Frankfurt office on a two-year secondment.
Gordons scores merger with Leeds’ Nelson & Co
Gordons, the tiny Bradford firm that recently fought for Wm Morrison Supermarkets on its £2.9bn takeover of Safeway, has completed its own major acquisition, by taking on Leeds’ practice Nelson & Co.
Grapevine
So Allen & Overy (A&O) has become the latest magic circle firm to feel the wrath of local Italian lawyers.
Hearsay
Which London-based partner at a US law firm used to be a roller-skating waiter and was so good he was asked to audition for Starlight Express? (He didn’t.)
HSBC’s Bennett set to shake up advisers
City finance lawyers to face tough demands on fee levels from banking giant
Kemp Little recruits former Norton Rose employment head
Kemp Little has taken on former Norton Rose partner Tim Russell as part of the niche firm’s bid to expand its employment practice.
L’Estrange corporate head ups sticks to client Almac Sciences
The head of Belfast firm L’Estrange & Brett’s market-leading corporate team John Irvine is set to leave the firm for key client Almac Sciences in the autumn.
Latham makes further raid on Skadden
Latham & Watkins is continuing its hiring spree of lawyers from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom by taking on its fourth partner in as many weeks.
Latham suffers rare partner departure as Sidley Austin swoops
Latham & Watkins has been hit by a rare partner departure with the loss of a New York-based real estate finance lawyer to Sidley Austin Brown & Wood.
Leader
Last week Italy, next week Sweden: Osborne Clarke (OC) is barrelling around Europe with all the grace of a gap-year backpacker.
Legal widow
They’ve parachuted in a new head of department. He never says one word when a phrase from the vision statement handbook will do; hence he refers to the Lawyer as “Number One Troubleshooter” or “Head of Flapjack Procurement” in an attempt to make him feel important and part of the new team. And he never refers to him by name.
Linklaters swaps heads in Hong Kong
Linklaters has replaced the managing partner of its Hong Kong office with the head of its litigation and arbitration team in Asia. Marc Harvey is taking over the post from Nick Rees, who is returning to the firm’s London corporate group after five years at the helm. Harvey has been with Linklaters for over 13 years, having worked in the London office prior to relocating to Hong Kong in 1996. In a ...
London hire boosts Shaw Pittman hopes of recovery
US firm Shaw Pittman has finally managed to secure a new partner in London as it seeks to recover from the raids that decimated the firm’s UK office in 2003.
Long-running blokes
It was all go on Sunday 18 April when 32,101 runners lined up in and around Greenwich Park for the start of the London Marathon.
Losing partners alone won’t get Simmons to its £400K PPP goal
Simmons & Simmons last week announced that it is on a profits drive, setting a global profits per partner (PPP) target of £400,000 in 2004-05. The City firm has a mountain to climb given that average PPP in 2002-03 was just £300,000 and will be at best flat this year. But Simmons has two new weapons in its arsenal to ensure ...
Lovells resigns Guantanamo case
Lovells has dropped out of a case in the US Supreme Court against the might of George Bush’s legal team because of a disagreement with leading English QCs over how their arguments – concerning the US President’s treatment of Guantanamo Bay detainees – should be presented.
Mallesons seeks new leader as chief embarks on new career
Australia’s Mallesons Stephen Jacques is set to appoint a new chief executive following the current incumbent’s new role as managing director and chief executive of the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
Manchester United’s Watkins nets millions in share sale
James Chapman & Co’s senior partner and lawyer to Manchester United has netted himself a tidy £2.5m after off-loading a million of his shares in the club.
McCann corners Ireland’s asset-covered bonds market
McCann FitzGerald has carved out a niche for itself in the Irish finance market, so far winning all mandates to advise on the country’s new asset-covered bonds.
Micklethwaite to quit DLA
In a shock move, DLA partner Neil Micklethwaite has resigned from the firm.
Nabarros jettisoned as University of Westminster sets up first legal panel
The University of Westminster has dumped sole adviser Nabarro Nathanson and established its first legal panel.
OFT to create top legal position
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is to create a powerful new legal role in senior management following a wholesale review of its internal legal services.
Opinion
Mediation statistics have for the last few years shown a healthy growth. Statistics from CEDR Solve, the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution’s dispute resolution service, have often been used as an indicator of the field’s development, and for 2003 show an all-time high of 631 cases. This is an absolute growth of 35 per cent. Indications are that 2004 will be at least as strong.
Osborne Clarke wins over Italian partner
Osborne Clarke has welcomed an Italian member to its international alliance, signing Milan boutique Abbatescianni e Associati.
Outsource force
Outsourcing has for many years been a mainstay of the Irish economy. Now it’s taken the next step into business process outsourcing. By Michael Barr
Rainmaker quits Blake Lapthorn for Shoosmiths
Blake Lapthorn Linnell has lost its leading corporate rainmaker, at the same time as the firm announces the axing of its three-lawyer children and education team.
Reynolds Porter Chamberlain announces new senior partner
Reynolds Porter Chamberlain has appointed a new senior partner after the present incumbent stepped down after 12 years in the role.
Roschier Holmberg gears up for European Union accession with Baltic Rim alliance
Finland’s largest law firm Roschier Holmberg has launched an alliance with firms from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as the Baltic Rim edges closer to EU accession.
Sainsbury’s set for sweeping review after real estate hire
J Sainsbury is gearing up for a major overhaul of its property panel following the appointment of its first in-house property lawyer.
Separated at birth
The steely gaze, the determined set of the jaw, the obvious leadership qualities… it can only be Allen & Overy real estate partner Daniel McKimm. The man behind the £700m Aviva property outsourcing to Land Securities Trillium (LST) is keeping his politics close to his chest. But Tulkinghorn ...
Seven Bedford Row alliance gains US Senate heavyweight
The US Senate’s former special counsel on foreign relations has joined the recently formed alliance between London chambers Seven Bedford Row and Jersey-based law outfit, BakerPlatt.
Shoosmiths duo moves to Clarke Willmott
Clarke Willmott & Clarke has raided Shoosmiths, picking up corporate partner Sally Norcross-Webb and a senior associate. The pair will join Clarke Willmott’s new Stoneham Gate offices in Southampton on 1 May.
SJ Berwin wins battle to keep partners destined for Olswang
In a kick in the teeth to Olswang, SJ Berwin has managed to win back private equity partners Jonathan Pittal and Perry Yam, who had resigned to go to Olswang.Their final decision comes following a partnership vote on Monday night, which saw the pair promoted into SJ Berwin’s equity. This is believed to be one of the ...
Slaughters takes up first KPN instruction
Slaughter and May has scooped its first ever instruction from KPN, the Dutch telecoms giant, The Lawyer can reveal.
Slaughters wins Permira’s WHSmith bid over CC
Slaughter and May has scored a major coup for its fledgling private equity practice after being chosen ahead of Clifford Chance to act for Permira on its bid for retailer WHSmith.
Small wonder
Under David Cantrell’s management, Eugene F Collins believes it has become a real competitor for the big five. Helen Power reports
Staff losses prompt Morgan Cole restructure
Morgan Cole has reconfigured its London operation after a slew of defections over the past 12 months. The office, now headed by partners Stephen Room and Leon Golstein, will now focus purely on property and property litigation services for property, energy and investment clients. It will also offer mediation and dispute resolution under partner Phillip Howell-Richardson. Commercial and corporate advice ...
Stephen Scott: Vodafone
Thirteen years in the job, and Vodafone’s Stephen Scott still hasn’t lost his taste for deals. By Steve Hoare
Stronger bonds
Irish covered bonds were a highlight of the Irish financial markets in 2003. By Fergus Gillen
Tax master
Helen Power finds that MOP tax supremo Liam Quirke is a key driver
The herb curb
The proposed EU directive on traditional herbal medicines will be welcome protection for consumers. Marcella Clarke and David Cullen report
The long retreat from Asia
Freshfields, Dentons join the growing list of UK and US firms scaling back in Asia. By Husnara Begum
Title recital
What is it with US law firms and their names? Unlike European firms, which favour short, snappy monikers (who could forget Ashurst Morris Crisp’s stroke of marketing genius when it changed its title to the simple ‘Ashurst’ – no ‘s’, thank you), US firms like to display as many names as is humanly possible on their letterheads – perhaps as part of their national obsession with things being bigger over there.
Tughans sets up corporate base in Derry
Tughans is set to become the first large corporate law firm to open an office in Northern Ireland’s second city Derry.
Untouchable lands at Kirkland & Ellis
Kirkland & Ellis has added a mafia busting crime fighter fresh from the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York to its commercial litigation group.
Visually inferred
Allen & Overy (A&O) sure is excited about its swanky new building at Spitalfields. So giddy is the firm that it has installed a webcam at the site so all its lawyers can log on and check out how progress is going – although there may be other motives for being visually linked.
Wagamama looks to Travers for AIM float as IPO market revives
Travers Smith Braithwaite is close to executing an AIM float for noodle bar chain Wagamama as the initial public offering (IPO) market shows signs of springing back to life.
Walker Morris renews council agreement
Leeds firm Walker Morris will continue to work alongside Wakefield Council’s legal services team after the renewal of a 2001 partnering agreement. Following a competitive tendering process, the firm has been confirmed as the council’s preferred external law firm for a term of up to five years. It will specialise in developing areas of legislation, including procurement, new council constitutions ...
Weil Gotshal leads pack as firms gobble £50m MCI fees
Legal fees involving the rescue of MCI look set to exceed $100m (£56.6bn) after the telecoms group, formerly known as WorldCom, this week emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
White & Case gains ex-Brobeck partner from Morgan Lewis
Morgan Lewis & Bockius is losing one of its haul of ex-Brobeck Phleger & Harrison partners after little more than a year to White & Case’s West Coast operation.
Wilberforce makes it a double with CC hire
Wilberforce Chambers has scooped its second magic circle intellectual property (IP) partner in just over a year, this time from Clifford Chance.
Wilmer Cutler and Hale and Dorr fight it out for control of European operation
The European offices of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering and Hale and Dorr are facing a power struggle for dominance in the newly merged firm.
Wilson Sonsini and Simpson Thacher scoop $2.7bn Google float
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati have emerged as the main lawyers on the long-awaited flotation of US search engine Google.
Wilson Sonsini wins partner trio for office launch
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has raided Pillsbury Winthrop for a team of partners to launch its new San Diego office.
