27 October 2008
The Lawyer
A backward step
The UK’s proposed special resolution regime calls to mind the US’s separation of commercial and investment banking under the discredited Glass-Steagall model, warns Simon Gleeson
A&O, Clifford Chance warn staff over Halloween protest
Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance have warned their Canary Wharf staff of anti-capitalist protestors "dancing on capitalism's grave" tonight.
Anne Compton: Rickerbys
What’s your biggest work/career mistake and what did you learn from it? I expect one of my partners might tell you for a price.
Baker & McKenzie to open in Abu Dhabi
Baker & McKenzie to open in Abu Dhabi" /Baker & McKenzie is set to expand its presence in the Middle East by opening an office in Abu Dhabi later this year.
Banking & Finance
Spending a year within the perfect financial storm has been an interesting ride for the participating lawyers, as documented in this bumper Special Report.
Beresford to face tribunal over miners' claims
Jim Beresford of Beresfords Solicitors, will face the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) in relation to his firm’s handling of coal miners’ compensation claims.
BLP scoops Hippodrome casino bid after Geoffrey Green loses first round
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has won an appeal to turn the London Hippodrome into a casino in what could set a nationwide precedent.
Breakaway Firms: Split decisions
It happened at Linklaters and it happened at Reed Smith. What’s the future for breakaway local offices of global firms?
Bredin Prat lands SNCF’s italian job
Bredin Prat is advising French state railways group SNCF on its acquisition of a 20 per cent stake in Italian train operator Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori. A three-partner team from Bredin Prat is advising SNCF, while Italian firm Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners is advising on Italian law aspects. Managing partner and law firm founder Francesco Gianni is leading the team. Bonelli Erede Pappalardo partner Carlo Montagna is advising the founders of Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori.
Brochure row mars Law Society ballot
The Law Society has been accused of holding an unfair ballot on a proposed charter overhaul that could see non-lawyers become fee-paying, non-voting society members.
Buyers beware
With the distribution of bank debt set to become more problematic in the wake of Lehman Brothers’ collapse, Diane Roberts asks what regulators can do to shore up the sub-participation market
Chadbourne hiring freeze as recession bites
Chadbourne & Parke has instituted a firm-wide hiring freeze for both legal and non-legal staff in an attempt to combat the economic downturn.
Clarke Willmott begins redundancy talks
Clarke Willmott begins redundancy talks" /Clarke Willmott has joined the growing number of firms putting lawyers under the threat of redundancy.
CMS Cameron revamps BD capability
CMS Cameron revamps BD capability" /CMS Cameron McKenna has seen two senior business services staff depart after new managing partner Duncan Weston's leadership overhaul.
Cobbetts extends redundancy talks
Cobbetts has launched a redundancy consultation with 28 members of support staff, bringing the firm's potential number of job losses to 69.
Coffey Graham swells London IT sector
The London IT legal market has a new entrant in the form of Coffey Graham, a two-partner firm, which launched last week. Founders Rory Graham and Robert Coffey hail from Morgan Lewis and Baker & McKenzie respectively.
Comrades! Witches! Wizards!
Comrades! Witches! Wizards! 31-October-2008 The forces of socialism and evil are uniting tonight to "dance on capitalism's grave" outside the offices of A&O and Clifford Chance.
Dentons advises on African bank deal
Denton Wilde Sapte advised private equity group Emerging Capital Partners on its third African banking deal in a row. Dentons’ Paris office acted for the group on the acquisition of a $28m (£16.22m) stake in Togo-based regional commercial bank Financial BC SA (FBC). FBC is the holding company and operates 20 branches in Benin, Togo, Gabon, Chad and Guinea. Cabinet Martial Akakpo in Togo advised Dentons on local legal matters. Fénéon et Delabriére was the private vendor’s counsel in Paris.
Dewey adds Charlotte to list of US office closures
Dewey & LeBoeuf has announced the closure of its office in Charlotte, North Carolina, just as it plans to open two new bases in the Middle East.
DLA Piper names new restructuring chief
DLA Piper names new restructuring chief" /DLA Piper is set to overhaul the leadership of its restructuring practice, appointing London partner Stephen Halladay to head operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
DLA ushered into Doha by US Defence Sec
DLA Piper launched its fledgling Doha office last week with a speech by former US Defence Secretary William Cohen.
DLA volunteers for trial SRA inspection
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is to carry out a trial inspection at DLA Piper as it seeks to develop protocols for regulating City firms.
Eversheds health team decamps to Beachcroft
Eversheds health team decamps to Beachcroft" /Beachcroft has taken an 11-lawyer clinical negligence team from Eversheds in a bid to become the leading healthcare practice in England and Wales.
Eversheds red cards equity partners
Eversheds red cards equity partners" /Eversheds has issued its equity partnership with 'red cards', allowing the firm to withhold up to two quarters' of drawings in a bid to tighten its lockup performance.
Exchange on course to match 2008 revenue
North West set Exchange Chambers has posted a turnover of £9.19m in the first six months of the 2008-09 financial year.
Freshfields associate takes operations role
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer associate George Swan has taken on the role of operations officer in the firm’s corporate practice management team. Swan replaces Richard Thexton, who was the first associate to hold the position.
Freshfields wins restructuring roles on McCarthy, Nicholson
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has pushed aside DLA Piper to win key roles on restructuring almost £2bn of debt resulting from the acquisition ...
Get tooled up
In response to my post last week suggesting that the mid-market is snapping up real estate rainmakers (22 October), a City-based recruiter that deals with most of the top 100 got in touch to tell me that, by contrast, not one of his clients is hiring property rainmakers.
Goodwin Procter lines up Heller London move
The London legal market could gain a new entrant after Boston’s Goodwin Procter emerged as the favourite to scoop the real estate finance team from Heller Ehrman’s London operation.
Gordons joins City’s finest on Morrisons purchase
Yorkshire firm Gordons has joined City firms Herbert Smith and SJ Berwin on one of the biggest property deals of the year, advising supermarket chain Morrisons on the purchase of a 920,000sq ft distribution centre in Kent.
Gorvins
The credit crunch may still be raging, but luckily for Cheshire firm Gorvins Solicitors this has not dented people’s desire to get divorced.
Halliwells begins third redundancy consultation
Halliwells has launched a redundancy consultation with 10 banking and corporate fee-earners, citing a fall in deal flow and overcapacity as the cause.
Hamilton Bradshaw to create first law panel
The new head in-house lawyer at Hamilton Bradshaw, the private equity fund run by James Caan of hit BBC show Dragons’ Den, is set to appoint the company’s first formal panel within three months.
HBOS legal chief handed post-merger GC role
Lloyds TSB Group has appointed HBOS legal chief Harry Baines as general counsel of the company that will result from the banks' union.
Heller chairman finds a home at Dechert
Dechert" /The final chairman of Heller Ehrman, the US West Coast-based firm which dissolved last month, has joined Dechert in San Francisco.
Heller City corporate partners to join Orrick
The core of Heller Ehrman’s London corporate team is poised to join Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe before the end of the week.
Herbies taps A&O for Moscow finance hire
Herbert Smith has hired a senior associate from Allen & Overy’s Moscow office in a bid to shore up its local finance capacity.
Howes Percival raid grows DWS Milton Keynes
Denton Wilde Sapte has recruited a 40-member commercial team from the Milton Keynes office of Howes Percival.
Indian Bar Council “ready to discuss” liberalisation
The Indian Bar Council, the regulator of the Indian legal profession, has signalled that it would be ready to talk to foreign regulators about conditions of liberalisation.
In-house and outside counsel urged to communicate to avoid disputes
In-house counsel must become involved with arbitration proceedings from the outset if they want to avoid lengthy and costly proceedings, delegates at a London dispute arbitration conference organised by The Lawyer heard last week (21-22 October).
International firms home in on Indian law graduates
A record 40 per cent of graduates at a leading Indian law school are now taking up training contracts with international law firms.
Jones Day brings £25m fraud action against Fladgate on behalf of Izodia
Jones Day has launched a £25m claim against Fladgate Fielder on behalf of collapsed dotcom company Izodia.
Just the McJob: Christoph Hammer, McDonalds
After 15 years with global fast food giant McDonald’s, international general counsel Christoph Hammer is still lovin’ it, he tells Tom Phillips
Law Soc overhaul rejected after £90k ballot
Postal voters have rejected the Law Society's plans to include non-lawyers as fee-paying society members.
Leap of faith
Some non-Muslim countries are now making regulatory changes to ensure that their domestic companies are able to access liquidity in the Middle East. By Farmida Bi and Aziza Atta
LG consultation results in 14 support staff redundancies
LG has concluded its redundancy consultation, with 14 of the 21 support staff affected losing their jobs.
Lovells advises Iceland govt on action against UK
Lovells is advising the Icelandic government on possible action against the British government over its reaction to the country's banking crisis.
Magic circle, Latham advise in £7.3bn Barclays injection
Clifford Chance has advised long-standing client Barclays on a £7.3bn cash injection by investors to avoid nationalisation.
Mail to apologise to football star for World Cup slur
Collyer Bristow has forced the Daily Mail to apologise to Italian footballer Marco Materazzi for the newspaper's coverage of the 2006 World Cup Final.
Memery Crystal makes two redundant in corporate
Memery Crystal has laid off two fee earners in its corporate department following a round of redundancies.
Moves roundup: 27 October 2008
Michiel Wurfbain has joined Simmons & Simmons as corporate partner in the Amsterdam office. Prior to this, he was a senior associate at Dutch firm Stibbe.
New managing partner at Bristol’s Burges Salmon
Bristol headquartered firm Burges Salmon has named Chris Jackson as successor to Guy Stobart as managing partner of the firm.
Norton Rose ups Middle East nous with pair of energy deals
Norton Rose ups Middle East nous with pair of energy deals" /Norton Rose has scored the lead roles on two overseas energy deals, advising on a nuclear power programme in Jordan and the largest offshore windfarm in the world.
NY to the rescue as Shearman Europe flounders
“Shearman & Sterling has lost another partner in Germany, leaving its Munich office with just one partner,” TheLawyer.com reported on 16 October. But within hours the story ...
Ogier shows its commitment to Middle East with Bahraini finance joint venture
Offshore firm Ogier is to open a joint venture in Bahrain with accounting firm Keypoint.
Opinion: Why managing change is a job for the professionals
The legal market has gone through an unprecedented amount of change, which has resulted in a great deal of uncertainty in the profession. With a number of business challenges still to come to the fore, this uncertainty is set to continue.
Outplaced out
Outplacement is the word of the month this chilly October. Lawyers have come to expect that if they are made redundant, their firms to find them new jobs.
Paul Weiss leads Hexion and Huntsman dispute
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison has won a leading role on the high-profile dispute between chemicals companies Hexion and Huntsman.
Pinsents hires trio to boost client service
Pinsent Masons has created three new business manager roles to help partners improve client service after the firm received feedback from clients that they wanted greater transparency in billing.
Pinsents prefers secondments to layoffs
Pinsent Masons has seconded 25 lawyers in areas affected by the downturn into busier practice groups and offices rather than making redundancies.
Proskauer hires Addleshaws partner for City push
Proskauer Rose has hired Addleshaw Goddard finance partner Michael Crosby for its London office.
Scramble for legal jobs as graduates spurn banking
GDL numbers up more than 20 per cent at College of Law and BPP; law seen as safe haven in financial crisis
Shearman loses Latin America partner to Linklaters
Linklaters" /Alberto Luzárraga, a partner in Shearman & Sterling’s Latin America practice has quit the firm for Linklaters.
Shoosmiths pledges to invest in growth of new Manchester office
Shoosmiths is to invest further in the growth of its new Manchester office after taking two more lawyers from mortgage finance company HL Interactive.
Taylor Wessing in lay-off talks with six staff
Taylor Wessing has entered redundancy consultations with four lawyers and two secretaries in its real estate department.
Taylor Wessing senior partner handed second term
Taylor Wessing has re-elected Martin Winter as senior partner to serve another three-year term.
Taylor Wessing, Nixon Peabody settle dispute; Nixon to launch in Paris
Taylor Wessing and Nixon Peabody have settled their legal disputes over Nixon’s poaching of 13 of Taylor Wessing’s Paris partners.
Thacher Proffitt VC takes team to Greenberg
Embattled US firm Thacher Proffitt & Wood has lost its vice chairman along with an entire office to Greenberg Traurig.
The blame game
Light-touch regulation has been blamed for the credit crisis – but it’s still the best system there is, argues Duncan Black
The devil in the detail
The sheer volume and complexity of the contracts a typical company employs has made compliance a daunting undertaking and created the need for new ways of managing document risk. By John Berry
The Lawyer Legal Summit: how in-housers will cope with the crunch
This year’s The Lawyer Summit is a timely one, with a heavy focus on the practicalities of dealing with the credit crunch.
Thelen Reid prepares dissolution vote
Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner held a crisis meeting today (28 October) to discuss the dissolution of the firm.
Thelen Reid to dissolve by December
The partnership council of Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner, Pinsents Masons' former US alliance firm, has confirmed that it is recommending the dissolution of the firm. It is expected Thelen will close its doors for the last time on 1 December this year.
They’ve got the power
A new bill gives the financial authorities a legislative framework to work within for when things go wrong. Richard Hughes and John Sayers report on how UK banks will be affected
Tightening the reins
Research by Eversheds suggests that, while the credit crunch has seen facility terms become more lender-friendly, the shift is not as drastic as some have claimed. By David Boyd and Nicholas Joyce
Travers seconds new partner to Old Lady
Travers Smith has sent newly promoted partner Anthony Foster on secondment to the Bank of England (BoE).
Tread carefully on alternative career paths
Associates are still distrustful of the of counsel role and alternative career paths, despite many big firms having them in place for several years. Lawyers are unsure whether those roles are just euphemisms for a career dead end or if they are a fast-track to partnership.
Tulkinghorn: belles, pussycats and a summit to shout about
Following the success of the City Conker Cup, Addleshaw Goddard is taking up the challenge of promoting an obscure sport by sponsoring the City Goalball tournament in Old Spitalfields Market.
US lawyers at UK firms dig deep for Obama
US lawyers working for UK firms have backed Barack Obama’s presidential bid by donating nearly $400,000 to his campaign.
Veales picks new managing partner
Bristol-based Veale Wasbrough has appointed insolvency partner Simon Heald as its new managing partner. He succeeds Simon Pizzey, who held the role for a 10-year period, during which the firm more than doubled its turnover. Heald has been at Veale Wasbrough since 1987 and became a partner in 1997. He will continue to work with clients while leading the 37-partner firm, which specialises in education, public sector and healthcare work.
Wall St Woes: the Thelen feeding frenzy
It’s a feeding frenzy over at what remains of Thelen.
Wall St Woes: Thelen Reid - culture kills
The only item on the agenda at Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner's partners meeting yesterday was described by an inside source as "a formality": dissolution.
Web Week
The Lawyer’s Web Week is a weekly commentary on legal activity on the web. This includes an overview of the best of the week’s blogs. If you want to direct us to useful links, email webweek@thelawyer.com.
White & Case implements McKinsey strategy
White & Case implements McKinsey strategy" /White & Case is set to overhaul its management team as part of a worldwide strategic review following ...
White & Case shuts Dresden base
White & Case is closing its 18-year old Dresden office of seven lawyers.
Whitehall eschews competition regulations to steady financial sector
By overriding traditional restrictions, is the Govt doing the right thing?
Whiter than white?
Will companies be able to convince potential funders that they’re financially solvent now the whitewash procedure has been abolished? asks Tony Anderson
Why the law’s no safe haven
The law: more popular than banking. Our report that the number of applications to law schools has rocketed since the credit crunch is an illustration of the entirely human instinct for self-preservation.
