28 March 2005
The Lawyer
Ashurst sees rare Apax success fees after HIT Entertainment bid
Ashurst has won its first UK deal for Apax Partners following its appointment as lead legal adviser, acting for the private equity house on its recommended offer for HIT Entertainment, the company behind Bob the Builder.
Baker Botts bucks Asian trend with HK opening
Houston-based Baker Botts is gearing up to launch its first Asian office.
Baker Botts is rocked by successful $65.5m claim from wealthy heiress
A Texan jury has returned a $65.5m (£34.5m) verdict against Houston-based firm Baker Botts.
Barristers rail against Howard
Top human rights barristers are warning that Conservative Party plans to "review or repeal" the Human Rights Act (HRA) could lead a Tory government into conflict with the judiciary.
Bircham Dyson Bell snaps up niche housing boutique
London’s Bircham Dyson Bell has boosted its social housing practice with the acquisition of niche social housing boutique Jenkins & Hand.
Breaking with the law
The trauma of realising you're in the wrong game can be assuaged by clear thinking. By Rachel Brushfield
Careers: In brief
Boma Ozobia was elected as chairwoman of the Association of Women Solicitors (AWS) at its AGM on 17 March 2005. Ozobia has been a member of the national executive committee for three years and is the principal partner in the Sterling Partnership. Ozobia practices in Nigeria as a solicitor-advocate. "We celebrate our diversity within the AWS and will continue to work with the Law Society to ensure equality and diversity within the profession," she promised. "We'll also be reaching out ...
Careers: People
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has appointed three corporate finance associates from Addleshaw Goddard in Manchester. Paul Rimmer, Nick Roome and Peter Hindle rejoin partner Darryl Cooke, who joined DLA Piper from Addleshaws last August.
CC hires Goldman legal director
Clifford Chance's New York office has hired former Goldman Sachs legal director and associate general counsel Elaine Laurence.
Child minders
The NSPCC's power to take action puts it at the forefront of child protection. This is not something that the charity's lawyers take lightly. Joanne Harris reports
Cobbetts set to raise client charge-out rates
Regional heavyweight Cobbetts is poised to hike its client charge-out prices in a bid to harmonise rates across all its offices.
DCA launches unified courts agency
The Department for Constituttional Affairs today launches a single unified agency, Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS), to run the UK's court system.
'Disappointed' Manches sees profit, revenue dip
Manches' gross revenues and average profit both dropped last year, its 2004 year-end results reveal. But there has been a dramatic increase in the top of equity as the firm's new merit element to its distribution system kicks in.
DLA Piper plunders Coudert Bangkok for Thai offensive
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has raided Coudert Brothers for two Bangkok partners as it aggressively ramps up its Thai presence.
DWS knocks back landlord's £6m offer to give up right to end lease
Denton Wilde Sapte (DWS) has turned down a substantial offer, believed to be in the region of £6m, to relinquish the right to terminate the lease on its Fleet Place premises.
EDF chooses Lovells to advise on credit facility
Lovells' Paris office has acted for Electricite de France (EDF) on a new credit facility, underlining the power of the borrowers in the European loan markets.
Ford gets new legal chief
Ford Motor Company has raided the White House to secure a new general counsel to take over from incumbent Dennis Ross.
Grapevine
DLA Piper's job lot the same as Lawrence Graham's
Herbies ousts Linklaters on TfL Tube project
Herbert Smith has elbowed out Linklaters and scooped the mandate to advise Transport for London (TfL) on the £896m East London Line extension.
Hilco pokes head above parapet to take part in Allders profit glut
Mysterious parent Epsilon makes estimated £640m profit thanks to Enterprise Act. By Helen Power
Howard Flight legal team primed to injunct Tory leadership
The legal team advising rogue Conservative Howard Flight will tomorrow decide whether to launch an injunction against Michael Howard if the party leader decides to press on with moves to deselect Flight.Former Gouldens partner and an existing Jones D...
IMG, CC lawyers launch new sport firm
Senior lawyers from Clifford Chance and sports marketing group IMG have teamed up to launch a new niche firm, onside law.
Is Cheyne the next in line to lead Linklaters?
Is there going to be a standoff between finance and corporate at Linklaters? As we revealed in our weekly news email last Wednesday, Linklaters' head of corporate David Cheyne is stepping down, ostensibly to return to full-time client work. However, as any fule kno, his eye is on the role of senior partner, replacing Anthony Cann later this year.
Jubilee Line fraud: the end of the line for trial by jury?
"We had invited the judge to address case management issues from the outset. If this is going to be used to bash juries it would be a travesty, because there's nothing wrong with the jury system," says Brian Spiro, Burton Copeland partner and defence lawyer on the collapsed Jubilee Line fraud trial.
Lawrence Graham wins Gadget Shop instruction
Lawrence Graham's business recovery team has rounded off a productive few months in the retail sector with an instruction on the controversial Gadget Shop administration.
Legal Widow
There is indignation at the firm, where the client relationship director has circulated an email asking all partners to prepare a crib sheet for their top five clients containing vital stats such as "Nature of business", "Profit against turnover", "Whisky or chocolates for Christmas?", "What the MD drives" and "Date of MD's wife's birthday".
Mix 'n' Max
Following on from the recent story about BBC2's The Apprentice (14 March) in The Lawyer, it appears that former Herbert Smith corporate partner Margaret Mountford is not the only legal connection in the programme.
Olswang raids White & Case to bolster TMT team
Olswang has raided White & Case to secure litigation partner Richard Bamforth as the UK firm ramps up its technology and media offering.
Osborne Clarke partners rejoice after war on costs wipes out £9m debt
Osborne Clarke has wiped out almost £9m in debt after two years of tight financial management.
Outer Temple QC appointed to Bosnia-Herzegovina court
Outer Temple Chambers' Paul Garlick QC has been appointed as an international judge for war crimes to the criminal and appellate divisions of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Oxfam asks City firms to help put stop to poverty
For the first time Oxfam is looking to mobilise the skills and influence of City lawyers as part of a radical campaign to eradicate Third World poverty.
Partner promotions slump to three-year low at Eversheds
Partner appointments at Eversheds have slumped to a three-year low, while early signs emerge else-where in the market of modest growth in partner promotions.
Partner status still eludes women, ethnic minorities
Revealed: massive dropout rate from trainee to partner level; management boards still white and male
Patton Boggs tops the charts as lobbying firms see bumper year
The lobbying arms of US law firms reported a storming 2004, despite depleted congressional activity in the election year.
Pinsents City chief moves to Kirkpatrick
Pinsent Masons' joint London managing partner and national head of corporate has quit to join Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham.
Pinsents partner up on murder charge
A senior Pinsent Masons banking and finance partner has been charged with murdering his wife.
Rosenblatts shrugs off big five banks' clout to challenge RBS
Rosenblatt.gif" alt="Rosenblatts shrugs off big five banks' clout to challenge RBS" /Niche commercial firm Rosenblatt Solicitors has thrown down the gauntlet to the UK's big five clearing banks after taking on an instruction to sue Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
Separated at birth
It appears that the spirit of legendary Brit funnyman Eric Morecambe has been reborn in the Teutonic form of equally legendary private equity star Thomas Heymann. Heymann recently quit as Frankfurt managing partner of Willkie Farr & Gallagher to set up his own shop. Heymann was previously at Clifford ...
Shearman boosts UK-qualifieds' pay packets
Shearman & Sterling will splash out an estimated £500,000 this year on generous pay hikes for its UK-qualified lawyers in a bid to make itself more attractive to potential recruits.
Stephenson Harwood raids McGrigors
Stephenson Harwood is reinforcing its financial services capability with the hire of a corporate partner from McGrigors.
Sullivan joins UK's elite in M&A tables
Sullivan & Cromwell has broken the dominance of the magic circle firms in the European M&A market.
TGWU wins £1.65bn compensation for members
The Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) has won more than £1.65bn in accident and injury compensation for its members since its formation 83 years ago.
The work-life quiz
David Casement, barrister, Exchange Chambers
Thick as two court Yanks
Ah, the traditions of the English court system. Tulkinghorn was amused to hear of a recent Commercial Court shipping case where, after the usual toing and froing over where instructions should be sent and when the court would next convene, Mr Justice Cooke found it necessary to amend his language for any lawyers based on the other side of the Atlantic.
Upsetting the constitution
Last week the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) organised a conference to discuss the important issue of the future of legal services post-Clementi. An assorted bunch of solicitors, barristers, consumer group representatives and civil servants gathered at the ExCel Exhibition Centre in London's Docklands to listen to Lord Falconer's keynote speech and then discuss it.
Walker Morris victorious in Bradford City FC case
Walker Morris's sports team has won a crucial football case with major repercussions for the lucrative football transfer market.
White & Case loses second Deacons capture to Lovells
Following a protracted battle to win a team of Deacons partners that went all the way to court, White & Case has now lost a second lawyer from the group just six months after the case settled.
