28 November 2011

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BLP lawyer wields a mean axe

For many – and certainly for electric guitar fanatics – he was the star of this month’s LawRocks battle of the champions. Chris Marsden, a real estate litigation associate at Berwin Leighton ­Paisner (BLP), is also one of the most accomplished guitarists ever to don a suit and negotiate a decent result for a client […]

Andrew Brecher

Work Life Quiz: Andrew Brecher, Brecher

What was your first-ever job?   Working as an (unqualified) golf coach in Switzerland while I was a student. What was your worst ­experience as a trainee? Being picked up by my ­collar and thrown out of another solicitor’s office into the snow outside ­during an attended ­completion, only to later find that my supervising […]

Absolutely shameless: things have gone downhill for Mill since he took the wine gig

Tulkinghorn: Wine fella

After seven years as joint head of chambers, it is time for Blackstone’s Ian Mill QC to stand down. So what does a workaholic do when he finds himself with some spare time? At the Inns of Court, Tulkinghorn has ­discovered, one joins a local club. Tulkinghorn can reveal exclusively that Mill is the newly […]

National Grid Property GC: Live wire

Given the state of the market, National Grid Property general counsel Mo Ajaz has plenty on his plate. Luckily, he knows the company inside out, says James Swift At the halfway stage of the  2011-12 financial year, National Grid reported a 3.1 per cent dip in pre-tax profit in the wake of ­Hurricane Irene, which tore along the eastern […]

Timothy Sheddick

Will Macquarie panel solve mandate mystery?

Baker & McKenzie, Clifford Chance, Freshfields all in the running to win coveted places on the inscrutable bank’s first-ever legal roster. By Joshua Freedman  The News that Macquarie Group is set to overhaul its way of instructing outside lawyers by appointing its first Europe, Middle East and Africa (Emea) panel might well have caused […]

EMW leads on £56m deal to expand MK Dons’ stadium

EMW has acted on a £56m transaction to create a new shopping centre for Milton Keynes and add 10,000 seats to the MK Dons’ stadium in the town. The firm acted for Inter MK, owner of MK Dons’ stadium, on the sale of the land and the development and funding of the new retail scheme. […]

Eversheds takes on brief for property duo

Eversheds is advising two property companies that have joined forces to create a £150m build-to-let fund aimed at giving ­institutional investors the chance to make large investments in the private rented sector. Bouygues Development, part of e31.2bn (£26.8bn) French industrial company Bouygues Group, and residential landlord Grainger, which has more than £3bn of property assets under management, have […]

Bristows, Carey Olsen secures CISX listing for litigation fund

Bristows and offshore firm Carey Olsen have advised new client Argentum Capital on its multimillion-pound listing on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX). The Jersey-based third party litigation fund aims to finance cases being heard in England and Wales. It comes after the Civil Justice Council agreed a ­voluntary code of conduct that all members of the newly […]

Freshfields there for Phoenix as it mulls CVC takeover bid

Zombie life assurance fund Phoenix Group Holdings has turned to long-time legal adviser Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for advice on its takeover talks with CVC Capital Partners. The board of Phoenix Group Holdings issued a statement in response to press speculation on 20 November confirming that the company, the biggest manager of closed life insurance funds, […]

Judit Petho
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Focus: Manches – Salvage operation

Manches has been adrift financially for the past three years. But it’s now banking on chief executive Judit Petho to steer it out of the doldrums Manches is a firm with financial woes. Since 2008 turn-over has ­fallen by 11 per cent from an all-time high of £34.4m to a five-year low of £30.6m. Desperate to reboot […]

Arbitration gains ground in India despite holdups and cost concerns

Arbitration as a form of dispute resolution is increasing in popularity in India, but remains beset by administrative problems, a survey has found. The report, produced by Ernst & Young’s Indian fraud investigation and ­dispute services group, shows that the vast majority of Indian contracts now include an arbitration clause. However, the use of ­arbitration varies, with […]

Alasdair McMillin

Sherrards

St Albans firm Sherrards began life more than a ­century ago, offering traditional ’high street’ ­services. A major overhaul of its service offering came in the 1990s when its focus switched to ­commercial work, a move that managing partner Alasdair McMillin says was a defining moment in Sherrards’ history. ­Commercial work now accounts for 90 […]