5 September 2005
The Lawyer
A man for all reasons
UK firms take note - US rival Dewey Ballantine appears to have found a new (and rather inventive) way of increasing the firm's profile.
A&O, CC extend lead in global project finance
Allen & Overy (A&O) and Clifford Chance were the big winners in global project finance this year as activity in the Middle East and Africa more than trebled, despite an overall drop in volume.
Addleshaws scoops Lovells corporate partner
Addleshaw Goddard has bolstered its corporate practice with the hire Lovells partner Charles Penney.
All for one…
Along with hefty increases in law firms' minimum indemnity cover comes changes intended to make it easier to aggregate insurance claims. Katherine Rees reports
Ashurst lures City pensions chief from McDermott
Silver circle law firm Ashurst has reversed the trend of partners moving from UK to US firms by scooping McDermott Will & Emery's London head of pensions and employee benefits.
Bar strike sees solicitor-advocates ready to step in
Solicitor-advocates will have to take up the slack if the likely strike action by members of the criminal bar takes place this autumn.
Brachers returns to court to face second negligence claim of the year
South-East firm Brachers has been rocked by an £850,000 negligence claim, the firm's second case this year.
Conflict of interest sees Nokia counsel depart
Nokia's global general counsel Ursula Ranin has quit the Finnish telecoms company to avoid a conflict of interest.
Courts gear up for monster cases
Deacons first to profit from PRC liberalisation
Deacons Hong Kong has become the first foreign firm to win a licence to open a third office on the Chinese mainland.
Deals Comment
The completion of the Department of Work and Pensions' (DWP) contract "realignment" (its words, not ours) with EDS has caused much political fuss. But the complexity of EDS's relationship with the DWP is nothing compared with the complexity of the DWP's relationships with its lawyers (see news, page 3). The final outcome sees victories for
Denton Wilde Sapte loses arch loyalist Blakeley to Akin Gump
Denton Wilde Sapte (DWS) has lost loyalist and former managing partner Steven Blakeley to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.
Deus ex Machina
The Lawyer's recent exposé of Herbert Smith senior partner David Gold potentially being forced to stand down, or even leave the country, come 2012 if the organisers of the London Olympics have their way is causing widespread concern among lawyers with metallic-sounding names.
DLA Piper, Pinsents bag DWP instruction
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary and Pinsent Masons have teamed up to help the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) on the renegotiation of its controversial IT contract with EDS.
DLA scoops Coudert Frankfurt and Corrs gets Oz team
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has officially joined the pack benefiting from the demise of beleaguered law firm Coudert Brothers, scooping a team of 11 lawyers to launch in Frankfurt.
DWS HQ U-turn puts £100m deal in doubt
A u-turn by Denton Wilde Sapte management may have scotched a £100m deal for its City headquarters.
Ex-Sidley partner indicted in KPMG tax shelter case
Firm profile: Lodders
Football frenzy
In their first interview since Glazer's takeover of Man Utd, A&O's Andrew Ballheimer and Richard Hough talk exclusively to The Lawyer about being on the wrong side of angry fans. By Husnara Begum
For the record..
In last week's Lawyer News Weekly email...
Fox Horan landed with $12m lawsuit
Boutique New York firm Fox Horan & Camerini faces a $12m (£6
Freshfields launches massive corporate overhaul
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has radically overhauled its London corporate group in a tacit admission that the team has lost ground over the last four years.
Global Crossing duo face fraud suit
A lawsuit filed against the former general counsel and an in-house lawyer at Global Crossing has been allowed to proceed, despite a US federal judge voicing doubts over the strength and practicality of the case against them.
Got it covered?
From 1 October, all firms will be required to have at least £2m of professional indemnity cover. Richard Harrison and Gaby Kaiser discuss the current climate of risk management
Grapevine
While you were on holiday, the news kept coming.
Harking mad
Note to partners: if you move firms, try to remember which firm you're now at
Hearsay
Which head of corporate caused a bit of a stir
How does Emotional Intelligence (Ei) add value to your firm beyond IQ, Personality and Competencies?
By John Cooper (C.Psychol) and Patricia Wheatley Burt (FCIPD)
Internet bumps up use of Citizens Advice Euro arm
A specialist Citizens Advice cross-border advice service handled disputes valued at more than £1m over the last 12 months and acted for almost two-thirds more European consumers than it did the previous year.
Is doing nothing an option for the Professional and Service sectors?
The one constant in our lives is change! By Patricia Wheatley Burt (FCIPD)
LEADER
Cast your minds back
LeBoeuf set to investigate Banco Austral's accounts
LeBoeuf Lamb Green & MacRae has been drafted in by Mozambique's government to investigate and audit the accounts of the formerly state-owned bank Banco Austral.
Linklaters' trainees get 40 per cent maintenance hike
Linklaters' trainees get 40 per cent maintenance hike" /
Maclays pays £1.2m to cement London merger
Maclay Murray & Spens is to pay £1.2m a year for new London premises in order to integrate its offices and complete the final stage of its merger with financial services boutique The City Law Partnership.
McClure Naismith wins Linklaters finance star
McClure Naismith wins Linklaters finance star" /
Mills & Reeve launches China practice
Mills & Reeve is launching a 20-strong China team to advise clients on doing business in China.
Nabarros exit spells end for patent prosecutions
Nabarros exit spells end for patent prosecutions" /
Nabarros lands Sportingbet deal
Nabarro Nathanson is capitalising on the booming online gaming sector after landing an instruction to advise Empire Online on a potential £800m-plus takeover by Sportingbet.
Norton Rose helps Axa move into India
Norton Rose's Singapore office has acted for Axa on the insurer's first venture on the Indian sub-continent.
Opinion
The Lords' decision concerning fixed and floating charges has put the banks on the back foot
Orrick scores Coudert's eminent China practice
Over the limit
Despite the popularity of LLPs, some international jurisdictions have put a spanner in the works. Rachel Khiara introduces some tried and tested ways to overcome the problems
P&O legal chief snares CEO role
P&O has appointed it legal chief Michael Gradon to take charge of the group’s London Gateway project in Essex.
People
London-based Howard Kennedy has appointed Ronaldo Sallows as a partner in the company and commercial department. Sallows joined last week from Withers where he was a senior solicitor. This new appointment brings the total number of partners at Howard Kennedy to 65. Paul Catterall will also join the firm's residential property team as an assistant solicitor.
Peter Leathem: Phonographic Performance and Video Performance Limited
PPL may have slimmed down its legal spend, but its vigour for catching the rulebreakers has not waned - it has a legal team and it’s not afraid to use it. By Steve Hoare
Reaching the perfect pitch
When working as a pitch team, don't just deliver rehearsed lines
Shearman & Sterling gets new London arbitration head
Shearman & Sterling Paris arbitration partner David Reed is moving across the Channel to become the firm’s new London arbitration head.
Shepherds scores coup with £2m WICS project
Shepherd & Wedderburn has won a competitive tender to advise the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) on a three-year licensing project, which should reap fees of more than £2m.
Simmons takes first step to double banking team
Simmons & Simmons has raided Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe for a new banking partner in the first strike in its drive to double the size of its banking practice.
Skadden bags £3.3bn Skandia deal
Nordic insurance company Skandia has instructed Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom for the first time.
Skadden bags Egyptian govt
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has secured the government of Egypt as a new client after winning a beauty parade against the likes of Linklaters and Latham & Watkins.
SocGen places its £50m legal spend out to tender
Bank to revolutionise French procurement model; Société Générale opts for Anglo-Saxon law firm panel
Squire Sanders merges with Miami's Steel Hector
US law firm Squire Sanders & Dempsey has merged with Miami-based Steel Hector & Davis to create one of the first international law firms with a strong presence in Latin America.
Star chambers
Hollywood invaded Lincoln's Inn Fields last week to shoot the film of the book The Da Vinci Code. The few barristers who had not retreated to their Mediterr-anean villas for an extended summer vacation were treated to hordes of glamor-ous actors swanning around in evening wear. Tulkinghorn for one nearly fainted in the summer heat when one particularly pretty thing floated by.
Taylor Wessing wins EY Luther partner
EY Luther Menold has suffered another loss from its IT/IP practice, this time to Taylor Wessing as the UK firm goes head-to-head with Bird & Bird.
The bar's £2m-a-year club soars as £1m earners drop
The day the music died
News of a horrifying nature has reached Tulkinghorn
The Lawyer 100 shows success of silver circle
The press gang
Contrary to popular belief, Finers Stephens Innocent's Mark Stephens is not quite such a media darling as public perception would have it. As name partner and head of media, Stephens has clearly been neglecting his media charm offensive as he is ranked only tenth in the celebrity solicitor charts, undoubtedly due to pressure of work in his burgeoning property practice - he is currently embroiled in a row with the London Development Agency on behalf of the 120 East London businesses ...
The work-life quiz
James Gratton, partner, Edwards Abrams Doherty
UK Vioxx litigation splits up into US and UK class actions
UK law firms gear up to fight arthritis drug company on back of US victory. By Joanne Harris
What a bunch of Wonkas
It's good to see that the lawyers at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft are doing their best to keep the spirit of youth alive.
