6 August 2001
The Lawyer
…as estate planning partner quits
Beiten Burkhardt Mittl & Wegener has lost its estate planning capability with the departure of Klaus Wigand, who is leaving to set up his own firm.
A little dab'll do ya
As head of legal at Sara Lee, Howard Rubenstein's remit encompasses standing up for and protecting a plethora of his company's products. But cake isn't one of them. Naomi Rovnick reports
A view from Amsterdam
A European patent is like a soap bubble - it is wonderful to look at, but the moment you touch it, it splashes into little pieces.
Abbey roadblock
Despite Slaughters' concern that Lloyds TSB's bid for Abbey National would be blocked by the Competition Commission, Clifford Chance encouraged its client to push ahead. Helen Power reports on the bank's unexpected result
Allied Dunbar Assurance purchases Planetary Industrial Estate, Wolverhampton, for £14m.
Allied Dunbar advised by Lawrence Graham (Stephen Stephens). Vendor advised by Richards Butler (Mark Hargreaves).
Andrew M Jackson's oil rig risk wins £100m tax victory
A risky strategy has paid dividends for Hull firm Andrew M Jackson & Co.
Bar Council to work on direct access recommendation from OFT's report
BarDirect restrictions are brought into question as bar considers an extension of clients' direct access to barristers
Beiten Burkhardt on high with German MOD work…
Troubled firm BBLP Beiten Burkhardt Mittl & Wegener has bounced back from its internal turmoil by winning Germany's larges ever public procurement deal.
Big deals
There has been no shortage of deals over the past twelve months, and the banks have had a huge part to play. Dawn Knight gives a round-up of the year's biggest deals
Bogus beggars
Stop press: Tulkinghorn is astonished to hear that a couple of solicitors have received emails appearing to come from a member of the Legal Services Development Division within the Lord Chancellor's Department asking for money. It appears that the requests, under Extraordinary Practice Direction 218, for £47 or the euro equivalent, are not an attempt to boost Labour Party funds, or indeed to pay for the Derry's bathroom to be repapered, but are in fact attempts to boost ...
Brobeck fights US corporate slump with unpaid leave
Voluntary breaks and part-time hours will save £1.4m; London office to follow suit
Canada set to gain freedom from provincial boundaries
The Federation of Law Societies of Canada is planning to introduce complete mobility for lawyers in the country and do away with the provincial jurisdictions.
City sights
Even weirder is the 'entertainment' put on for tourists who come up to the Big Smoke these days. It used to be that when you got on an open-top bus you could expect to see where Queen Liz II heads the household, where Queen Liz I beheaded her household and where Princess 'Queen of all our Hearts' Diana bedded members of the Household Cavalry. (Actually, James Hewitt was in the Life Guards, but Tulkinghorn has permitted himself a little artistic licence.)But ...
Construction process to come under review
Several organisations are reviewing the legislation governing construction adjudications at the same time as other bodies are looking at adopting those procedures.
Cornell favours finance candidate for new COO
Proposal to elect Palmer bypasses deputy chief operating officer Perrin
Crowell captures prompt De Bauw to seek marriage
US firm Crowell & Moring has hired a team from Belgian firm De Bauw & Maeyaert, prompting the technology and telecoms boutique to look for a merger partner.
Deal of the week - Time/IPC Media
It was Cravath Swaine & Moore in the US that first introduced Herbert Smith to Time Warner. The firm has now handled a lot of work for it since its merger with America Online.This is the company's first magazine acquisition in Europe, and the purchase of IPC Media gives it the UK's leading consumer magazine publisher. IPC was the subject of a management buyout from Reed Elsevier in 1998, and this deal values it at £1.15bn.Herbert Smith fielded a mammoth team ...
Decisions, decisions
With banks increasingly involved in a wide range of disputes, Gregory Mitchell QC of 3 Verulam Buildings highlights the most interesting cases in the last twelve months
Deutsche Bank
Herbert Smith's real estate department has a longstanding relationship with Deutsche Bank, but this is the first time it has advised the bank on a major new building, rather than one it has historic knowledge of.Led by partner Brian Curwen, this deal means Deutsche Bank will use DigiPlex's 104,000sq ft site as part of its global data centre strategy, freeing up space in its central London offices. The bank will provide its own IT equipment and staff. Mandeep Ubbey (real estate) ...
DOJ takes on three for antitrust team
The antitrust division of the Department of Justice is taking on three more lawyers as it reshuffles its team under the new administration.
Dynegy
Clifford Chance is advising US energy provider Dynegy in its £421m acquisition of BG Storage. This is the first time Clifford Chance has advised Dynegy on a major UK deal. The relationship stems back a couple of years in Europe, with the firm advising on major deals in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Germany. The BG Storage deal consolidates the relationship.Lead partner on the deal ...
ECJ attacks over lawyers' freedom
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is bringing an action against France, Spain and Ireland for their failure to recognise lawyers who are qualified in other EU countries.
E-Commerce: The challenges and opportunities by Lindsay Percival-Straunik
published by Profile Books in association with The Economist (ISBN 1861972830)
Enic Gaming bets on Wallace
Niche London firm Wallace & Partners is acting for Enic Gaming in the £6m sale of online gambling operator ukbetting.com to a newly-created company Ukbetting.
EU ministers seek public opinion on single contract law regulation
A review of contract law has been launched by the EU with a view to introducing a single EU contract law regulation.
Eversheds beats back rivals for Redrow work
Eversheds has overcome competition from two other firms in a pitch to become the legal adviser to housebuilder and commercial property developer Redrow.
Getting fixed up
Allen & Overy partner Ian Field and banking associate Jennifer Marshall consider the impact that the Privy Council's decision will have on the future of book debt charges
Gibson Dunn tempts locals to launch Munich practice
Los Angeles firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher is taking on four partners from troubled law firm BBLP Beiten Burkhardt Mittl & Wegener to open an office in Munich.
Going for gold
Tulkinghorn is amazed at the effect that a little sun has on the sporting endeavours of this country. As soon as there is a sniff of sunshine, lumpen grey forms start staggering round the local park. And it seems the same bug affects lawyers. First, we have Mark Sarnowski, a solicitor at Charles Lucas & Marshall, who is entering the Polish Olympic Games in Gdansk at the end of the month. He is down for the sea fishing event, and hopefully the 5,000m, volleyball, pistol shooting and ...
Goldman Sachs and Nordea issue two credit facilities worth euro1.2bn (£736.9) for Finnish company Sanoma in connection with the acquisition of the Consumer Information Group (CIG) from VNU.
Banks advised by Allen & Overy (Stephen Gillespie). Sanoma advised by Hannes Snellman (Juhani Makinen).
Hachette Distribution Services, a subsidiary of Lagardère Media, buys Virgin Megastores for close to $120m (£84.18m).
Hachette advised by Jones Day Reavis & Pogue (GaëSaint Olive). Virgin Group advised by Ashurst Morris Crisp.
Halifax issues £42m loan and guarantee facility to Unite Group in connection with Unite's acquisition of Unilodge Holding for £109m from Cabot Square Capital.
Halifax advised by Stephenson Harwood (Alison Sidey). Unite advised by Nabarro Nathanson (Darren Kent, Mathew Newton).
Herbert Smith partner quits
Herbert Smith litigation partner Tom Custance has moved to 14-partner employment law specialist Fox Williams. He joined the firm last week as head of litigation.
Jargon busting - the A to Z of new media
Icann (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers): The private (non-government), non-profit corporation with responsibility for internet protocol address space allocation. Icann is often involved in controversy over demands for new top-level domain names to go alongside the ubiquitous dotcom.iMac: Apple's broadly successful attempt to make the common desktop a designer accessory. With its all-in-one unit, choice of colours, and competitive pricing, ...
Jarrett-Kerr stand-down ignites Bevan Ashford quest for new chief executive
City and regional offices to take on new corporate executive board; firm likely to seek replacement CEO externally
John Higham QC
Today there is a general acceptance that law firms are businesses operating in a competitive marketplace. Not so long ago, it was heresy to imagine any such change to law firms, but times have changed. One such attack on the status quo is the increasing call to address the fundamental question of whether the rank of silk should be retained or whether the time has now come for it to be abolished. This is an issue upon which both solicitors and barristers are divided.The issue ...
John Laing Property Business Space sells speculative development at Lyon Way in Frimley for £9m to GP Nominees, as trustees to Guardian Unit Fund.
John Laing advised by CMS Cameron McKenna (David Saunders). GP Nominees advised by Trowers & Hamlins (Shona Price).
JP MORGAN/SOCIété générale
Norton Rose is advising JP Morgan and Société Générale on £482m worth of debt financing to assist French holding company Havas Advertising's bid for Tempus Group.The firm's leveraged finance team has a longstanding relationship with JP Morgan in London. However, this is the first Havas deal it has worked on, despite JP Morgan's links with the holding company.
Landwell to be first foreign firm in Iceland
Landwell, the law firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, has extended its network to Iceland.
Law Soc to appeal Bahl judgment
The Law Society has launched an appeal against the Kamlesh Bahl judgment only weeks after it stated that it would not do so.
Leader
Last week saw another blow in the profession's attempts to gain Joe Public's affection. The three firms on the now defunct Independent Insurance panel - Davies Arnold Cooper, Berrymans Lace Mawer and Davies Lavery - went back to 2,000 companies that held policies with the insurance company and asked them to put their hands in their collective pockets to find £2m worth of legal ...
Lupton Fawcett
Lupton Fawcett offers a small-firm service with big-firm expertise
Man of the match
Stephen Townley, founder of sports boutique Townleys, remains pragmatic when it comes to his firm's marriage with Hammonds - it's part of the game
McDermotts lands plum role with IAC AIM listing
Chicago firm's London office wins instruction from film finance company
McDermotts woos Davis Polk star
The London office of McDermott Will & Emery has hired a senior US securities lawyer from Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Michael Bray, chief executive of Clifford Chance
In recent weeks many articles in the media have focused on the completion of our merger transition arrangements and, in particular, the implications of these for the structure of our practice in the Americas.It has been my policy not to provide input or comment for the purposes of these articles on what are, after all, the private affairs of the partnership.However, a number of serious inaccuracies have appeared in these articles and it is distressing for partners if these ...
Mishcon equity partners left nonplussed as 1996 accounts fiasco remains unresolved
Mishcon de Reya has not fully signed off any of its accounts since 1996, leaving former and existing equity partners unsure about their account balance for that year.
Morgan Cole agriculture ace joins Bircham Dyson
Morgan Cole has lost its highly-rated head of agriculture Christopher Findley to Westminster firm Bircham Dyson Bell.
Namimg and shaming
Tulkinghorn would like to thank those responsible for the deluge of entries for the 'Name the Eversheds Café' competition. Never has a competition without a prize had such a response.One response is from Angela Woodruff, who writes from her hotmail account, presumably to help mask her identity (although Tulkinghorn's sources tell him that she may work at a Warwick firm called ...
News in brief
A round up of stories from the UK and around the world
Picochip Designs raises $7m (£4.9m) first-round investment from venture capital funders Atlas Venture and Pond Venture Partners.
Atlas Venture and Pond Venture Partners advised by SJ Berwin (Jonathan Pittal). Picochip Designs advised by Osborne Clarke (Paul Cooper).
Pig of a job for LeBoeuf's Wilkinson
US firm LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae has made an unusual appearance at Tynedale Magistrates Court in Hexham, Northumberland.
Question time
Tulkinghorn hears of high jinks in the North East, where Dickinson Dees is hiring a local theatre to put on its very own gameshow later this month.While the firm's results this year suggest that playing Who wants to be a Millionaire? would be a little bit optimistic, the firm has opted for a hybrid. Whether anyone in senior management has a soft spot for domantrix-style middle-aged women ...
Sainsbury's takes on new group secretary from Exel
Tim Fallowfield is set to join J Sainsbury as group company secretary in October.
Sangamo BioSciences acquires Gendaq, valued at around $30m (£21m).
Gendaq advised by Olswang (Tina Cowen, Howard Palmer) and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (Steve Camahort) on the US side. Sangamo advised by Brobeck Hale and Dorr and Brobeck Phleger & Harrison (John Larsen) on US issues.
Shearmans knocks spots off other US City offices
Shearman & Sterling's London office is by far the biggest biller of the top-five US practices in London, according to research by The Lawyer.
Slaughters' ex-manager convicted
Slaughter and May's former general office manager has been jailed for taking backhanders from courier businesses when he was at the firm.
Sportal head of legal quits for MD role
Ailing dotcom company Sportal has lost its head of legal Jonathan West to new media start-up consultancy Catalyst Media Management.
Sports.com gains third-round equity funding of $13m (£9.1m), bringing the total of funds raised to $75.5m (£52.9m); investors in this round include SportsLine.com, Soros Private Equity Partn
Sports.com advised by Andersen Legal Garretts (David Roberts). Investors advised by Kirkland & Ellis (Nigel Dunmore).
Taylor Joynson gives up Romanian practice
Taylor Joynson Garrett is shutting down its eight-lawyer office in Bucharest, Romania, which was established in 1993.
Technology media & telecoms
So, the unbundling of BT's local loop was due to be resolved by July. And is it? Is it heck. The ever-lengthening process of negotiation between BT and operators is fast resembling a playground fight over who gets to play with the skipping rope. Of course, the comparison is a little unfair, but in both cases the parties have found themselves tied up in knots.In any contract dispute, lawyers are the first to be called, and the unbundling discussions have been no different. ...
The Anorak
There's no such thing as community.
The holding company of the city of Düsseldorf sells its 29.9 per cent stake in Stadtwerke Düsseldorf to southern German utility Energie Baden-Württemberg in a deal valued at euro447.38m
The city advised by Andersen Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft (Hans Jürgen Lütt). Energie Baden-Württemberg advised by Wilmer Cutler & Pickering (Roland Steinmeyer).
The phantom throatwobbler
There have been some strange goings on at CC Towers, with a spate of nuisance calls from a rambling whisperer who, according to an internal email, when asked who is calling, replies: "Throatwobbler Mangrove."Apparently, the caller uses the Clifford Chance freephone number, which is reserved for the firm's staff, and on occasions has left voicemails for unsuspecting staff. Clifford Chance ...
The power of site
If used properly the web is a powerful tool, but just being out there isn't enough, the key is to be seen to be out here. Ian Mitchell reports on how to get the best out of the worldwide web
Thomas Eggar sees steady growth
South-East firm Thomas Eggar Church Adams has announced a sound set of financial figures after a year of investing heavily in its new London premises and expanding its asset management business Thesis.
Walker Morris shake-up pays dividends in profits
Walker Morris has witnessed a growth in turnover of 18 per cent at the end of its financial year.
Wilmer Cutler chief picked as Peru's PM
Washington DC firm Wilmer Cutler & Pickering is losing the head of its Latin American practice to become prime minister of the Republic of Peru.
