6 October 2003
The Lawyer
A&O and CC get US associate thumbs up
Magic circle firms Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy (A&O) have risen in the esteem of their US associates, according to the latest associate satisfaction survey by The American Lawyer.
Akin and Orrick: behind the pace and over here
Dearbail Jordan asks why the two US firms are making a belated attempt to get into restructuring
Akin Gump ramps up restructuring
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is accelerating its drive into London's lucrative bondholder market by shipping over the New York head of its financial restructuring group.
Alstom dumps White & Case
White & Case has been sidelined in the restructuring of French engineering giant Alstom, which has generated a hugely lucrative workload for the Paris legal market.
Arthur Cox names new managing partner
Irish corporate firm Arthur Cox has appointed Padraig O’Riordain as its new managing partner, succeeding Eugene McCague. A corporate finance specialist, he headed the firm’s New York office for three years before returning to Dublin in 1996. O’Riordain is set to take up his new post on 1 November and will practise out of the firm’s Dublin office.
BBC set for wholesale panel shake-up
The BBC has kick-started the first full-scale review of its legal panel since 1999.
Beachcrofts star joins Reed Smith
Reed Smith has poached Beachcroft Wansbroughs' head of property and planning litigation Lesley Webber as its first property litigation partner.
Bloom: yes to Freshfields, but no to appearing before the OFT
Margaret Bloom, the former competition enforcement director at the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), has joined Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, but has announced that she will never appear before the OFT.Bloom, who has joined the ...
BLP, DAC, Constant & Constant seek £7m
Lawyers for three firms went to court last week to seek payment of £7m in costs from third-party funders in a landmark case.
Brobeck sues Clifford Chance and Snow for $100m
Clifford Chance and West Coast partner Tower Snow are being sued by legions of former Brobeck Phleger & Harrison partners and staff in an extraordinary suit seeking $100m in damages.
Burges Salmon drives car company to AIM
Bristol & London, the luxury car replacement business, used by the likes of pop songstress Dido and Portsmouth FC manager Harry Redknapp, has plumped for Burges Salmon to head up its £31.5m AIM flotation.
CC German partner quits for Simmons
Simmons & Simmons has hired well-known media specialist Wolfgang Hess from Clifford Chance Pünder.
CC leads pack on British Energy restructuring fees
Legal fees in the epic restructuring of British Energy are fast approaching the £20m mark, with Clifford Chance taking the lion's-share of billings.
Charles Russell pair take Hello! with them
Charles Russell pair take Hello! with them" /Hello! magazine's principal external legal adviser Chris Hutchings has quit Charles Russell to launch a media boutique, taking his top client with him.
Chicago’s Wildman Harrold loses UK chief
The London office of Chicago law firm Wildman Harrold has been hit by the departure of its UK managing director Martyn Molyneaux. Molyneaux leaves to head the London office of Leeds patent and trade mark attorneys Harrison Goddard Foote, which is trying to increase its London presence. The loss is a blow to Wildman Harrold, which has been trying to build on its intellectual property expertise since opening in the UK in July 2001. It is now left with just two attorneys in London.
Commercial juniors move down the road
Commercial law juniors Jeffrey Jupp and Niall Ferguson have upped sticks from 36 Bedford Row to join the commercial team at 7 Bedford Row.
Corporate deals round-up
Ashurst Morris Crisp (Paul Gadd, Philip Broke) is representing mining company Randgold Resources on its proposed formal offer to acquire Ashanti Goldfields for $1.8bn (£1.08bn). Norton Rose (Mark Bankes) is acting for Ashanti.
Corporate tax lateral hire by TLT
TLT has hired its second lateral partner in two months, with the arrival of Martineau Johnson's former head of corporate tax Richard Pincher (right). Pincher has also worked at Wragge & Co and PricewaterhouseCoopers. His recruitment follows that of social housing specialist Paul Butterworth, who joined from Manches in August.
Corrs goes on partner shopping spree
Corrs Chambers Westgarth is further ramping up its corporate practice with two high profile partner hires from Clayton Utz and Deacons, and at the same time taking on a property partner from Minter Ellison.Clayton Utz's head of transport and logistics Michael Harrison and Deacons head of M&A and private equity Richard Lewis will join Corr's corporate team, while Matthew Seymour will join property.
Credit where it's due
Mark Chambers, EMEA counsel at American Express, is broadening his team's horizons to match those of his company. Husnara Begum investigates
Crime and punishment
The long-awaited corporate killing law will have a dramatic effect on safety in the workplace. Tan Ikram reports on the problems involved in establishing liability
DLA takes over Coudert's Milan office
DLA is to acquire Coudert Brothers' Milan office and sever ties with the former Italian member of its DLA Group, De Berti Jacchia. The deal, which will take effect from 6 October, sees DLA take on four partners, about 25 assistants and 15 support staff, with the firm making another associate a partner. First revealed on
Donns managing partner quits to establish PI firm
Manchester personal injury firm Donns Solicitors has lost managing partner Hilary Meredith.
Dundas & Wilson celebrates partner hire
MacRoberts head of construction Lindy Patterson is joining Scottish rival Dundas & Wilson. The move is a major coup for Dundas, as MacRoberts' seven-partner, 25 fee-earner practice is widely regarded as one of the best in Scotland. Patterson, a partner at the firm since 1988, is also a solicitor-advocate and a specialist in construction-related arbitration.
Dutch-UK ties go through mangle as Air France-KLM deal takes off
De Brauw double loser as Linklaters taps Nauta Dutilh; Allen & Overy secures KLM as client
Eadie signs up to Blackstone Chambers
Blackstone Chambers has appointed public law, human rights and commercial litigation junior James Eadie (left). Formerly of Serle Court Chambers, Eadie was called to the bar in 1984, and since 1997 has been junior counsel to the Crown Common Law 'A' panel.
Eversheds picks over carcass of Denton's European network
Eversheds is in talks with at least two firms from Denton Wilde Sapte's collapsed European network, The Lawyer can reveal.
Eversheds raids Herbert Smith for Paris lateral
Eversheds is continuing its heavy investment programme in Paris, with the hire of a corporate partner from Herbert Smith.
Ex-CSFB gen counsel testifies in obstruction trial
Former Credit Suisse First Boston general counsel David Brodsky testified at the trial of star technology banker Frank Quattrone for obstruction of justice and witness tampering on Friday, New York Law Journal reports.
Ex-lawyer forced to resign after conviction
A former solicitor who was struck from the roll has resigned as company secretary of legal services provider Willmakers of Distinction.
Female Iranian lawyer receives Nobel Peace Prize
An Iranian lawyer was today awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, beating competition from a record 165 nominees.
Firm profile: ALMT Legal
ALMT Legal had a traumatic launch in January 2000, when the former firm of its four founding partners, Singhania & Co, launched an Indian legal action against them for breach of contract. The four promptly filed their own claim in London for constructive dismissal. Happily, both disputes were settled out of court and the firm has since gone from strength to strength.
Football fans risk libel actions for online guessing in rape case
A lawyer acting for a number of the Premiership football players alleged to have been involved in the rape of a 17-year-old schoolgirl is threatening to sue individuals who have joined in the online speculation concerning their identity.
Freshfields M&A ace quits for Simmons Hong Kong
Simmons & Simmons has raided the Hong Kong office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for M&A lawyer Wui Seung Chong.
Gianni Origoni opens in Naples with new hire
Linklaters ally Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners has hired client Banco di Napoli's legal director to help launch an office in Naples.
Grapevine
Good for Eversheds. Undeterred by the realpolitik of international expansion, the firm is in the thick of negotiations with a string of firms from collapsed network Denton International.
Hannes Snellman wins Nordea legal chief
Finnish firm Hannes Snellman has secured a significant coup by luring the head of legal from the debt capital markets division of pan-Nordic investment bank Nordea.
Identity crisis
The SEC and the FSA have contrasting roles to play in reducing financial crime. Jason Mansell examines the FSA's difficulties as both regulator and prosecutor
Inquiry says selection of silks biased
An independent inquiry has found that the appointment of judges is biased and that silks are not selected on merit.
Insolvency favourites cash in on closed market in Germany
It was just as well that German lawyers always did their own litigation, because until recently there were few counter-cyclical elements to most law firms’ practices. Insolvency and restructuring were the preserves of specialist firms best known for their administration work.
Irwin wins Bar Council chairman vote
The annual changing of the guard at the Bar Council has seen Doughty Street silk and current vice chairman Stephen Irwin QC elected unopposed to the post of chairman for 2004. He replaces incumbent chairman Matthias Kelly QC. Professional negligence and personal injury specialist Guy Mansfield QC will take on the vice chairman role, while Crown Prosecution Service barrister Clifford Allison is the council’s new treasurer. The new officers will take up their posts on 1 January 2004.
Judge rules frozen embryo law is Parliament’s remit
The only prospect for changing the law on ‘frozen embryos’ lay with ministers and not the courts, ruled the High Court judge presiding over the controversial case of the two women who lost their battle to save their embryos from destruction.
Judicial watchdog slams ‘systematic bias’ in appointment of judges
A judicial watchdog was calling last week for an end to the “tap on the shoulder” method of selecting judges, in a damning report that revealed “systematic bias” in the appointment process.
Law Soc plans second A&O investigation
The Law Society is planning to launch its second investigation into Allen & Overy (A&O), this time on the back of a successful victimisation claim made against the firm by project manager Shazia Wahab.
Lawrence Graham fights claim for constructive dismissal
Lawrence Graham is facing a claim of constructive dismissal brought by a former assistant who resigned from the firm at the end of July.
Lawrence Graham lands Archipelago
Gold mining company Archipelago Resources has taken a shine to Lawrence Graham after instructing the firm for the first time on its recent admission to AIM.
Lawyers get the runs
Cheerleaders at a rugby match? It can only be a self-publicising law firm looking for a cheap way to raise its profile.
LEADER
Never say never, but the corporate technology market is still miles off the peak of 2000. Despite Wolfson's planned float later this month and the legions of over-optimistic TMT lawyers singing their version of England's footy anthem, "it's coming back, it's coming back, tech is coming back", the deals are still taking ages and the valuations are still rock-bottom.
Learning by mistakes?
Tulkinghorn's scribes are often surprised by law firms' attempts at PR, but Manchester firm Cobbetts has left them truly baffled.
Legal Widow
As soon as the children could switch the TV on by themselves, my bargaining power was gone. For the years between two and eight I could no longer threaten to whip the plug out of the wall if they didn't get dressed or eat tea or stop whining.
Leigh Day goes digging in gold mining litigation
Leigh Day & Co is gearing up for a battle with Anglo American over a potentially huge lawsuit, which claims that thousands of gold-miners developed respiratory illness while working for the South African mining giant.
Linklaters loses top deals spot
Linklaters has lost the leadership of both the worldwide and UK-announced rankings for mergers and acquisitions advisers, according to the latest figures from Thomson Financial.
Linklaters top equity guns for £1.25m
Linklaters is stepping up its drive to outstrip the income of magic circle rivals with plans to increase profitability by nearly 40 per cent in the next two years.
Lovells' conduct an 'abuse' in TACA shipping line case
The European Court of Justice has ruled that part of Lovells' conduct in a major competition case amounts to abuse and, as a result, has ordered parties to pay their own legal fees.
Monti launches probe into law firm cartels
Brussels set to crack down on price-fixing in Europe; MDP bans to be scrutinised
NHS patients to beat waiting lists in Europe?
Thousands of patients on waiting lists could receive surgery in hospitals on the Continent and be paid for by the NHS in cases where there was “undue delay”, following a ruling by the High Court last week.
Nineham, Walker, Young in dogfight for Lovells top job
Three partners have emerged onto the shortlist for Lovells senior partner election. They are: corporate head Hugh Nineham, incumbent senior partner Andrew Walker and insurance partner John Young.The three partners, all based in London, will now go forward for the final partnership vote in November.
Opinion
Many law firms have a serious structural problem on their hands. In the boom years of the late 1990s, when the surge in corporate work was at its height, the key to the success of any law firm was recruitment and retention - to have enough bodies at all levels to cope with the tidal wave of work coming through the door.
Parallel lines
They both do TMT. They both took on former Garretts offices. But Taylor Wessing and Olswang couldn't be more different. Matt Byrne reports
Paris launch for Taylor Wessing
Taylor Wessing is to launch in Paris with a haul of lawyers from Landwell & Associés. Negotiations are understood to be ongoing with a number of lawyers, including partners. First revealed on www.thelawyer.com/lawyernews 1 October
Partner exodus continues at Morgan Cole
Morgan Cole has lost its fourth London partner in as many months, with landlord and tenant specialist Jonathan Cantor the latest to quit the troubled firm. His departure is understood to leave just seven partners in London, where the firm is looking for new premises to house its scaled-back presence. Almost 60 partners have now left the firm since the merger of Morgan Bruce and Cole & Cole in 1998.
Pedal pusher
Staying with charity types, Torquay solicitor Lloyd Hale of South Devon firm Kitson Hutchings Solicitors raised £650 for a heart charity appeal by entering a stage of the Tour de France.
Pensioners lose age discrimination test case
Pensioners lost the right to claim compensation for unfair dismissal or redundancy last week, when the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) rejected a test case.
Pro bono & community action: CC steps in on employment battle with record company
A team of volunteer lawyers from Clifford Chance has obtained a £7,000 settlement for a pro bono client unfairly dismissed from her job in the music industry.
RAC prepares to hire 150 lawyers to cash in on open UK legal market
The RAC is set to hire up to 150 lawyers in preparation for the deregulation of the UK legal system.
Rainmaker Cassidy quits Olswang for Hammonds
Olswang for Hammonds" /High-profile property lawyer Michael Cassidy has switched to Hammonds, just five months after the shock demise of DJ Freeman saw him join Olswang.
Reality cheque
Emile Woolf reveals the much misunderstood role of auditors in the fight against white collar crime
Ross & Craig absorbs five-lawyer outfit
London firm Ross & Craig has absorbed five-lawyer Mayfair outfit Landau & Scanlan. The new 12-partner, 30-lawyer firm will practise from Ross & Craig's existing premises under the Ross & Craig banner.
Scrum scran
He may know his law, but SJ Berwin partner Geoff Woolf certainly doesn't know his rugby - surely to the chagrin of the firm's much-vaunted sports group.One afternoon Woolf wandered into a colleague's office and innocently asked: "I'm going to a dinner tonight and there's an All Black at every table. What's that?"
Shearman gets the nod from Hypo Real Estate
A longstanding law school friendship has seen Shearman & Sterling's German office score a new client in the guise of Hypo Real Estate Holdings - the newly demerged real estate arm of HypoVereinsbank.
Sidley scoops CC heavyweight
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood has snapped up Clifford Chance's former head of securitisation John Woodhall, beating off competition from rival US firms.
Simkins grows with ex-Hamlins partner
Media and entertainment boutique The Simkins Partnership is continuing its expansion with the hire of former Hamlins partner Cathy Fehler. A defamation and privacy litigator, Fehler joins other recent hires to the firm, including former SJ Berwin partner Peter McInerney. The appointment takes the number of lawyers at Simkins to 39.
Slaughters leads on Spirit’s pub purchase
Slaughter and May is celebrating its client Spirit’s successful £2.51bn acquisition of Scottish & Newcastle’s pub estate.
Social climbers
Lawyers occasionally moan on a tough deal that they have a mountain to climb before completion. But two rugged types from Barnetts Solicitors really do have to don the crampons and sturdy footwear and start preparing for altitude sickness. Notably, though, neither of them are lawyers.
The Accident Group's claims vetting firm faces Law Society investigation
Rowe Cohen, the Manchester firm which operated a claims vetting service for collapsed claims manager The Accident Group (TAG), is being investigated by the Law Society.
The Prime Minister and the 'legal aid gravy train'
It is a sign of just how bad things have become that Tony Blair considered legal aid lawyers such worthy adversaries as to take a pop at the so-called “legal aid gravy train” in his conference speech last week. It was also a painful reminder of the huge mismatch between the public perception of a profession made rich at the taxpayers’ expense (and the political value of such an observation) and the reality of the exodus of once committed lawyers from publicly-funded areas of law.
Turning over a new leaf
It's competition time again here at The Lawyer. This week's prize is a corker. Direct from the library of soon-to-close Altheimer & Gray is a copy of the firm's very own What Every Successful Lawyer Needs to Know About Accounting. To prove its authenticity, the book has an A&G sticker on the front and still contains the library card inside. (Although since 1995 the book has only been taken out twice.)
Vinson & Elkins gives up on London finance
Vinson & Elkins has ditched its London-led finance practice to concentrate purely on work from the US.The Houston, Texas-based firm has parted company with London-based finance partner Peter Gaines, signalling the end of the road for the practice area.
We are detectives
The increase in economic crime shows no signs of abating. Will Kenyon outlines best practice for dealing with this most understated of problems
Welsh Assembly counsel joins Ely Place
Winston Roddick QC has joined Ely Place Chambers after five years as internal counsel for the Welsh Assembly. Roddick previously worked with several key members of Ely Place at their previous home 10 King's Bench Walk. The respected silk also has a tenancy at 9 Park Place in Cardiff.
Withers partner banks on SJ Berwin
SJ Berwin is continuing to bolster its banking department with the hire of Withers partner Nick Terras. Terras set up Withers' hedge fund practice, prior to which he was at Allen & Overy as associate head of the commercial trusts and partnership group.
Wordly-wise
Making the Channel 4 board is just reward for Nabarros employment ace Sue Ashtiany - but she isn't making a song and dance about it. By Julia Cahill
