7 December 2009
The Lawyer
Amarchand imports Western talent in effort to strengthen competitive edge
India’s largest firm Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co has been ramping up its recruitment drive in recent weeks and increasingly turning to the UK and Ireland for talent.
Ashurst names new Stockholm head
Ashurst has appointed Jon Ericson as its new Swedish managing partner following the departure of former Stockholm head Jonas Bergh.
Camerons joins transfer pricing war
CMS Cameron McKenna has become the latest UK law firm to hire a prominent transfer pricing specialist, as firms continue to compete with the big four accountants to provide high-margin tax and economics advice.
Cash and candour
Ralph Cohen is being perfectly upfront. It’s been a tough year for SJ Berwin; if it makes its next quarterly partner payments next February that’ll be the first in 12 months.
Dewey secures victory for HP over Russian cartel allegations
Dewey & LeBoeuf’s Moscow office has successfully defended Hewlett-Packard (HP) against cartel allegations in Russia.
Eady J hits back at Mail editor over freedom of speech row
Mr Justice Eady put his head above the parapet last week to take a swipe at Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, who created a media storm when he accused the judge of introducing privacy laws via the back door.
Eversheds global brand rollout takes a tumble
Eversheds’ alliance partner in South Africa is embroiled in a legal row with the local Law Society that could have implications for all international firms looking to rebrand associated offices in the country.
Extradition centre stage at Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has only been open for two months but already it has found itself out of favour with public opinion, causing a controversy storm by ruling against the Office of Fair Trading on overdraft charges (25 November)
Filling the Gulf
As Dubai’s economy suffers, international law firms are looking at Saudi Arabia as their next port of call. Luke McLeod-Roberts reports on the benefits and drawbacks of launching in the country
Finers makes fourth lateral hire this year
Druces’ former litigation chief Tim Bignell has joined Finers Stephens Innocent as part of its litigation practice.
Focus: Fight Club: The top 50 litigation practices
The Lawyer’s annual analysis of the global top 50 litigation practices shows that arbitration is on the rise - and London is one of the main benefactors. By Matt Byrne
Freshfields launches its own Facebook site
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is embracing the technological age, launching a social networking site as a virtual means of keeping hold of employees and alumni.
Hunton targets litigation hole in London offering
Hunton & Williams is looking to address what its global managing partner Wally Martinez describes as a “glaring weakness” in its London offering - litigation.
Innovators and communicators dominate HR Awards shortlist
Workplace issues have dominated 2009, and not always in a good way. As The Lawyer Legal JobWatch recounted, there were more than 4,200 redundancies in The Lawyer’s UK 200 list - and those were just the official ones.
Keoghs appoints pre-litigation chief
Insurance firm Keoghs has hired Steve Thomas, formerly technical claims director for general insurance giant Zurich.
Lack of promotions rebuts recovery
London offices left behind in US firms’ latest partner rounds. By Julia Berris
Law firms navigate foggy Dubai regulation as UK awaits asset sale
Lack of Islamic restructuring laws is causing a headache for advisers. By Luke McLeod-Roberts
Links in radical move to reject over-specialisation
Promotion to be contingent on associate versatility. Senior managers at Linklaters have kicked off discussions over a radical shake-up of the firm’s training programme as it seeks to usher in a new breed of generalist associates.
McguireWoods
Grundberg Mocatta Rakison (GMR) disappeared this year from The Lawyer UK 200 Annual Report 2009. The reason? On 1 May the London-based boutique merged with US firm McGuireWoods.
New employment partner at Reed Smith
Reed Smith has hired employment partner Graham Green from McDermott Will & Emery.
Opinion: Seize the opportunity to change the profession
Last week the Legal Services Board (LSB) published its consultation paper Alternative Business Structures: Approaches to Licensing.
Osborne takes on new City practice head
Osborne Clarke has hired Taylor Wessing real estate partner Brian Greenwood to head its City planning practice.
Recession stalls firms’ carbon footprint cuts
Many of the UK’s major law firms have reduced their carbon footprints over the last financial year, but the economic downturn has been singled out as an obstacle to further progress.
Safe in the knowledge
The certainty of witness immunity is a central plank in the application of court proceedings. By David Casement QC and Julian Diaz-Rainey
SJ Berwin scores lead role on life sciences deal
SJ Berwin has clinched a lead role advising one new and one existing client on part of a £16m investment in pharmaceutical company Oxagen.
SJ Berwin: deferring pay is prudent
SJ Berwin managing partner Ralph Cohen has defended the decision to withhold partner profit distribution payments for the third consecutive quarter.
Slaughters regains top spot on FTSE100 list
Slaughter and May has reestablished its position as the leading firm for FTSE100 companies, pushing Linklaters down into second place.
Smaller practices outperform their larger counterparts in new diversity league table
The fourth Diversity League Table (DLT) 2009 (TheLawyer. com, 17 December 2009) provokes some interesting observations about the demographics of firms with offices in the UK.
Surrey authorities launch joint legal panel
Surrey County Council has joined forces with 11 local authorities to appoint 21 advisers to a common panel.
The Lawyer HR Awards Shortlist
Travers chief to become firm’s ‘US ambassador’
Chris Carroll will take on an unofficial roving ambassador role for Travers Smith once he stands down as managing partner of the firm in January.
Tulkinghorn: Carroll’s Friday feeling
Tulkinghorn has, of course, his fair share of illustrious forefathers. But perhaps there is none so apt as that boasted by outgoing Travers Smith managing partner Chris Carroll.
US and UK firms line up to thrash out Almatis takeover
A group of US and UK firms have won lead roles advising on the battle between Oaktree Capital and Dubai International Capital (DIC) to acquire alumina company Almatis via a restructuring of its $1bn (£590m) debt.
Using his loaf: John Healey, Warburtons
Since leaving his role at Williams F1 to settle down at Warburtons, general counsel John Healey has shaken up the way things are done at the family bakers. Tom Phillips reports
Veale Wasbrough Vizards hires insolvency litigation chief
Newly merged firm Veale Wasbrough Vizards has hired a barrister to head its insolvency litigation team after the previous holder of the post was named managing partner of the firm.
Walkers oversees Cayman bond issue
Offshore big-hitter Walkers Global has landed a lead role on the Cayman Islands government’s $312m (£187.05m) sovereign bond debt offering.
