Emma Vere-Jones reports on the property departments that are outperforming corporate While enjoying property industry bash Party Near the Park last week, following a few wines one client thought it would be amusing to start making fun of his lawyer. Not that that’s unusual, but bear with me for a moment. “Why don’t property lawyers […]
Deminimus hasn’t quite recovered from missing out on a commendation at his school’s recent prizegiving. “But last year I got the science prize,” he sobbed, unable to get past the unfairness of a system that gives you a reward one year but not the next, even though you’re the same person.Of course, you have two […]
Everyone, including lawyers and legal journalists, has difficulty with foreign-sounding names from time to time. They don’t always admit it, but they do. And God knows it’s only getting worse as firms continue to open in ever-more exotic places (thanks a bunch Clyde & Co for your Iraq exploits).But it’s refreshing to discover that the […]
Isn’t it funny how the news that your law firm is collapsing can invoke differing reactions? Lawyers at the London office of a certain suffering US law firm, or as we at The Lawyer call them, ‘they who shall not be named’, had their own very individual ways of coping with the imminent closure of […]
Tulkinghorn, who is something of an old fashioned gentleman himself, was surprised to hear that Ashurst Morris Crisp partners have been having sessions with a palmist. All very new age for a traditional City firm. On further investigation, it turned out the person in the head scarf was actually a legal recruiter who does a […]
Thanks to those graceful literati at Loaded magazine, the Inns of Court Ball has long been associated with ribaldry and excessive drunkenness. However, that image was truly dispelled by the attendees at this year’s ball. Not only did they raise a truly impressive £20,000 for homeless charity Centrepoint, but, despite the yards of fine wines, […]
ith major restructuring taking place and a continued ebb in production in the North Sea oil and gas industry, Bruce McLeod looks at the commercial context of a changing market There has been significant corporate consolidation in the oil and gas industry recently. BP merged with Amoco and acquired Arco. Exxon merged with Mobil, and […]
Three recent Scottish deals have highlighted the issues that make large-scale voluntary transfers particularly complex. At the heart of any large-scale voluntary transfer (LSVT) between a local authority and a new registered social landlord (RSL) is a property transfer. However, these are no ordinary conveyancing transactions. In the three transfers that have recently completed in […]
The Lawyer Awards’ lifetime achiever Clive Stafford Smith may be returning to the UK, but as Naomi Rovnick reports, there’s no reprieve for US injustice Clive Stafford Smith is a very unpopular man. A UK-born American lawyer with dual nationality, he is currently defending more than 40 death row cases in the Southern states of […]
Silicon Valley firm Fenwick & West has frozen salaries for most of its 250 members of staff in an effort to bring them in line with market rates.Not all staff will be adversely affected, as some will receive adjustments to bring their salaries up to market rates. Current salary increases based on merit will not take place.The […]
UBS Japan’s regional general counsel is joining Sidley Austin Brown & Wood’s expansion drive in Tokyo.Kazunobi Nishi, a bengoshi, brings strong connections with the investment banks in Japan, having also held the role of senior legal counsel at Goldman Sachs in the region. He will focus on regulatory and transactional matters, including M&A and strategic […]
Shaw Pittman is set to axe its emerging companies and healthcare practice in Los Angeles, cutting 12 lawyers from a total of 17.Partners Charles Fiedler, Eric Klein and Clara Martin will leave over the coming months, leaving just Michael Murphy, Bob DiGiovanni and three associates.“They joined in July 2001 and the timing was poor with […]