7 November 2011
The Lawyer
As easy as ABS
As George Papandreou sent the eurozone into a frenzy last week, the news closer to home was hardly less bleak.
BLG partner exits fix Clydes’ conflicts
The exodus of partners from legacy firm Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) has reduced significantly the number of conflicts at merged firm Clyde & Co from around 40 to seven.
China giant targets City outpost
China’s largest firm by lawyer headcount is drawing up plans for a London launch after expanding its reach with a base in Chicago.
Clean sweep
The Isle of Man is leading the way in clean tech innovation, says Claire Milne
Co-op gets the ABS ball rolling with new recruits
The Co-operative’s hire of three senior family lawyers as directors to kick-start its conversion to an alternative business structure (ABS) (TheLawyer. com, 2 November) could be the first of many such launches in the consumer sector.
Dewey and Bakers advise on Disney’s JV with UTH
Dewey & LeBoeuf and Baker & McKenzie have advised on Russian United TV’s (UTH) joint venture with The Walt Disney Company to launch a Disney-branded free-to-air Russian television channel in a deal worth $300m (£186m).
Dim sum finance: tasty morsels for law firms
With turmoil continuing to surround the eurozone, raising cash in China has never been so attractive. By Yun Kriegler
Dougherty Quinn
Some merger approaches are planned carefully; others are more opportunistic. And so it was with Isle of Man firm Dougherty Quinn.
Face value
Jason Romer explores how Guernsey is leading the world in protecting celebrities’ images
Focus: Alternative business structures - Law and new order
There’s more to the ABS model than attracting the man in the street and procuring external investment. Partners at the big corporate firms, take note…
Hands off
Anne Todd dissects two cases pertaining to directors of offshore funds involving fees and the delegation of responsibility
Irwin Mitchell guides Mayfair site purchase
Irwin Mitchell advised Phones 4U founder John Caudwell’s property division on its £143m purchase of the Audley Square House site in London’s Mayfair - one of the most prized properties held by Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency (Nama).
Jet set, go
Steven Quayle and Mike Pinson explain the benefits the Isle of Man Aircraft Registry has for aircraft owners
Labour networks bolster their ranks as they catch the cross-border wave
Three employment law alliances have expanded in the past month in response to the increasing effect of globalisation on labour law.
Lalive boosts Zurich with Schindler GC
Swiss firm Lalive is taking its Zurich office up in the world by hiring the regional counsel for Europe of elevator and escalator giant Schindler.
Lawyers unite to promote pro bono
Today (7 November) sees the start of National Pro Bono Week.
LG suffers finance hit as Pinsents lures trio
LG has lost three more partners with a banking and finance focus, with Pinsent Masons their destination.
Links’ Singapore ally mulls switching allegiance to A&O
Singapore firm Allen & Gledhill (A&G) is considering dumping joint venture partner Linklaters for Allen & Overy (A&O) as local firms look to gain access to the wider Australasian market.
Long live the Rolls Building, for all its faults
There is no doubt that the Rolls Building was badly needed and it does bring the High Court into the 21st century.
Mills & Reeve to offer family-friendly fees
Mills & Reeve is to provide fixed-price family services as it prepares to compete with non-legal players entering the profession.
No let-up in Taylor Wessing exodus as three partners quit
Three partners have left Taylor Wessing in the latest string of departures from the City firm.
Norton Rose, Trowers win roles on £1.1bn property loans deal
Norton Rose and Trowers & Hamlins both landed roles on real estate services and investment company Kennedy Wilson’s $1.8bn (£1.12bn) purchase of a real estate loan portfolio from Bank of Ireland.
O’Melveny on board as RIT invests in filesharer Dropbox
O’Melveny & Myers has won a role on popular digital filesharing business Dropbox’s latest major fundraising, aimed at allowing the Californian upstart to compete with Apple and Google in the cloud computing sphere.
On the move
DLA Piper has announced the appointment of Debra Erni as a partner to its finance and projects group.
Open question
Trustees must keep abreast of developments in cross-border confidentiality disclosure requirements, say Robert Shepherd and Matthew Guthrie
Power play
A recent Privy Council ruling will give pause for thought over the inclusion of reserved powers in trusts, says Stephen Moverley Smith
Reed Smith reacts to media exits with swoop for Channel 4 lawyer
Reed Smith is planning to aggressively ramp up its London media practice in response to the exits of three partners in the past 18 months.
Runway success
Aircraft financing is taking off again. David Cooke and Jason Piney say Bermuda is well placed for a resurgence
Salans hit as nine jump ship for Locke Lord’s City launch
UK firm falls prey to US outfit as banking and real estate chiefs lead seven-partner defection
Security measures
Nigel Pearmain and Chris Le Quesne review Jersey’s revised security interests regime
Shelters in a storm
Faced with a barrage of criticism, offshore centres are fighting back - again.
SJ Berwin: we’ll be a finance firm by 2015
SJ Berwin is planning to reposition itself as a finance firm within three years and aims to double the partner count in its City finance team.
The claim man: Chris Newby, Chartis European
Having seen its UK arm through the financial crisis of 2008, Chartis European general counsel Chris Newby has shown his mettle. Katy Dowell reports
The white stuff
With a raft of new legislation and a strict attitude towards tax evaders, Switzerland is shrugging off its secretive image, argues Paul Douglas
Tulkinghorn: Dickinson flees
Tulkinghorn was passing through the lovely Victorian arches of York’s railway station the other week when a set of adverts caught his beady eye – adverts for Dickinson Dees.
Two’s company
Using two jurisdictions to set up a company can be advantageous, argue Andrew Quinn and Mark Western
US firms dominate Virgin Media panel
Latham & Watkins, Linklaters and Sullivan & Cromwell are among seven firms to gain new work from Virgin Media as part of the telecoms company’s first external legal panel.
Work Life Quiz: Adrian Bland, Wragge & Co
