Despite positive noises regarding London prospects, the past year has been just as tough on the big US players as it has on their domestic rivals The financial data for the top 30 US firms paints a bleak picture of the legal industry in 2009, with a total of 21 firms posting year-on-year losses at their […]
Offshore firm Mourant du Feu & Jeune is planning a new strategy to focus on IPOs and corporate structures emanating from India. The firm, which will merge with Ozannes in May to become the third-largest offshore firm by partner numbers, is undertaking the strategy following a trip by two of its partners to Mumbai […]
Ireland’s High Court will today (12 April) decide the fate of insurer Quinn Group and whether to confirm its administration formally. The decision will have major ramifications for the 2,911 law firms across England and Wales that place their solicitors’ professional indemnity (PI) with Quinn. Indeed, Quinn’s exit from the sector could be the catalyst for […]
Watson Burton senior partner Robert Langley has resigned from the firm’s partnership ahead of a move to North East rival Muckle. Move of the week Langley, who has been in the top role for the past three years, said the decision was amicable. He has not set a timeline for his departure and said he […]
Mishcon de Reya partner Danny Davis is a self-confessed attention seeker who spends his evenings performing stand-up comedy across the pubs and clubs of the south. “The worst gig I did was in Soho,” he recounts. “We were in a grubby old pub run by one of the most depressing characters I’ve ever come […]
Magic circle firm’s ACT dept refuses to play second fiddle to corporate. By Gavriel Hollander Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s antitrust, competition and trade (ACT) team has, it is fair to say, stood head and shoulders above its UK rivals for some time. But with merger control not the lucrative stream it once was, this might be the […]
Olswang, Slaughter and May and Withers have won leading roles on the £350m sale of online fashion retailer Net-a-Porter to Swiss luxury goods group Richemont. Slaughters corporate partner Oliver Wareham acted for Richemont, which has increased its 33 per cent stake in the business to take control of the company. The buyer already owns a […]
Hammonds has advised one of the world’s largest smart-meter companies in securing a contract agreement with British Gas. British Gas will install around 100 million of Landis+Gyr’s electricity and gas smart-meters, alongside touchscreen home displays, in an effort to cut carbon emissions and reduce consumer energy bills by around £200m. Hammonds won the mandate to advise Landis+Gyr […]
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has landed a lead role ahead of go-to adviser Shearman & Sterling on Daimler’s tie-up with Renault and Nissan. Sullivan & Cromwell and Japanese firm Nishimura also won roles on the three-way partnership between the car manufacturers. The cross-shareholding agreement will see Renault and Nissan, which already have a similar agreement in […]
Macfarlanes, Simmons & Simmons and Travers Smith have bagged the mandates on the merger of the private equity arms of investment managers Gartmore and Hermes. The new entity, to be known as Hermes GPE, has around £4.1bn worth of assets under management. Macfarlanes acted for longstanding client Hermes, fielding a team led by funds partner Stephen […]
After a disastrous 2008, the ’Cravath Way’ has brought about a return to form. By Matt Byrne One of the more surprising financial results this year was Weil Gotshal & Manges’, which despite its highest of high-profile roles on a succession of bankruptcies and restructurings posted a flat revenue for 2009. But there is […]
Indian firm Khaitan & Co has made three lateral partner hires to strengthen its banking, infrastructure and TMT practices. Asim Abbas, Amitabh Sharma and Shishir Mehta all joined Khaitan as partners at the beginning of this month. Sharma will join the firm’s infrastructure practice in New Delhi, while Abbas and Mehta will join its Mumbai […]