2 December 2002

Clayton Utz off the hook in BAT shredding case

Victoria Court of Appeal finds no evidence that Sydney firm devised strategy to destroy documents The Victoria Court of Appeal yesterday (5 December) overturned a decision in the case against British American Tobacco (BAT), which found that BAT and Sydney-based firm Clayton Utz had wilfully shredded documents relevant to litigation against the company. In April […]

Wragges unveils German alliance with Graf

Partners at Wragge & Co and Graf von Westphalen Bappert & Modest vote for exclusive alliance Wragge & Co has formed an exclusive alliance with top 20 German firm Graf von Westphalen Bappert & Modest, snapping up the last eligible firm in the German market. Partners at the two firms voted the deal through unanimously […]

Patents law overhaul moves closer

Consultation is launched on proposed update to Patents Act Melanie Johnson MP, Minister for Competition, Consumers and Markets, today launched a consultation on proposed changes to the UK’s 25-year-old patent laws. This is the first update of the UK patents system since the Patents Act was introduced in 1977. The consultation will address how to […]

Morgan Cole bolsters partner count with double hire

Morgan Cole has hired two partners to boost its finance and IP businesses Hedd Vine, formerly of Citibank, is to head the firm’s banking team while Belinda Isaac, formerly with IP boutique Arnander Irvine Zietman, will join the IP litigation practice. The hires come in the wake of a series of departures at the South […]

Freshfields cashes in on Singapore’s third largest IPO

Freshfields’ Singapore joint venture advises ABN AMRO and UBS Warburg on MobileOne IPO Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Singapore joint venture Freshfields Drew & Napier has pulled off the City State’s third largest IPO. Freshfields partner David Simpson advised joint global co-ordinators ABN AMRO and UBS Warburg on the US$787.5m IPO of MobileOne, Singapore’s second biggest mobile […]

Hunton & Williams soup up London litigation with Mayer Brown raid

US firm Hunton & Williams has raided Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw (MBRM) in a bid to ramp up its disputes capability in London Partners John Miles and Marie Kidwell will be taking a team of five associates to the US firm. Miles and Kidwell, who were formerly at Denton Wilde Sapte, joined the Mayer […]

Osborne Clarke shakes up German management

Taylor to quit the firm; Rizor takes the helm Osborne Clarke has elected a new German managing partner as former chief Adrian Taylor resigns from the partnership. Stefan Rizor, a corporate lawyer based in Cologne, was elected unopposed last week to lead the firm’s German practice. Rizor joined Osborne Clarke last year along with a […]

Patents law overhaul moves closer

Consultation is launched on proposed update to Patents Act Melanie Johnson MP, Minister for Competition, Consumers and Markets, today launched a consultation on proposed changes to the UK’s 25-year-old patent laws. This is the first update of the UK patents system since the Patents Act was introduced in 1977. The consultation will address how to […]

Morgan Cole bolsters partner count with double hire

Morgan Cole has hired two partners to boost its finance and IP businesses Hedd Vine, formerly of Citibank, is to head the firm’s banking team while Belinda Isaac, formerly with IP boutique Arnander Irvine Zietman, will join the IP litigation practice. The hires come in the wake of a series of departures at the South […]

Germany

The highlights of the year Freshfields Bruckhaus DeringerWithout doubt highly impressive figures from the German offices (35 per cent more turnover than any other firm), even though profitability still lags some way behind that of other major jurisdictions within the firm. The one exception is, as ever, the enigmatic Hamburg office, which even London partners […]

A Berry good party

Last week, Weil Gotshal & Manges came up with the absolutely wonderful idea of showing the new Bond movie at its press party – for which The Lawyer reporters are eternally grateful. Other than Halle Berry’s emergence from the sea, the undoubted highlight of the night was the introductory speech by a rather embarrassed Mike […]