22 September 2003

Reed Smith re-elects managing partner for European push

Pittsburgh-based Reed Smith has elected Gregory Jordan to a second three-year term as managing partner. Jordan stood unopposed in the election in which every partner voted. Jordan oversaw an eventful first term during which Warner Cranston bedded down its merger with UK firm Warner Cranston and absorbed 25-lawyer New York firm Parker Duryee into its […]

CC review gifts associates with bonus hike

Clifford Chance is increasing bonuses for its London associates after undertaking an extensive review of its current system. In a new initiative, designed to officially take into account factors such as pro bono, training and client and knowledge management, one to three-year qualified lawyers could earn an extra 10 per cent on their current base […]

Moorcrofts hires ex-Olswang Reading partner

The former managing partner of Garretts’ Reading office, now Olswang, has resurfaced at growing Thames Valley firm Moorcrofts. Commercial property specialist John Castell joined Olswang as a partner last year when the City firm snapped up Garretts’ Reading office in a two-week deal. Castell’s role as regionial head disappeared in the deal. He left the […]

St James’s Chambers raids rival to bolster chancery team

Manchester-based St James’s Chambers is celebrating a coup after the hire of four senior barristers from Cobden House Chambers. Charles Machin, Sarah Harrison, Sean Kelly and Jonathan Smith join the set today, bringing with them between 12 and 30 years of experience. Machin is a specialist litigator, Kelly a company law expert and Smith a […]

Malpractice verdict returned against LeBoeuf

A state Supreme Court jury in Manhattan has returned a legal malpractice verdict against LeBoeuf Lamb Green & MacRae in favour of its former client, Sheraton Corp, The New York Law Journal reports. Sheraton, advised by Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, is understood to claim that the award could total as much as $21m (£12.7m). […]

Rouse & Co opens second office in Vietnam

Intellectual property (IP) consultancy Rouse & Co International has opened in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, where it will work with its newly established Vietnamese law firm Doan Hong Son Law Office. The new office is Rouse & Co’s second in Vietnam after Ho Chi Minh City.Chris vale, who manages the Vietnam business, said: “Hanoi […]

Pinsents corporate partner jumps ship to Cobbetts

Northern firm Cobbetts has hired Pinsents corporate partner Scott Barraclough for its Leeds office. Barraclough worked for Nabarro Nathanson, Hammonds and Walker Morris as well as Australian law firm Clayton Utz before joining Pinsents. His appointment brings the number of corporate partners in Cobbetts’ Leeds office to six.

Former Stolt-Nielsen counsel called to give evidence

The former general counsel of chemical shipping company Stolt-Nielsen has been dragged into an investigation of his former employer. The US Department of Justice has called Paul O’Brien to appear today (24 September) before a grand jury in an action that could lead the government to repeal the antitrust immunity it granted Stolt in January. […]

Nelsons clin neg star quits for Freethcartwright

Midlands firm Freethcartwright is stepping up its commitment to clinical negligence with the hire of a specialist from Nelsons as partner-in-charge of its Derby-based clinical negligence practice. Karen Reynolds, formerly a partner at Nelsons’ Derby office, is the only solicitor in Derbyshire who handles clinical negligence at a legal aid franchised firm. She replaces Mike […]

New ECLA president to target accession countries

The development of in-house legal practice in the accession countries is high on the agenda of the newly appointed president of the European Company Lawyers Association (ECLA). Colin Anderson, the legal manager of Standard Life’s legal life services department, has just been elected as the new president of the organisation, replacing Danish lawyer Erik Vilen. […]

White & Case boosts Asian finance team

White & Case has strengthened its aviation and asset-based finance capability in Asia by relocating New York-based partner Hallam Chow to the firm’s Hong Kong office.Chow, who joined White & Case’s New York office in 1994, specialises in innovative limited recourse project financings and a wide variety of aircraft finance deals on behalf of airlines, […]

Grapevine

What a cynical bunch you lawyers are. So far, the most common response to Linklaters scooping Latham & Watkins‘ restructuring partner Martin Flics for its New York office has been: “It’s a bit late in the day, isn’t it?” With predictions that there is, at most, a good six to nine months left in this […]