Online November 2013

This week’s top 15 legal briefings – 17th February 2014

Smokers reckon they are a fairly persecuted lot – just about the only place they can puff away these days is in the garden shed, but even then only if the family dog doesn’t wander in. Cigarettes have long been banned from the workplace (remember those smoking rooms with wallpaper that bore a striking resemblance […]

Webcast
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Video: Rewards and risks – entering the legal profession as a solicitor

If you’re thinking about a career in law but aren’t sure whether it’s a good idea or not, Lawyer 2B’s webcast powered by The University of Law can help you make a decision. Our panel of experts looks at the opportunities and rewards that a career in the law can give you. It also examines […]

David Harris

Hogan Lovells leadership team to step down in June

Hogan Lovells is gearing up for a change of leadership as co-CEOs Warren Gorrell and David Harris prepare to step down next June and the firm abolishes its dual-headed management structure. They will be replaced by US co-head of litigation Steven Immelt, who will become the firm’s sole CEO. Global head of finance David Hudd […]

HSF mostly unified

From day one of the Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) combination on 1 October 2012, the firm has always marketed itself as a fully merged firm with a single global profit pool. But the devil is in the details. If read more closely, “a single global profit pool” means that the two legacy firms will pool […]

The runaway brides

Some merger talks end happily; most barely get off the ground. The last 18 months have seen a number of serious discussions that didn’t make it over the finishing line. Were they doomed from the start? Dentons merger with McKenna called off Field Fisher and Osborne Clarke abandon talks over £200m merger Withers/Speechly merger: Why […]

Weil Gotshal to defend £10m professional negligence claim

It’s not clear how Weil Gotshal & Manges feels about author William Boyd but ‘The Ice Cream Wars’ probably isn’t its favourite book. The firm has been hit with a £10m professional negligence claim by private equity house Bancroft after its sweet deal with a Slovakian ice cream company turned sour. Bancroft bought a 94 […]

HSF to vote on partner pay before Christmas

Legal market anoraks, here is your festive hoorah: Herbert Smith Freehills’ vote on its new remuneration structure is to jingle-bell its way into town before Christmas. God bless us, every one. If ‘tis the season to be jolly, the firm’s chosen system – on track to be a hybrid of the two existing models – […]

Conyers provides British Virgin Islands advice to Atlantis on syndicated loan

Conyers Dill & Pearman has provided BVI advice to Atlantis The Palm and Atlantis The Palm Holding Company on an $880m (£540m) syndicated loan. Banks involved in providing the loan include Barclays, HSBC, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Union National Bank and Emirates NBD. Audrey Robertson and […]

Eversheds advises on the relocation of Microsoft Deutschland HQ

Eversheds in Germany has advised Microsoft Deutschland on the relocation of its headquarters from Unterschleißheim to Munich, Parkstadt Schwabing. Construction work on the 26,000m2 site at Parkstadt Schwabing will begin in 2014 and the corporation’s 1,800 employees are due to move into the new building in summer 2016.  The new headquarters will offer modern working conditions and […]

Clyde

Number crunching: Clyde & Co corporate

Earlier this year Clyde & Co revealed a 33 per cent climb in corporate revenue, from £53m to £70.7m. The £17.7m hike not only secured Clydes its first spot in The Lawyer’s UK 200’s top 15 for corporate revenue, but also knocked Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) clear off the table. Clydes has seen incremental growth in […]

London

Linklaters draws level with Slaughters in FTSE 100 client rankings

Linklaters has as many FTSE 100 clients on its books as sector leaders Slaughter and May for only the second time since 2005. According to the latest data provided by Adviser Rankings, both firms had confirmed client relationships with 30 FTSE 100 companies in the three months from August to November 2013. Linklaters held steady […]