Practice Areas

Linklaters

Linklaters joins CC on Glencore Xstrata's first post-merger bond

Linklaters has taken the lead role for Glencore Xstrata on its first post-merger bond issue, confirming the magic circle firm as the combined group’s primary adviser following the $64bn (£42bn) mining tie-up.

Clifford Chance 317

Simpson Thacher bolsters Apax links with CC funds associate hire

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has snared a key Clifford Chance funds senior associate with close ties to private equity houses Apax Partners and BC Partners.

London

Exclusive: Henderson in-house team shrinks amid shift to using law firms more

Henderson Global Investors’ UK in-house legal team has shrunk by nearly 30 per cent in the past year following a shift to farming out more of its lower-level work to law firms.

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Barclays deputy GC leads the race in scramble to replace Harding

Barclays deputy general counsel Michael Shaw is understood to be leading the race to replace Mark Harding as the bank’s legal chief.

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Tribunal rules against Travers in pregnancy discrimination case

Travers Smith has lost a discrimination case brought against it by a former trainee who claimed she was not given a permanent job because of her pregnancy.

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Pinsents to cut 13 lawyers in third post-merger layoffs round

Pinsent Masons is set to make roughly 13 lawyers redundant in its employment practice in its third round of layoffs since merging with Scottish firm McGrigors last year.

mountains

High anxiety: how the new financial regulatory regime will affect lawyers

Nerves are mounting over the ‘twin peaks’ financial regulation regime which could see accountants grabbing top-end advice work

City

FSCS adds former A&O and Aegon lawyers to board

Former Allen & Overy (A&O) partner Charles McKenna and former Aegon UK general counsel Marian Glen have been unveiled as new non-executive directors on the board of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

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Magnitsky hearing postponed as mother urges Russian lawyers to boycott trial

The preliminary hearing of the posthumous trial of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky has been postponed after his family and their lawyers refused to take part in the trial.

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Victory for Dingemans and Aughton Ainsworth in ECHR religion case

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has delivered a mixed verdict in four landmark religious liberty cases this morning, finding that British Airways (BA) discriminated against a cross-wearing employee but dismissing the other three appeals.

Bristol

Michelmores hires OC private client head for Bristol base

Exeter-headquartered Michelmores has beefed up its Bristol base with the hire of Osborne Clarke private client head Sandra Brown.

London

Withers to launch international family consulting group

Withers is to launch a consultancy group following client demand for a service that will help family-run businesses resolve arguments.

DVD

Online piracy enforcement in the UK – what a carry-on

Copyright lawyers want legislation reformed and simplified to create a level playing field for movie distribution channels

southwark

Southwark Crown Court convicts false lawyer Di Stefano

An Italian businessman who posed as a lawyer for eight years has been convicted of 25 charges including deception, fraud, money laundering and using a false instrument at Southwark Crown Court today.

London

Sullivan boosts finance and restructuring with Linklaters' Howard

Linklaters banking and restructuring partner Chris Howard is leaving the magic circle firm to join Sullivan & Cromwell’s London office.

Kodak

Hogan Lovells and Links in focus as Kodak sells unit to UK pensioners for $650m

Hogan Lovells, Linklaters and Sullivan & Cromwell have won lead roles as Eastman Kodak offloads its personal film business to UK pensioners.

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Freshfields makes key City hire with Shearman project finance partner

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has made a rare lateral hire in London with the addition of Shearman & Sterling finance partner Tim Pick.

city

Spring tide

Clifford Chance again tops the global project finance rankings by deal value. It’s been a pretty rotten time for the sector, but events such as the Arab Spring are giving things a push

Shell

All eyes on energy

The arrival of Texas firm Andrews Kurth in the UK proves how busy the oil and gas market has become. But the sector’s high level of activity has caught the eye of the European Commission

Saudi Arabia

CC gets it together in Saudi Arabia

Trailblazer firm tests mixed partnership water in the desert kingdom

Supreme Court

Client Earth pollution case goes to Europe after Supreme Court victory

Environmental lawyers’ organisation Client Earth has won its appeal to the Supreme Court over air pollution, with a five-strong panel referring questions over EU air quality regulation to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU).

Magic circle lead charge against Libor-rigging claims at the CoA

Barclays is to attempt to stamp out fraudulent misrepresentation claims related to the Libor scandal at the Court of Appeal (CoA), after the High Court yesterday said the bank could challenge the fraud claims.

Newcastle

DWF bulks up real estate with Eversheds team

DWF has recruited 13 lawyers, including five partners, from Eversheds’ Manchester and Newcastle offices in a boost to its property department.

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Dundas partner joins Payne Hicks Beach in further construction push

Payne Hicks Beach (PHB) has hired Dundas & Wilson partner Carl Asser as part of the Lincoln’s Inn firm’s construction push follow its practice launch earlier this year.

flowers

Pinsent Masons wins trademark dispute for Interflora against M&S

Mark & Spencer (M&S) has lost a long-running trademark battle with Interflora after the High Court ruled that the retailer had infringed Interflora’s trademark.

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Bird & Bird snares franchising duo from FFW after Abell hire

Bird & Bird has hired two franchising partners from Field Fisher Waterhouse (FFW) following the recruitment of high-profile IP and IT head Mark Abell.

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Weightmans records 6 per cent turnover growth for 2012/13

Weightmans has announced record revenue figures for the 2012/13 financial year, with turnover hitting £82m - up from £77.1m in 2011/12.

insurance

Aviva takes tough line in panel review

A&O joins Slaughters on Aviva’s plc roster; insurer insisted on discounts

Coleen Rooney

Linklaters brolly scheme strikes gold as Coleen Rooney spreads firm's name

Linklaters’ policy of handing out branded umbrellas to students on campus to spread the firm’s name appears to have paid off after Coleen Rooney was pictured on the pitch after a Manchester United home match carrying a giant brolly with the magic circle outfit’s logo on it.

Alex Ferguson

Freshfields' Red Knight hails United's 'heir to Busby'

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer London chief and high-profile Red Knight Mark Rawlinson has praised outgoing Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson as a “spiritual heir to Matt Busby” who “hates losing but uses adversity as a fuel”.

Linklaters

Linklaters joins CC on Glencore Xstrata's first post-merger bond

Linklaters has taken the lead role for Glencore Xstrata on its first post-merger bond issue, confirming the magic circle firm as the combined group’s primary adviser following the $64bn (£42bn) mining tie-up.

London

Texas firm Andrews Kurth makes Ashurst hire for City launch

Texas firm Andrews Kurth is set to become the latest US oil and gas player to target the UK market with a London launch.

court of appeal

Goldman Sachs' HMRC tax deal legal, rules High Court

Blackstone Chambers’ James Eadie QC has defeated a judicial review bid by lobbying group UK Uncut over HM Revenue & Customs’ multi-million pound “sweetheart” deal with Goldman Sachs.

Linklaters

Ex-Dewey tax partner exits Linklaters' Washington base for KPMG

Linklaters Washington DC tax partner Joseph Pari has left for KPMG, roughly a year after moving to the magic circle firm ahead of the collapse of Dewey & LeBoeuf.

London

Stephenson Harwood raids Dentons again as quartet make partner

Stephenson Harwood has made up four lawyers to partner from today (1 May), with the promotions coming alongside its seventh partner hire from Dentons in two years.

Wayne Robertson

Exclusive: Amey mulls legal panel as £385m merger prompts in-house rejig

Amey is considering introducing a formal legal panel within a year following the infrastructure support group’s merger with rival Enterprise.

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Dechert picks up Shearman's Brussels head to ramp EU team

Dechert has pounced on Shearman & Sterling’s Brussels managing partner Hans Jürgen Meyer-Lindemann in a boost for its EU competition practice in both Belgium and Germany.