Norway’s Sands has suffered one of the largest mass defections in its history after six partners left to join Big Five firm Wiersholm in Trondheim. The hires bolster Wiersholm in a range of the firm’s key sectors, including marine law, renewables, technology, real estate and tax. The firm has committed to further growth over the […]
Welcome to The Passport, your regular round-up of all the most important stories to come from the European legal market. In this edition, CMS Wistrand recently went live and its drivers were myriad, but one in particular stood out for us; Poland is dangerously underlawyered in one very particular area; and Pinsents has embarked on […]
Competition boutique Geradin Partners opens its doors in Paris today as the firm seeks to become a serious player in the French capital’s vibrant competition and litigation scenes. Opening on the same block as Freshfields in the heart of Paris’ 8e Arrondissement, Geradin has brought in competition litigator Marc Barennes from Bureau Brandeis with his […]
Fieldfisher is bolstering its German presence with a sizeable team from local firm SKW Schwartz and a handful of other hires, in an effort to expand its media, technology and IP offerings. The firm has hired eight lawyers from SKW Schwarz including partners Martin Diesbach, Elisabeth Noltenius and Julia Schafdecker, all of whom specialise in […]
Clifford Chance’s Warsaw office has been caught up in a political row that has ended with the office being searched by the authorities, The Lawyer understands. The search relates to Clifford Chance’s alleged role in supporting an individual prosecutor who took it upon herself to stop the old Polish government from changing the rules relating to the […]
Fieldfisher has launched an office in Milan with a five-partner hire just six months after cutting ties with its partner firm in the country. The firm gained regulatory approval to launch the new office on 4 April, which begins as a 26-lawyer, five-partner operation in northern Italy. All five partners – including country managing partner […]
Addleshaw Goddard’s energy practice has come a long way from doing the “weird renewables stuff” in the 90s, now aiming for £70m in revenue by the decade’s end.
The fate of King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM) final European office has been decided with the firm’s Madrid partners joining Addleshaw Goddard. KWM’s 13-partner Madrid office will join Addleshaws next month, launching the UK firm’s first office in Spain. The new office will be led by KWM Spain managing partner and corporate/M&A lawyer Roberto Pomares. […]
The Data Protection Authority in Hungary (Nemzeti Adatvédelmi és Információszabadság Hatóság), recently published its annual report which included details of a fine of €670,000 (HUF 250,000,000) being imposed on a bank. To date, this fine is the highest imposed by the Hungarian Authority.
The European Commission has proposed a Unitary SPC and/or a unified procedure for granting national Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) in the EU, which if adopted, will materially change the SPC regime in Europe. The current mechanism for applying for an SPC is decentralised, and national SPCs must be applied for in each EU Member State.
Merck Sharp & Dohme brought an appeal to the Supreme Court (Court) following its unsuccessful appeal to the Court of Appeal against the High Court’s finding that its supplementary protection certificate (SPC) for its cholesterol-reducing combination product, Inegy, was invalid under Articles 3(a) and 3(c) of Regulation No 469/2009 (SPC Regulation).
These exceptional measures have been published by the Government in the current macroeconomic and geopolitical situation.
The General Scheme of Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Bill 2022 has been published and proposes to give effect to the Representative Action Directive (EU 2020/1828).
The European Union proposes to protect EU produced craft and industrial products that rely on the originality and authenticity of traditional production practices from their regions.
The recent judgment of Mr Justice Barrett in Goode Concrete v CRH Plc, Roadstone Wood Limited and Kilsaran Concrete [2022] IEHC 189 provides useful guidance on applications to strike- out interrogatories where they are prolix, oppressive, unnecessary or scandalous.
Among the approved measures, the temporary protection status stands out.
The Shoospeak HR podcast welcomes special guest Pavan Sumal, who explains the options open to Ukrainians looking to flee the current conflict.
The IOSCO consultation report, published on 6 April 2022, represents the output of a five-year long collaboration between regulators of major global ETF domiciles focussed on two broad themes, namely the effective functioning of the primary market and appropriate disclosure to investors, and is set against the backdrop of significant ETF growth, in-depth market studies and stress events.
In recent months several applications to dismiss proceedings for want of prosecution on the grounds of delay came before the High Court. These judgments continue to illustrate that the success of an application to dismiss proceedings will depend on the particular facts of each case. A period of delay found to be prejudicial in one case may not be determinative of the point in subsequent cases of similar delay.
On 5 April 2022, the Central Bank of Ireland made further changes to its list of Pre-Approval Controlled Functions (PCFs) under its Fitness and Probity framework. These changes, introduced by amending regulations, are in addition to PCF role changes notified by the Central Bank in September 2022.
France’s largest firm Fidal has instructed lawyers to advise it on its ongoing dispute with KPMG, as the row over the accountant’s raid of a 145-strong team earlier this year continues apace. Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier has been brought in to advise Fidal. A mediation period to resolve the dispute between Fidal and KPMG ended yesterday […]
French firm Gide Loyrette Nouel has announced the “upcoming arrival” of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom M&A partner Olivier Diaz in a coup for its Paris office.
Gide Loyrette Nouel has appointed a new executive committee, led by newly elected senior partner Xavier de Kergommeaux. Paris-based banking and finance partner De Kergommeaux will succeed Baudouin de Moucheron, who has held the senior partner role since 2012. De Kergommeaux served as Gide’s managing partner between 2004 and 2009.
A team from Linklaters led by partner David Swinburne is joining Jones Day’s private equity practice in Paris.
The number of female partners working in independent European firms has risen by almost a third in five years, data gathered for The Lawyer European 100 2017 reveals.
Linklaters Paris partner Kiril Bougartchev and counsel Emmanuel Moyne have left the magic circle firm’s Paris office to launch a business crime boutique.
DLA Piper has announced plans to integrate Portuguese relationship firm ABBC after a six-year best friends relationship.
Garrigues partners have re-elected chairman Fernando Vives for a second five-year term at the helm of the firm.
Iberian firm Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira has entered the Colombian market through an association with local firm Posse Herrera Ruiz.
Portuguese firm PLMJ has ended its exclusive relationship with China’s Dacheng, a year after the latter announced its landmark merger with Dentons.
“Insurance is a kind of promise: if everything goes south, I’ll be here,” Zurich Portugal general counsel Nuno Bastos claims. But insurers are taking the hit from unstable markets, an increase in regulation and unpredictable natural catastrophes and have to adapt. Quickly
Iberian firm Garrigues has continued its expansion across Latin America, bolting on Chilean firm Avendaño Merino. Avendaño Merino, which will now be known as Garrigues Chile, has a team of more than 20 lawyers. Five lawyers will become Garrigues partners; Oscar Ferrari, Luis Felipe Merino, José Miguel Rioseco, Luis Eduardo Correa and Rodrigo Fernández. The […]
Italian heavyweight Gianni Origoni Grippo Cappelli & Partners is launching an office in Shanghai in its first international expansion for four years. The Shanghai office is Gianni Origoni’s eleventh office globally, and its second in Asia. It launched in Hong Kong in 2014 and signed a formal alliance agreement with Chinese firm Han Kun Law […]
The Unitary European Patent system aims to support innovation by cutting red tape, costs and save time by automatically validating a single patent in all EU countries that have ratified the Unified Patent Court treaty and which have at the same time adhered to the UE regulation on the European unitary patent.
In the past year China has played a larger part in Italian investment than ever before. China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) acquired tyre maker Pirelli in a $7.1bn (£5.4bn) deal, while football clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan were sold to Chinese investors.
Ashurst has closed its office in Rome in order to focus purely on its Milan base.
Fieldfisher has agreed a merger with Italian firm Studio Associato Servizi Professionali Integrati (SASPI), gifting the firm 170 fee-earners in the country.
Chinese firm Jingtian & Gongcheng, Italian firm Bonelli Erede, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Latham & Watkins have scored key roles in the first deal by Chinese investors for control of a top European soccer club.
The Irish M&A market is internationalising – the next few years there will be challengers to the establishment
Driven by a fast-growing economy and the aftermath of Brexit, the Irish legal market has entered a new phase of internationalisation.
Dechert has begun offering training contracts in its Dublin office, as the US firm eyes growth opportunities in the Irish market. Dechert launched training contracts in its Dublin office in the second half of 2017 by taking on two local law graduates as trainees. It is understood that the US firm will offer two or […]
Ireland’s lawyers are used to turbulence. After all, it is not so long ago that the country was navigating the bumpy waters of the financial crisis and a bailout by the EU. So the last year of volatility caused by the UK’s Brexit vote and the US presidential election was something Irish firms were ready […]
The number of female partners working in independent European firms has risen by almost a third in five years, data gathered for The Lawyer European 100 2017 reveals.
Since the referendum result a raft of the biggest UK firms have been rushing to get their solicitors on the Irish roll. But what does this mean for Ireland?
Fieldfisher has opened its second European office in as many months, launching new operations in Luxembourg through a lateral hire. The office will be focused on finance and funds, with the firm hiring Ingrid Dubourdieu as its managing partner for the country. She joins from local firm D Law, where she has been a partner […]
Ashurst’s Brussels managing partner Carl Meyntjens has left the firm to join Simmons & Simmons.
Paris dominated the European lateral hires market with both international and independent firm hires, while Luxembourg firm Wildgen and Brussels’ Van Bael & Bellis rang in key management changes with new managing partners.
Infrastructure and projects work is a core practice area for many firms operating across the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. In theory there should plenty of work around because these countries need significant improvements to their transport, energy and public buildings. In practice, things are not quite so clear-cut. “My feeling is that if you […]
Gowling WLG has opened a second office in Germany as part of a broader European expansion strategy.
CMS has announced an end to its arrangement with Slovak office Ružička Csekes in favour of opening its own office in the country in May this year.
Independent Hungarian firm Lakatos Köves & Partners (LKT) has picked up a three-strong team from Central & Eastern European (CEE) firm Kinstellar to boost its corporate and competition practice.
Dentons has joined the growing number of firms opening low-cost shared services centres outside the UK with the announcement of a new business services office in Warsaw.
Heineken’s £87m purchase of a local brewer is just a flavour of the growing globalisation of the Central and Eastern Europe region – a challenge and a boost for local firms
Opportunities around digitisation characterise the German legal market. In fact, taking a stake in a legal tech company was one of the most eye-catching moves made by The Lawyer’s German Firm of the Year.
Legal tech in Germany is not at such an advanced stage as it is in UK and US law firms. As one IT director at a leading Germany firm admits: “It’s not a secret that we in Germany are a little bit behind developments in the US and UK markets.” They are, however, paying particularly close attention to […]
Linklaters will open its fifth office in Hamburg in the first quarter of this year to capitalise on an increase in banking work for German clients. The firm has made no lateral hires with the launch, instead transferring two existing partners from Frankfurt and Dusseldorf.
King & Wood Mallesons has hired former SJ Berwin Frankfurt head of corporate Michael Roos to join its German M&A practice.
Ashurst has hired a three-lawyer team from Baker McKenzie’s banking and finance group in Germany.
Latham & Watkins has hired another partner from Linklaters’ German operations, recruiting corporate lawyer Nikolaos Paschos.
Switzerland’s law firms are not known for their overseas forays. Yet a quiet revolution is emerging in the market as the country’s lawyers look to target new sources of work. Compared with many of their neighbours, Swiss lawyers are not known for their overseas forays. Not for them representative offices in London, New York or Hong […]
The number of female partners working in independent European firms has risen by almost a third in five years, data gathered for The Lawyer European 100 2017 reveals.
Baker & McKenzie has taken a team of 10 lawyers including five partners from Swiss firm Froriep in Zurich.
Of just over 100 deals announced in the Balkans this year, only 10 per cent involve a company from one of the states acquiring assets from a company in another Balkan jurisdiction. That compares to around 45 domestic deals across the major Balkan countries, and a similar number involving a local company being acquired by […]
Brexit is a topic that continues to provoke a sense of disbelief, uncertainty and considerable irritation across the nation. It is also a subject of persistent interest and fascination for the lawyers who must come to terms with the changes it could bring.
Confidence in the Serbian economy stepped up a level two months ago when the country’s voters re-elected prime minister Aleksandar Vucic.
For those that stayed behind, the only clients left are linked to the Kremlin
It’s a widely accepted fact that oligarchs are a large source of income for both law firms and barristers in the City. Cases involving oligarchs can usually be divided into two larger camps: on the one hand, the ‘traditional’ old-school oligarchs who made their wealth in the final days of the former USSR. Their disputes […]
Telecoms giant Veon – formerly known as Vimpelcom – has made a new pledge to boost the offering in its three global shared services centres, The Lawyer can reveal. This effort is part of Veon in-house legal department’s major drive for efficiency and compliance. Veon set up three global shared services centres (GSS) in Moscow, […]
On 25 June last year, the unthinkable happened. Tragedy struck in what should have been a weekend of celebration. Two people were shot and killed at the heart of the Oslo Pride celebrations. Some of my colleagues were moving in London pub circles, some of them know people who were directly affected, and some of […]
Perhaps, on one of your more wanderlusty days, you’ve considered a move away from the City. Sometimes being packed in on a Northern line commute can cause these thoughts to drift in and, unexpectedly, you’re now thinking about what life would be like if you were a partner at one of Norway’s most prestigious firms. […]
While an outlandish thing to happen in London, the Norwegian equivalent wasn’t that far off
Data business Datalogic has appointed Raffaele Zucca, formerly Europe general counsel at automotive technology company Denso, as its new global general counsel.
King & Spalding and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison are advising two online food delivery companies in one of the largest acquisitions ever made in the sector. King & Spalding advised online food ordering company Delivery Hero on its $589m purchase of Turkish food delivery company Yemeksepeti. Its London-based team was led by partner […]
Tough international competition means that diversification is the watchword in the Turkish legal market. Turkey’s promise of a fast-growing economy and its location as a gateway to the East has turned it into a coveted go-to destination for international firms. The slowing down of the economy, however, has meant that independent firms have had to […]