US-based firm Baker McKenzie is losing its chief operating officer (COO) after just two years. David Yates is taking up a post as warden of Robinson College at the University of Cambridge and is being replaced as COO by current director of professional development and know-how Peter Smith. As COO, Smith will be responsible for […]
Herbert Smith has rekindled its relationship with Eurotunnel, acting for the longstanding client on a massive debt repackaging. The firm, which has not closed a major deal for the client for about a year, worked alongside four other City practices to complete the innovative £1bn repackaging programme. The cast on the deal included teams from […]
Norton Rose and Linklaters beat A&O and CC to bank’s £4m panel Toronto-Dominion Bank (TDB) reduced its legal panel from 20 firms to just two – Linklaters and Norton Rose. TDB’s total annual legal budget was over £4m. Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy were ousted as TDB’s legal advisers after a beauty parade was […]
The Lawyer’s beloved secretary has gone on extended sick leave as the result of some appalling accident at the salsa class she teaches in her spare time, which has put half the class in traction. It means, of course, that the Lawyer has been assigned a new secretary from the admin pool. “Do they all […]
On 28 February, the Law Society debated reforms for self-modernisation, including a five-year strategic plan to promote solicitors as belonging to an independent and effectively regulated profession. The absurdity of the Law Society, in the face of a changing world, continuing to regulate only solicitors and not lawyers generally, is demonstrated in two recent cases, […]
Position: First Important cases at the Court of Appeal from October 1999-July 2000: Gillatt v Sky TV – Herbert Smith acted for Sky TV. The case determined that the value of shares in a private company are determined by an independent chartered accountant and there was no question of breaking down the process in this […]
Globalisation of businesses and the use of the internet as a communication norm have contributed to the growth in media deals and disputes. Bigger deals, resulting in mammoth media organisations, and the impact of new laws on businesses, are some of the challenges that lawyers faced in the year 2000. As the law rapidly changes […]
Consumer choice and providing access to good-quality legal advice is essential, and the Law Society welcomes any moves by the OFT that will help us achieve this while at the same time maintaining consumer protection. The Law Society has for some time been looking at ways to widen the opportunities for solicitors to work in […]
Position: First Important cases at the Court of Appeal from October 1999-July 2000: Gillatt v Sky TV – Herbert Smith acted for Sky TV. The case determined that the value of shares in a private company are determined by an independent chartered accountant and there was no question of breaking down the process in this […]
Just what on earth is the Bar Council getting so hot under the collar about? The OFT report is not exactly unexpected, or indeed unwelcome. Direct access has been around in some form or another for many years – right up until 1955, Joe Public could go directly to the bar on a whole range […]
Traditionally, the only cases where employers paid for financial advice was for staff who were about to retire. Now one of the fastest-growing employee benefits, independent financial advice is offered to all levels of employees. It can cover any aspect of finance, from the tax implications of maturing share options to what employees should do […]
Position: Does not feature in the chart but it had three appearances. Important cases at the Court of Appeal from October 1999-July 2000: Trustor AB v Lindsay James Trevor Smallbone & ors – A&O acted for Trustor to decide whether recovering misappropriated money from third parties reduced the amount for which the defendants are liable […]