Patent star David Kitchin QC has capped off a brilliant year with an appointment as a High Court judge in the Chancery Division, it was announced last week. Kitchin is one of five new High Court judges appointed by the Department of Constitutional Affairs (DCA). Also joining him on the Bench are Cloisters Chambers’ Brian […]
Allen & Overy (A&O) heavyweight Tony Keal is moving to US firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett after 23 years at the magic circle firm. It is known that Keal has been in discussion with the A&O senior management for several months about his exit. Keal acts for key Simpson Thacher client Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) […]
BNP Paribas has appointed a new general counsel for North America. Betty Whelchel joins BNP Paribas following spells as global counsel at Deutsche Asset Management and a period at Shearman & Sterling in Tokyo. Whelchel will report to Hubert de Vauplane, global head of corporate and investment banking legal, and Everett Schenk, CEO of corporate […]
Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker has raided Norton Rose’s Italian practice for a three-lawyer team to bolster its fledgling Milan office. Norton Rose partner Sergio Sambri, who specialises in energy and infrastructure related projects joined Paul Hastings Milan office earlier this month together with two associates. In a related move Paul Hastings Milan has also […]
Kirkland & Ellis has made a second raid on the London office of Shearman & Sterling for a three-person litigation and arbitration team. The second raid follows the arrival of Chris Colbridge, who joined Kirkland from Shearman in July to launch the Chicago firm’s standalone litigation and arbitration practice in London. Rajinder Bassi joins Kirkland […]
Law Society president Kevin Martin has called for urgent government investment in the the Commercial Court. Martin said: “A properly resourced Commercial Court is essential to the City’s – and the country’s – prosperity.” He warned that unacceptable facilities could lead to cases being litigated in other jurisdictions. Martin added: “This issue has been a […]
Baker & McKenzie has finally signed up the majority of Coudert Brothers’ New York office. The mass lateral hire means that Bakers will double the size of its New York office to over 130 lawyers. Bakers is taking around 70 lawyers from Coudert’s New York headquarters having dropped out of a merger deal with the […]
Lovells is radically overhauling its international executive in a move that will result in the number of partners sitting on the City firm’s main leadership body being slashed. According to well placed sources, the executive, which currently includes the heads of Lovells’ five practice streams, will be reduced to four with the head of the […]
The UK’s lawyers have voted through The Law Society’s proposal to take the resposibilty for regulation away from the Law Society Council. At the society’s annual general meeting (AGM) in July, a motion was brought which “disapproved of the Council’s decisions to hive-off regulation beyond the control of the Council”. The motion was defeated at […]
Transport for London (TfL) has raided Hewlett-Packard for a new director of legal and compliance. Gareth John who joined TfL this week will be responsible for a broad range of legal issues including dispute resolution, employment, property, commercial and public law issues. While at Hewlett-Packard John was head of legal for the UK and Ireland. […]
Linklaters has continued its campaign to develop a notable Dutch practice by raiding former ally and local market leader Nauta Dutilh to hire corporate partner Peter Goes. Goes’ appointment to the Amsterdam office is the fourth notable addition to the firm’s Dutch arm in the last 18 months. It follows high-profile appointments such as Martijn […]
Clifford Chance has landed its second major deal for eBay after securing a mandate to advise the online auction site on its massive US$2.6bn acquisition of Skype Technologies. The acquisition, which will be financed through a combination of cash and eBay shares will enable eBay to combine its two leading franchises, eBay and PayPal. The […]