The Legal Ombudsman is finally up and running. Chris Fitton and Elizabeth Hughes find out how it’s working. Just three months after it formally opened for business, the Legal Ombudsman issued its first final decision on 23 December 2010. The Chief Ombudsman, Adam Sampson, announced on his blog that the first case had gone through […]
With the focus on cost, single- jurisdiction firms are losing out. By Gavriel Hollander When Travers Smith shut its relatively short-lived German operation in 2007 to concentrate on building its best friends network, it seemed like a return to the firm’s tried and tested domestic-focused model. So dipping its toe into the US securities space for the first time […]
Maples Teesdale has helped Rockspring Property Investment Managers on two significant investments in speculative development schemes. The property fund has acquired Centurion House in the City from CBRE Investors for £22m. The building is currently multi-let to seven tenants, but vacant possession of the 61,000sq ft space is expected to be secured in July before […]
Baker & McKenzie is representing UK-based offshore drilling company Ensco on its $7.1bn (£4.4bn) bid to acquire US competitor Pride. The cash-and-stock deal could create the world’s second-largest offshore driller after Transocean and has been hailed as a vote of confidence in deepwater drilling following the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last […]
Pinsent Masons and TLT Solicitors have been toasting their success after winning mandates on the £20m sale of Cornwall-based Sharp’s Brewery to Molson Coors. TLT acted for the Sharp’s shareholders, including former owners Nick Baker and Joe Keohane. The firm acted for the latter on his 2003 buyout of the brewery, which makes Doom Bar […]
Greenberg Traurig Maher (GTM), Herbert Smith and Sullivan & Cromwell are understood to have won mandates on the flotation of a £700m cash shell by billionaire investor Nicolas Berggruen. The investment vehicle, known as Justice, will be used for the acquisition of a single company with a value of anything up to $10bn (£6.22bn), according […]
Hiring laterals is a risky business: finally, the statistics that tell us quite how badly US firms have got it wrong Is hiring partners laterally a waste of time? Well, no. Every now and again a new partner snatched from the loving embrace of a rival works out beautifully. But groundbreaking new research by Motive Legal Consulting, […]
Forster Dean is on an expansion drive. The personal injury (PI) and conveyancing firm has 23 offices, most of them in the North West and around the Potteries. It opened four offices before Christmas, has plans for another 11 in 2011-12 and wants to launch a further 15 in each subsequent year. The firm says […]
The firm pursuing thousands of individuals for illegally downloading adult films has gone out of business, despite the case still being ongoing. ACS:Law, which hit the headlines in September 2010 when details of those it was pursuing appeared on a website (The Lawyer, 28 September 2010), closed on 31 January. But on 8 February Judge Birss QC in […]
France’s largest firm Fidal has joined forces with Brazil’s largest firm by headcount Siqueira Castro. The pair have signed a preferred partnership agreement with the aim of helping each other on client matters in their respective jurisdictions and developing projects together in China and Africa. Fidal’s Brazil desk is led by Jean-Pascal Amoros and includes […]
Dispute resolution body CEDR Solve has appointed John Munton as its first practice manager. Munton joins from Keating Chambers, where he was practice manager between 2005 and 2010. He will have responsibility for CEDR Solve’s direct mediator group. Commenting on the appointment CEDR Solve director Gregory Hunt said: “John Munton’s successful record of managing strategy, […]
Doughty Street Chambers has announced the arrival of six new barristers. They are: David Haines from Pendragon Chambers; David Lemer from Mitre House Chambers; Louise Price from 12 King’s Bench Walk; Siobhan Grey from Charter Chambers; Lauren Soertsz From Dyers Chambers; and Amos Waldman from Young Street Chambers in Manchester. A Doughty Street spokesperson said: […]