Strength and honour
Ex-paratrooper Anders Hansen ditched the army for law. Sound tactics – as Osborne Clarke’s European chairman, he is now taking the firm on the offensive
Summer lovin'
“We’re all going on a summer holiday, no more working for a week or two,” sang the great Sir Cliff back in 1963 (Mrs Tulkinghorn remains a lifelong admirer of his work). But at a modern law firm there’s no time to just bum around for a couple of weeks, so SJ Berwin decided to […]
Opinion
I was surprised to read the comments of Ashurst Morris Crisp’s head of real estate Simon Cookson about his firm in The Lawyer (16 April).In commenting on the firm’s decision to refocus the planning group’s direction away from the public sector, he described private sector work as “more interesting in many ways”.My surprise was not […]
Awards of court
The Lawyer Awards – well, that was a night and a half. With 1,380 of the great and the good all gathered together for a night of glamour and Abba, sparks were bound to fly – and they did. One thing’s for certain, you just can’t trust them (lawyers that is).Take Michael Skrein of Richards […]
Case study
The customer who ‘borrowed’ more money than anyone else from the fraudulent Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was sentenced to a record 14 years in prison on 8 May 1997. Abbas Gokal, aged 61, was found guilty on 3 April 1997 of fraud and false accounting following a massive investigation conducted with the […]
Leader
There’s a third item to add to death and taxes: at some point, a corporate lawyer will turn to you and say earnestly: “We’re really wanting to get into private equity.”Get real. There have been few new entrants into this market for years and precious little mobility. Olswang’s acquisition of the Berwin Leighton team and […]
Manhattan transfers
Allen & Overy has big plans for New York. But can any UK firm really mount a serious challenge in Wall Street? Jon Robins reports The boardroom of Allen & Overy’s New York office, 24 floors above Madison Avenue, boasts a spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline and well beyond. However, managing partner Carl Sheldon […]
Workspace Group sells its Midlands portfolio to Northern Trust Company for £42.3m.
Workspace advised by Norton Rose (Lindsay Morgan). Northern Trust advised by DLA’s Manchester office (Anita Weightman).
SPBG unveils scheme to target corporate lawyers
The Solicitors’ Pro Bono Group (SPBG) is about to launch its first scheme specifically for corporate lawyers. The scheme, which is part of the SPBG’s LawWorks programme, aims to provide free corporate law advice to charities, voluntary sector organisations and community groups. Magic circle firms, including Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance and DLA, have already […]
Winners, every one of them
Fair play, honesty and integrity – the key ingredients of any good lawyer. Or so Tulkinghorn thought until he attended the Law Society Commerce and Industry (C&I) Group’s summer ball at the Hanover Hotel in sunny Warrington. Well, it would combine an important evening of networking with a lovely little treat for Mrs Tulkinghorn.As it […]
Clayton Utz project finance team suffers
Australian firm Clayton Utz has suffered a further drain on its finance department with the departure of two partners. Clayton Utz’s loss is Allen & Overy‘s (A&O) and Freehills’ gain. The firms have hired Grant Fuzi and Patrick St John respectively.This current spate of high-profile defections follows the move of practice head Andrew Trahair to […]
Bignons signs merger agreement with DMG as CLA narrows down UK shortlist
French firm Bignon & Lebray is strengthening its position within the Commercial Law Affiliates (CLA) as it announced plans to merge with a Lyon-based firm. The news came as CLA struck one London firm off its list of potential UK members, while continuing talks with a further three.The merger with 13-partner DMG will create a […]