Online April 2015

Noerr breaks through €200m turnover barrier with 5 per cent rise

German firm Noerr has continued a strong run of financial results, reporting a 5.3 per cent rise in turnover for the 2015 financial year to bring revenue to €207.7m (£167.2m). The firm said income from its five German offices rose by 6.9 per cent, from €177.9m in 2014 to €190.2m last year. However revenue from […]

Exclusive: Freshfields set to open second legal services hub in Vancouver

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer will open its second legal services centre at the end of this year with bosses on the brink of opting for Canada. Freshfields executive partner Michael Lacovara told The Lawyer Vancouver is the “probable location” for the new centre, though no definite venue has been decided. The Vancouver centre would work alongside Freshfields’ Manchester hub, […]

Stock market

A&O displaces Ashurst on underwriting role for Cairn Homes

Allen & Overy (A&O) has picked up an instruction for the underwriters on a fresh placing and open offer for newly-listed Cairn Homes. The instruction sees the magic circle firm pick up a role for underwriters Merrill Lynch International, J&E Davy and Goodbody. Ashurst was previously advising the banks on the Irish homebuilder’s IPO, with […]

Dubai

Exclusive: Peter Gray to sue Gibson Dunn over treatment in Djibouti case

Former Gibson Dunn & Crutcher partner Peter Gray has launched a lawsuit against the firm, accusing bosses of unfair dismissal and of failing to compensate him for his legal bills. Gray filed his claim at the Dubai International Financial Centre Court last week. He is seeking approximately $500,000 (£350,000) in costs related to his legal […]

Sidley pays out for fresh Kirkland haul

Sidley Austin is paying a team of seven associates joining from Kirkland & Ellis a signing-on fee of up to £100,000 each, The Lawyer can reveal. It is understood that the associates will receive the sum to match what they would have been paid at Kirkland for 2016. The haul of corporate associates brings the […]

royal courts of justice - The Lawyer Top 20 Cases

Gibson Dunn client Djibouti to appeal £9.3m costs ruling

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher client the Republic of Djibouti has filed for permission to appeal a ruling that would see it pay £9.3m in costs to a man it claimed was a terrorist. The ruling by Mr Justice Flaux in early March dismissed Djibouti’s claim against its citizen, Abdourahman Boreh, closing four years of High […]

Scottish Water unveils six-strong legal panel after delayed review

Publicly owned utilities giant Scottish Water has reappointed DLA Piper and CMS Cameron McKenna as its principal legal advisers following its first panel review in five years. Longstanding advisers Simpson & Marwick, Harper Macleod and Shepherd & Wedderburn lost out in the review, which was launched back in February. BLM was reappointed to provide litigation […]

Fieldfisher bags sole instruction for GCA in Tesco profits probe

Fieldfisher has picked up the sole instruction for the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) on its investigation into Tesco’s profit over-statement in September 2014. Fieldfisher senior partner Matthew Lohn is leading the investigation for the GCA alongside the adjudicator’s in-house team. Last year’s £250m overstatement in Tesco’s half-year profits, and saw the company appoint Freshfields Bruckhaus […]

M&A and securities lawyer Lee McIntyre returns to Baker & McKenzie

Houston TX: Lee McIntyre has returned to Baker & McKenzie’s corporate & securities practice as a partner in the Houston office, adding more than a decade of experience representing clients on all aspects of corporate law with an emphasis on complex cross-border M&A transactions and securities offerings. McIntyre has broad experience in handling corporate and […]

Merger drop

Mergers have been a staple of the legal landscape over the past few years as the market continues to consolidate. Nevertheless, the rate of combinations has declined in the last six months. In our analysis, we ask whether there has been a return on partner investment. Mergers: bigger is not always better DWF announces May […]

Clifford Chance and KWM take lead roles on Clydesdale demerger from NAB

Clifford Chance and King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) have picked up top roles advising National Australia Bank (NAB) on its $5.5bn capital raising for a possible demerger from Clydesdale Bank. NAB has long been a client of KWM with the firm advising the bank on its first ever “green” bond issuance and convertible preference shares […]