Online February 2014

London
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Morgan Lewis hires Taylor Wessing partner to lead City PE group

Morgan Lewis & Bockius has hired partner Tom Cartwright from Taylor Wessing to launch its dedicated private equity practice in London. The firm’s City office currently houses two corporate partners who work on private equity matters, but Cartwright’s hire marks the first aimed specifically at building out a distinct group geared towards the practice.  Christopher […]

New structures
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Gunnercooke founder: ‘At Addleshaws and DLA I made a lot of money but it wasn’t pleasant’

Gunnercooke founder Darryl Cooke is an ABS fan but worries his firm will be stigmatised for turning its back on the LLP structure. Darryl Cooke, who launched the Manchester-based corporate boutique Gunnercooke back in 2010, is passionate about the opportunities that the Legal Services Act (LSA) threw open to the market. But there is an unmistakable […]

UK businesses should expect greater scrutiny on environmental offences, says Eversheds

Eversheds associate Alison Messenger has commented following the publication of UK sentencing guidelines for environmental offences. Messenger said that, as already seen from a number of recent Court of Appeal cases, companies can now expect much greater in-depth scrutiny of their behaviour and their accounts before and at any sentencing hearing, particularly where they have a previous […]

Singapore
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Can Herbies succeed in Singapore without the QFLP?

Why has Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) decided to walk away from the Singapore qualifying foreign law practice (QFLP) scheme?  Singapore’s Ministry of Law (MinLaw) last week announced the highly anticipated results of the renewal process to extend the six qualifying foreign law practice (QFLP) licences it first granted in 2008 (28 February 2014). The most surprising […]

This week’s top 15 legal briefings – 2nd March 2014

Standard Life dropped a hand grenade into the acrimonious debate over independence for Scotland at the end of last week. The financial services giant has been based in Edinburgh for 189 years and its suggestion that it would up sticks and move to London if Scots voted to bail out of the union is guaranteed […]

Wragge & Co advises on £350m loan deal from EIB for Sanctuary Group

Wragge & Co’s banking and finance team has assisted long-standing client Sanctuary Group in the securing of a £350m loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The deal is the first time that the EIB has agreed a direct loan to the social-housing sector. The transaction allows Sanctuary Group, which owns a total of 96,000 houses, to push […]

Man bites dog: recovering attorney’s fees from vexatious employees

By Ben Gipson, Eric S Beane and John E Fitzsimmons California has a reputation for employment litigation: it is the state where everyone seems to feel obliged to sue their boss for something.   While some suits have merit and others are understandable, there are suits by current or former employees that have no substance […]

Planning for the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill 2014

The government recently published its Criminal Justice and Courts Bill 2014, which seeks to amend a number of areas of law. This article will focus on the proposed reforms to judicial review and cost-capping orders, which will have an impact upon planning and environmental matters — the extent of the impact of the proposed amends […]

Walker Morris set to exhibit at LGA/cCLOA Culture, Tourism and Sport Conference

The Walker Morris leisure team will be exhibiting at the LGA/cCLOA Annual Culture, Tourism and Sport Conference 2014 on 3–4 March at Guildhall Square in Portsmouth, Hampshire. The law firm will be found on Stand 9. Local authorities play a crucial role in providing, supporting and developing leisure and cultural opportunities. The challenge is fulfilling […]

Asset-backed funding for occupational pension schemes

By Paul Carney Readers will be aware that occupational pension schemes providing benefits on a salary-related or defined-benefit (DB) basis — including ‘final salary’ pension schemes — have been in the news for several years. This is because companies sponsoring such schemes have experienced increasing difficulty funding them. Funding a DB scheme is rooted in […]

Immigration minister resigns after illegally employing cleaner

By Sarah Lovell Mark Harper resigned after discovering a cleaner he employed for his flat did not have permission to work in the UK. How could such a mistake have been made (especially by the minister for immigration) and how can employers avoid the same trap? In April 2007, Mark Harper took on a cleaner, Isabella […]