Allen & Overy, Stephenson Harwood and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton are acting on the £139m takeover offer of easyHotel, following a wrangle which has been won by two property funds. Canadian investment fund Ivanhoé Cambridge and Luxembourg-based property fund manager ICAMAP Investments, working under the banner of Citrus UK, have bid for budget hotel […]
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison has teamed up with German firm Hengeler Mueller on the sale of Bayer’s animal health business for $7.6bn. The two firms advised the purchaser Elanco Animal Health, which sells products to support farmers and pets alike. The Paul Weiss team was led by partner Tarun Stewart and litigation partner […]
Arcadia Group’s Michelle Gammon is to leave the company after 11 years, just months after the retail giant secured a high-profile rescue deal. Gammon will be general counsel for Global’s newly-formed outdoor advertising division, which was created following the acquisition of outdoor media owners Primesight and Outdoor Plus last September and transport advertising business Exterion […]
Dentons has appointed a ‘chief mindfulness officer’ for Europe in an attempt to develop its lawyers’ emotional intelligence. Warsaw-based partner Karina Furga-Dabrowska has been handed the role as an acknowledgement of her role in the launch of NextMind, Dentons’ wellbeing programme. Furga-Dabrowska has been with the firm since 2006 and is co-head of its tax advisory […]
US aviation entrepreneur Farhad Azima has filed a counter-claim against Ras al Khaimah (RAK)’s sovereign investment vehicle RAKIA, alleging that it hacked and published his data on the dark web and that he was threatened by a London-based Dechert partner. The partner in question, Neil Gerrard, has been in the spotlight for his involvement in […]
A Doughty Street Chambers barrister has resigned from the set amid allegations that he was connected to a Twitter account that harassed people involved in the Labour antisemitism issue. In a Twitter thread posted by Doughty Street human rights barrister Adam Wagner, it is revealed that his former Doughty Street colleague Daniel Bennett has resigned […]
Review website Trustpilot has hired a new chief legal and policy officer from Skyscanner. Carolyn Jameson has joined Trustpilot, founded in Denmark, to oversee its legal and public affairs globally, as well as to ensure that the platform continues to grow. She will report to the company’s founder and CEO Peter Holten Mühlmann and will […]
After years of expansion worldwide, Kennedys has appointed its first global managing partner to take control of the firm’s global network of 37 offices.
Norton Rose Fulbright and two magic circle firms have landed mandates on the acquisition of pub chain Greene King by Hong Kong’s CK Assets.
Ikea has hired from Debenhams to fill the UK and Ireland general counsel seat left open following the departure of its legal head this year. Mark Skinner, who was head of legal at Debenhams, joined Ikea after former general counsel Nick Pritchett left the company last April for in-house services provider LegalEdge. Pritchett had taken on […]
Fieldfisher has hired Allen & Overy (A&O)’s working capital manager to add manpower to its Condor unit amid reshuffling in the firm’s alternative legal services and flexible resourcing division. The firm has brought in Paul Harrod to the Condor leadership team; Harrod has spent about 14 years in the magic circle firm’s finance department. There, he […]
Gowling WLG has won the advisory role for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games following a tender process for the post. The firm will support the organisers on corporate governance, procurement and general commercial matters. Gowling’s pitch team was led by partner Michael Luckman, who will be working with Birmingham 2022’s chief legal officer Caroline McGrory […]
Three months after British Steel was placed into compulsory liquidation, two firms are leading on the proposed purchase of the business.
US firms Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett will take on the legal duties as co-working space company WeWork has filed a prospectus laying out plans for its much-anticipated IPO, becoming the latest startup eyeing a public listing. The filing sees the company valued at $47bn, with plans to raise […]
Cravath and Paul Weiss have been called in to advise on the latest US media merger between entertainment conglomerates Viacom and CBS.
Kirkland & Ellis has represented BC Partners on its investment into UK software company Advanced, in the firm’s latest advisory role for the private equity house. The US firm fielded a team that included partners David Higgins, Rory Mullarkey and Tom Bartram. Last September, Higgins advised BC Partners on its agreement to acquire majority ownership […]
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang and DWF are advising on the administration of Harland & Wolff, as a buyer is sought to rescue the historic Belfast shipyard. The CMS team acting for Harland & Wolff and administrator BDO is led by London-based restructuring partner Glen Flannery, alongside corporate partner Peter Williamson and associates Christos Christoferou […]
Latham & Watkins, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and independent Italian firm Gatti Pavesi Bianchi have advised Farfetch on the acquisition of the Italian luxury brand platform New Guards Group. Latham’s team stemmed from its Milan, New York and London offices. The deal was led from Milan by corporate partner Stefano Sciolla, while Marcello Bragliani advised on […]
It’s been a week that litigation funder Burford Capital would rather forget, while legal tech providers have flocked to offer services on the new “one stop” solution for the industry. Here are the key takeaways. Reynen Court’s one-stop shop still has much to prove Reynen Court, the platform claiming to be a “one-stop” tech solution […]
Sun and spite in Lisbon and Monaco among international partnerships, while US firms profit from the gloom on the British high street: here are the key takeaways this week.
When it comes to high-level #MeToo allegations, trusting internal investigations is a dangerous game Baker McKenzie finds itself in a right old #MeToo mess. The firm has been referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal over allegations that the firm allowed a sexual misconduct investigation to be “improperly” influenced by the accused, former London managing partner […]
Commercial set Twenty Essex has hired a barrister from Walkers to add to its civil fraud and asset tracing team. Sarah Tresman has spent three years as a litigation lawyer in the Cayman Islands. Previously she was a barrister at Twenty Essex for seven years, where she began her career. She returns to the chambers […]
The High Court today announced the appointment of seven justices, including barristers from Blackstone Chambers and Brick Court. The appointments are due to take effect from September, with a further 10 appointments due to be announced later this year. The silks will fill vacancies in the High Court following promotions to the Court of Appeal […]
The speed-networking style events are designed to ensure that lawyers at the firm develop connections with a broader range of barristers and to encourage chambers to present a more diverse bench.
White & Case’s UK and Africa staff numbers went down by 2 per cent over 2018, its accounts have revealed, after a six-year period of rapid growth across both jurisdictions. Over 2018, the firm’s employee headcount dropped from 633 to 619, with a fall in both fee-earner and non fee-earner numbers. The average number of […]
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has expanded its international arbitration team with the hire of a partner from Shearman & Sterling’s London office. Mark McNeill will be joining Quinn as a partner in its New York office. He has been at Shearman & Sterling for 12 years, initially in its Paris office and later moving […]
Paul Hastings has hired two partners in its São Paulo office from rival US firm Shearman & Sterling. Corporate partner Jonathan Kellner and capital markets partner David Flechner will be joining Paul Hastings along with several members of their team, which will include of counsel Andrea Campos and associates Thomas Ayres, Diana Balassiano, Filipe Lima. […]
The Gordon Dadds group has hit back at the departure of Ince’s Monaco team to HFW, claiming the financial performance of its representation in the principality “can be improved by bringing in a new team”. The comments from the group come as Ince’s former lawyers in Monaco break away to join HFW’s new venture. Gordon […]
White & Case has secured the mandate for a UK-listed company in its acquisition of 3M’s defence business that supplies equipment to the US military. Avon Rubber, a respiratory protection systems company that supplies military, law enforcement and firefighting teams, has bought the ballistic protection business of 3M, another US company conglomerate, for just over […]
Just down the road from CMS and Linklaters,one of the most venerable firms in Lisbon is undergoing a shake-up that has left the local market dazed.
With Britain’s EU departure saga continuing, we caught up with firms in the Grand Duchy to ask how they are handling an influx of funds and fending off international competitors
Despite a slight fall in corporate activity, European firms remained busy in 2018, with several reporting a hike in turnover contributing to an overall record increase in total revenue over the past five years
Israeli lawyers are operating in a vibrant economy but innovation is so rapid, regulators are finding it hard to keep up
Latham & Watkins partner Ayesha Waheed has left the firm after over a decade to join Morgan Lewis & Bockius’ London office. Waheed joined Latham in 2008 from Clifford Chance, where she had spent three years as a foreign lawyer in the banking and finance department of its Frankfurt office. She focused on project finance, […]
Milbank has made its second hire from Allen & Overy in 2019, recruiting the firm’s head of fraud to lead a new group in its City office. Mona Vaswani, who was also the firm’s former co-head of firm’s UK banking, finance and regulatory litigation practice, will join Milbank after spending 26 years at the magic […]
Two months since it lured four partners from Taylor Wessing’s life sciences and technology team, Goodwin’s London office has secured another hire to the group from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. Ali Ramadan, who will join the US firm’s office today, has advises on venture capital, cross-border M&A and private equity transactions for technology businesses. His clients […]
Stephenson Harwood is to lose another partner to a US outfit in the City, over a month after it was revealed that corporate finance partner Warren Allan is leaving for Proskauer Rose. Aircraft and rail finance partner Graeme McLellan is to join Greenberg Traurig. McLellan has been a partner in Stephenson Harwood’s asset finance team since […]
Norton Rose Fulbright‘s insurance team has been hit once again, as seven lawyers exit for DAC Beachcroft. The group will follow former Norton Rose Fulbright partner Liam O’Connell, who left the firm in May to head DACB’s global insurance practice. He will be joined by fellow partner Kirsty Hick, who litigates on behalf of insurance […]
New London-based firm Avonhurst has hired two former magic circle lawyers to its team, after being founded last month by ex-Jones Day partner Jonathan Bloom.
Executive Summary The digital universe is growing at an exponential rate—expected to reach 44 trillion gigabytes by 2020—creating a big, expensive problem for litigators and internal investigators who aretasked with mining through increasingly massive troves of documents. Although there are many solutions for document review, conducting thorough vendor evaluations is a challenge. This paper is […]
More with less Today’s in-house legal departments operate in an increasingly complex environment. It’s a juggling act to balance a range of challenging legal issues as well as greater strategical involvement with other parts of the business, with limited costs. Lack of transparency Another challenge is the potential threats that may occur unexpectedly. Since legal […]
Taylor Rose needed a system which could easily be adapted to meet the needs of some of their more complex cases without incurring heavy costs, and so switched to Laserform from Advanced. Charlotte Corbyn, solicitor at Taylor Rose explained: “The forms we were using just wasn’t practical for a firm like ours. One of the major […]
By Oliver Quarmby, Alexandra O’Grady The AIC Code is a framework of best practice in respect of the governance of investment companies published by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). Founded in 1932, the AIC represents a broad range of closed-ended investment companies, incorporating investment trusts, offshore investment companies, real estate investment trusts and venture […]
By Diana Dimova, Nina Tsifudina The Bulgarian Supreme Court of Cassation (“Supreme Court”) has recently issued a decision (No.19, dated 8 August 2019, under commercial case No. 2511/2017) that recognises for the first time the concept of right of first refusal (“ROFR”) clauses. This decision opens the door for the enforcement of such clauses in Bulgaria. It […]
By Milan Lazic, Milica Savic On 7 August 2019, Serbia became one of the first 50 countries in the world to sign the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation – dubbed the Singapore convention. Much like the New York Convention on Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, the […]
By Tom Price, Daniel Wood, Christopher Richards Whilst receiving a judgment in your favour may feel like the culmination of a potentially lengthy legal process, it may be just the first step (though an important one) on the path to financial recovery. In our latest insight, we look at how and when you can enforce […]
By Matt Hervey, John P Cooper As the seat of the first Industrial Revolution, the UK has a long history of designing regulatory solutions to the challenges posed by technological change. However, regulation has often lagged behind – sometimes very far behind – new technology. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is proving no exception to this historical […]
By Ben Adamson The issue of confidentiality orders, and when they will be granted, is a frequent topic particularly in the context of trust law. The approach of the Bermuda courts in granting confidentiality orders in trust matters is often contrasted with the stricter approach currently taken by the English Courts. In Director for Public Prosecutions […]
By Jeanette Burgess, Andrew Northage On 15 August 2019, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued updated guidance on the timescales for responding to a data subject access request (DSAR) following a recent ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The general rule is that DSARs must be complied with without undue delay and at […]
Samuel Fernandes de Almeida, Tax partner, is quoted in an online article, published by the Angolan financial newspaper Mercado, discussing the changes in the Angolan employment income tax (IRT) code. The article details how the change introduced by Law 9/19, of 24 April, establishes that the distribution of profits to members of civil companies or […]
By Pedro Simões Coelho, Inês Moreira dos Santos What legislation governs the establishment and operation of Alternative Investment Funds? The activity involving the management, investment and marketing of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) is mainly regulated by the Undertakings for Collective Investment Law (Regime Geral dos Organismos de Investimento Coletivo), enacted by Law no. 16/2015 of […]
