The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is continuing to defend itself from legal action launched by outsourcing giant Mitie, with the facilities management company calling on Osborne Clarke ahead of a High Court hearing next month. Mitie’s pursuit of the government department follows on from this month’s decision to award a contract to French rival Engie […]
Following The Lawyer’s analysis of gender instructions at the employment Bar, the Employment Lawyers Association is calling on law firms to join its monitoring scheme. The ELA’s management committee ran a pilot scheme with select firms to monitor employment teams’ instructions by gender. The ELA found that the gender of an instructing solicitor may have […]
Following on from its first lateral partner hire in London two years ago, Slaughter and May has looked externally again for an entirely new role in its pensions team. Richard Goldstein joins Slaughters as a consultant and head of pensions knowledge from Mayer Brown, where he was a partner for nearly a decade. He began […]
Goodwin Procter’s private equity group in London have secured the hire of CMS’s practice head James Grimwood. Grimwood has been a partner at CMS Cameron McKenna since 2007 and played a pivotal role in the setting up of the firm’s Mayfair office. Appearing in The Lawyer Hot 100 for 2016, Grimwood saw an opportunity to grow […]
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has incorporated its German arm into its UK limited liability partnership so it can continue to operate as an international business in the jurisdiction after Brexit. The change, which took place at the end of 2019, was implemented because, in a Brexit scenario, the firm could not operate in the country […]
The average level of borrowings at a cross-section of UK 200 firms fell for the first time in at least five years despite the cost of debt, often used to fund strategic goals such as office openings and lateral hires, remaining at record low levels. In 2017/18 the average amount borrowed by a representative sample […]
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, DLA Piper and Osborne Clarke have all bagged roles in CityFibre’s latest acquisition in the network infrastructure sector. CMS advised the buyer on the acquisition of FibreNation from telecoms and network provider TalkTalk Group, which was in turn counselled by teams from DLA and Osborne Clarke. Corporate partner Katie Nagy […]
DAC Beachcroft continues its Spanish expansion, as it gains a 20-lawyer team in Madrid from local firm Asjusa Abogados. The firm has integrated its Spanish office with lawyers joining from Asjusa, a boutique insurance and civil responsibility firm – specialising in Spanish healthcare law. Three partners and 20 lawyers – specialising in professional liability and […]
Eversheds Sutherland is to roll out a new programme to help lawyers maximise their output by learning how to respond to pressure in the same way elite athletes do. The programme, called ‘sustainable peak performance’, will be led by the firm’s managing partner Keith Froud. Starting in the spring, it will consist of workshops held […]
DLA Piper has taken a lead role in the administration of the latest retail company in the UK to fall into administration. Partner Barney Smedley from the firm’s Leeds office is leading a team acting for KPMG, which was appointed as administrators for Beales following a court hearing yesterday. The Bournemouth-based department store started facing […]
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang (CMS) has been mulling a move into Sweden through merger talks with a local firm, The Lawyer can reveal. CMS is understood to be in talks with Stockholm-based firm Törngren Magnell, which was founded in 2006 by partners Peter Törngren and Viktor Magnell. It has just under 20 partners. If the […]
Transferwise has hired the chief legal officer of rival money app Monzo as its new general counsel, ending a seven-month search to fill the position. The currency transfer service has found its next general counsel in Dean Nash, who has spearheaded the legal strategy of digital bank Monzo for more than three years. In 2019, […]
Slaughter and May represented Premier Oil as the Scottish company cleared the first hurdle on a scheme of arrangement related to its expansion in the North Sea. Premier Oil, advised by Slaughters restructuring partner Tom Vickers, faced opposition from its largest creditor Asia Research & Capital Management (ARCM) on the implementation of the company’s scheme […]
Linklaters has taken the lead role on the potential takeover and rescue of Yorkshire-based fertiliser development company Sirius Minerals. Corporate partners Aisling Zarraga and Nick Rees are taking the lead for the FTSE 100 multinational Anglo American on its £386m bid to buy Sirius, while Allen & Overy is acting for the ailing Sirius. Norton […]
Macfarlanes and DAC Beachcroft have acted on L’Oréal’s London HQ move to White City Place.
The value of UK-related deals tumbled over 2019, though there are signs that 2020 may be different. The question is, which firms can hold their nerve over the next 12 months? On last year’s showing, there are some good signs for UK outfits in particular.
Walker Morris is acting in the administration of The Book People, which suffered collapse just before Christmas.
A partner duo from Clifford Chance has taken legal duties for UK chip designer Imagination Technologies as part of a license contract with Apple that will revive a relationship that ended a few years ago. The multi-year license agreement marks a new collaboration between Apple and Imagination Technologies, which in the past provided graphic chips […]
Lawyers departed and re-emerged this week, while a familiar name in alternative legal services set forth on a new chapter and pledge to turn over £100m. Here are the key takeaways. HSF’s hire of the “father of private equity funds” has had the desired effect: people are talking about it Funds veteran Jonathan Blake joined […]
Last orders for law’s drinking culture? Really not very many years ago, the news that the Junior Lawyers Division was not going to serve alcohol at its events would probably have been received with hilarity. What is life at the Bar, after all, without a cheeky snifter at the Seven Stars? And whether it’s The […]
Firms’ leadership elections under Brexit will be a test for London The general election was not the only significant leadership development happening in the UK this week. Not ones to give out the spotlight easily, a number of firms either shook up or geared up their highest echelons as they enter 2020. The race to […]
The number of new QCs has increased by five per cent this year, with Fountain Court and Blackstone adding to their roster of silks, as well as two magic circle firms. A total of 114 new QCs were announced today, from 258 applicants, with the percentage of women falling by two following last year’s 28 […]
A Garden Court barrister is launching legal action against the Metropolitan Police after he was arrested at a university hospital protest this week. Franck Magennis was attending a protest at London’s St George’s University hospital when police officers arrested him. He was showing support for security guards at the hospital, who are on strike in […]
Despite successfully winning Samira Ahmed’s landmark discrimination case today, Matrix Chambers has also lost two of its barristers this week to Essex Court. Alison Macdonald QC and Angeline Welsh have both decamped to join magic circle set Essex Court. This comes just days after Henderson Chambers announced Jason Housden will be joining as its new […]
Kennedys’ Dubai arm is facing a £10m negligence claim in the London courts, as a former client alleges the firm did not represent it properly in a dispute in the UAE. The claim arises out of a construction project, which was undertaken by the claimant – Convrgnt Value Engineering – in 2017. The construction company […]
The head of Mayer Brown’s Brussels office is to join German firm Noerr next month. Jens Peter Schmidt has been the managing partner of Mayer Brown’s Brussels office since 2014, and a partner at the firm since 2001 when he joined from Shearman & Sterling. He will join Noerr’s partnership on 15 February. The partner’s […]
After an ongoing struggle to assert itself in New York, Mishcon de Reya has finally shut down its US office 10 years after its launch – with its remaining staff joining King & Wood Mallesons. The closure now leaves Mishcon with no international outpost and its sole base of operations in London, with the firm’s […]
Hogan Lovells is debuting a new legal services delivery hub in the US as part of a multimillion-dollar contract struck with provider Elevate. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the centre will provide global document review exercises with a wider range and less costs. It will specialise in matters specifically related to US litigation document review matters […]
Baker McKenzie’s Chinese joint venture firm FenXun Partners is set to open a fourth office in Southern city Shenzhen, giving the global firm a foothold in China’s own “Silicon Valley”. The new office in Shenzhen will be the Chinese firm’s fourth location in China, following Beijing, Shanghai and Hainan. This means Baker McKenzie, which has […]
Dechert has been pulled into an Iraqi telecoms dispute after the firm was issued with a subpoena in the US, documents have revealed. The dispute dates to 2011, when one of Kurdistan’s most powerful businessmen Sirwan Barzani invested $800m in Korek, Iraq’s third-largest telecoms company. The US lawsuit alleges that Barzani and other locally-based investors […]
Despite Brexit, European law firms remain confident about London retaining its status as a prime global financial centre, and they cite a rise in restructuring-related work, regulatory advice and data protection issues
Investigating organised crime remains a major challenge in the Balkans, yet better collaboration and cooperation between cross-border authorities are strengthening legal frameworks. The Lawyer spoke to those working on these changes
This small Alpine country has long been a preferred seat for arbitration, but it needs to stand out from the likes of London, Paris and Singapore.
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has recruited its third London lateral in as many months, with the firm now set to bring on board a funds partner from Norton Rose Fulbright. This time the firm has picked Michael Newell, who specialises in funds and has been at Norton Rose Fulbright for a decade. As part of […]
Farrer & Co has boosted its private wealth offering with a hire from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP). Partner Georgina James joins Farrer & Co’s private wealth team after nearly 11 years at BCLP. She advises international families, trustees and family offices on cross-border taxation and estate planning issues. In particular, she has worked with […]
RPC has hired a four-lawyer restructuring team to boost its restructuring and insolvency practice in the City. Finella Fogarty, the former head of business restructuring at DWF, will join RPC to lead the practice at her new firm. She brings with her three new joiners; counsel William Beck, senior associate Danielle Bennett and associate James […]
Clifford Chance’s veteran Hong Kong litigation partner Brian Gilchrist has resigned from the magic circle firm and will join Gibson Dunn, as global firms focus on building up litigation practices in Hong Kong. Gilchrist will be joined by fellow litigation partner Elaine Chen as Gibson Dunn’s first major litigation hires in Hong Kong. They will […]
One of O’Melveny & Myers’ last remaining London funds lawyers has emerged at Herbert Smith Freehills, continuing an exodus that began last year. Private equity veteran Jonathan Blake has joined Herbert Smith Freehills as head of its international private funds strategy. Blake’s departure leaves the US firm’s Paternoster Square office with just four remaining partners. […]
Linklaters has hired a new partner from White & Case to boost its London banking practice. The magic circle firm has brought in Colin Chang, who has been a partner in the capital markets practice of the US firm for more than a decade. Having first joined in 2008, he was based until now in White […]
By Demet Özkahraman 1. GENERAL The trading companies especially the joint stock companies are affected by the global economic growth and as a result of that, institutionalization of the internal managements of the companies has become essential impact. Particularly, since Turkey takes attention of the foreign investors, the merger and acquisition transaction (“M&A” or “M&A […]
By Igor Popa What Is Acquisition Finance? Acquisition financing is the funding a company uses specifically for the purpose of acquiring another company. By acquiring another company, a smaller company can increase the size of its operations and benefit from the economies of scale achieved through the purchase. Bank loans, lines of credit, and loans […]
By Bolormaa Volodya By having failed to adequately comply with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on concerning anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) measures, Mongolia has been added to the FATF’s grey list along with Iraq and Zimbabwe on October 4, 2019. The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 […]
By Kaisha Thompson, Guy Régimbald The last weeks of 2019 presented a new trilogy from the Supreme Court of Canada, which clarified the law on standard of review and provided guidance on the application of the reasonableness standard. The primary case is Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65, which has […]
By David Aylen, Vladislav Ugryumov I OVERVIEW Russia has only operated as an independent state, distinct from the former Soviet Union, since the early 1990s. Although a new patent law was enacted shortly after, it was not until 2008 that Russian patent law was fully modernised with the enactment of Part IV of the Civil […]
By Michael O’Neill On January 17, 2020, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (“CIPO”) published a new Practice Notice which significantly curtails the availability of extensions of time to respond to Office Actions in examination. Under the former practice, an applicant was given six months to respond to an Office Action, regardless of the number or […]
By James Austen In what The Times described on Saturday as “…the clearest sign yet that the relief is going to be curtailed by Sajid Javid, the chancellor, in March”, Boris Johnson reportedly commented to a group of women entrepreneurs in his Uxbridge constituency that the Treasury is “fulminating” against Entrepreneurs Relief. The reason given […]
By David Jones With the States of Guernsey’s approval yesterday of the Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (Insolvency) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 (the “Ordinance”), Guernsey took a step towards further enhancing its reputation as a robust jurisdiction for restructuring and insolvency. While the previous regime served its purpose, supported by Guernsey’s adaptable and practical judicial system, the […]
From our vantage point as advisers to many of the world’s top investment fund managers and financial institutions, broad market forces flow through to our instructions, and ultimately drive many of the terms of the funds we advise. In this four-part series we look at the current themes we have noticed in the investment funds […]
After spending six days with colleagues from our Jersey, Guernsey and Dubai offices meeting with clients and intermediaries in the UAE, the message remains upbeat: there’s plenty of work to be done, and the Channel Islands continue to be seen as “gold standard” jurisdictions for personal wealth structuring and asset protection. As before, motivating factors […]
By Karl Anders, Zoe McLean-Wells Leasehold enfranchisement is the process by which qualifying long leaseholders may extend their lease or buy the freehold of their property. In order to exercise enfranchisement rights, leaseholders must pay a premium to their landlord. Following its recent wide-ranging consultation on leasehold enfranchisement reform (explained in our earlier briefing), the […]
By Rachel Whalebone Every day a million people join the internet for the first time. This means more data. More data means more risk in storing it. Minimise your risk by only using what you need and be a bit greener at the same time. Data is now big and getting bigger. It’s not as […]
