US firm Jones Day has been appointed as the lead law firm acting on the administration of The Body Shop. It is understood that the collapse of the London-headquartered retailer expects to put over 2,200 jobs at risk, just three months after the brand was sold to German asset manager Aurelius Group by its previous […]
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has been hit by a second mass defection in Italy this week, seeing a 15-lawyer team leave to join BonelliErede just days after another group moved to Hogan Lovells. The BonelliErede joiners will strengthen the firm’s risk, compliance and investigations (RCI) group, as well as its IP, privacy and IT team […]
Pharma wars: Hampshire firm takes on Aspirin producer An IP battle has begun between Hampshire-headquartered Aspire Pharma and German behemouth Bayer after the former filed a part 7 ‘patents and registered designs’ claim on Wednesday 7 February. Bayer is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, responsible for products including Aspirin, Claritin and Rennie, […]
Longtime in-houser Mel Rowlands had a knock-out year in 2023, making a juxtaposing career change last July. The former group general counsel of Smiths Group, a 170-year-old diversified industrial conglomerate with 20,000 employees, made the move to 15-years young Sonnedix, a renewable energy producer. Rowlands couldn’t have joined the sustainable power sector at a better […]
Chambers are assessing whether to increase their pupillage salaries ahead of the next application window, after a year of hikes across the largest sets.
British utility company National Grid has kicked off a major tender for legal services as it looks to create a dedicated net zero panel worth £250m. Law firms appointed to the roster will support National Grid with its business ambitions and net zero projects for the next eight years. The panel spots have been separated […]
Kirkland & Ellis is expanding its funds team in London, by hiring a former partner of Macfarlanes. Alex Amos joins Kirkland, having resigned from Macfarlanes’ partnership at the start of 2023. Since then he has acted as a senior adviser at the firm. He was promoted to partnership in 2012. Kirkland chairman Jon Ballis said: […]
From employment wannabe to head of energy and utilities at Burges Salmon, Phillips explains how the firm is building a national energy practice that’s fit for the transition.
Three partners from Goodwin’s private equity group are joining Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson. Christian Iwasko, Michelle Tong and Priya Rupal are making the move over four years after joining Goodwin. They moved to Goodwin as part of a larger transactional team that had initially swapped Kirkland & Ellis for Sidley Austin in 2016. […]
Linklaters and Slaughter and May are advising two housebuilders on their £2.5bn merger. It was announced this morning that listed company Barratt Developments is combining with fellow plc Redrow. FTSE favourites Linklaters and Slaughters acted for Barratt and Redrow, respectively. This is understood to be Linklaters’ first major M&A mandate for Barratt Developments, which has […]
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is aiming to significantly expand its City litigation and arbitration practice, kickstarting the initiative with the hire of a commercial disputes partner from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. David Edwards is making the move to Simpson Thacher, having joined Skadden in 2009 along with partner David Kavanagh KC from O’Melveny […]
Fighting referendums and interfacing with nearly 300 cities is all in a day’s work for Sarah Binder. Relocating from London to San Francisco, she joined the legal team at micromobility company Lime in May 2021, which now comprises 20 lawyers and eight paralegals. Since then, Binder has celebrated some major wins. She led Lime in […]