PINSENT Masons is hiring a team of six lawyers that together form the bulk of the life sciences boutique Roiter Zucker. Equity partner Clare Tunstall will join the equity at Pinsents, bringing senior associates Anna Feros and David Bloom and three associates with her. They start on 1 June and are expected to contribute a book of business in excess […]
Coming into the election, there were clear dividing lines between the parties on bank regulation – Labour thought that the existing mechanism worked well and wanted to keep it; the Conservatives wanted to remake the regulatory system; and the Liberal Democrats wanted to remake the banking system. The triumph of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats […]
The call for more openness in healthcare is understandable, but as Katie Costello points out, making it work in practice is not quite so straightforward It is not hard to see the force of the public clamour for more openness from healthcare organisations and the individuals who work in them. After all, it is what […]
CLIFFORD Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Weil Gotshal & Manges have lined up to represent competing bidders on the auction of RBS’s payment processing arm, with Linklaters winning the mandate on the sale side. Linklaters corporate partner Matthew Middleditch is understood to be leading for RBS on the auction as the bank readies itself to sell off its Global Merchant […]
BIRMINGHAM-based ’virtual’ law firm Lawyers for Business (LfB) has advised Patriot Aerospace on its acquisition of Coventry Airport. The deal was led by corporate specialist and new LfB director Chris Wright, with property consultant Adrian Stickland also acting for the buyer. Patriot Aerospace owner Sir Peter Rigby has said that his company may re-introduce passenger flights to the Baginton-based airport. The airport has handled only freight aircraft since 2008 and […]
SJ BERWIN has helped longstanding client Matrix European Real Estate Investment Trust sell an iconic European property. The firm assisted Matrix in disposing of the IZD Tower in Vienna to a joint venture between Signa Recap Development Fund I and a German insurance group, for a headline price of e212.3m (£181.9m). Lead partner Steven Cowins […]
SLAUGHTER and May has secured a High Court freezing order against the assets of Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson, the former executive chairman of retail investor Baugur, on behalf of Icelandic bank Glitnir. Partner Deborah Finkler was instructed by the resolution committee of the Icelandic bank to secure the freezing order against its one-time principal shareholder, who is also facing a $2bn (£1.38bn) claim from […]
As its relationship with Eversheds falters, the retail giant looks further afield. UP AND down the country, property partners are busy putting the final touches to tender documents for Asda’s first - and hotly contested - retail development panel, which incorporates the entire gamut of property work. “We’ve not really done a review like this in retail development before,” says Asda legal counsel Sarah Dickson. “People […]
Former lawyers from Gide Loyrette Nouel and Clifford Chance have banded together to launch a boutique finance practice in Paris. Jeremie Duhamel and Jeremy Blimbaum have launched banking and finance firm Duhamel Blimbaum along with two associates. Before launching the firm Duhamel was a senior associate at Gide and Blimbaum was a senior associate at […]
Three former Hunton & Williams partners have returned to the firm from its US rival Paul Hastings. Jeff Schroeder, Larry Skinner and Ellis Butler all trained at Hunton & Williams, where they became partners, but left to join Paul Hastings in 2003. On returning to their former firm they will be joined in the global […]
Herbert Smith and Linklaters have taken leading roles on the £3.3bn cash call by energy provider National Grid. The gas and electricity distributor will sell 990 million shares in a two-for-five rights issue at 335 pence, offering investors a discount of 46 per cent. A Linklaters team led by corporate partner Roger Barron acted for […]
Former Allen & Overy (A&O) Moscow-based senior associate Deidre Dare, who was sacked after she refused to stop publishing an online erotic novel, is claiming £3.4m in compensation over allegations of unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination. In a claim against the firm filed under the name of Deidre Clark she says: “I believe I was […]