Linklaters’ lateral hiring policy has borne fruit with two new partners securing one of the biggest buyouts since the credit crunch dried up liquidity. The magic circle firm advised Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and new client Quadrangle Capital Partners in the NOK5.8bn (£520m) buyout of Norwegian cable company Get from Clifford Chance’s longstanding private equity […]
Dorsey & Whitney has lost its second tax expert within a week with barrister Leslie Allen heading to DLA Piper. Last week (12 November) The Lawyer reported that Berwin Leighton Paisner hired Dorsey tax partner Liesl Fichardt to develop its contentious and international group within the tax department. The previous week (The Lawyer, 8 November) […]
Media boutique Atkins Solicitors has scored substantial damages for the former prime minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Booth QC of Matrix chambers. Media boutique Atkins solicitors has scored substantial damages for the former prime minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Booth QC of Matrix chambers. The firm managed to settle a privacy […]
Linklaters client Scottish & Newcastle has turned to Swedish arbitration specialist Jacob Melander at Hammarskiöld & Co as its defence against a Heineken-Carlsberg consortium takeover bid hots up. S&N has enlisted Hammarskiöld to lead the Linklaters Stockholm team acting in arbitration proceedings against a Carslberg subsidiary. Peter Kennerley, company secretary and general counsel of S&N, […]
The in-house team at US defence company Raytheon has negotiated and signed a £650m contract with the Home Office to manage its e-borders project. US defence company Raytheon has signed a £650m contract with the Home Office to manage its e-borders project, mainly using its own in-house team for legal advice despite the size and […]
Almost a quarter of barristers want to see law firm-style partnership and corporate structures at the bar. Almost a quarter of barristers would like to see law firm-style partnership and corporate structures at the bar, new research by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has revealed. The BSB’s first major research project since its formation in […]
Hogan & Hartson was on the receiving end of a “shock and awe” advertising campaign last week, with a former client canvassing for others feeling short-changed by the Washington firm. The campaign, which featured in last Friday’s New York Times and other publications, asked: “Have you recently been represented by the law firm of Hogan […]
The Government’s loss of 25 million people’s bank and employment details in the post has led to calls for the Information Commission to receive stronger powers. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) could fall foul of the Data Protection Act because it did not take the precaution of encrypting the data before sending it. Simon Morrissey, […]
Private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) has handed a Simpson Thacher & Bartlett corporate partner the role of its first ever general counsel. New York-based partner David Sorkin will spearhead the group’s legal team after working at the US firm for 20 years. It has been reported that KKR has considered appointing a general […]
Olswang has been in the High Court today (20 November) defending Jerry Springer:The Opera producer Jonathan Thoday against accusations of blasphemy. Relgious group Christian Voice has gone to the court in a bid to get Thoday, along with BBC director general Mark Thompson, prosecuted under common law’s blasphemous libel, which dates back more than 400 […]
SABMiller has passed over longstanding adviser Lovells on its €816m (£583m) bid for the Dutch brewer Grolsch, turning instead to Herbert Smith alliance firm Stibbe. It is understood that SABMiller’s financial adviser ABN Amro recommended the Dutch firm over Lovells’ Amsterdam office, which has only nine partners. SABMiller’s general counsel and former Lovells partner John […]
Ince & Co’s head of marine casualty James Wilson has been chosen to succeed Peter Rogan as the firm’s senior partner in April. Rogan was made senior partner of the insurance powerhouse in 2000 and has since led the firm’s international development programme. The firm has opened offices in Shanghai, Hamburg, Paris, Le Havre and […]