Linklaters has been drafted in on its second major mining deal in a week, advising British mining giant and longstanding client Rio Tinto on its £50bn approach from Australian rival BHP Billiton. BHP Billiton confirmed that it had approached Rio Tinto but that the offer, which would have created the world’s biggest mining company, had […]
US firm Dorsey & Whitney has hired a key tax official from the European Commission to bolster its UK contentious tax team. Paul Farmer will join Dorsey’s London office as a partner from the Commission, where he was head of analysis and co-ordination of tax policies. Prior to working at the Commission, Farmer was a […]
Former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Lois Moore has dropped the age discrimination claim against her former firm, The Lawyer can reveal. The news will be a fillip to the firm, which has had to face at least three claims from former partners following the controversial pension reforms that were undertaken in 2006 to get rid […]
Taylor Wessing has appointed Keith Barnett to head its UK real estate practice following the decision by Adam Marks to step down on 1 November. Barnett, who had been the firm’s head of development since 2002, will head the firm’s third most lucrative practice after corporate and IP, which houses 15 partners and a total […]
Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) has hired three personal injury lawyers as part of its expansion of its casualty practice. The firm has taken on barristers Camilla Church and Katrina McAteer of Hardwick Building as well as senior costs lawyer David Abrahams from Islington-based law firm Colman Coyle. Abrahams, who also sits as a cost […]
Linklaters and Norton Rose have secured the recommended merger of two mining giants with assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Linklaters’ AIM-listed client Nikanor is merging with Norton Rose client Katanga to form a $3.3bn (£1.6bn) company that plans to list on the London and Toronto stock exchanges within five months. The […]
Bird & Bird is celebrating one of the best half year performances in its history, growing by 24 per cent over the last six months. The firm has added nearly a quarter to its half year revenue, ending on £68.5m. Managing partner David Kerr said: “I think we’ve expanded a lot internationally. We’re finding that […]
The London office of Texan firm Fulbright & Jaworski has snared an energy partner from Watson Farley & Williams (WFW). WFW partner Susan Farmer is the second lawyer to join Fulbright’s London energy team following the recruitment of Andrew Hart from Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer in the summer. Fulbright London managing partner, Lista Cannon, said: “The […]
Clifford Chance has laid off six associates from its structured finance group in New York. The lawyers worked in a practice group that worked exclusively for credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and the work for that group has stopped following the credit crisis. A Clifford Chance spokesperson said: “This is a direct response […]
India’s second largest IT company Infosys Technologies is set to target UK and US firms through the launch of its legal process outsourcing (LPO) business. Infosys has appointed Karlyn Stanley, a former in-house lawyer at AT&T and former partner in Washington-based technology firm Cole Raywid & Braverman (now Davis Wright and Tremaine) to head up […]
DLA Piper’s joint head of private equity Darryl Cooke is to leave the firm to head up Hill Dickinson’s Manchester corporate practice. Cooke, who has also served as DLA Piper’s UK regional private equity head, is known for representing private equity institutions and corporate clients on management buyouts, IPOs and mergers and acquisitions. He also […]
Ireland is becoming an attractive location for IP, with foreign companies moving their brands/licensing IP to those located in Ireland. To sustain this position, substantial efforts have been made to introduce measures to ensure that Ireland has the necessary legislative and administrative framework in place to offer sufficient legal protection for IP rights, as well […]