The Private Equity Lawyers Forum, an organisation formed in May 2003 for in-house lawyers within the sector, is to hold its first conference on Friday 2 April 2004. It is believed to be the first instance of in-house lawyers grouping together on an industry basis to specify their own training needs. The forum has the […]
Charles Brown, the head of Dechert’s City construction practice, has become the latest partner to exit the firm, moving to the London office of Philadelphia’s Duane Morris. Brown, who has been at Dechert since 1996, specialises in construction projects and litigation. He advised the Kingdom of Bahrain in the Sheikh Isa Airbase dispute and the […]
Lancashire firm Stephensons is opening in Manchester in March. The office will be headed by Mike Devlin, currently based in the firm’s Salford office. Devlin, an expert in child care and an adviser to Manchester City Council, plans to build the Manchester office on a platform of care work. The firm also hopes to break […]
Miguel Rodriguez Mendose, head of Van Bael & Bellis’s Geneva office and former deputy director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has been appointed chairman of the WTO panel ‘European Communities – Protection of Trademarks and Geographical Indications’. The panel will rule on US and Australian complaints over the EU’s system of trademarks and […]
DLA has hired Linklaters’ former Spanish head of employment Luis Peinado. A managing associate, Peinado was head of employment at Linklaters until he left in December. He has advised national and international companies in Spain and recently advised HSBC on the restructuring and downsizing of its commercial and investment branches there. Linklaters managing associate Naiara […]
One of Mishcon de Reya’s best-known partners, David Glick, has left to set up his own media and entertainment-focused group of companies. Glick, noted for his deal-doing abilities in the music business, counts Craig David, Fatboy Slim, Nick Cave and The Kinks among his clients. His new business will be known as the Edge Group […]
Gianni Origoni’s close association with Linklaters has helped it score Cisco Systems as a new client. The firm won a beauty parade to be Cisco’s sole legal adviser in Italy. Cisco’s head of Italian legal Max Orazi said that Gianni’s international ties with Linklaters worked in its favour. The firm’s head of employment and labour […]
The EU is to pay for a new software system, computers and other IT equipment to improve the judiciary in the former Yugoslavian republic of Macedonia. The EU aid – worth €1.9m (£1.3m) – follows a report detailing serious inadequacies in Macedonia’s legal system, including the fact that judges had to deal with around 800 […]
Sullivan & Cromwell has elbowed aside Linklaters and Shearman & Sterling to advise France Telecom on its €3.9bn (£2.61bn) takeover of internet service provider Wanadoo. Linklaters and Shearman have advised on the majority of France Telecom’s key corporate deals over the last three years. These have included a £10.7bn rights issue, a multibillion-euro refinancing, the […]
Further law firms may be forced to hand over client documents after the Rome office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer handed over papers to Italian state prosecutors in relation to their investigation into high-profile businessman Sergio Cragnotti. Cragnotti is perhaps best known as the former chairman of football club Lazio. His food empire, Cirio, had stakes […]
EU member states are close to reaching an agreement on a framework directive establishing the mutual recognition principle in matters involving the confiscation of the proceeds of crime. The issue is being debated by the justice and home affairs ministers of the 15 EU member states plus the 10 countries due to join the EU […]
Herbert Smith and Stibbe have completed their second deal for Getronics after the IT giant instructed the alliance partners in favour of longstanding adviser Linklaters. The Dutch and London teams advised on the sale of €235m (£156.7m) worth of shares. The amount raised in the offering will pay off the bulk of a bond redemption […]