CC partners to foot £30m borrowings
CC overhauls capital base; 15 per cent of firm borrowings to go back to partners
Appeal Court slams Judge Seymour for second time
The Court of Appeal has slammed the controversial Judge Seymour for the second time in just over a month. Judge Seymour labelled Vogon International’s claim against the Serious Fraud Office “dishonest” and “entirely unjustified and being pursued against a perceived weak victim”. Master of the Rolls Lord Phillips, Lord Justice Parker and Lord Justice May […]
Zini looks to Dinoia for protection
Gian Paola Zini, Parmalat’s infamous lawyer, has called in Massimo Dinoia (pictured), the former lawyer to Italy’s ‘Mr Clean’ to come to his defence. Dinoia advised Antonio Di Pietro, the former Italian magistrate who spearheaded major anti-corruption investigations in the mid-1990s in a case against Silvio Berlusconi’s brother. Zini is under arrest while Italian investigators […]
Parmalat advisers jostle for legal fees as wind-up hits snag
Lawyers acting for Parmalat’s creditors will have to fight it out among themselves over the distribution of legal fees as negotiations over the reorganisation hit stalemate. Bingham McCutchen, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Mazzoni e Associati Studi Legali and Studio Legale Chiomenti are among the firms acting for an array of creditors of the bankrupt Italian food […]
Mallesons pair fall foul of HK High Court
Two Hong Kong-based partners from Australian firm Mallesons Stephen Jacques will be ordered to pay HK$96.82m (£6.79m) to Yazhou Travel Investment Company, after losing a Hong Kong High Court action. On 28 January, the Hong Kong High Court ruled against partners David Bateson and Paul Starr (formerly of legacy firm Bateson Starr) and solicitors Lo Wau Ki […]
Lovells raids Dewey for corporate finance ace
Lovells is gearing up to reap the benefits of the upcoming EU accession by taking on a specialist corporate finance partner from Dewey Ballantine. Stephen Jones will join the firm today (9 February) after spending a number of years practising in Central and Eastern Europe, first in Warsaw as the managing lawyer of a joint […]
Four Malta Parmalat subsidiaries come through investigation clean
Four Parmalat-linked companies in Malta set up by Maltese government lawyers and a further three established by Parmalat’s own auditors have been given a clean bill of health by the island’s Financial Services Authority (MFSA). Joe Bannister, the MFSA’s chairman, said investigators are looking into whether questionable off-balance sheet transactions took place through Parmalat-related accounts in […]
Forsters ‘reckless’ over Craven Cottage advice
A legal battle over the sale of Fulham football ground Craven Cottage has seen Forsters senior partner Sophie Hamilton chided by a High Court judge, and has also revealed that the firm has lost the bulk of its work for property developer client Crown Dilmun. Crown Dilmun v Nicholas Sutton and Fulham River Projects (FRP) […]
Orrick takes over Rome practice in Italian drive
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has continued its attack on the Italian market by taking on a 16-lawyer firm in Rome, just 10 months after launching an office in Milan. Three-partner firm Studio Legale e Tributario (not to be confused with Ernst & Young (E&Y) firm Studio Legale Tributario) specialises in banking and finance and administrative law. The […]
Cadwalader relocates NY partner for UK CDO push
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft is gearing up to attack the UK’s lucrative collateralised debt obligation (CDO) market by relocating a highly-rated New York capital markets partner to its London office. Neil Weidner is expecting to move to the firm’s London office by the second quarter of this year, although he will continue to split his […]
Offshore jurisdictions fill pockets of barristers – but for how long?
Barristers’ earnings from overseas clients have increased by almost 40 per cent over the past two years. Income derived from so-called zero-rated or VAT-free work suddenly shot up from just over £61m (see chart) in year end 2000 to almost £85m in year end 2002, according to the Commercial Bar Association (Combar). Figures for 2003, currently being […]
Poppleston sneaks Cyprus govt mandate from Deloitte
Niche licensing firm Poppleston Allen has beaten big four accountancy firm Deloitte to advise the Cyprus government on the review of its betting legislation. A Poppleston team led by partner Paddy Whur will review the existing legislation and then produce an independent report for the government, which will target areas such as taxation, illegal betting and the internet. […]