You read it here first. Schillings, the celebrity law firm par excellence, has finally got the House of Lords to commit to a hearing date for client Naomi Campbell’s long-running privacy case. The case will be heard on 18 and 19 February. The Daily Mirror, if unsuccessful, will lose over 1m GBP in its own […]
Clifford Chance New York is continuing to lose lawyers as a group of eight intellectual property (IP) attorneys jump ship for Hogan & Hartson. Lead by counsel Jonathan Sobel, who will become a partner on joining Hogan & Hartson, the group of eight lawyers will join former Clifford Chance partners Eric Lobenfeld and Ira Schaefer. […]
The first of many expected class action lawsuits has been launched the against scandal-hit Italian food group Parmalat with New York’s Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach leading the charge. The $1bn (£549m) lawsuit, launched yesterday (January 5) on behalf of institutional investor Southern Alaska Carpenters Retirement Trust, alleges a number of individuals, including Parmalat’s […]
City firm Orchard has kicked off the New Year by recruiting two new partners, continuing a hiring spree that has tripled the partnership in the last eighteen months. TMT specialist Mark Cranwell and corporate lawyer David McLeod Smith are moving to the firm from Coudert Brothers and Klegal respectively. Cranwell has previously advised French media […]
Steptoe & Johnson is branching out into the UK insurance and reinsurance market after setting up a new practice with the hire of a former Clifford Chance senior associate. Angus Rodger, who is experienced in both contentious and non-contentious work, will be the first dedicated insurance lawyer housed in Steptoe & Johnson’s London office. It […]
Clifford Chance has knocked Linklaters off the top spot in annual European M&A activity, gaining the number one position in the MergerMarket league tables for the first time. The Canary Wharf-based magic circle firm leapfrogged corporate heavyweight Linklaters after notching up 216 deals worth a total €1.6bn (£1.1bn) during 2003. Linklaters, in second place, acted […]
Japanese investment bank Nomura has completed a 12-month long search to replace its general counsel by appointing its third head of legal in just over three years. Former Linklaters managing partner for the Americas Terence Kyle, who retired from the firm in July last year, starts work as general counsel in charge of Europe today […]
Bingham McCutchen has been drafted into to fight for bondholders in the ever-worsening financial crisis surrounding Italian food group Parmalat. The US law firm was appointed to represent bondholders, believed to be holding around £1.1bn in Parmalat bonds, shortly before Christmas after seeing off competition an estimated 10 other law firms for the mandate. Bingham […]
Kirkland & Ellis has consolidated its position as one of the US’s leading bankruptcy firms, after bringing in nearly $50m (£28.7m) worth of legal fees from just two cases in less than a year. According to a recent filing, the firm notched up a massive $24.8m (£14.2m) in fees as debtor’s counsel to US insurance […]
US firms target European and mid-market bankruptcies as US mega-insolvencies draw to a close
Undoubtedly the most memorable event in the world of real estate lawyers this year was the demise of DJ Freeman. After an internal rift became too big to repair, DJ Freeman’s property team was sent packing to take up a new home at Olswang – thereby building the latter’s real estate turnover to around 25 […]
Clifford Chance’s Hong Kong office has won a place on the Bank of China Hong Kong (BOCHK) legal panel. The firm, which advised BOCHK’s parent company Bank of China on its Hong Kong listing in July 2002, has been reappointed to the panel alongside Deacons. The panel review follows the appointment of general counsel Andrew […]