Company directors are increasingly culpable for scandals such as Enron. David Leibowitz reports on the extent to which directors’ and officers’ insurance cover can protect them It is a fundamental principle of English law that a company is a separate legal entity from its directors and shareholders. The principle attraction of trading by a company […]
Richards Butler has won Microsoft as a corporate client after being appointed ahead of regular UK corporate adviser Linklaters to advise on the technology giant’s latest UK disposal. Partner David Boutcher led the team advising on the sale of Microsoft’s HR software company PWA Group to Northgate Information Solutions. Richards Butler was appointed by Microsoft […]
Bird & Bird has shored up its employment team by poaching Boodle Hatfield’s head of employment Warren Wayne. The recruitment of Wayne is the latest sign that the technology-focused firm is continuing to recruit, despite the loss of a number of partners in recent months. The firm has been undergoing an analysis of partner performance over the past year, […]
It may be trying to bow out quietly, but collapsed Chicago firm Altheimer & Gray has been hit with one last indignity – bankruptcy. A group of four unsecured creditors, including its landlord Equity Office Management, have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings against the law firm, which closed it doors to business in July.The […]
Addleshaw Goddard has lost its second intellectual property (IP) partner in three months.Simon Clark is joining Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) with a group of three associates to create a new IP group for the firm. His departure follows that of head of non-contentious IP Lesley Hall, who announced she was joining Farrer & Co in […]
After electing a new chairman, US firm Bryan Cave has set its sights on securing a UK merger partner.Bryan Cave, a national firm, is seeking a full-service City practice with European offices. The firm has elected St Louis-based partner and vice-chairman Don Lents to succeed Walter Metcalfe as chairman. Lents has a year-long transition period […]
Brabners Chaffe Street managing partner Michael Brabner has been appointed as the new chairman of Eurolegal, the European network of independent law firms. Eurolegal comprises 21 member firms in 16 countries. Brabners was a founding member of Eurolegal when the network was set up in 1990.
Allen & Overy‘s (A&O) Amsterdam office has scooped its first instruction from Stibbe client Wolters Kluwer. A&O has acted for banks on previous transactions involving the publisher, but never for Wolters itself. In-house counsel Maarten Thomson brought A&O in to advise on the launch of a public offer for its bonds, due in 2005-06. The […]
Simmons & Simmons has been handed the mandate by stockbroker Collins Stewart to recreate the innovative structure it built for the acquisition of Northumbrian Water on the proposed deal to buy Center Parcs UK. A group of fund managers led by Collins Stewart has approached private equity firm MidOcean Partners, the owner of Center Parcs, […]
Peter Carter-Ruck and Partners, a firm best known for suing newspapers, has won an intriguing case for a former town mayor who was libelled by a millionaire who attached banners to his private jet saying she was a thief. Jennifer Howlett, a former mayor and town councillor of Castle Point, Essex, won £65,000 in damages […]
Norton Rose scoops Credit Lyonnais HK work thanks to Suez Asia Holdings Norton Rose has muscled in on its first deal for Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA), advising as lead manager on the HK$1.4bn (£107.5m) IPO of Ports Design. Although Norton Rose has strong ties with Credit Lyonnais in Paris, it has not previously received […]
Desmond Browne QC has plenty to say about Fleet Street’s proposal to split the libel bar into claimant and defendant specialists. A successful interview is a sparkling conversation managed by the journalist. With Desmond Browne QC, I have failed. The joint head of media set 5 Raymond Buildings is sparkling, and an excellent orator, but […]