Naomi Rovnick reports on whether abolishing litigation seats for trainees will really work Many City trainees who want to qualify into corporate, property or banking do not much like the idea of spending three to six months in a litigation seat. This is as obvious as the fact that most seven-year-olds will not voluntarily eat […]
Technology and media floats may be coming back into fashion, with Wolfson Microelectronics blazing the trail (The Lawyer, 22 September), but the appetite among the UK’s leading AIM specialists for handling the prospective flotation of pornography business Private Media Group (PMG) appears flaccid at best. PMG is exploring the viability of a London float later […]
Linklaters is increasing its dominance of the South African government’s Black Economic Empowerment Programme (BBE) after landing a multimillion-pound sale for Impala Platinum Holdings. Linklaters corporate partner Charlie Jacobs is acting for the longstanding South African client on offloading its 27.1 per cent stake in Western Platinum and Eastern Platinum (referred to jointly as Lonplats) […]
Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy has scooped a key role advising new client Apax Partners on its billion-dollar buyout of satellite operator Inmarsat. Milbank has teamed up with Clifford Chance to act for joint bidders Apax and Permira, which have been granted preferred bidder status by Inmarsat. Milbank is handling both due diligence and regulatory […]
What is the difference between an ‘event’ and an ‘occurrence’? Charles Bending reports on recent insurance cases that have tried to clear up the debate Insurers and reinsurers have struggled with the much-debated concepts of ‘event’ and ‘occurrence’ for many years. Excess of loss contract wordings vary, but many include provisions to aggregate “each and […]
Should fraudulent insureds lose the legitimate part of their claim or just the inflated part? Alison Hart reports on the diminishing duty of good faith within the insurance market It is a long-established principle of English law that contracts of insurance are contracts of the utmost good faith. However, recent decisions of the courts and […]
In response to the Insurance Mediation Directive, the FSA is slapping yet more regulations on insurance intermediaries. Maria Ross discusses the implications Difficult choices lie ahead for general insurance intermediaries and those insurers who rely on them in order to sell general insurance business. Currently, non-life intermediaries are regulated only if they are members of […]
No-nonsense and a formidable advocate, William Clegg QC is building up one of the most impressive CVs at the criminal bar. By Brendan Malkin The receptionist at 2 Bedford Row cannot disguise a grin at the prospect of my interviewing William Clegg QC. Like so many staff at barristers’ chambers, she has enormous respect for […]
The bidding war has started. Emma Vere-Jones discovers some surprises in the roster of advisers If there’s one thing that really sparks a journalist’s interest, it’s someone insisting that the matter being discussed “is not a story”. That’s what one lawyer advising on the sale of Canary Wharf told me this week. I, however, disagree.The […]
Macfarlanes has advised on its first major deal for Warner Estate Holdings since winning a new role as a real estate adviser on its panel in May.Clive Lampard, head of Macfarlanes’ corporate real estate group, ran a massive due diligence exercise for Warner’s £166m acquisition of an industrial estate portfolio from the Morley Fund.The deal […]
Halliwell Landau has become the lead law firm for insurers dealing with the Paddington rail disaster, following a change-over in the companies insuring rail operators in the firing line.Last Monday (15 September), St Paul International Insurance relinquished its position as lead insurer for the group of rail companies, led by Thames Trains, and a set […]
Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw may be selling off one of its newest clients as it advises Green Property on the sale of its UK portfolio to Burford Holdings.It is the first major deal that Mayer Brown has handled for the Irish property company since Peter Sugden brought it with him when he joined the […]