Rebuilding contracts for Iraq are up for grabs, but construction companies should beware. Updated bribery and corruption laws are clamping down on irresponsible trade. With the Iraq war over, the role of foreign companies in the country’s rebuilding is once again whetting the appetite of international construction players. Such companies and their lawyers will have […]
In what has been a one-sided property market, the landlords have had their time. Simon Brooke looks at how law firms can take an innovative approach to property management Navigating the often perplexing world of UK property leasing, where the occupier takes the burden of property risk, both physical and financial, is not easy. For […]
With the dramatic upturn – then the subsequent downturn – in real estate, practitioners are learning to be a bit more fluid in their approach. Real estate lawyers have always been the poor relations in top 20 London firms and the same might be said of their acolytes, the construction, environment, planning and property litigation […]
Small City firm Whitman Breed Abbott & Morgan has been found liable after a partner was discovered to have breached his duty to a former client.At the time the firm was the London office of US firm Whitman Breed Abbot & Morgan. However, in 2000, the US operations were swallowed up by other US firms, […]
Niche construction firm Shadbolt & Co has expanded its London presence with the transfer of the firm’s head of construction dispute resolution from Reigate.Anthony Albertini moved at the beginning of July, taking the number of permanent partners in the City office to five, although there are other partners who split their time between London and […]
The Investment Property Forum (IPF) and the Investment Property Forum Educational Trust have launched the first independent research programme for the UK property investment industry.The programme has been funded by 16 organisations, including Lovells, Nabarro Nathanson, and SJ Berwin.The three-year Joint Research Programme is the product of a joint-venture initiative between the IPF and the […]
Move comes as Government commits to spending £5bn on affordable housing In response to the Government’s strategic change in housing policy, Denton Wilde Sapte has today (14 July) launched a dedicated affordable housing group, led by banking partner Natalie Elphicke.The new group is made up of 40 fee-earners, including 10 partners, from across nine different […]
Bankruptcy lawyers – and their fees – may not be popular, but Kirkland & Ellis’s James Sprayregen says they’re worth it. Maybe it’s my fault, but I think I have been expecting too much from James Sprayregen. For some reason the impression I have of Kirkland & Ellis’s head of bankruptcy and restructuring is of […]
The latest settlement in litigation over California’s energy crisis includes tens of millions of dollars in attorneys’ fees. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer’s office announced that Houston-based El Paso Corp agreed to a settlement worth $1.6bn (£98m) in payouts. It includes up to $60m (£36.7m) for attorneys’ fees and expenses for 11 plaintiffs’ firms. The […]
Senior in-house banking lawyers have been overtaken for the first time by their counterparts in the energy and utilities sector as the holders of the most lucrative in-house jobs.A Europe-wide in-house counsel survey produced by recruitment firm Laurence Simons revealed that, in the UK, senior counsel (with between seven and 10 years’ post-qualification experience) in […]
Emma Vere-Jones reports on the property departments that are outperforming corporate While enjoying property industry bash Party Near the Park last week, following a few wines one client thought it would be amusing to start making fun of his lawyer. Not that that’s unusual, but bear with me for a moment. “Why don’t property lawyers […]
The Lawyer Awards’ lifetime achiever Clive Stafford Smith may be returning to the UK, but as Naomi Rovnick reports, there’s no reprieve for US injustice Clive Stafford Smith is a very unpopular man. A UK-born American lawyer with dual nationality, he is currently defending more than 40 death row cases in the Southern states of […]