Asia round-up: K&L Gates, Akin Gump, Addleshaws and Milbank bolster presence

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A raft of leading UK and US firms boosted their East Asian presence this past week, including K&L Gates, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and Addleshaw Goddard, with Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo a continuing focus of international attention. On 31 May, Hong Kong corporate partner Virginia Tam moved from …

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Leadership: Linklaters elects four new partners to its most senior board

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Linklaters has elected four new members to its most senior governance board responsible for strategic and other major decisions at the Magic Circle Firm. The new members of the international board are London capital markets partner Paul Lewis in place of outgoing City partner Michael Kent, Düsseldorf corporate partner Klaus Hoenig who takes over from …

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Uniting a profession, for what that’s worth – Bar and solicitors come together to oppose controversial legal aid reforms

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It’s no mean feat to get the various branches of the profession and legal regulators singing from the same hymn sheet but controversial government proposals to slice £220m off the annual criminal legal aid budget have managed just that. As the consultation today (4 June) closes on the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ’s) ‘Transforming Legal Aid‘ proposals, …

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Redundancy announcements increase as top partners predict difficult H2 for UK firms

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Continuing pressure on UK legal market threatens largest redundancy levels since 2009 The level of legal redundancies this year is on course to be the largest since 2009 as the number of law firms announcing job cuts grows and senior partners predict tough months ahead. CMS Cameron McKenna, which launched a review of its UK …

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HSF merger throws up partnership issues as Herbert Smith issues cash call

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Global giant raises capital and shakes up corporate as HSF moves through merger integration The merger between Herbert Smith and Freehills continues to give rise to growing pains as last month saw the UK half of the firm issue a multimillion pound cash call to its equity partners in preparation for financial integration. The cash …

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Deal Watch: Nabarro and Ashurst act on sale of LSE HQ as King & Spalding secures repeat European M&A for GSK

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Ashurst and Nabarro‘s real estate teams have secured a role on the sale of another landmark London building, while King & Spalding has furthered its transatlantic ambitions by closing a sizeable European M&A pharma deal. In the £225m sale of 10 Paternoster Square, home of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), Nabarro advised the seller, Tokyo-headquartered …

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Gulf stream – the heat returns to the Middle East markets

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Gulf stream – the heat returns to the Middle East markets

Post-banking crisis, the world has generally divided fairly neatly into two camps with their clear economic narratives. On one hand there are the Western economies burdened by slow growth and creaking public finances. On the other, are emerging powers in Asia, Latin America and Africa – which have mostly surged ahead while Europe staggered. Where …

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Deal Watch: Magic Circle advises on headline debt deals as re-financing work keep advisers busy

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In a dire market for new money M&A, debt restructuring continues to be a lifeline for major advisers with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Kirkland & Ellis securing major mandates in recent days. The standout mandate of May was the €4.2bn debt restructuring of German real estate group IVG Immobilien, which has generated lead roles …

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Asia round-up: Morrison Foerster and Quinn Emanuel expand in Asia

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Singapore has been in focus over the past week after Morrison Foerster launched an anti-corruption practice and as UK and US firms vie for the next round of local law licences. Morrison, which opened in Singapore in January, this week relocated litigation partner Daniel Levison from its Tokyo office to spearhead its Southeast Asia anti-corruption practice.

Redundancy watch: Clyde and Eversheds confirm job losses as cuts keep coming

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The run of gloomy news regarding job cuts continues with Clyde & Co and Eversheds this week confirming job losses as 2013 looks set to rival the deep run of cuts at major law firms seen in 2009. Clyde confirmed that it has made eight support staff redundant after a consultation earlier in the year. …

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