Baker & McKenzie secures first UAE merger

Baker & McKenzie has become the first global firm to merge with a leading United Arab Emirates law firm after securing a tie up with Habib Al Mulla.

The merged UAE office will be known as Baker & McKenzie Habib Al Mulla and will advise clients on local and international law across its offices in Dubai and, if it receives regulatory approval, Abu Dhabi.

Clifford Chance partner takes up governance role at Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank today (17 April) announced the appointment of Clifford Chance partner Daniela Weber-Rey as chief governance officer and deputy global head compliance in its Frankfurt office.

Weber-Rey, who is a long-serving corporate partner at Clifford Chance, will join Europe’s biggest bank by assets in June, overseeing corporate governance globally and acting as adviser to the management board on the governance structures and processes of the bank.

Bar Council launches nursery service following six-year campaign

The Bar Council yesterday (16 April) launched the first ever Bar nursery at Smithfield House, in a bid to support working parents.

The central London childcare facility is the result of a campaign by the Bar Nursery Association, which was established in 2007 with the aim of promoting a family-friendly working environment and to retain female professionals after having children.

Clydes opens in Madrid with DAC Beachcroft insurance team

Clyde & Co yesterday (16 April) confirmed it is to open a Madrid office following the appointment of a four-partner insurance team from DAC Beachcroft’s local office.

The team of nine lawyers, including insurance partners Ignacio Figuerol, Ricardo Garrido, Pablo Guillen and Miguel Relano, have resigned to establish the office for Clyde & Co, extending the firm’s international footprint to 18 locations across Europe, America and Asia.

Freshfields makes high-profile lateral hire with Shearman’s Pick

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has scored a significant coup in hiring respected Shearman & Sterling partner and head of global project development and finance Tim Pick to boost its energy and natural resources capability.

Pick, described as ‘outstanding in all respects’ in the latest edition of The Legal 500, will join as a finance partner in London and will focus on advising clients in the energy and natural resources sector in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

CMS Cameron McKenna overhauls partnership structure

CMS Cameron McKenna will reform its partnership remuneration model on 1 May, enabling salaried partners to become equity partners quicker but increasing management scrutiny on performance.

After 18 months of deliberation, the firm voted in favour of discontinuing its salaried partner level recently, achieving the required 80% majority needed to push the reforms through.

Trophy US hire for Freshfields as it lures former head of DoJ’s crime division

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has recruited former acting head of the criminal division at the Department of Justice (DoJ) to bolster its US white-collar practice.

Matthew Friedrich joins from US litigation firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner, where he had a partner since 2009. Prior to this, he spent 13 years at the DoJ in various leadership roles including the assistant attorney general for the criminal department, where he managed a team of 740 individuals on fraud, intellectual property and cross-border transactions by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).