Thomas Alan finds profession facing tough questions over record on sexual harassment
From the Presidents Club charity dinner to the news in March that the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) will challenge the misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), the legal profession has been jolted by allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment since the start of the year. Continue reading “Collective shame as City law falls firmly under #MeToo spotlight”
In a worrying trend for high-street retailers, Toys R Us and Maplin have announced their UK domestic businesses are going into administration, allowing Kirkland & Ellis and Eversheds Sutherland to land key insolvency roles.
Kirkland was led by restructuring partners Kon Asimacopoulos and Elaine Nolan, as the firm was called in to advise Moorfield as administrator on Toys R Us, while Eversheds Sutherland was led by David Gray advising PwC on the Maplin collapse. Continue reading “High street collapse sees Global 100 players line up on Toys R Us and Maplin failures”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Davis Polk & Wardwell have landed pivotal roles as Comcast seeks to disrupt an existing bid from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox to buy out European satellite broadcaster Sky.
The London-based Freshfields team advising Comcast comprises M&A partners Julian Long and Alison Smith, City competition partners John Davies and Michele Davis, and London employment partner Alice Greenwell. Continue reading “Freshfields and Davis Polk win key roles as Comcast looks to thwart Murdoch’s Sky bid”
Bird & Bird client Property Alliance Group (PAG) has lost in the Court of Appeal over a circa £20m Libor manipulation claim against The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and is currently weighing up whether to appeal the decision.
PAG alleged in the claim, which was brought in 2013, that it had been mis-sold four interest-rate swaps for three months Libor. The company argued that the swaps were mis-sold on the basis of implied representation, given previous findings of Libor manipulation against RBS. Continue reading “Appeal hope remains for property investor despite losing £20m Libor claim against RBS”
It is well known that Italian law firms owe much of their fortunes to a small group of veteran rainmakers when it comes to M&A work. In a market still dominated by elder statesmen and their decades-long connections with the country’s top corporates, 69-year-old Roberto Casati leaving Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton to join Linklaters is one of the most significant lateral moves in the country for years.
In a bid by the international giant to expand beyond its finance and capital markets focus into mainstream corporate, Linklaters drafted a waiver to its partnership terms to allow Casati to join the firm at the top of its equity ladder, a deal worth around £2m annually. Continue reading “The generation game – Linklaters makes Italian corporate play with veteran rainmaker Casati”
Integration has long been one of the key issues for Baker McKenzie, a firm with heritage as a franchise and a long fight against the much-loathed ‘McFirm’ tag. A sign that things are changing came in February, when Legal Business reported that the firm is to bring London and eight of its offices in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) into one profit pool – a landmark step towards full financial integration in the region.
Global antitrust chief Fiona Carlin has been elected to lead the integrated business, uniting 1,000 lawyers in the City, Brussels, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Madrid, Barcelona, Johannesburg, Bahrain and Qatar. Continue reading “Come together – Bakers unites UK and EMEA under single profit pool but Germany and France stay out”
When I moved to Hull from Sheffield at five my next-door neighbour was a just-born, [Linklaters partner] Alex Woodward – Woodie. A very good friend. Our mums and dads are very good friends. Went to the same schools, drank in the same pubs.
Woodie is super-smart, so he got a training contract at Linklaters, whereas I trained at Stamp Jackson & Procter in Hull. Continue reading “Life during law: Richard Youle, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom”
1 = not at all important
5 = expected
10 = essential
The Legal 500 UK Awards 2018 recognises and rewards the very best of the best across the legal industry. We pride ourselves on the thorough, in-depth research we carry out in order to produce our rankings of firms and sets in the UK. This leaves us in a unique position to be able to identify the teams who warrant particular recognition.
Continue reading “The Legal 500 UK Awards 2018”
