Focus on quality and cost in government panel review sees Magic Circle take reduced roles

Focus on quality and cost in government panel review sees Magic Circle take reduced roles

Roster reduced from 48 to 18 firms following Crown Commercial Services review

Eighteen firms have been appointed to the Crown Commercial Service (CCS)’s general legal advice panel in a two-year, £400m contract. The process, which splits firms between two tiers, had a significant focus on both cost and quality.

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‘We won’t stop’: A&O management team on building out in the US and breaking lockstep

‘We won’t stop’: A&O management team on building out in the US and breaking lockstep

Allen & Overy (A&O)’s management is bullish about the Magic Circle firm’s US expansion plans, having broken lockstep twice in 12 months to bring in two finance teams from major US firms.

In February it emerged A&O used its bonus pool to hire a three-partner Paul Hastings team. The US firm’s leveraged finance head Bill Schwitter joined A&O’s New York office as the firm’s global co-head of high-yield alongside partner Michael Chernick and capital markets partner Jeffrey Pellegrino.

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‘An industry-wide issue’: City reacts as Australian judge rules HSF partners can join White & Case

‘An industry-wide issue’: City reacts as Australian judge rules HSF partners can join White & Case

Leavers’ provisions in war for talent come under scrutiny

While the first round of a case that saw Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) pursue an action against eight partners who quit to join White & Case in Australia has concluded, the dispute has highlighted the ongoing war over talent between UK firms and their US rivals.

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Unsecured creditors to lose almost £34m as KWM Europe admin continues

Unsecured creditors to lose almost  £34m as KWM Europe admin continues

KWM China buys reassurance by taking SJ Berwin name

An initial report into the financial affairs of King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM) now defunct European arm estimates that unsecured creditors are set to lose £33.5m as the firm’s inner financial workings begin to surface.

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Freshfields wins mandate on Standard Life/Aberdeen Asset Management £11bn merger

Freshfields wins mandate on Standard Life/Aberdeen Asset Management £11bn merger

Magic Circle firm acts alongside Slaughters and Maclays

With the asset management market tipped for further consolidation, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer scored a role alongside Slaughter and May and Maclay Murray & Spens on Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management’s £11bn merger in March.

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Magic Circle duo land £2.2bn energy deal as antitrust concerns surface

Magic Circle duo land £2.2bn energy deal as antitrust concerns surface

Linklaters and Slaughter and May have taken lead roles as UK energy services giant Wood Group is to acquire its struggling rival Amec Foster Wheeler for £2.2bn amid market competition concerns.

The deal was announced in March and is expected to close in the second half of 2017. Under the terms, Scottish company Wood Group is offering £5.64 per Amec share, for 56% ownership of the combined group.

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Davis Polk and Kirkland latest to pare back Hong Kong practices as US firm exits continue

Davis Polk and Kirkland latest to pare back Hong Kong practices as US firm exits continue

Firms retreat as funds raised through IPOs in the region fall 26%

Davis Polk & Wardwell and Kirkland & Ellis are the latest US firms to lose corporate partners from their Hong Kong offices as public listings in the region decline.

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Going Dutch: Dentons sets out new European integration strategy after Boekel merger

Dentons is set to combine with Dutch firm Boekel, completing its third phase of European expansion, which has seen the global giant launch in Italy and Luxembourg.

The deal gives the firm a new Amsterdam office that expands its European presence to 26 offices in 18 countries. Boekel adds 70 lawyers to the global firm and 16 partners, with a focus on real estate, corporate and litigation.

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Going Dutch: Dentons sets out new European integration strategy after Boekel merger

Going Dutch: Dentons sets out new European integration strategy after Boekel merger

Dentons is set to combine with Dutch firm Boekel, completing its third phase of European expansion, which has seen the global giant launch in Italy and Luxembourg.

The deal gives the firm a new Amsterdam office that expands its European presence to 26 offices in 18 countries. Boekel adds 70 lawyers to the global firm and 16 partners, with a focus on real estate, corporate and litigation.

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News in brief – April 2017

News in brief – April 2017

300 JOBS CUT AHEAD OF CMS MERGER

Approximately 300 support staff roles are to be cut at CMS Cameron McKenna, Olswang and Nabarro ahead of their triple merger next month. The firms ran a redundancy consultation from January to March, with 650 of the 950 support staff offered roles in the combined firm.

 

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