Snooper’s charter offers ‘unsatisfactory’ protection for legal professional privilege

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Both The Law Society and The Bar Council have called for legal professional privilege (LPP) to receive statutory protection in the forthcoming Investigatory Powers Bill.

The draft law, dubbed the ‘snooper’s charter’, will govern all of the powers available to law enforcement, the security and intelligence agencies and the armed forces to acquire the content of communications or communications data. While this has sparked debate about privacy, critics also say for lawyers, professional privilege is under threat.

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‘A straight shooter’: Linklaters partners vote in Gideon Moore

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Banking head takes over as Davies departs for Lloyds

Linklaters global banking head Gideon Moore defeated five other candidates to be appointed as the firm’s new managing partner in November, ending a four-month search.

Having been selected by Linklaters’ 13-strong partnership board as its next leader earlier in the month, the Magic Circle firm’s 450 partners gathered at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in London to endorse his appointment on 17 November.

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Parabis carved up in £50m pre-pack administration

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One of the first firms to benefit from sweeping liberalisation of the legal services market in 2012, Parabis Group has been placed into a pre-pack administration in a move expected to save ‘all but a handful’ of the 2,000 jobs at the company.

Peter Saville, Ben Browne and Anne O’Keefe of AlixPartners were appointed joint administrators over a number of entities within Parabis Group. Immediately following the appointment, a series of sales of the group’s legal services, rehabilitation and field services divisions took place.

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DLA strikes landmark deal to offer contract lawyering through LOD

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Putting aside the rivalries that result in little collaboration or innovation within the legal market, DLA Piper has struck a highly unusual deal to provide contract services to its clients via Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP)-owned Lawyers On Demand (LOD).

The move sees DLA team up with LOD to create and manage a contract lawyer business. DLA alumni will be the catalyst for the launch, with around 50 lawyers expected to join LOD by the end of 2016 to service the global law firm when it requires extra resources. LOD’s current pool of 400 lawyers will also be available to DLA.

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‘Do what we think is right’: Eversheds continues search for US deal as Foley & Lardner ends merger discussions

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Eversheds will continue to search for a US deal after the firm’s top target, Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner, ended merger discussions last month via a leaked internal memo.

In the memo, Foley chair and chief executive Jay Rothman said that while there had been preliminary conversations around exploring a more formal affiliation between the two firms, ‘no decision was ever made by Foley to pursue such an affiliation’.

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City firms line up on £13bn sale of Northern Rock mortgages

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Linklaters, Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy (A&O) and Hogan Lovells landed major roles in November advising on the government’s record-breaking £13bn sale of former Northern Rock mortgages, acquired during the financial crisis.

In what was the largest-ever financial asset sale by a government in Europe, the mortgages originally owned by Northern Rock were sold by the Treasury-owned UK Asset Resolution (UKAR) – set up to look after the mortgages nationalised when Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley ran into difficulty in 2008 – to Cerberus Capital Management.

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China’s offshore push: Linklaters picks up high-profile mandates

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Linklaters continues to leverage its relationships with Chinese banks and corporates, winning four high-profile capital markets mandates as the country internationalises its economy.

With China looking to open up an offshore renminbi debt market, Linklaters won the race to handle the People’s Bank of China debut international bond sale, a move that will act as a calling card for Chinese mandates in the future.

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Deal watch: Corporate activity in November 2015

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FRESHFIELDS AND LATHAM ADVISE ON BARCLAYS SPIN OFF

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Latham & Watkins have acted on the spin-off of Barclays’ natural resources private equity arm in a management buyout. Barclays Natural Resources Investments was purchased by its managers after being placed into Barclays’ non-core asset pile following a restructuring last year. Freshfields acted for Barclays, while Latham advised management.

 

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‘Challenging to maintain’: German market has volatile November

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Germany saw a flurry of activity last month, with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and White & Case pulling out of several markets and consolidating their operations, while Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) went the other way and set up shop in Düsseldorf.

Freshfields announced plans to cut one of its six offices in the region, with its Cologne and Düsseldorf bases set to merge in 2016. The cut means 240 fee-earners will be located in one office – which is yet to be decided, though Cologne is regarded as more likely to shut – as the Magic Circle reconfigures its German operations. A spokesperson at the firm said the merger is ‘not driven by cost or a requirement to downsize’, but to create ‘greater efficiency’ and have ‘more lawyers in a single location to offer a stronger and more specialist platform’.

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Dentons approves tie-up with Australian and Singaporean firms

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Chair Joe Andrew boasts: ‘Dentons has accomplished more for clients in one year than any other firm’

Dentons further cemented its status as the world’s largest law firm by lawyer headcount in November, with partners approving a three-way union with Australian firm Gadens and Singaporean practice Rodyk & Davidson.

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