As I reach my middle years I find much to admire and celebrate about the legal profession, and lawyers in general. This column is not going to be about any of that stuff. Instead, we turn to a facet of the typical lawyer’s character that does them no credit: the obsession with joining a crowd, or rather a club that the lawyer believes says something ego-stroking about them.
Continue reading “Comment: Join our club – law firms’ obsession with the in crowd is beyond parody”
Nicholas Fletcher QC, who has led Berwin Leighton Paisner‘s international arbitration practice for the last five years, has resigned from the firm to join barristers’ chambers 4 New Square while Olswang arbitration chief Andrew Aglionby is also set to leave for the bar.
Corporate partner Simon Witty, who Davis Polk & Wardwell hired from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in 2012 to launch its English law practice, has been selected by FTSE 250 events company UBM to run a £565m rights issue to fund the purchase of trade show organiser Advanstar.
Continue reading “Dealwatch: Davis Polk and Linklaters act on UBM’s £565m rights issue”
In what constitutes the latest controversial move over Damages-Based Agreements (DBAs) regulation, the Government has ruled out hybrid versions of the agreements after tasking the Civil Justice Council (CJC) with reviewing some ‘technical revisions’.
A mass reshuffle has taken place of DLA Piper’s executive managment team, with the firm’s Dutch head of corporate Barbara van Hussen and chief of practices and sectors Juan Picon being made joint managing directors of Europe and the Middle East. Meanwhile, Ince & Co has selected Hamburg-based partner Jan Heuvels to succeed James Wilson as international senior partner.
Continue reading “Management changes: DLA Piper overhauls board as Ince & Co picks new senior team”
London, last week, saw Bristows hire another Bird & Bird partner into its TMT and life sciences practice while Eversheds appointed a new head of its London tax practice and Stewarts Law launched a City tax litigation practice. In the Middle East, Baker & McKenzie Habib Al Mulla hired Simmons & Simmons COO for the region.
London-based corporate partner James Palmer has triumphed over Sydney-based Mark Crean to become the next senior partner at Herbert Smith Freehills.
James Palmer (Profile) talks to Legal Business about being elected the first senior partner at Herbert Smith Freehills since the merger and what he will bring to the role.
Continue reading “‘A very different role’: Q&A with HSF’s new senior partner James Palmer”
Baker & McKenzie and Taylor Wessing have helped finalise the sale of London’s iconic Gherkin building to the Safra Group for over £700m, while Linklaters and Slaughter and May acted on the unsuccessful preliminary bid for Songbird Estates, the owner of Canary Wharf Group.
Lathams & Watkins, Linklaters and Herbert Smith Freehills have all won roles advising on The Carlyle Group and Euromoney Institutional Investor’s acquisition of Dealogic.
Continue reading “Dealwatch: Lathams, Linklaters and HSF lead on $700m Dealogic sale”
Given the huge strategic weight being placed on the Asia network of Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), the jewel in the international crown of the legacy City firm, the latest senior resignation to hit HSF will go down poorly.
Somehow the week has flown by so it’s already time to welcome readers to The Friday Edit, our informal take on the notable legal events that happened since Monday. For subscriber content, click here for full access to Legal Business or email ‘[email protected]’ for more information.
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) has heard that legal privileged documents between lawyers and their clients may have been targeted by MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, a disclosure which is said to be of ‘grave concern to campaigners and lawyers alike’.
Cofely, a subsidiary of French energy giant GDF Suez, is to establish its first legal panel in a bid to reduce legal fees and the number of firms it deals with.
LB 100 firm Winckworth Sherwood has bolstered its real estate team with the hire of Dentons’ global co-head of real estate Andrew Bedford, a departure which comes just months after Dentons lost fellow global real estate co-head Eric Rosedale to US firm Greenberg Traurig.
In what constitutes the latest major bailed-out bank facing a shareholder dispute, third party financier Therium Capital Management is understood to be bankrolling the high profile claim by shareholders against Lloyds with the cost of funding the case thought to be as high as £12m so far.
Continue reading “Third party funding: Therium steps in to bankroll Lloyds group action”
This month’s cover feature on Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) looks in hindsight like the end of an informal trilogy on storied London firms agreeing high-stakes mergers, following earlier pieces on Hogan Lovells and Ashurst.
Continue reading “Comment: The cost of culture – HSF finds mega-mergers always come at a price”
Having confirmed in early spring the launch of a new cost-efficient legal services centre in Birmingham, Hogan Lovells has hired a ten-strong associate team across multiple practice areas and from national firms, including Pinsent Masons, Clarke Willmott and Shoosmiths, to spearhead the venture as well as acquiring new office space within Birmingham’s central business district.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Taylor Wessing and Linklaters have won the lead roles advising on the sale of UK-based United Biscuits to Turkey’s largest food and beverage company Yildiz Holding (Yildiz).
