Nathalie Tidman, The In-House Lawyer and Legal Business: Welcome everyone. We have a fantastic panel of extremely talented and insightful people here this evening.
As a starter for ten, what do you see as the real opportunities and benefits for in-house lawyers using generative AI in your day-to-day dealings? Continue reading “Don’t fear the robots”
The rapid progression of fintech from a fairly niche play to the mainstream means that companies across all sectors are increasingly having to incorporate a fintech offering into their business models. Continue reading “‘You need to understand the user journey so you can understand the risks’ – what in-house lawyers need to know about fintechs”
Just when the market thought Paul Weiss had eased up on its hiring spree in the run-up to Christmas, the firm has hired John Patten, a partner in the London technology and intellectual property (IP) transactions practice of Kirkland & Ellis.
The move sees the Wall Street giant continue to pursue with gusto the build-out of the English law practice that has gathered momentum in short order, much to the chagrin of the management of Kirkland and Linklaters, among others. Continue reading “The onslaught continues: Paul Weiss raids Kirkland again to hire City IP partner”
Allen & Overy has hired cyber security incident response partners, Ffion Flockhart, and Charlie Weston-Simons, with Flockhart taking on the role of global head of cybersecurity. The pair previously worked together at Norton Rose Fulbright, where Flockhart was global co-head of information governance, privacy, and cyber security. The team will assist clients with cyber incidents and managing data risks from prevention to response.
Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins has appointed Pamela Reddy as a partner in its white-collar defence and investigations practice in London. Reddy also moves from Norton Rose Fulbright. She advises on domestic and cross-border fraud, market abuse, bribery and corruption, and money laundering investigations, as well as public inquiries, internal investigations, workplace culture reviews and allegations following the #MeToo movement. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Disputes hiring picks up pace as Global 100 players make key appointments”
An amendment filed to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill last week will allow the use of damages-based agreements (DBAs) for opt-out collective proceedings heard in the Competition Appeal Tribunal, but only for litigation funders. The proposed amendment responds to the Supreme Court’s decision in PACCAR in July this year, which ruled that litigation funding agreements that allowed funders to recover a percentage of damages were prohibited.
The judgment left funders racing to renegotiate existing agreements in order to be able to enforce them, despite remaining adamant that they were optimistic about the industry as a whole. If this amendment is successful, renegotiation will be unnecessary, as litigation funding agreements (LFAs) based on percentages will remain viable. Continue reading “Government to address PACCAR ruling with amendment to Digital Markets Bill – but litigation funders argue it isn’t enough”
A criminal investigation has been launched into Axiom Ince, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced today (14 November). Seven individuals have been arrested in connection with the investigation and searches have been carried out across nine sites.
More than 80 SFO investigators, alongside Metropolitan Police officers, went to locations across the southeast of England early this morning to search for potential evidence and bring in individuals for questioning. Continue reading “SFO opens criminal investigation into Axiom Ince”
Vinson & Elkins has hired Milbank’s Kilian de Cintré as a partner into its corporate and finance practice in London, the firm announced today (13 November).
The move builds on the hire last month of energy and infrastructure finance partner Chris Taufatofua, also from Milbank, to its corporate and finance practice in London. Continue reading “V&E hires energy and infra partner de Cintré from Milbank in the City”
Last week was a busy one for lateral hires, with a mix of City, regional and international firms announcing their newly acquired partners.
In New York, Allen & Overy lost partner Greg Lavigne to Sidley, who joined its energy, transportation and infrastructure group. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Magic Circle firms lose partners in New York and London as US firms strengthen London teams”
Ahead of our annual Global 100 report in our November/December issue, firms have made concerted efforts to consolidate and expand in the Middle East and Asia in recent months.
Bird & Bird has announced a new office in Shenzhen, to be led by the firm’s Greater China intellectual property practice co-head Hank Leung, a Legal 500 leading individual for IP in Hong Kong. The new office will work closely with lawyers from the firm’s international network, including its offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Continue reading “International round-up: Global 100 firms expand in the Middle East and Asia”
The biggest European transaction of recent weeks came when Vodafone announced the sale of its Spanish business to TMT investor Zegona Communications for €5bn.
Slaughter and May advised Vodafone with a London-based team led by corporate partners Victoria MacDuff and James Cook and including IP and IT partner Duncan Blaikie, finance partner Charlie McGarel-Groves, tax partner Mike Lane, employment partner Philippa O’Malley, and competition partner Claire Jeffs, who splits her time between London and Brussels. Continue reading “Dealwatch: €5bn Vodafone deal shows ‘the debt is there, if you can find the right transaction’”
Allen & Overy has confirmed that it has suffered a ‘data incident’. Posts from X user and self-described ‘threat intelligence platform for cybersecurity’ @FalconFeedsio on Wednesday 8 November suggested that cybercriminal group LockBit had targeted the firm, with a threat to release ‘all available data’ by 28 November.
‘We have experienced a data incident impacting a small number of storage servers’, said an A&O spokesperson. ‘Investigations to date have confirmed that data in our core systems, including our email and document management system, has not been affected. Continue reading “Allen & Overy suffers ‘data incident’ as ransomware group LockBit claims responsibility”
Nathalie Tidman, Legal Business: Welcome everyone. We have a fantastic panel of extremely talented and insightful people here this evening.
As a starter for ten, what do you see as the real opportunities and benefits for in-house lawyers using generative AI in your day-to-day dealings? Continue reading “The Ireland debate: Don’t fear the robots”
Kirkland & Ellis has opened an office in Riyadh and recruited two new partners. Noor Al-Fawzan, specialising in M&A and corporate affairs, and Manal Al-Musharaf, focusing on capital markets, have transitioned from Latham & Watkins and White & Case, respectively, to join the 20th global office of the Chicago giant. Kirkland partner Kamran Bajwa, who has overseen the firm’s Middle East operations since 2011, will lead the new Riyadh office, serving as its headquarters for the Middle East.
McDermott has strengthened its finance practice in Germany by recruiting partner Matthias Weissinger from Ashurst in Munich. Weissinger’s extensive expertise includes advising sponsors, debt funds, national and international financial institutions, and corporate clients on various financings, corporate loans, and complex restructuring and insolvency proceedings. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Kirkland opens new office with partner hires as G100 firms bolster finance, restructuring and disputes teams”
Mayer Brown has hired Daniel Vowden as a partner into its antitrust and competition practice in London, the firm announced today (6 November).
Vowden, who was previously a partner in Herbert Smith Freehills’ Brussels office, will concentrate on advising international clients on a broad array of EU and UK competition law matters, encompassing merger control, foreign direct investment regulations, and cross-border deals requiring regulatory approval. Continue reading “Mayer Brown hires HSF antitrust partner Vowden in the City”
Travers Smith today (6 November) announced the election of Andrew Gillen as senior partner.
With a term commencing on 1 January 2024, Gillen will succeed acting senior partner Siân Keall, who has been in the role, first in a part-time capacity since January 2023, and then full-time since 30 June following Kathleen Russ’s decision to step down from the role. Keall will remain a member of the firm’s partnership board until the end of her final term in June 2024. Continue reading “New brooms for Travers Smith as partnership elects Gillen to senior partner”
