Ropes & Gray, Slaughter and May, Davis Polk & Wardwell and Sullivan & Cromwell have all picked up advisory roles as pharmaceutical group Shire moves to buy US firm Dyax.
Continue reading “Global 100 quartet line up as Shire continues acquisition spree”
Revenue at the London branch of US firm King & Spalding (K&S) surged 16% to £27.2m in 2014 as the firm rapidly expanded its legal team.
Continue reading “King & Spalding’s London revenues up 16% as legal headcount lifted by 40%”
The management of Eurasia Drilling Company Limited is being advised by US firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher as it prepares to sell to major shareholders and exit the London stock exchange, after Schlumberger gave up on a deal to buy into the company.
Amid a changing global legal market, three storied Wall Street firms retain commanding reputations. Legal Business assesses New York law’s enduring inner circle.
‘Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.’
Samuel Johnson
Continue reading “The conservation game – up close with New York’s original inner circle”
US firms Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Chadbourne & Parke are in early merger talks, with the potential to create a 1,000 lawyer firm.
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has hired two partners, Norbert Impelmann and Albrecht von Breitenbuch, along with four other lawyers from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe for its Berlin office.
Continue reading “BLP boosts Berlin practice by six with lateral hires from Orrick”
If there is one big trend in the analysis of Legal Business in recent years it is the encroaching existential threat represented by US-bred law firms. That could be termed ludicrous simplification given the differences between individual law firms both US and homegrown but in many respects it remains a generalisation that speaks to profound transatlantic differences in approach covering the majority of the world’s largest law firms. There is a US model built on individualism, intense focus on profitability and higher pay for stars, and a resistance to bureaucracy. In contrast the UK’s brand of internationalism, backed by a far more institutionalised approach, had been startlingly successful until the banking crisis flipped the market.
Since then, pretty much everything has been flowing in the direction of US firms, which obviously have the huge advantage of feasting on the world’s largest legal market and biggest economy. The key issue – as highlighted in this month’s Global London debate – is that while US firms have shown some ability to appropriate elements of the UK approach to strengthen their global advance, London firms are doing their US rivals the huge service of not returning the favour.
Former Kirkland & Ellis de facto London head Graham White has experience in building City practices and almost a year after being recruited by Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson to revive its London offering, the outpost has seen some credible arrivals. But as two more partners officially join in September, White is planning more recruits and a move to larger offices.
White, who joined in October 2014, was tasked to build out three main practice areas – finance, private equity and funds – and then support the expansion of M&A, followed by real estate and restructuring.
Continue reading “Latest hires boost Fried Frank’s bold City expansion plans under Graham White”
To mark our annual Global London report, Legal Business teamed up with Venturis Consulting to assess the dramatic progress made by US law firms in the City. Can anything slow the advance?
It has been the defining force in the City legal market this decade: the emergence of US law firms as credible and increasingly potent operators in the Square Mile. With these firms representing an increasingly existential challenge to City rivals, we assembled a group of senior practitioners to mark the publication of our 2015 Global London report.
The wide-ranging debate – covering strategy, dramatically shifting transatlantic markets and the fierce battle to attract the best lawyers – proved one of the most incisive discussions Legal Business has ever held.
Continue reading “The Global London debate – Tipping points”
A raft of firms, including Allen & Overy (A&O), have landed roles on Carlyle Group’s $8bn purchase of software-storage company Veritas in what is the largest US technology leveraged buyout this year.
