Latham, Matheson, Davis Polk and Arthur Cox close $8.5bn Actavis Warner Chilcott acquisition after competition fears

Posted on |

Despite fears that the US federal regulator would block pharma giant Actavis Inc’s $8.5bn acquisition of Dublin-based Warner Chilcott the deal, which saw Latham & Watkins and Matheson advise Actavis opposite Davis Polk & Wardwell and Arthur Cox, has closed this month.

The Federal Trade Commission at the end of September settled charges that the deal would be anticompetitive, after Actavis agreed to sell its rights and assets related to three oral contraceptives and an osteoporosis treatment. Continue reading “Latham, Matheson, Davis Polk and Arthur Cox close $8.5bn Actavis Warner Chilcott acquisition after competition fears”

IBA 2013: ‘We need to be the tip of the spear’ – the global anti-corruption push is gathering pace

Posted on |

With a packed programme at the International Bar Association’s (IBA) annual conference in Boston, working out which of the many (and sometimes dry) debates to attend is a challenge, but one of the stand-outs from the first day was the discussion on anti-corruption.

That this session was packed is unsurprising; one of the major forces currently shaping the legal profession at a global level has been the sustained crackdown on corruption in many forms, be it graft, tax avoidance or cartels. Continue reading “IBA 2013: ‘We need to be the tip of the spear’ – the global anti-corruption push is gathering pace”

US/UK hires: Mayer Brown boosts London securitisation team as Herbert Smith hires New York financial services litigator

Posted on |

Mayer Brown is boosting its English law securitisation capability with the hire of former Mayer Brown lawyer Richard Todd, who re-joins the firm from Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) alongside Allen & Overy banking associate David O’Connor.

Todd will work on domestic and international structured financings alongside former colleague and head of the banking and finance division Dominic Griffiths, as well as senior securitisation partner Kevin Hawken. Continue reading “US/UK hires: Mayer Brown boosts London securitisation team as Herbert Smith hires New York financial services litigator”

Coming on like 2009 – Weil Gotshal becomes the first major NY firm to announce job cuts this year

Posted on |

So far the wave of redundancies that have rippled through the UK legal profession has not been replicated across the Atlantic but that may be about to change with news on Monday (24 June) that Weil Gotshal & Manges is to cut around 170 staff.

The New York-based law firm announced the move internally in a package of cuts expected to impact on 60 associates, around 7% of its non-partner lawyer ranks, and 110 support staff, citing what it described as the ‘new normal’ of low growth.

In addition, Weil is to cut the compensation for some partners and the firm said it would be ‘de-emphasising’ its complex commercial litigation practice in Houston and Boston. Continue reading “Coming on like 2009 – Weil Gotshal becomes the first major NY firm to announce job cuts this year”

Trophy US hire for Freshfields as it lures former head of DoJ’s crime division

Posted on |

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has recruited former acting head of the criminal division at the Department of Justice (DoJ) to bolster its US white-collar practice.

Matthew Friedrich joins from US litigation firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner, where he had a partner since 2009. Prior to this, he spent 13 years at the DoJ in various leadership roles including the assistant attorney general for the criminal department, where he managed a team of 740 individuals on fraud, intellectual property and cross-border transactions by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

Continue reading “Trophy US hire for Freshfields as it lures former head of DoJ’s crime division”

LA Lawyer

Posted on |

Father of five, two-time Hawaiian Iron Man competitor, climber, trial lawyer extraordinaire and co-founder of what can legitimately claim to be the leading global litigation-only firm. John Quinn has earned the right to put his feet up. Not a chance he says.

On a hiking trip to Wyoming a few years ago, a group of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan litigators, headed up by founder John Quinn, arrived at a freezing 9,000 ft lake. Quinn joked that the first summer associate to swim the lake would get a job offer at his firm. Turning his back on the group for a moment, he heard a splash as one of the keen students dived headlong into the water. True to his word, an offer was made.

Continue reading “LA Lawyer”