With Spain wrestling a mammoth budget deficit, the former government initially decided to sell off certain prize assets. But after ditching the eagerly awaited partial privatisation of the country’s national lottery, LB asks if Spain’s top law firms are in the mood for celebrating. On 12 October, Spain commemorated its Fiesta Nacional – the annual …
With the number of large-scale tech M&A deals increasing in 2011, some believe that another technology bubble is forming. Following the coalition government’s pledge to help the developing local tech sector at Silicon Roundabout, LB finds out how law firms are placing their bets, and who is getting ahead of the game. All eyes in …
Third-party litigation funding has yet to really take off, despite being around for five years. While a mature market is still some way away, litigation specialists are finally seeing that self-funding is not the only way forward. Big-ticket disputes in the public sphere and funded by a third party are rare. The biggest case in …
As the sovereign debt crisis threatens to bring the euro to its knees, a group of lawyers has been working behind the scenes to keep the cogs turning. LB finds out what happened backstage. Lee Buchheit has faced a frantic few months. He has been advising the Greek government on how to sort out its …
As the regulators come down harder on banks and financial institutions, and Basel III, the Vickers reforms and Dodd-Frank are set to transform the banking and finance sector, which law firms are reaping the benefits? The Financial Services Authority (FSA) raised £91.2m in fines from UK financial institutions during 2010/11. This marks a staggering increase …
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 …
Russian business and politics can rarely be described as boring. Each year throws up its share of dramas, and 2011 is no exception to the rule. From prime minister Vladimir Putin’s recent, and not entirely unexpected, self-anointment as Russia’s next president, through to Rosneft’s doomed oil exploration joint venture with UK oil major BP and …
Global law firms have traditionally dominated the corporate market in Russia and the CIS. LB assesses the chances of those domestic firms taking on the internationals at their own game. Dimitry Afanasiev, chairman of the Russian law firm Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners (EPA&P), is fully aware of the challenges that lie ahead. On 19 …
As Africa’s emerging economies continue to lure investors, a new legal geography is evolving to accommodate increasing cross-border traffic. LB reports. The ties between Europe and its former colonial African countries have evolved dramatically since the Age of Discovery but strong geopolitical relationships remain.
As the airline industry continues to face a tough economic climate, falling passenger numbers and strict regulations, litigation levels have risen. But who’s getting the work? Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou could shake things up in the airline sector yet again. The 46-year-old founder of easyJet grabbed the world’s interest in September with rumours that he’s on …
