Office openings: Bird & Bird to extend Middle East capability with Dubai presence

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Middle East and Africa Bird & Bird

Bird & Bird has become the latest leading UK firm to open in Dubai as it transfers Stockholm corporate partner Anders Nilsson to spearhead its new UAE offering.

The 966-lawyer top 20 firm said today that it is setting its sights on expansion to support its growing client base in the emirate, where it advises clients across industries including aviation, media and sports, as well as undertaking work in other sectors such as aerospace, defence, security, communications, energy and utilities, healthcare and life sciences.

Pharmaceutical boon: A&O, Proskauer and Osborne Clarke advise on $1.68bn Novartis hive off

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Corporate Allen & OveryOsborne ClarkeProskauer Rose

The buoyant pharmaceuticals market threw up yet another high-profile healthcare deal this week, as Swiss giant Novartis announced the sale of its blood transfusion diagnostics unit to Barcelona-based Grifols for an estimated $1.68bn, with Allen & Overy (A&O), Proskauer Rose, and Osborne Clarke (OC) all securing advisory roles on the transaction.

Basel-headquartered Novartis was advised by A&O’s M&A head Eric Shube in New York, who previously advised the company on its near $52bn acquisition of a majority stake in NYSE-listed eye-care company Alcon, the largest acquisition ever undertaken by the pharma group.

Redundancy watch: Lyons Davidson blames litigation market for letting go of 50 post AA and Admiral deals

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Job cuts

Having secured not one but two successive major joint ventures with Admiral and then the AA, Lyons Davidson is undoubtedly the envy of many of its personal injury (PI) peers, but the South West firm has blamed the post-Jackson reforms litigation market for the latest news that it is having to make around 50 redundancies.

Just last week (5 November) the AA – touted as one of the potential game changers likely to enter the post Legal Services Act arena – announced it had secured alternative business structure (ABS) status and entered into a joint venture with Bristol-based Lyons Davidson.

In-house: HMRC appoints DWP director Gill Aitken as new GC as Sir Hector Sants resigns from Barclays

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In-house Barclays

With a long pedigree in working for the government, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) director general Gill Aitken is to replace HM Revenue & Customs’ outgoing general counsel (GC) Anthony Inglese, the body announced today (13 November).

Aitken, who will replace Inglese when he retires in January after 38 years in the government legal service, has been director general of legal services at the DWP since October 2011, after joining the team the previous year.

H1 2013/14: Field Fisher reveals 7% spike in turnover

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Financial results 2013/14 Fieldfisher

The first half (H1) of the 2013/14 year is proving to be more benign than last as Field Fisher Waterhouse joins a number of top 40 firms to post a revenue increase, seeing turnover up by 7% to £49.9m compared to £46.8m at the same time last year.

These results are set against the 358-lawyer firm’s overall drop of 3% in revenue in 2012-13 to £95m and an 8% decrease in profit per equity partner to £398,000.

Back to basics: BLP hires DLA Piper real estate partner Karen Friebe

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Strategic recruitment Berwin Leighton PaisnerDLA Piper

More recently the subject of headlines announcing partner departures, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) today announced the appointment of Karen Friebe, a real estate partner from DLA Piper as sources indicate the traditionally real estate driven firm is taking a back to basics approach to consolidation.

Friebe (pictured), who specialises in the hotel and leisure sector and will join BLP as a partner in its global real estate practice based in London, was the global co-chair of DLA Piper’s hospitality and leisure group and led its EMEA hospitality and leisure team for a number of years.

Squire Sanders settles libel claim over letter before action

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Litigation Squire Patton Boggs

Squire Sanders has settled a libel claim against the firm over the contents of a letter before action (LBA) after a judge rejected its application to have the claim struck out, finding that the LBA could be interpreted as meaning the recipient was guilty.

The top 20 firm was sued for libel by Patrick Hodgins, a former director of Squire Sanders’ client Solym Holdings and subsidiary Solym Carriers, after it sent Hodgins a LBA in January, copied to his new employers, notifying him that Solym were bringing an action for breach of his fiduciary duties, including the duty not to accept benefits from third parties.

Baker & McKenzie hires EY tax partner as EY looks at growth

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Strategic recruitment Baker McKenzieBird & Bird

Baker & McKenzie has again turned to one of the Big Four accountancy firms to boost its sizeable London tax practice as EY tax partner Mark Bevington joins as a partner in the 4004-lawyer firm’s City office.

Bevington (pictured) specialises in international tax planning, with a focus on UK domestic taxation, including intangible assets planning, patent box and pension restructuring. His appointment brings the number of tax lawyers in London to nearly 40.

Lloyds Banking Group takes on Morgan Stanley lawyer to head litigation and contentious regulatory

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In-house Lloyds Banking Group

As Lloyds Banking Group makes a series of senior management hires it has emerged that the global financial institution has brought in Morgan Stanley lawyer Michael Hartridge to replace group litigation and contentious regulatory head Nicola Myatt, who has left the bank.

Following LBG’s takeover of UK banking group HBOS in 2008, Myatt was appointed to head the combined litigation team, having headed the same function at Lloyds.

BG Group slims down legal roster to three as CC wins a spot

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Adviser reviews Clifford Chance

For a 6,000-plus-employee FTSE 100 energy company operating across 20 countries in five continents, BG Group’s panel of four law firm was already slim but just got slimmer, with the news that Allen & Overy and Herbert Smith Freehills have been dropped in favour of Clifford Chance, which wins a place alongside incumbents CMS Cameron McKenna and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

The appointment of the three firms – which will all offer full service advice to the energy giant – came into effect on the 1 November and follow a relatively short pitch process, which began in September.