Eight partners will be leaving Clyde & Co’s San Francisco office in favour of setting up their own firm in the US.
As reported in RollOnFriday, the partner group led by Joan D’Ambrosio and Bill Casey, focuses on insurance coverage and monitoring work. The team includes Christina Terplan, Julie Hawkinson, Jamie Narbaitz, Christina Marshall, Eric Moon and David Jordan who will also be leaving the firm. Continue reading “Another team walks at Clydes as eight partners depart in San Francisco”
Dentons is showing no sign of slowing its expansion spree of late, making it ten tie-ups in less than two months after announcing it is to enter another five African countries and add a further 54 lawyers to its ranks.
The 10,000-lawyer firm said it is to combine with a firm each in Angola, Morocco, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia, building on what chief executive Elliott Portnoy described as a strategy to ‘become the first pan-African law firm, owned and controlled by Africans’. Continue reading “Dentons furthers pan-African play as it announces five new local deals”
Strategic deals have continued into September after a busy summer, with firms rallying to get deals over the line before a Brexit cliff-edge threatens to become a reality.
Slaughter and May has landed a mandate to advise Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) on a bid which, if successful, would see it acquire the London Stock Exchange (LSE) for £32bn. Partner David Watkins is leading the Slaughters team. Continue reading “Dealwatch: Slaughters leads on Hong Kong’s £32bn LSE bid as US firms tap into mid-market”
Allen & Overy has lost two well-respected London corporate partners to Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom just days after the magic circle firm confirmed the collapse of its merger talks with US firm O’Melveny & Myers.
Simon Toms and George Knighton have quit A&O, inflicting a considerable hit on its M&A capabilities ten days after it announced it was calling it a day on its attempts to tie up with O’Melveny after more than a year of talks. Continue reading “Bad timing – A&O loses M&A duo to Skadden following failed US merger talks”
Baker McKenzie EMEA chief executive Fiona Carlin (pictured), Hong Kong managing partner Milton Cheng and North America head Colin Murray have made the final stage of the election process to become the firm’s next chair.
Bakers’ seven-strong appointments committee drew up the shortlist of three candidates earlier this week following soundings with partners over the summer, whittled down from a list of six contenders who had initially been in the running. Continue reading “Three in the race to be next Bakers chair as partners prepare to vote”
Allen & Overy (A&O) employment partner Mark Mansell is to face his first Solicitor Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) hearing on Wednesday 5 December following an investigation into his role drafting a controversial non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein.
A spokesperson for the SDT confirmed to Legal Business yesterday (9 September) the new date for Mansell’s hearing, which had originally been scheduled for 3 June. Continue reading “A&O’s Mansell to appear before SDT in December as #MeToo fallout promises busy winter”
Big Four giant Deloitte has teamed up with the University of Law (ULaw) to launch a work-based training contract for graduates to harness the incoming regime to replace traditional solicitor training routes.
Hailed as a pioneering move, the three-year course will be targeted at graduates, phasing out the need for the Legal Practice Course (LPC), making use of the incoming Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) regime, touted as a more flexible means of producing solicitors. Continue reading “Deloitte launches pioneering post-grad training contract as education shake-up looms”
City firms have been gearing up for what looks to be a busy September as Clyde & Co, Kennedys and Pinsent Masons have added to their London benches and others continue with European investment drives.
Clyde & Co has appointed Stephen Jurgenson as partner in the firm’s global projects and construction group. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Back to school for new City Clydes, Kennedys and Pinsents laterals as European hires continue apace”
Andrew Ballheimer, Allen & Overy’s (A&O’s) global managing partner, has promised heavy investment in its US practice in the wake of the City giant’s abandoned tie-up with O’Melveny & Myers, saying new US hires are on the verge of being announced.
Speaking to Legal Business on Friday (6 September), Ballheimer said the market could expect ‘more focus and speed of execution’ in the Magic Circle firm’s US recruitment push as new partners, including US lawyers, have recently been voted in by the partnership. Continue reading “‘Focus and speed’: A&O to fast-track US investment after foiled O’Melveny merger with new hires imminent”
Clyde & Co has lost at least five partners from its global marine group, with the shipping team leaving to set up a boutique firm.
Andrew Preston is set to leave after joining the firm in 1994 and becoming a partner in 2000, as well as Elizabeth Turnbull, co-chair of the firm’s Latin American strategy committee who joined Clydes in 2009. Continue reading “Clyde & Co shipping team sets sail to establish boutique firm”
New Law pioneer Axiom has ditched long-trailed plans for an initial public offering (IPO) after securing a ‘significant investment’ from private equity house Permira.
The undisclosed investment makes Permira the company’s majority owner and calls time on Axiom’s much-hyped public offering, which many considered a bellwether for the fast-growing alternative legal services market. Continue reading “New Law leader Axiom abandons IPO for Permira private equity sale”
Linklaters partner Iain Wagstaff, one of the firm’s most prominent deal lawyers, has died at the age of 44.
The City firm confirmed to Legal Business today (6 September) that Wagstaff passed away on the weekend of 31 August following a cycling accident. The corporate and private equity specialist, who was married with two children, was a well-known figure in Linklaters’ flagship corporate practice. Continue reading “Linklaters mourns death of high-profile M&A partner Iain Wagstaff after cycling accident”
High-profile litigation funder Vannin Capital has been acquired by private equity house Fortress almost a year after shelving its planned initial public offering (IPO) due to market volatility.
The buyout sees Fortress acquire 100% of the equity in Vannin from existing shareholders, including majority owner Bramden investments, with private equity backing now preferred over a significant public raising. Continue reading “Vannin Capital ends flotation plans after acquisition by private equity house Fortress”
Pinsent Masons has regained its spot on Siemens’ UK panel in favour of Osborne Clarke after the conglomerate’s latest legal adviser review.
Undertaken by Simone Davina, Siemens’ UK and Ireland general counsel (GC), Pinsents joins Addleshaw Goddard and Eversheds Sutherland who have both been reappointed advisers for another three years.
Continue reading “In-house: Pinsents replaces Osborne Clarke spot on Siemens UK panel”
Dentons has capped off an expansive summer, even by its own standards, announcing it is to enter Argentina and Uruguay through its fourth and fifth combinations respectively in just over a month.
The 10,000-lawyer firm announced today (4 September) it will add another 80 to its ranks by absorbing Rattagan Macchiavello Arocena in Buenos Aires and Jiménez de Aréchaga, Viana & Brause in Montevideo. Continue reading “Dentons makes it five mergers in a month with Argentina and Uruguay tie-ups”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Hogan Lovells are among 11 firms to have secured spots on WeWork’s first legal panel for the EMEA region, running for an initial two years.
The firms join Addleshaw Goddard, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Bird & Bird, CMS Cameron Mckenna Nabarro Olswang, DLA Piper, Eversheds Sutherland, McCann Fitzgerald, Shoosmiths and Simmons & Simmons. Continue reading “In-house: Eleven firms get workspace on WeWork’s debut EMEA legal panel”
Lateral hires in London and Germany were the order of last week, with KPMG bolstering its City legal services bench, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe hiring a London-based energy and infrastructure partner, while Ashurst and Allen & Overy recruited practice heads in Germany.
Big Four accountancy firm KPMG has hired partners Kate Eades from Greenberg Traurig and Usman Wahid from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner in a further boon to its legal services capabilities. Continue reading “Revolving doors: KPMG and Orrick hire City partners as Ashurst and A&O focus on Germany”
Allen & Overy has conceded the ‘compelling synergies’ between it and O’Melveny & Myers were not quite enough to seal a long sought-after tie-up, having today (2 September) said they were calling it a day on merger talks.
The news comes after months of market speculation since a possible merger between the Magic Circle giant and the Los Angeles-bred firm first emerged in spring 2018. Continue reading “The deal is off: A&O and O’Melveny call an end to transatlantic merger talks”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has brought to an end a lawsuit brought against the firm by the liquidator of the insolvent Maple Bank with a €50m settlement payment.
The settlement came to light on Thursday (29 August) at a creditors’ meeting when the liquidator, Michael Frege of CMS, said he had recovered €50m for creditors to settle a €95m claim against the Magic Circle firm brought in April. Continue reading “Freshfields denies wrongdoing in tax advice amid €50m settlement payout”
Sir John Major (pictured) has instructed litigation heavyweight Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) as the former Prime Minister looks to join investment manager Gina Miller in a legal challenge against the suspension of Parliament.
HSF disputes partner Andrew Lidbetter has been enlisted to instruct The Rt Hon Lord Edward Garnier QC and Tom Cleaver of Blackstone Chambers, with the pair representing Major as he looks to get behind the existing claim brought by Miller, rather than initiating separate proceedings. Continue reading “HSF and Mishcon enlisted as legal battle over suspension of Parliament intensifies”
