Travers Smith and Kirkland & Ellis have teamed up to advise UK tech firm Micro Focus on its $8.8bn deal for Hewlett-Packard’s software business.
Linklaters City corporate head Stuart Bedford quits to join LeapFrog Investments
Stuart Bedford, former City corporate head at Linklaters, is set to join emerging markets private equity house LeapFrog Investments as general counsel.
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Comment: Looking forward to Ashurst’s decline – The outlook worsens for a proud City institution
You cannot change the past. Move forward. Be constructive. Focus on making things better. Pick your cliché. And, like most clichés, they are built on the basis of common sense… and can still sometimes be beside the point.
The LB100 – A thousand lawyer millionaires and the at-a-glance picture on partner earnings
It is a well-established point in the legal industry that while much attention is paid to profits per equity partner (PEP), that metric is often substantially different to what most partners are paid.
Cleary taps A&O for Frankfurt M&A hire as US law firms sustain Euro push
Top 25 Global law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has bolstered its ranks in Frankfurt with the hire of corporate partner Michael Ulmer from Allen & Overy (A&O), the second German partner to quit the City firm this week.
Ulmer had joined A&O as a partner in 2006 from elite German independent Hengeler Mueller. His client portfolio includes leading German corporates, Mittelstand companies, and domestic and international financial and strategic investors.
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With one hand they give… Greenberg promotes Maher but the name goes in London
It was an unusual gesture when Greenberg Traurig put Paul Maher’s name in the title of its London practice, even for one of the City’s best known deal lawyers, but the Florida-bred giant has confirmed that it is dropping Maher from its City brand.
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A&O defeats Quinn as $575m Progas energy claim against Pakistan thrown out
Allen & Overy (A&O), Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Withers have advised as a tribunal convened under the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) threw out two parallel investment treaty claims worth about $575m against Pakistan made by Progas Energy.
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Doubling in Dublin: Expansive Kennedys moves Irish outpost to accommodate growth
Following a wave of expansion in Latin America, insurance specialist Kennedys is to more than double its office space in Dublin in a decision the firm says was made before the UK’s vote to leave the EU.
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Comment: LB100 firms forced to make own luck as tough times continue
The headline isn’t great, but it’s not bad either. Judging our annual Legal Business 100 (LB100) results, the industry has done better than expected overall, at least compared to 2015, when the group barely achieved growth despite a relative rebound in the UK and global economy.
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‘Adapt or die’ – K&L’s outspoken chief Kalis to stand down after 20 years at the helm of US giant
He has been one of the longest-serving and most outspoken law firm leaders in the conservative US legal market but Peter Kalis, the veteran head of K&L Gates, has confirmed that he is to finally step down after two decades running the US law firm.
Tchenguiz brothers’ legal bill hits £5.1m in court battle against Grant Thornton
The drawn-out legal battle between property billionaires, Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz, and those they hold responsible for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO)’s botched investigation into their business dealings has proved a costly affair. It has emerged they have already paid out a collective £5.1m legal bill to date in their £3bn litigation against Grant Thornton and others, surpassing the SFO’s £4.5m settlement to the pair two years ago.
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US spree: Morgan Lewis hires five-partner team for Shanghai launch as Latham taps A&O for German hire
US-bred law firms have kicked off the key post-summer season with a rash of hires, with Morgan Lewis & Bockius hiring a team from Dentons to launch in a key Chinese market as Latham & Watkins recruits yet another Magic Circle partner in Europe.
Taylor Wessing hires buyout partner in latest London exit for Olswang
Taylor Wessing has moved to bolster its City buyout practice with the hire of a partner from Olswang in the latest in a string of departures from the City media and entertainment specialist.
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KWM’s European head Kon to step down early after turbulent period for global giant
After a bruising 18 months for King & Wood Mallesons‘ European and Middle East business, regional senior partner Stephen Kon has informed the partnership he will step down as senior partner halfway into his three-year term.
LB100: relative revival for City elite in 2016 as a range of smaller players excel
The big four Magic Circle firms have posted their strongest performance in this year’s Legal Business 100 (LB100) since the recession, despite a subdued market overall.
Brick Court continues hiring spree with 20 Essex Street junior star
Leading commercial set Brick Court Chambers has made another key junior hire with 20 Essex Street rising star Edward Ho. Ho appeared as sole counsel in the Court of Appeal, High Court and in arbitration.
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Revolving doors: DLA, Simmons and Fieldfisher all look abroad with international hires
The summer lull is over with a spate of new laterals for firms including multiple hires at DLA Piper, Simmons & Simmons and Fieldfisher, while US firm Winston & Strawn recruited in the City and Bristows and Weightmans both added to their benches.
If it ain’t broke… Do A&O’s New Law business lines live up to the hype?
After a series of ventures Allen & Overy has become the bellwether among the legal elite for innovation. But do the new business lines live up to the marketing?
‘We’re going to close the doors soon,’ says David Wakeling, the Allen & Overy (A&O) partner leading the City giant’s new tech-based service, MarginMatrix. It’s not often you hear a law firm talk of turning away potential clients, particularly not when they are some of the world’s largest banks.
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Taken to the limit – growing risks for law firms
A buyers’ market for professional indemnity cannot hide law firms’ exposure to growing risks
For a profession often accused of being overly obsessed with risk when advising clients, it is ironic that law firms are taking on uncharted levels of risk themselves.
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Costs of capital – senior counsel discuss hard lessons from the post-Lehman clampdown
With regulatory focus on financial services business unrelenting, effective risk management strategies are vital. We teamed up with Cornerstone Research to assess the challenges
Nine years ago, the financial services world began undergoing seismic changes with the onset of the credit crunch that have left the industry where it is today. The aftermath led to repeated overhauls of regulation, to the extent that none are certain what the endgame might be, particularly with significant new regulation such as Basel IV being widely spoken of.