Much like British voters ahead of this month’s vote on EU membership, City law firms have been shaped in recent decades by mainland Europe, even as they have become increasingly ambivalent about that mingled destiny.
Continue reading “Comment: Elite indies carve out role as the one-stop shop shuts in Europe”
Mishcon de Reya is acting in a £128m claim against the Royal Bank of Scotland and KPMG brought by former Torex Retail chief executive Neil Mitchell, with Dentons and Stephenson Harwood advising the defendants. Continue reading “Mishcon acts for former Torex boss taking on RBS and KPMG in £128m fraud claim”
Magic Circle duo Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have scored lead roles on an attempt by South Africa’s Steinhoff to takeover British retailer Poundland.
‘Something looks wrong.’
So begins a recent Greg Ip column in The Wall Street Journal.
What exactly ‘looks wrong?’
Well, the economy, stupid.
If there was much to celebrate amid the continued rise of London as an international disputes centre at Legal Business’ second Commercial Litigation Summit on 24 May, the cloud on the horizon was apparent: the mounting conviction that the UK judiciary is near crisis.
Continue reading “Comment: Not ‘looming’, the judiciary is already in crisis”
While much has been made of US merger plays by Eversheds and Addleshaw Goddard, fellow mid-market firm Bond Dickinson has secured an exclusive strategic alliance with full-service US firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice.
Continue reading “Accessing America: Bond Dickinson makes unique US play with Womble Carlyle tie-up”
Nick West, a London-based partner at DLA Piper, has been fined £15,000 for sending ‘despicable’ emails to the Premier League’s executive chairman Richard Scudamore. Continue reading “DLA Piper partner caught up in sexist email scandal with Premier League chairman fined £15,000”
Former BHS owner Sir Phillip Green criticised Olswang and other advisers as he faced questions today (15 June) over the sale and contentious administration of the retailer. Continue reading “BHS updated: Green claims Olswang ‘knee deep’ in deal, accuses firm of covenant breach”
Pearson, the largest education company and book publisher in the world, has launched its US corporate panel review after finalising spots on its litigation roster for the region. The US changes come after Pearson finalised its UK roster in recent months with the help of Accenture. Continue reading “Pearson kicks off second US panel review after finalising litigation roster”
Global drinks brand Diageo has confirmed it will review its UK legal panel as its current roster was due to expire this month.
Continue reading “Adviser review: Drinks giant Diageo assesses UK roster”
US firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has strengthened its construction offering with the appointment of Herbert Smith Freehills’ James Bremen as its chair of the construction practice based in London.
Sullivan & Cromwell has appointed its leading M&A partner Richard Pollack as managing partner of its London office replacing Richard Morrissey who has held the role since 2011.
Continue reading “Sullivan & Cromwell makes another M&A heavyweight head of London practice”
Allen & Overy (A&O) and Slaughter and May have advised on the acquisition of British electronics company Premier Farnell by Swiss manufacturing giant Dätwyler for £615m.
Intent on driving automation throughout the business, DLA Piper has partnered with Canadian tech firm Kira Systems to launch an artificial intelligence tool for document review during M&A transactions.
Continue reading “The robots keep coming: DLA Piper makes major AI play with Kira software deal”
Despite predictions of doom and gloom around Aberdeen and its oil and gas offering, Scottish LB100 firm Shepherd and Wedderburn is bucking the trend and will re-enter the market with the recent hire of Pinsent Masons‘ John Rutherford as a consultant.
In the first marquee joint venture between a Big Four accountant and a Magic Circle law firm, Allen & Overy (A&O) has teamed up with Deloitte to create a tech-driven service to help banks handle post-Lehman regulation.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati have advised on Microsoft’s acquisition of professional social network LinkedIn for $26.2bn.
Alasdair Douglas will step down as chair of the City of London Law Society (CLLS) later this year as the legal sector moves closer to substantive reform of its representative bodies, with the government exploring making legal service regulators independent from their representative bodies. Continue reading “Douglas to step down as CLLS boss ahead of new era of legal regulation”
In its latest plea for independence, The Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) is making its case for separation from the Law Society in its response to Treasury’s call for information on its re-evaluation of the anti-money laundering (AML) supervisory regime.
Several LB100 firms have announced a range of lateral hires this week, with Osborne Clarke, Watson Farley & Williams (WFW), RPC and DAC Beachcroft all adding new partners.
