Linklaters and Slaughter and May have landed major roles advising on the government’s record-breaking £13bn sale of former Northern Rock mortgages acquired during the financial crisis.
City firms called on as SFO launches Euribor prosecution against Deutsche Bank and Barclays staff
K&L Gates, Stephenson Harwood, Herbert Smith Freehills are among the City law firms instructed as the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) today (13 November) issued the first criminal proceedings against ten former employees of Deutsche Bank and Barclays accused of manipulating the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor).
Business as usual: WLG’s Andrew Witts wins contested election for chair
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co (WLG) chairman Andrew Witts has been re-elected to serve as chairman for a further four years, after serving an initial two-year term after the merger between Wragges and Lawrence Graham (LG).
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Middle East moves: Latham loses partner trio to Hogan Lovells in Dubai
Three of the nine partners in Latham & Watkins’ Dubai office have resigned, just months after the US firm announced plans to scale back in the Middle East by shutting down its offices in Abu Dhabi and Doha in March.
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Former Withers client awarded extra £375k professional negligence damages by Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal has awarded a further £375k in damages against Withers while dismissing the firm’s appeal of the case brought by former client Wellesley Partners (WP).
Comment: In-house counsel: more to do and happy about it
There are familiar themes and a few mixed messages from this year’s in-house lawyer survey but one obvious point to take away: employed counsel like the day job. A lot.
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‘A watershed moment for enforcement’ – Cleary’s Gadhia sizes up class action competition reforms
We have begun a journey into the unknown. The new collective action regime for competition litigation, which came into effect on 1 October, has set the market abuzz with speculation. For example, in the wake of the recent benchmark manipulation scandals, what impact will the new regime have for banks?
DLA strikes groundbreaking deal to offer contract lawyering via LOD
In a pioneering nod towards calls for the modern legal profession to be more collaborative, DLA Piper has struck a highly unusual deal to provide contract services to its clients via Lawyers On Demand (LOD).
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Slaughters parachutes in to defend Rolls-Royce in SFO probe
Rolls-Royce has hired Slaughter and May to lead its defence as it faces an SFO probe into alleged bribes paid in Asia.
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Clifford Chance Libor briefings privileged, High Court rules
Documents drawn up by Clifford Chance for a special RBS committee dealing with the Libor scandal are protected by legal privilege, the High Court has ruled, holding that lawyers must be able to give their client candid factual briefings as well as legal advice secure in the knowledge it will not be disclosed without client consent.
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Parabis enters exclusive deal with original founders for Plexus buyout
The Parabis Group has confirmed the sale of its defendant personal injury firm Plexus Law to a consortium of private individuals, including the group’s original founders, Andrew McDougall and Tim Roberts.
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Guest post: More questions than answers – the strange case of former Chief Legal Ombudsman Sampson
The first, and most important, thing to remind everyone before I dissect the events of the last few weeks is that there is still no stain on the character of former Chief Legal Ombudsman Adam Sampson.
Comment: Artificial intelligence and the law – mostly believe the hype
It’s a rarity for the great pre-occupations of our age to intersect so closely with that of the legal profession but artificial intelligence (AI) and the prospect of increasingly capable machines taking on swathes of work handled by people is a startling exception.
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‘Not interested’: Eversheds’ lead US suitor Foley calls time on merger talks
Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner has ended merger discussions with Eversheds, just over a week after reports Eversheds had identified the US firm as the primary candidate for a tie-up.
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SFO drops case against Slaughter and May client Olympus
The UK Serious Fraud Office has dropped its case against Slaughter and May client Olympus two years after charging the Japanese photo company with making false and misleading financial statements.
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H1 2015/16: ‘All signs are looking positive’ – Fieldfisher posts first half revenues up 8%
Fieldfisher has banked £58.4m for the first six months of the 2015/16 financial year, an 8% rise on last year, which saw UK firms stoke optimism of the domestic market.
Revolving doors: It’s one in, two out at Clyde & Co while DWF boosts practice in Dubai
Clyde & Co has appointed Mark Sutton as a senior equity partner in its professional financial disputes group. Sutton joined from national firm DAC Beachcroft where he was head of its global directors & officers and financial institutions group.
Linklaters gets the client vote as annual GC poll shows elite firms tightening their grip
Linklaters has again been awarded top marks as an external adviser in Legal Business‘ fourth annual in-house survey, emerging as the clear overall favourite for both quality of advice on high-profile, strategic matters, as well as ranking first overall for value for money.
Dealwatch: Davis Polk and Simpson Thacher lead as AstraZeneca takes over ZS Pharma for $2.7bn
Wall Street leaders Davis Polk & Wardell and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett are lead advisers on Anglo-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca’s $2.7bn acquisition of California-based biopharmaceutical company ZS Pharma. Continue reading “Dealwatch: Davis Polk and Simpson Thacher lead as AstraZeneca takes over ZS Pharma for $2.7bn”
Gowlings longstanding leader Jolliffe to step down prior to Wragges tie-up
Gowlings joint managing partner Peter Lukasiewicz will be the next chief executive officer (CEO) and chair of Gowlings, as long-term leader Scott Jolliffe prepares to step down from both posts after almost eight years.
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