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.
Continue reading “Clifford Chance Libor briefings privileged, High Court rules”
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.
Continue reading “Parabis enters exclusive deal with original founders for Plexus buyout”
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.
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.
Continue reading “Comment: Artificial intelligence and the law – mostly believe the hype”
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.
Continue reading “‘Not interested’: Eversheds’ lead US suitor Foley calls time on merger talks”
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.
Continue reading “SFO drops case against Slaughter and May client Olympus”
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.
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 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.
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 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.
Continue reading “Gowlings longstanding leader Jolliffe to step down prior to Wragges tie-up”
Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy (A&O) are orchestrating a tie-up between two of the City’s most storied brokers, Icap and Tullett Prebon, as the market consolidates in response to low trading volumes and tougher regulations.
Continue reading “Dealwatch: Magic Circle firms lead on major City broking merger”
US firm Goldberg Segalla has parted ways with London insurance partner Clive O’Connell after he was filmed recently delivering an anti-Liverpool rant following a match at Stamford Bridge.
Increased demand for US capital markets capability in recent times has seen King & Wood Mallesons dip into the laterals market, and appoint US securities partner Bart Capeci in London.
Continue reading “King & Wood strengthens capital markets bench with Sidley hire”
Now is the time to show how your team has positioned itself ahead of the pack this year: nominations are open for the most prestigious showcase of talent in the industry, the Legal Business Awards 2016.
Continue reading “Could it be your year? Nominations open for the Legal Business Awards 2016”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), DLA Piper and Pinsent Masons have all won key mandates on Pearson’s new legal panel, as the company’s general counsel (GC) Bjarne Tellmann praised the robust state of the UK legal market.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has been put under the spotlight for charging £2.8m in legal fees when advising HM Treasury during the £585.1m sale of the government’s 40% stake in Eurostar International Limited (Eurostar) in March this year. Continue reading “Querying the bill: Treasury ‘concerned’ over Freshfields fees on Eurostar sale”
If a good chunk of the latest issue of Legal Business is focused on technology and machines replacing lawyers, our extended focus this month on private equity is an interesting contrast. After all, what good would a supercomputer be in the clubby, driven and entrepreneurial world of leveraged buyouts?
Baker & McKenzie global litigation head Tom Cassels has become the second senior litigator to leave the firm for Linklaters in a matter of days.
It was a decision never likely to sit well with the public defence profession and so it proved.
The ongoing saga over the reduced number of criminal legal aid contracts continues as it has emerged that the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, is facing legal challenges from around 100 firms at the High Court to prevent execution of the contracts.
