Private equity heavyweights Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Latham & Watkins have acted on the spin-off of Barclays’ natural resources private equity arm through a management buyout.
‘Supporting strategic expansion’: Wilberforce takes barrister duo from 3 Stone Buildings
Wilberforce Chambers continues to expand, adding Fenner Moeran QC and Andrew Child from 3 Stone Buildings, just weeks after bringing three silks and five junior barristers from soon-to-dissolve London commercial and chancery set 11 Stone Buildings (11SB).
Forsters faced with £70m negligence lawsuit over Siberian oil deal
Forsters is defending a £70m professional negligence claim filed by businessman Rupert Galliers-Pratt in which he alleges the firm failed to execute a deal for three oil blocks in Russia.
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Hausfeld to open Berlin office with €30m investment from litigation funder Burford
Third party litigation funder Burford Capital is investing €30m in US competition law boutique Hausfeld so it can open in Germany.
RBS dispute: Mishcon de Reya instructed as Lloyds Bank claimants break away from shareholder group
Several Lloyds Banking Group institutional clients have instructed Mishcon de Reya after breaking away from the shareholder action group involved in a multi-billion pound court battle against the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
Linklaters makes first US lateral hire in two years with Baker’s New York litigation chief
Linklaters has made a statement of intent in New York by hiring Baker & McKenzie’s Manhattan litigation head Douglas Tween, its first lateral hire in the US in almost two years.
Pro bono, confusion and funding gaps – mixed messages as Gove meets City firms to discuss a law firm levy
Was it a progressive discussion about boosting pro bono and One Nation values, or an opportunistic attempt to tap the commercial legal profession to fill a funding gap? Or both?
That remains unclear to many of the participants in a packed meeting on Monday (26 October) morning at Clifford Chance’s (CC) Canary Wharf offices between justice secretary Michael Gove (pictured) and a group of leading commercial law firms amid plans floated by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to impose some form of levy on City law firms to fund the courts.
Guest post: Why law firms need to be good at what they’re for
I’m currently preparing a webinar on getting and using feedback. It’s not a new subject – either to you or to me. Yet something suddenly struck me; something that is obviously true, but is normally lost in the torrent of data that feedback can produce.
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Tale of two strategies: Cleary Gottlieb passes on London again as White & Case promotes heavily in the City
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has made up seven partners across its global network with London missing out for the second year in a row. Of its seven new partners globally, Cleary Gottlieb made up six in the US.
KPMG appoints Boston Consulting’s Barton as GC replacement for Sharp
Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) Jeremy Barton has been appointed the new UK general counsel (GC) at KPMG following the departure of longstanding GC Vanessa Sharp in May.
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Middle East moves: Herbert Smith Freehills to reopen in Saudi Arabia
Four months after shutting down its Abu Dhabi office and two years after terminating its association with a Saudi Arabian firm, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is returning to Riyadh.
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Revolving doors: King & Wood Mallesons, Ropes & Gray, Trethowans make strategic hires
On the move this week are partners from Clifford Chance, Weil Gotshal & Manges and Trethowans, who are joining King & Wood Mallesons, Ropes & Gray and Trethowans respectively.
Herbert Smith counters Thierbach loss with King & Spalding hire
Just over a month since news broke that its high-profile capital markets head Steve Thierbach was leaving, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has appointed King & Spalding’s Tom O’Neill to head its US securities practice.
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Heir to the throne: deputy head Booth to succeed King as Crown Estate GC
The Crown Estate has today (26 October) announced its head of legal Rob Booth, will succeed high-profile director of business operations and general counsel Vivienne King in the role as the business undergoes a restructure.
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Freshfields to double office space in Manchester as low-cost services site in Salford confirmed
Having taken its first step toward offering alternative legal services to clients earlier this year, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has selected a long-term base for its low-cost services hub in Manchester, double the size of its current office.
Clyde & Co continues arbitration push with Berwin Leighton Paisner hire
Clyde & Co has hired Berwin Leighton Paisner’s co-head of arbitration and energy specialist Richard Power as it continues to develop its global arbitration group.
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So much for the Global Law Summit – Gove floats £60m-plus tax on City law firms to fund criminal courts
New Justice secretary Michael Gove is set for a tussle with City lawyers after floating a plan to impose a multi-million pound tax on commercial law firms to pay for the abolition of a controversial criminal court charge on guilty defendants.
Hogan Lovells wins landmark judgment in Ablyazov Supreme Court fraud case
Hogan Lovells has won a landmark judgment for its client BTA Bank in one of the largest fraud trials ever to come before the English Courts.
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Value added: report rebuffs presumptions about judicial review
While UK Prime Minister David Cameron has led a recent attack over judicial review decisions and the cost of the process, a new report has found that restrictions to legal aid have harmed the process, judicial review itself has led to improved services by public bodies and clarified the law in 86% of cases.
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Macfarlanes taps Ashurst for another real estate hire
With Macfarlanes having a made a virtue of broadening its service lines post-recession to contribute to its impressive financial performance in the last five years, it has expanded its real estate practice further with the hire of Ashurst real estate partner Gerald Kelly – its fourth real estate lateral from Ashurst in as many years.
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