US firms Ropes & Gray and Weil Gotshal & Manges have won roles advising buyout group Bain Capital on its $2.1bn acquisition of leading fuel systems supplier TI Automotive.
Asia: DLA Piper builds up its Singapore office while Milbank and Sidley expand in China
DLA Piper, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy and Sidley Austin have all completed partner raids on rivals in Asia as they seek to expand their presence in the region.
Financials 2013/14: Wragges last accounts show rise in profit as number of staff falls
Wragge & Co’s last limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts before it merged with Lawrence Graham show that profit before remuneration grew by 8%, climbing from £39.5m to £42.6m as the number of staff employed fell by 106.
Financials 2013/14: Freshfields’ profits continue to grow as headcount expands
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has become the third Magic Circle firm to release its 2013/14 limited liability partnership (LLP) filings with Companies House, showing the firm’s profits increasing, ‘before the movement in the provision of partner annuities’, by 7% to £528m off the back of £1.28bn in revenues.
Continue reading “Financials 2013/14: Freshfields’ profits continue to grow as headcount expands”
‘Designed in the 19th century’: Leveson calls for court system reforms
Lord Justice Leveson has called for reforms to streamline the justice system in England and Wales for greater efficiency.
Continue reading “‘Designed in the 19th century’: Leveson calls for court system reforms”
A €7.4bn enterprise value: Ropes & Gray and Lathams advise on Altice purchase
US firms Ropes & Gray and Latham & Watkins won roles advising on telecommunications group Altice’s purchase of Portuguese telecoms rival Oi’s assets worth €7.4bn on a cash and debt-free free basis.
Continue reading “A €7.4bn enterprise value: Ropes & Gray and Lathams advise on Altice purchase”
Dealwatch: Linklaters, Davis Polk, and De Brauw act on Vision Express owner’s €1bn IPO
US heavyweight Davis Polk & Wardwell, Dutch firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Magic Circle firm Linklaters have all scored roles advising on the €1bn Dutch IPO of Grand Vision, the world’s biggest opticians and owner of Vision Express.
Trainee retention: White & Case keeps on 100% of Spring 2015 trainees as OC retains 89%
White & Case and Osborne Clarke (OC) are the latest firms to reveal trainee retention rates this month, keeping on 100% and 89% respectively.
A public inquiry: Fieldfisher’s Smith serves as lead counsel as Litvinenko inquiry starts
A public inquiry into the London death of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko has opened at the High Court this morning (27 January), with Fieldfisher partner Martin Smith serving as lead solicitor.
Revolving doors: Clydes, Quinn Emanuel and Gibson Dunn make key hires
Last week saw Clyde & Co expand its transportation finance practice in the City, while Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan expands its litigation offering in Houston, and peer group firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher expanded its M&A offering in Singapore.
Continue reading “Revolving doors: Clydes, Quinn Emanuel and Gibson Dunn make key hires”
Early stages: Clifford Chance kicks off lockstep review
Clifford Chance has started a review of its remuneration system at management level, a move which could see the firm deploy a more flexible lockstep to retain star partners.
Continue reading “Early stages: Clifford Chance kicks off lockstep review”
Feuding brothers: Leading Indian firm Amarchand splits after failing to settle ownership battle
India’s largest law firm Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co has agreed to split the 600-lawyer firm after months of legal wrangling over unequal equity shares.
A €3.5bn arbitration: Shearman, Bakers and White & Case land roles on Finnish nuclear dispute
Finnish power producer TVO and construction consortium Areva-Siemens have gone to London’s International Dispute Resolution Centre (IDRC) in a bid to settle the ongoing €3.5bn Finnish nuclear arbitration over construction delays to the 1.6gw Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant.
What’s in a name? Companies House found liable in £8.8m negligence spelling mistake case
Companies House has today (26 January) lost a major argument at the High Court after a Cardiff businessman argued a blunder over a single letter on a document caused his 124-year old business Taylor and Sons’ to go into administration.
‘A statement of intent’: Can Layton’s strategy reinvigorate Clifford Chance?
Nearly three decades have passed since the game changing union of Coward Chance and Clifford Turner – a watershed moment in the evolution of global law famously executed by figureheads, Sir Max Williams and Geoffrey Howe. This week the firm’s managing partner Matthew Layton unveiled a strategy which will attempt to revive that audacious vision of brilliantly commercial partners and perhaps, a renewed breeding ground for imaginative thinkers.
Continue reading “‘A statement of intent’: Can Layton’s strategy reinvigorate Clifford Chance?”
Targeting the UK: Slater & Gordon in talks with Quindell over division purchase
Alternative Business Structure (ABS) Quindell has entered negotiations to sell one of its operating divisions to Australian law firm Slater & Gordon.
Continue reading “Targeting the UK: Slater & Gordon in talks with Quindell over division purchase”
Mounting departures: Barclays’ global head of financial crime steps down
Days after Barclays global general counsel (GC) of corporate and investment banking Judith Shepherd announced that she will be stepping down in the first half of this year, Barclays global head of the financial crime legal team Jonathan Peddie has quit the banking giant after nine years.
Continue reading “Mounting departures: Barclays’ global head of financial crime steps down”
Team check-up: Co-op group reorganises legal team and starts panel assessment
The Co-operative Group‘s general counsel Alistair Asher and head of legal Jim Tully are to lead an assessment into the British consumer group’s panel firms as the group’s legal team undergoes a reorganisation.
Continue reading “Team check-up: Co-op group reorganises legal team and starts panel assessment”
6,600 lawyers: Dentons set to combine with China’s largest law firm Dacheng
Dentons is set to create the biggest law firm in the world by lawyer headcount through a combination with leading Chinese firm Dacheng, a move that will establish a 6,600-lawyer giant operating under a Swiss verein structure.
Continue reading “6,600 lawyers: Dentons set to combine with China’s largest law firm Dacheng”
Clashing titans: Taylor Wessing acts as MetLife sues A&O client JP Morgan for $107m
Two giants of the US financial services market, insurer Metlife and investment bank JP Morgan, have begun a legal battle in the UK High Court over a $107m sum the insurance firm says it is owed after ‘breaches of contract’.