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More lateral hires as Katten Muchin and K&L Gates boost international corporate practices

US firms Katten Muchin Rosenman and K&L Gates have strengthened their international corporate practices this month through lateral hires from rival Global 100 firms.

Hogan Lovells’ private equity partner Philip Watkins has quit the firm to join US firm’s Katten Muchin’s London office.

He joined Katten Muchin Rosenman at the beginning of the year, along with two associates who will join the Chicago-headquartered firm’s London base next month. Watkins joined legacy firm Hogan & Hartson’s City corporate practice in November 2008.

Continue reading “More lateral hires as Katten Muchin and K&L Gates boost international corporate practices”

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Damned statistics: BLP and Ashurst report higher trainee retention rates from smaller intakes

Firms have kick-started the year reporting high trainee retention rates with Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Ashurst retaining the vast majority of their newly qualified (NQ) trainees, although total intake numbers at the firms were noticeably lower than last time around.

BLP confirmed 89% of its spring 2014 qualifiers will remain at the firm, rising slightly from 86% of the autumn 2013 qualifiers, but maintaining its recovery from its March 2013 results when the firm offered positions to just 64% of trainees or 14 from a total of 22.

Continue reading “Damned statistics: BLP and Ashurst report higher trainee retention rates from smaller intakes”

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More in-fighting as Law Society contests SRA’s attempts to gain greater fining powers

Further cracks in The Law Society’s already strained relationship with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) have emerged this week as the representative body prepares to contest its regulatory arm’s attempt to increase its fining powers over law firms.

In a consultation which ends next month, the SRA has invited views on its proposal to increase the current level of fining powers over City and regional law firms to as much as £100,000. However, the Law Society has said it has ‘concerns over the functioning of the enforcement team within the SRA’. Continue reading “More in-fighting as Law Society contests SRA’s attempts to gain greater fining powers”

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Former Stewarts Law pair to return to SDT after High Court upholds one finding of dishonesty

Former Stewarts Law partner Andrew Shaw has failed to entirely clear his name in the High Court, which has ordered that the struck-off solicitor return to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) to argue over whether one finding of dishonesty against him means he should be re-struck off the solicitors Roll.

Litigator Shaw and associate Craig Turnbull were both struck off by the SDT in February last year, after a private application alleged they misled the court when securing a freezing injunction against businessman Geoffrey Logue.

The case dates back to April 2010, when Shaw obtained a freezing order against Logue for US company The Complete Retreats Liquidating Trust.

The SDT found that the pair’s failure to give full and frank disclosure that the application was funded by a property tycoon with whom Logue was in dispute was dishonest. Continue reading “Former Stewarts Law pair to return to SDT after High Court upholds one finding of dishonesty”

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Hogan Lovells expands Latin America footprint with hire of CC partner in Brazil

Hogan Lovells has expanded its Latin America offering with the launch of its second office in Brazil, with the hire of former Clifford Chance partner Isabel Costa Carvalho.

Its new São Paulo office will operate as a foreign legal consultancy offering services to local and international companies and banks after the Brazilian Bar Association awarded the firm a license to practise in the region in July 2013.

Capital markets partner Costa Carvalho will lead the new team and focus on bolstering the firm’s Latin America-based equity capital markets, corporate and international debt capital markets practices as well as its New York, Washington and London based capital offering focused on Latin America. Continue reading “Hogan Lovells expands Latin America footprint with hire of CC partner in Brazil”

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New year hiring spree continues as Weil Gotshal and Norton Rose recruit from rivals

Top-20 Global 100 firms Norton Rose Fulbright and Weil, Gotshal & Manges have made significant and experienced additions to their London offices today (15 January), from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Hogan Lovells respectively.

Weil Gotshal has taken on Hogan Lovells partner Chris McLaughlin to join its banking and finance practice in London.

McLaughlin has extensive experience acting for banks and borrowers on the financing of cross-border private equity buyouts as well as European real estate acquisitions and restructurings.

Continue reading “New year hiring spree continues as Weil Gotshal and Norton Rose recruit from rivals”

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LLP latest: Penningtons and Addleshaws both see highest-paid member drawings fall during last financial year

Penningtons Manches is the latest top-100 UK firm to file its limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts for 2012/13, which in keeping with a host of leading City firms, reveal that its highest paid member took more than a £52,000 cut, taking home £286,642 compared with £338,759 in 2012.

The firm posted a turnover figure of £32.1m, down very slightly from £32.3m in 2012, with the firm’s profits more or less flat at £11.53m compared to £11.50m.

Long-term loans at the firm, which acquired Manches from administrators PwC in October 2013, increased from £3.7m to £7.7m.

Continue reading “LLP latest: Penningtons and Addleshaws both see highest-paid member drawings fall during last financial year”

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In-house: RFU rejigs legal team as deputy head joins sports firm Couchmans

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has reconfigured its in-house legal team recently, promoting in-house lawyer Angus Bujalski (pictured) to lead its legal team following the recent departure of deputy head of legal Polly Handford to become a partner at sports law firm Couchmans.

The RFU has now appointed former Slaughter and May lawyer Bujalski as head of legal, who will report directly to the organisation’s legal and governance director Karena Vleck. While Vleck has oversight of legal as well as other sports-related areas such as player discipline and child safeguarding, Bujalski will have specific responsibility for the legal function. Continue reading “In-house: RFU rejigs legal team as deputy head joins sports firm Couchmans”

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$100bn of M&A deals announced as Global 100 firms advise on Suntory, Time Warner and Amec bids

Last year’s growth in confidence in the corporate sector together with fundraising activity among a number of large private equity houses has culminated in deals totaling almost $100bn being announced yesterday (13 January), with one of the largest being Japanese investment firm Suntory’s $16bn offer for Beam, throwing up heavyweight roles for Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Sidley Austin.

Continue reading “$100bn of M&A deals announced as Global 100 firms advise on Suntory, Time Warner and Amec bids”

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LLP latest: Shoosmiths, Morgan Cole and MMS see significant drop in highest paid partner as Charles Russell’s takes home 64% more

The latest round of LLP accounts for 2012/13 has revealed that Shoosmiths paid £1.5m to acquire Scottish firm Archibald Campbell & Harley, while Morgan Cole’s highest paid partner took home £116,000 less, Maclay Murray & Spens reduced their borrowing despite a tough year and Charles Russell’s highest paid equity partner took home £234,000 more.

On merging with Archibald Campbell in October 2012, Shoosmiths acquired £1.77m of net assets, £1.47m of which was paid as a cash consideration, the UK top 45 firm’s first-ever LLP accounts show. The remaining £300,000 was collected by the end of the financial year. Continue reading “LLP latest: Shoosmiths, Morgan Cole and MMS see significant drop in highest paid partner as Charles Russell’s takes home 64% more”

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Hogan Lovells and Olswang strengthen TMT practices with hire of team heads in Hong Kong and Germany

As Hong Kong becomes gateway to the world’s biggest trader in goods after China overtook the US for the first time in 2013, the region continues to see high profile lateral moves, most recently from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to Hogan Lovells, which has hired the Magic Circle firm’s regional head of intellectual property (IP), IT and technology media and telecoms (TMT), Mark Parsons.

In his new role, Parsons will focus on complex commercial transactions and regulatory matters in the TMT sector and is expected to join his new 2,527-lawyer firm at the end of January 2014.

Continue reading “Hogan Lovells and Olswang strengthen TMT practices with hire of team heads in Hong Kong and Germany”

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Dentons hires high profile energy partner Charles July and Eversheds’ banking partner Michael Wainwright

Increased optimism within the business sector at the start of 2014 is being reflected in a flurry of lateral hires as high profile energy partner Charles July joins Dentons as a partner in the energy, infrastructure and project finance City practice.

July joins from Watson, Farley & Williams, where he was head of the firm’s projects, commodities and export finance group in London. He joined the firm as a partner in May 2010, before which he was at Magic Circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for 28 years, latterly heading the energy and infrastructure group for the Middle East and North Africa region. He also led the firm’s Abu Dhabi launch in 2008, and was former head of the firm’s Asia project finance practice as well as Singapore office head between 1992 and 1998. Continue reading “Dentons hires high profile energy partner Charles July and Eversheds’ banking partner Michael Wainwright”

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Guest post: See Talent. Feed It.

Turnabout.

I recently wrote about how to demoralize, discourage, and disenchant top talent. This is about how to retain that talent. Like the prior column, this one is based on one of the top columns of the year from Strategy + Business, the Booz & Co. publication: ‘Retaining Top Talent: Yes, It Really Is All About Them.’

Prefatory clarification: What follows isn’t addressed to your inner circle of key leaders, or to the Super Rainmakers, all of whom you presumably know intimately, and with whom you talk about what follows all the time, in ways tailored to each individual. Rather, what follows is addressed to how you deal with all the talent that’s not at the tippy-top of your firm already. Continue reading “Guest post: See Talent. Feed It.”

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Asia-Pacific: Clifford Chance unveils new Indonesia association as K&L Gates goes big in Japan

With only Asia showing any real growth in M&A work for law firms during 2013, it is unsurprising that major international players are focusing their expansion plans in the region. Clifford Chance today (10 January) announced a formal association with Indonesian firm Linda Widyati & Partners (LWP), while K&L Gates has bulked up its Tokyo office with the addition of real estate and disputes partners. Earlier in the week, Duane Morris announced a new office in Shanghai.

LWP is a boutique firm, established by Linda Widyati and Dezi Kirana who have over 20 years’ experience in the core areas of focus for Clifford Chance: corporate/M&A, banking and finance and capital markets.

Continue reading “Asia-Pacific: Clifford Chance unveils new Indonesia association as K&L Gates goes big in Japan”

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Dealwatch: HSF, Clifford Chance and Slaughters take the spotlight in Cineworld expansion

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has landed a role advising Barclays, JP Morgan and Investec on Cineworld Group‘s £107m rights issue and £504m acquisition of Warsaw-listed Cinema City International, a deal announced yesterday (09 January) that would create a cinema chain with almost 2,000 screens across Europe and Israel. Corporate partners Mike Flockhart and Chris Haynes are leading the team, with US securities advice from Steve Thierbach.

Slaughter and May is advising Cineworld, with corporate partners Mark Zerdin and David Johnson taking the lead. Continue reading “Dealwatch: HSF, Clifford Chance and Slaughters take the spotlight in Cineworld expansion”

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Real estate round-up: Clifford Chance, Taylor Wessing and Burges Salmon start New Year on front foot

Clifford Chance (CC), Taylor Wessing and Burges Salmon have emerged as the pace setters for real estate work in the first few days of 2014, with each having completed significant UK commercial property deals recently.

Clifford Chance advised GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, on both the purchase of a 50% interest in the Broadgate Estate from Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe III and Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI and GIC’s 50:50 joint venture with British Land to ‘enable the future development of the estate,’ according to the firm.

Continue reading “Real estate round-up: Clifford Chance, Taylor Wessing and Burges Salmon start New Year on front foot”

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Strategic recruitment: A&O hires employment team in Paris

Allen & Overy (A&O) has underlined the importance of its global employment practice with a significant hire in France, recruiting highly regarded partner Claire Toumieux to head its employment and benefits department in Paris.

Toumieux joins from 18-partner, top-tier local employment firm Flichy Grangé Avocats where she was a partner, along with a team of three associates – Susan Ekrami, Alexandre Couvreur and Alexandre Orts. A recommended partner in The Legal 500 EMEA, Toumieux has experience of representing both listed and unlisted corporate groups and investment funds through mergers and acquisitions, collective bargaining agreements and reorganisations.

Continue reading “Strategic recruitment: A&O hires employment team in Paris”

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Corporate: Freshfields makes Paris M&A lateral hire as 2013 M&A adviser tables do little to instil confidence

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has become the second elite global firm to make a high-profile corporate lateral hire this week, as the latest M&A deal tables released today (9 January) show European and global transaction levels fell again in 2013.

The Magic Circle firm has strengthened its international capital markets, M&A and corporate advisory offering in Paris with the hire of partner Olivier Rogivue from leading French practice Bredin Prat.

Rogivue has been a partner for at Bredin Prat for the last six years before which he worked at Slaughter and May’s Paris and London offices for 11 years, giving him extensive experience of advising large industrial clients in France on international transactions.

Continue reading “Corporate: Freshfields makes Paris M&A lateral hire as 2013 M&A adviser tables do little to instil confidence”

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Herbert Smith Freehills announces hire of Maitland Chambers Tom Leech QC as Murray Rosen QC retires

Herbert Smith Freehills has today (9 January) announced the hire of Tom Leech QC, who has left Maitland Chambers to join the top 10 LB100 firm as a partner in its advocacy group in London.

Having joined the Bar in 1988 and taken silk in 2010, Leech has spent his entire career at Maitland Chambers. He is experienced in commercial litigation, professional negligence, company and property litigation, as well as offshore jurisdictions, while his portfolio includes high profile cases in the High Court, Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.

Continue reading “Herbert Smith Freehills announces hire of Maitland Chambers Tom Leech QC as Murray Rosen QC retires”

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Board level appointment for incoming Tui general counsel

Leading European travel group Tui AG has become the latest major corporate to announce a board level legal appointment as former Clifford Chance (CC) lawyer and Demag Cranes head of legal Hilka Schneider joins as general counsel (GC).

Schneider, who in 2008 took over as head of the legal department at Demag and in 2011 saw the company through its $1.4bn hostile takeover by New York Stock Exchange-listed heavy equipment manufacturer Terex, will join the management board of TUI and will assume responsibility for group legal affairs, governance, risk and compliance.

German-headquartered Tui’s three business sectors are TUI Travel; TUI Hotels & Resorts; and Cruises, with its 2011/12 group turnover standing at €18.3bn.

As of mid-2014 Schneider, a corporate lawyer who started her legal career at CC in 2000 before joining DAX-listed Deutsche Post DHL in 2005, will also head the executive board office of the company. Continue reading “Board level appointment for incoming Tui general counsel”