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Deal Watch: Dentons & King & Spalding act on HR Owen hostile takeover bid as Freshfields and Skadden secure Asian M&A roles

While the traditional August lull in corporate work may have seen Asia relax, the giant is far from asleep and has gifted a number of transatlantic and Magic Circle firms with eye-catching international M&A deals.

Dentons led by corporate partner Jeremy Cohen is advising luxury car dealer HR Owen on the £32.5m hostile takeover bid by Malaysian billionaire Vincent Tan’s Berjaya Philippines, which HR Owen last week rejected as ‘derisory’. Continue reading “Deal Watch: Dentons & King & Spalding act on HR Owen hostile takeover bid as Freshfields and Skadden secure Asian M&A roles”

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Trainee Retention: Hogan Lovells, Travers and RPC reveal numbers

The trainee retention rates rollercoaster continues to bring with it good news and bad as today firms including Hogan Lovells, Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) and Travers Smith are on something of a high.

Top 50 UK firm Travers Smith has posted a 95% retention rate while at transatlantic firm Hogan Lovells – where out of a total of 33 trainees, 28 offers were made and 25 were accepted – the firm achieved a retention rate of 76%. Continue reading “Trainee Retention: Hogan Lovells, Travers and RPC reveal numbers”

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We’ll take that: BPP’s university status welcome news amidst challenging times for education providers

With the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) having just last month thrown down some spiky if not unexpected challenges to education providers, yesterday’s (8 August) news that BPP has been awarded university status was a welcome boost.

The decision by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) to award the university title to BPP – which provides undergraduate and graduate business degrees across the law finance and tax space and is the sole provider of the Legal Practice Course to many of the top City firms – will elevate its standing globally, Dean and Chief Executive Peter Crisp told Legal Business: ‘Firstly, it’s the recognition, the reputation and the standing it gives us worldwide, so obviously in terms of our appeal to students both in this country and internationally. It puts us on a par with other universities who also recruit onto the LLB and the vocational legal training practice. Continue reading “We’ll take that: BPP’s university status welcome news amidst challenging times for education providers”

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UK legal services regulation ‘steals a competitive march’ as Jacoby & Meyers launches European venture

Jacoby & Meyers is to establish a new joint venture in the UK as the major US consumer law firm says the UK’s external funding and ownership regulation has ‘stolen a competitive march from the other key legal jurisdictions, including the U.S’ that will see Jacoby now focus much of its growth in London.

The joint venture with City-based private equity and corporate law firm MJ Hudson – founded by heavyweight ex-Proskauer Rose London head and former SJ Berwin partner Matthew Hudson – is called Jacoby & Meyers Europe and the group is likely to seek Alternative Business Structure (ABS) status in the UK, allowing it to attract non-lawyer equity ownership and funding. Continue reading “UK legal services regulation ‘steals a competitive march’ as Jacoby & Meyers launches European venture”

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Redundancy 2013: Watson Farley latest top 40 firm to review secretarial jobs

With 2013 offering all the dubious promise of being the toughest legal labour market since 2013, Watson, Farley & Williams has become the latest top 40 firm to announce it is to review its secretarial support function in its London office.

A firm spokesperson said: ‘Secretaries in WFW’s London office were recently advised that a review of our secretarial support function will be taking place over the next five weeks, following which the team may be restructured if required.

‘This aims to ensure that we have highly skilled and specialised roles that meet the needs of our fee earners.’ Continue reading “Redundancy 2013: Watson Farley latest top 40 firm to review secretarial jobs”

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Retention round up: mixed bag as Shoosmiths, Dentons, Taylor Wessing record reduced rates

Following last week’s round of positive trainee retention rates within a mix of Magic Circle, international and regional firms; the latest batch of results has revealed a substantial reduction in the number of newly qualified lawyers offered a position at their respective firms.

It’s bad news for the junior lawyer at Shoosmiths as the national firm announced yesterday (7 July) that it will only retain 41% of NQ trainees. Out of a cohort 22, nine out of 11 trainees have so far accepted jobs while out of the remaining 13 newly qualifieds (NQs), seven have been offered jobs at other law firms, and one will return to a non-legal career. Continue reading “Retention round up: mixed bag as Shoosmiths, Dentons, Taylor Wessing record reduced rates”

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Hong Kong drive: Addleshaws makes foray into local law two months after HK launch

Addleshaw Goddard’s objective to offer capability across the major disputes and arbitration centres has been given a boost by its launch today (8 August) of a local law practice in Hong Kong through a formal tie up with a newly established local firm led by partners from Minter Ellison and DLA Piper.

The new office will be led by former head of litigation and employment at Minter Ellison, Nigel Francis, and DLA Piper corporate partner Brett Stewien, who have practiced in Hong Kong for 25 and 14 years respectively. Continue reading “Hong Kong drive: Addleshaws makes foray into local law two months after HK launch”

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Investment costs: Hill Dickinson partners vote through £2.8m cash call

It’s been a tough year for national firm Hill Dickinson. With both profit per lawyer and profit per equity partner taking a tumble of 15% – each at £33,000 and £264,000 respectively – and recent partner and staff redundancies matching others struggling in a turbulent market, the 200-year old firm has confirmed that it has issued a £2.8m cash call to partners to boost the balance sheet due to what managing partner Peter Jackson says was down to a year of heavy investment. Continue reading “Investment costs: Hill Dickinson partners vote through £2.8m cash call”

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Financial results 2013: Burness Paull (minus the Williamsons) outstrips Scottish rivals with post-merger results

In the first few months since its eye-catching merger at the beginning of December last year, Burness Paull has climbed the ranks to post revenue and profit growth that contrasts starkly with the fortunes of the traditionally elite Scottish firms in recent years.

The 57-partner firm, formed following the union of Burness in Edinburgh and Glasgow and Aberdeen’s Paull & Williamsons, recorded a turnover of £38.7m, up 59% on legacy firm Burness’ turnover last year of £24.3m. The firm has also rebranded as Burness Paull, dropping the Williamsons part of its post-merger name. Continue reading “Financial results 2013: Burness Paull (minus the Williamsons) outstrips Scottish rivals with post-merger results”

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Real estate round up: Hogan Lovells, BLP and Nabarro show credentials while Mishcons makes key hire

Unsurprisingly, what little major real estate work that is around has found its way to the usual trio of law firms – Berwin Leighton Paisner, Hogan Lovells and Nabarro. And while the usual suspects continued to do what they do best, 2012 Legal Business real estate team of the year, Mishcon de Reya, has strengthened its team with a key lateral hire.

Hogan Lovells is representing fellow international firm CMS Cameron McKenna over plans to move its entire London operation to the newly developed Cannon Place site above Cannon Street station, where it has agreed to take a 25-year lease, when it vacates its existing premises at Mitre House in 2015. The scheme is a joint venture between international real estate firm Hines and Network Rail. Continue reading “Real estate round up: Hogan Lovells, BLP and Nabarro show credentials while Mishcons makes key hire”

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Asia round-up: Bakers ushers in new Singapore head as MoFo and Taylor Wessing plot regional growth

Aside from the big Asia Pacific news this week of SJ Berwin’s tie-up with King & Wood Mallesons, other major players are expanding in the region or re-freshing their leadership teams.

Baker & McKenzie Wong & Leow, the Singapore arm of Bakers, has appointed a new managing partner. Andy Leck is to replace Edmund Leow, who has been appointed as a Judicial Commissioner in the Supreme Court of Singapore. Leow will leave the global law firm on 31 August to take on his new role. Continue reading “Asia round-up: Bakers ushers in new Singapore head as MoFo and Taylor Wessing plot regional growth”

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Vision of the future? Former eBay dispute resolution team heads to Europe

An online dispute resolution (ODR) technology business spun out of eBay is setting up in the UK after receiving a $5m investment from venture capitalists.

Silicon Valley-based Modria, which provides technical solutions for the resolution of around 60 million disputes a year, will be launching its European arm following investment led by early-stage IT venture capital firm Foundry Group. Continue reading “Vision of the future? Former eBay dispute resolution team heads to Europe”

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Deal watch: Student Loans Company invites law firm tenders for £40bn debt portfolio sale

The Government’s plan to take the Student Loans Company debt off its balance sheet has moved up a gear as firms have formally been invited to tender for the role as legal advisor in the sale of the company’s £40bn loan portfolio.

Announced last Friday (26 July), the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) has invited tenders for legal advice on the monetisation of the SLC’s loans portfolio, which at the end of the 2012/13 financial year was valued at approximately £45bn. The precise structure of the monetisation is still being considered but it is likely to be either through a sale to the private sector or a securitisation. Invited firms have until 23 August to submit their bids. Continue reading “Deal watch: Student Loans Company invites law firm tenders for £40bn debt portfolio sale”

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Bar round-up: Essex Court and Outer Temple Chambers boost their ranks

It’s been a good summer so far for Essex Court Chambers and Outer Temple Chambers, with Daniel Oudkerk QC recently moving from 11 King’s Bench Walk to Essex Court, while David Russell QC and Robin Barclay have joined Outer Temple.

Oudkerk QC took silk in 2010 and focuses on employment disputes and commercial work, having acted for the successful claimants in the landmark conspiracy and team poaching litigation Tullett Prebon v BGC, as well as for the Swiss IDB ContiCap in an Unfair Competition Act claim. Continue reading “Bar round-up: Essex Court and Outer Temple Chambers boost their ranks”

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Retention round up: UK firms score top marks on trainee job offers

Despite the wave of redundancies and poor financials of late, firms are still posting high retention rates of junior lawyers who can almost all breathe a sigh of relief this coming September. However, not every firm has been as generous this year as they were last summer – a sign that supply is still outstripping demand in many areas.

The latest is Magic Circle firm Linklaters which yesterday (31 July) announced a retention figure of 87%, equating to 47 offers (of which all were accepted) out of 54 trainees. This figure is up considerably on last summer, where the rate fell to 79%. Continue reading “Retention round up: UK firms score top marks on trainee job offers”

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Good girl gets mad: Rihanna wins t-shirt tiff against Topshop

In a case where the profile of the parties far outshone the legal substance and had many media outlets overexcited, global popstar Rihanna yesterday ( 31 July) won a High Court battle against high street retailer Topshop over the unauthorised use of her ‘brand’. The £5m case has resulted in untold lovely column inches and hopefully hefty fees for the two firms involved, Reed Smith and Mishcon de Reya.

Suing parent company Arcadia Group, the Barbadian songstress, whose real name is Robin Fenty, filed the claim after Topshop sold t-shirts with her face printed on without permission. Continue reading “Good girl gets mad: Rihanna wins t-shirt tiff against Topshop”

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Latham, Sidley and Skadden lead the US pack in Legal 500 research

Often hailed as one of the greatest US success stories of the last 25 years, new research underlines the elevated position Latham & Watkins has attained in the world’s largest legal market.

The Legal 500 United States 2013 edition shows Latham as the highest ranked law firm judged by the total number of recommendations, putting the Los Angeles-bred giant ahead of a string of top Wall Street firms.

The 600-partner firm received recommendations in 55 practice areas. Recommendations are calculated by the research team of The Legal 500 based on client and peer feedback and the submissions of the firms themselves, and take into account multiple factors including track record in winning cases, the complexity of deals and innovation. Latham received 20 top-tier recommendations, including listings in areas such as capital markets (equity offerings and high-yield debt offerings), project finance (lenders and sponsors), energy (renewable and transactions) and telecoms and broadcast (regulatory and transactional).

Continue reading “Latham, Sidley and Skadden lead the US pack in Legal 500 research”

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What’s in a name? SJ Berwin and King & Wood Mallesons seal union

Forming a ground-breaking union between a leading City firm and an Asia powerhouse, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) partners confirmed this morning (31 July) that the Hong Kong-headquartered firm would merge with the UK’s SJ Berwin.

KWM partners in Australia and China voted simultaneously in favour of the merger at 1pm Hong Kong time and 3pm Sydney time in person, while SJ Berwin partners have voted electronically over the last five days. The merger will go live on 1 November, creating a firm with combined revenues over $1bn and 2,223 lawyers, including 553 partners.

KWM operates three separate partnerships in China, Hong Kong and Australia and although the Chinese partnership was given a longer time to consider the deal, all votes were in by today’s deadline. Continue reading “What’s in a name? SJ Berwin and King & Wood Mallesons seal union”

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Deal watch: Latham and Wachtell lead on largest public deal of the year

In what remains a gloomy cross-border deal market, US leaders Latham & Watkins and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz have secured lead roles on the largest public merger of the year so far – the tie-up of Omnicom and Publicis Groupe. The Franco-US union creates a company with a combined market capitalisation of €26.5bn, forging the largest advertising group in the world. The combined company, which will be listed in New York and Paris, will have more than 130,000 staff.

The deal is likely to attract the attention of antitrust regulators in the US and Europe, uniting the second and third largest advertising groups in the world to overtake the UK-based WPP. Continue reading “Deal watch: Latham and Wachtell lead on largest public deal of the year”

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Redundancy watch: DWF, Hill Dickinson and Taylor Wessing all confirm job cuts

The stream of UK law firm job cuts continues apace as DWF, Hill Dickinson and Taylor Wessing have today (30 July) confirmed that recent redundancy consultations have resulted multiple job losses.

DWF, having completed five mergers in less than 18 months and with a remarkable 84% increase in turnover to £188m, has become one of the most closely watched national practices in the legal market of late. The expansion has led to some significant streamlining of the business however and the firm has confirmed to Legal Business it has cut 38 staff from its ranks following redundancy consultations that began in May. Continue reading “Redundancy watch: DWF, Hill Dickinson and Taylor Wessing all confirm job cuts”