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  • June 25, 2009 |

    Global disputes: Still waiting for the train to leave

    Over the last few months, international law firms have been gearing up for the long-awaited upturn in litigation, with a string of office openings and major hires. With the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) gaining in popularity in recent years, it is no surprise that the UK capital has been at the forefront of the action, alongside other major arbitration centres like New York and Paris. There have also been moves to bulk up on dispute resolution expertise in Asia and the Middle East.

    1 minute read

  • June 4, 2009 |

    McGrigors competition chief joins Fulbright in the City

    Fulbright & Jaworski has secured its first lateral partner hire in London for more than a year, with the US firm bringing in McGrigors competition head Rod Lambert. Lambert joins the disputes practice in Fulbright's City arm.

    1 minute read

  • May 15, 2009 |

    Chadbourne duo reject Dechert Moscow switch

    Chadbourne & Parke has announced that two of the five partners expected to join Dechert in Moscow have decided to remain at the firm. Earlier this week (11 May) Dechert announced the launch of a office in the Russian capital with the hire of a five-partner team from its US rival, but Chadbourne insisted that discussions with the partners were continuing. As as result of these discussions, two of the partner quintet - Mikhail Rozenberg and Jennifer Handz - have now opted against the move, while a Chadbourne spokesman also said that three counsel - Julia Romanova, Dmitry Gubarev and Olga Koniuhova - would be staying at the firm.

    1 minute read

  • May 13, 2009 |

    Dechert's top earners agree to take pay cut

    Dechert has confirmed that the firm's 36 highest-paid partners have agreed to take a cut in their annual drawings, reports The Am Law Daily. The news follows a report that firm chairman Barton Winokur would take a $1m (£657,000) pay cut.The Philadelphia Inquirer report cited an anonymous source who said Winokur disclosed the "self-imposed" pay cut at a conference of law firm leaders he attended late last month in California.Winokur (pictured) declined to comment on the Inquirer report, but a firm spokeswoman confirmed that Winokur, along wth 36 other Dechert partners, are taking pay cuts. The spokeswoman denied that Winokur's reduction amounts to $1m.

    1 minute read

  • May 13, 2009 |

    O'Melveny litigation trio quit to join Skadden

    O'Melveny & Myers has lost the chair of its class actions practice and two other litigation partners to Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, reports the Am Law Litigation Daily. John Beisner, who has been one of the most visible of O'Melveny's partners in recent years, has joined Skadden in Washington along with with Stephen Harburg and Jessica Davidson Miller. High-profile mandates for Beisner include last year's negotiation of a multibillion-dollar settlement for Bank of America with 11 state attorney generals over troubled mortgages issued by its Countrywide unit, while in 2007, he played a leading role representing Merck in its $4.85bn (£3.2bn) Vioxx settlement.

    1 minute read

  • May 11, 2009 |

    Dechert set for Moscow with Chadbourne team hire

    Dechert has announced that it is to launch in Moscow with the hire of a five-partner team from US rival Chadbourne & Parke, despite a last-ditch effort from Chadbourne to persuade the partners to remain with the firm. The team includes the managing partner of Chadbourne's Moscow and St Petersburg offices, Laura Brank, who also heads up the firm's Russia and CIS practice.Brank is set to join Dechert along with energy partner Shane DeBeer, banking and finance partner Jennifer Handz, project finance partner Konstantin Konstantinov and litigation partner Mikhail Rozenberg.

    1 minute read

  • April 22, 2009 |

    Top firms share roles in Taylor Wimpey debt restructure deal

    A raft of City and US firms have advised as troubled house-builder Taylor Wimpey agreed £2.47bn of debt facilities. The deal, agreed earlier this month, generated roles for firms including Ashurst, Allen & Overy (A&O), Slaughter and May and Davis Polk & Wardwell as the company restructured its borrowings.

    1 minute read

  • March 26, 2009 |

    Dechert to make 125 further job cuts worldwide

    Dechert has made another round of redundancies, it has emerged, with the firm set to cut an additional 125 staff members across its international offices. The firm announced to staff today (26 March) that it was expecting to shed 63 fee earners and 62 support staff members as a result of the challenging economic conditions and the "decreased market demand for legal services worldwide". In a message sent to staff by chairman Bart Winokur, the firm said that the cuts would affect the firm's US, European and Asian offices.

    1 minute read

  • March 26, 2009 |

    US firms in City reach new high for lateral hires

    Lateral partner hiring across the top US and international firms in London has almost doubled over the last five years, according to research from Legal Week.A survey of hiring trends at 33 US and transatlantic firms with operations in the City found the group made a total of 79 lateral partner hires during 2008 - 11 more than in 2007, despite the banking crisis and the onset of the global recession.

    1 minute read

  • March 25, 2009 |

    Magic circle tag still works its magic

    The magic circle brand continues to hand a major advantage to the firms in the club despite doubts about whether the five law firms really deserve their celebrated status.According to Legal Week's latest Big Question poll, an overwhelming majority of partners believe the magic circle brand adds value to the firms given the tag. Thirty-one percent believed the magic circle brand added to the firms' value 'very much', while a further 52% said the name added 'a considerable amount'. Only 2% of the poll of 174 respondents believed it added nothing.

    1 minute read