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  • February 8, 2013 |

    Fifteen Hong Kong lawyers win higher rights to appear in court

    Fifteen lawyers have been granted approval to appear in Hong Kong courts with exemption from litigation training, as the region moves to broaden the scope of work law firms are permitted to handle. Some of Hong Kong's top dispute resolution partners - including top-ranked Skadden disputes partner Paul Mitchard QC and Ashurst senior associate and former barrister Sanjay Sakhrani - are among the line-up receiving Higher Rights of Audience (HRA).

    1 minute read

  • February 7, 2013 |

    MoFo and Sidley act for Chinese developer on HK$4.35bn share placing

    Morrison & Foerster and Sidley Austin have advised Chinese property developer Evergrande Real Estate on a HK$4.35bn (£368m) share placing. The placement saw the company sell one billion Evergrande shares – equivalent to around 6.7% of the company – at HK$4.35 each in a bid to raise funds. Sidley served as US and Hong Kong counsel to Evergrande, fielding a team led by the firm's head of corporate finance Huanting Timothy Li and corporate partner Constance Choy.

    1 minute read

  • February 7, 2013 |

    Freshfields, LG lead on sale of City landmark Woolgate Exchange

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Lawrence Graham (LG) have taken lead roles on the £265m sale of landmark City office site Woolgate Exchange (pictured) to a Canadian pension fund. The 351,000 sq ft property, whose tenants include US law firm Sidley Austin, has been sold to a joint venture between Ivanhoe Cambridge - the real estate arm of Canadian fund manager Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec - and US private equity house TPG.

    1 minute read

  • January 31, 2013 |

    K&L Gates set to unveil 8% London turnover hike as City rise continues

    K&L Gates saw London turnover increase by 8% in 2012 after a busy year for the US firm, with City growth coming against static revenues across the firm as a whole. Provisional figures for the firm's London office show revenues rose to £35.6m during the year, up from 2011's total of £33m, despite a slight fall in partner headcount to 60. The results mean the law firm has increased City revenues by almost 20% over the past two years, after seeing a 10% hike in the UK last year.

    1 minute read

  • January 24, 2013 |

    Links, A&O lead bank-side DCM rankings as year-on-year proceeds grow 11%

    Linklaters and Allen & Overy (A&O) have dominated Thomson Reuters' global legal rankings for bank roles on debt capital markets transactions in 2012, as the value of debt deals grew by 11.3% over the period. The data, cut off at 21 January, shows Linklaters toppling A&O from the global top spot after advising managers on 524 straight debt deals globally in the 2012 calendar year, generating proceeds of $394bn (£248bn).

    1 minute read

  • January 23, 2013 |

    Reed Smith enters coveted Houston market with local office launch

    Reed Smith has opened an office in Houston, handing it direct access to the highly prized Texan energy market. The firm said no formal appointments had so far been made, and declined to offer an official projection for growth in the coming year, but a spokesperson said it was expecting to "expand aggressively".

    1 minute read

  • January 2, 2013 |

    Sidley makes up two London lawyers in 26-strong partnership round

    Sidley Austin has become the latest US law firm to announce its annual partner promotions, with 26 lawyers across nine offices made up including two in the City. The promotions, which came into effect yesterday (1 January), include lawyers in the US firm's corporate, litigation and regulatory practices.

    1 minute read

  • November 15, 2012 |

    Law firms line up on US private equity house's £900m UK purchase

    Kirkland & Ellis, Mayer Brown, Sidley Austin and Allen & Overy (A&O) have taken roles on the £900m acquisition of UK insurance premium finance provider Premium Credit by US private equity firm GTCR. Premium Credit has been sold by Bank of America subsidiary MBNA Europe as part of a push to focus on its consumer credit card business.

    1 minute read

  • November 15, 2012 |

    Black Solicitors Network names UK's most diverse law firms

    Shoosmiths has been named as the UK's most diverse law firm for the second year running by the Black Solicitors Network (BSN) Diversity League Table. A total of 50 law firms, including 30 top 100 UK firms, took part in the research, with participants marked out of 500 in two key areas - demographics and policy and practice.

    1 minute read

  • September 26, 2012 |

    Sidley hires CC Abu Dhabi partner for City finance team

    Sidley Austin has strengthened its structured finance practice with the appointment of Clifford Chance (CC) partner Matthew Cahill to its London office. Cahill, whose practice focuses on structured finance, restructuring, securitisation and capital markets, will join Sidley at the start of November. He is moving from CC's Abu Dhabi office, where he has been based since 2011, having joined the magic circle firm in 1992, making partner in 1999

    1 minute read