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  • November 5, 2008 |

    Analysis: Pulling it together

    DLA Piper has always been a firm in a hurry. In the mid-1980s Nigel Knowles, now co-chief executive of the firm, was busy earning his management stripes running Dibb Lupton Broomhead's office in Doncaster.Since then, Knowles - who became managing partner of the firm in 1996 - has been gambling DLA Piper's future on an unrelenting diet of growth and international expansion. First, a merger with Alsop Wilkinson (the firm that put the 'A' in DLA) delivered greater critical mass in London. Then came expansion in Europe, first through an alliance with local practices and later by opening DLA's own offices.

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  • November 5, 2008 |

    Novel approach

    The Diary's much-acclaimed Literature Corner returns this week - for one week only - with the news that former Dechert and Conyers Dill & Pearman marketing aficionado Deborah Middleton has written her first crime novel. Having not actually read it, your correspondent would not be able to comment on whether the novel is more akin to the next Patricia Cornwell potboiler than a dodgy offshore law firm press release, but we'll leave you with this excerpt from the oddly-named 'Square Snapper' to help you decide:

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  • November 3, 2008 |

    Dechert signs up partner trio for Hong Kong arm

    Dechert has completed the hire of a trio of partners, recruiting a further lawyer from the now-defunct Heller Ehrman as well as two laterals from Fried Frank Shriver & Jacobson in Hong Kong. Ex-Heller partner David Chu joins Dechert's white-collar and securities litigation group today (3 November), while the firm has also added Fried Frank corporate and securities partners Michael Hickman and Liang Tsui.Hickman advises financial institutions on China-related transactions including M&A, direct investments, restructuring and capital markets. Tsui advises clients including private equity firms and investment banks on private M&A, private equity and foreign direct investments, while Chu's practice focuses on internal and government investigations.

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  • October 31, 2008 |

    Dechert secures trophy hire of Heller chairman

    Dechert has sealed the high-profile hire of Matthew Larrabee, the chairman of dissolved US firm Heller Ehrman. Larrabee, who joins Dechert as a partner in the firm's San Francisco office, had chaired Heller for three years since taking over from insurance partner Barry Levin in March 2005.Larrabee said he was drawn to Dechert's litigation practice, commenting: "Dechert's litigation practice is recognised as one of the best in the country. I have had the privilege of knowing and working with many of Dechert's trial lawyers and I feel fortunate to be joining such an outstanding team."

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  • October 23, 2008 |

    Dechert combats bloggers to deny stealth layoffs

    Dechert has strongly refuted repeated claims in the legal blogosphere that the firm has made a significant number of associate layoffs. Posters on the legal blog Above the Law have claimed that the top 25 US law firm has laid off between 13 and 80 associates since March of this year.Dechert chairman Barton Winokur (pictured) has denied these claims, saying the number of associates who have left the firm for any reason in the first nine months of the year was lower than in the same period in 2007.

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  • October 22, 2008 |

    Cost-cutting corners

    Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe partners are slumming it these days. Practice group retreats? Not this year. Flights to meetings? Try video conferencing. If you need to fly, go by yourself.Small things, says Orrick chairman Ralph Baxter. But he says the savings aren't meaningless - Orrick is saving "tens of millions of dollars" through small changes like that. "In the long term, these are expenses that are necessary, but in the short term we can postpone or reduce them," Baxter says.

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  • October 22, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 22/10/08...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; the pick of the day's posts; and more

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  • October 9, 2008 |

    Expansive Ashurst beefs up its City real estate practice with senior planning recruit from BLP

    Ashurst has doubled the partner count in its City planning team with the hire of a partner from Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP). The top 10 City firm has appointed Trevor Goode as a partner in its planning and public sector group, where he will act alongside department head Anthony Curnow. Goode, who specialises in planning, development and urban regeneration, is expected to join Ashurst in early November although final details are still being confirmed. He has key relationships with high-profile clients including Grosvenor and Tesco and he has recently advised on matters including the planning and compulsory purchase orders and subsequent land acquisition relating to the Liverpool One development.Goode's hire takes Ashurst's City planning team to two partners and nine associates, with further expansion of both the planning team and the broader real estate group expected.Ashurst real estate head Adrian Dear told Legal Week: "Goode's reputation will be a great boost to our planning practice in London. We are confident he will make a substantial contribution to the achievements of the group and the wider real estate practice." The appointment follows a number of lateral partner hires for Ashurst so far this year. In August, it boosted its securities team with the hire of Dechert's Islamic finance head, Abradat Kamalpour, while in July it added energy, transport and infrastructure partner Jason Radford from City rival Lovells. The firm is also setting its sights on international expansion, with the launch of its first China practice in Hong Kong expected in early 2009. Incumbent senior partner Geoffrey Green will launch the office with City corporate partner Robert Ogilvy-Watson.Goode's departure leaves BLP's planning and environment team with seven partners and more than 20 fee earners.

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  • October 6, 2008 |

    Ex-Dechert lawyer sues firm for discrimination

    Can a company be held liable for failing to deliver on promises made during a job interview?One former Dechert associate thinks so and has filed suit against the firm claiming it exaggerated the extent of its corporate work in order to woo him, did not provide the touted opportunities, and then fired him in part because he is an Orthodox Jew.In his complaint - filed in New York trial court by attorney Neil Brickman - the ex-Dechert associate, Marc Lubin, says he has worked at four top 100 US law firms since graduating from Columbia Law School in 1994. Dechert was the last of those firms; Lubin jumped there from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom in October 2002 because, according to the complaint, he felt "he should be gaining greater experience in a wider variety of structured finance deals".

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  • September 24, 2008 |

    Charles Russell hires Dechert senior counsel

    Charles Russell has bolstered its intellectual property team with the addition of Kate O'Rourke as senior counsel. O'Rourke, who was previously at Dechert, joins the Fetter Lane-based law firm this month. Her practice focuses on trademark counseling, including the selection, protection and enforcement of trademark rights and associated domain name, copyright and design rights.

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