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  • June 18, 2009 |

    CC's Kirsch departure heads up month of heavy partner losses in firm's NY arm

    Magic circle firm suffers raft of walkouts as Kirsch heads to Gibson Dunn and doubts linger over litigation future CC's Kirsch departure heads up month of heavy partner losses in firm's NY arm News that Clifford Chance's (CC's) former global litigation chief Mark Kirsch is to join the New York office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher alongside fellow securities litigation partner Joel Cohen and counsel Christopher Joralemon capped a month of heavy partner losses from the magic circle law firm's New York office.

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  • June 16, 2009 |

    Gibson Dunn set for Sao Paulo office launch

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher is set to launch an office in Brazil - joining the growing ranks of law firms with bases in Sao Paulo. The firm is set to relocate one of the three New York-based co-chairs of its Latin America practice group, Lisa Alfaro, to head the new office, which will launch as soon as it receives a licence.

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  • June 10, 2009 |

    CC litigation trio join Gibson Dunn in New York

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has hired two litigation partners from Clifford Chance's (CC's) New York office, including the magic circle firm's former global litigation head Mark Kirsch. The firm has recruited Kirsch and fellow partner Joel Cohen, with CC counsel Christopher Joralemon also joining as a partner.

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  • May 14, 2009 |

    US trio lead on landmark Intel investigation

    A trio of US firms have taken lead roles for Intel in the investigation which yesterday (13 May) resulted in one of the largest-ever fines handed out by the European Commission. The EC handed Intel a penalty of €1.06bn (£951m) for anti-competitive behaviour and abusing its dominant position as a market leader for producing microprocessors. Intel has said that it will appeal the ruling.Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Howrey all advised Intel on the investigation, which has been ongoing since the beginning of the decade.Skadden took the lead role as European adviser, with the firm's team led by Brussels-based antitrust and competition partner Jim Venit. Howrey also advised on EU matters but the team was led by Washington DC-based antitrust partner Darren Bernhard. In addition, the company instructed Brick Court Chambers.

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  • May 13, 2009 |

    The Am Law 100: Lessons of the Am Law 100

    Nothing grows forever. For the first time since 1991, both average profits per partner and revenue per lawyer dipped last year among the Am Law 100 firms, the top-grossing firms in the nation. And, given the weakness in the market thus far in 2009, another decline seems likely this year.Those are the headlines from The American Lawyer's 23rd annual Am Law 100 report. These results are for 2008. They capture the start of the economic distress that set the stage for record law firm layoffs and anxiety but, because of the cutoff date, they mask the distress many firms are now dealing with. Last year, overall gross revenue grew by 4.1%, to $67bn (£44.4bn), a new record. But head count grew faster, increasing by 5.4%, to 81,992 lawyers. As a result of that growth, plus a serious drop in demand during the second half of 2008 for high-end work - especially in the corporate and finance sectors - profits per equity partner (PEP) fell by 4.3%, to an average of $1.26m (£836,000), and revenue per lawyer (RPL) dropped 1.2%, to $818,000 (£542,000).

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  • April 20, 2009 |

    Reed Smith boosts corporate with Gibson Dunn hire

    Reed Smith has bolstered its European and Middle East corporate practice with the hire of a new partner in London. Oliver s'Jacob joins the firm as a partner from US rival Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, where he was a senior associate for four years. Prior to that he worked with Jones Day.S'Jacob has experience advising on private equity and corporate finance matters, cross-border M&A transactions, initial public offerings, joint ventures and public and private acquisitions.

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  • April 14, 2009 |

    Latham and Jones Day head up $600m Satyam auction

    Latham & Watkins and Jones Day have won lead roles on the Indian Government-sponsored auction for outsourcing firm Satyam Computer Services, reports The Am Law Daily.On Monday (13 April), the scandal-plagued company announced the sale of a 51% stake in its business to Indian telecommunications company Tech Mahindra in a deal valued at nearly $600m (£403m).Hyderabad-based Satyam found itself on the verge of collapse in early January after founder and former chairman Ramalinga Raju admitted to board members that the company's accounts had been falsified. Last week India's Central Bureau of Investigation charged nine people - including Raju and two of Satyam's outside auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers - with forgery and fraud.

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  • April 1, 2009 |

    Major US firms' City partner promotions hit a four-year low as only 34 make the grade

    Partner promotions at some of the largest US law firms in London hit a four-year low in 2009, with just 34 lawyers making the grade compared to 54 the year before, according to research from Legal Week. A survey of promotion trends at 28 leading US firms in London found promotions had increased each year between 2005 and 2008, before this year's fall. In 2005, 36 lawyers were made up, with that figure increasing to 38 for 2006 and 48 for 2007, before last year's bumper haul.

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  • March 30, 2009 |

    Skadden cuts jobs across support staff ranks

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has begun a round of layoffs among its 2,000 non-lawyer employees, reports The Am Law Daily. Besides legal assistants, paralegals and secretaries, the layoffs are also said to affect staff attorneys.One source told The Am Law Daily that the layoffs do not exceed more than 5% of Skadden staffers in the firm's nine US offices, saying that the actual number of individuals laid off is likely to be much lower than that.At least 25 staff positions have been cut from Skadden's Washington DC office. Office head Michael Rogan said that the reductions were made for economic reasons.

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  • March 18, 2009 |

    Proffitt and loss

    Thacher Proffitt & Wood real estate partner Donald Simone was at his desk on the 40th floor of the World Trade Center's south tower early on 11 September, 2001, pushing to close a deal, when United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the building about three dozen floors above."When it hit, my whole office moved," Simone recalls. With the electricity off and ceiling tiles falling, he made his way to a stairwell and then to safety.

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