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  • September 21, 2011 |

    Dealmaker: John Davies

    Freshfields' head of competition on setting the room on fire and making a spine-tingling mistake

    1 minute read

  • September 15, 2011 |

    How the top international law firms stack up in Asia

    Clifford Chance: 366 lawyers across eight offices. Hong Kong - 138 lawyers including 32 partners, Singapore - 72 lawyers including 15 partners, Tokyo - 51 lawyers including nine partners, Shanghai - 22 lawyers including five partners, Beijing - 29 lawyers including six partners, Bangkok - 16 lawyers including two partners Sydney - 21 lawyers including seven partners Perth - 17 lawyers including seven partners Key deals include: • advising the underwriters on Prada's Hong Kong listing; • advising the underwriters on Glencore's dual listing in Hong Kong and London; and • advising the managers on Volkswagen's dim sum bond - the first by a German company.

    1 minute read

  • September 14, 2011 |

    Battle royale - the tussle for global dominance shifts eastward

    With elite Wall Street firms finally breaking into Hong Kong law, the stage is set for a high-stakes struggle across Asia between the world's top law firms. Georgina Stanley and Simon Petersen report

    1 minute read

  • September 7, 2011 |

    A waste of money - is the bonus round at top US firms just money down the drain?

    US law firms are conditioned to doling out tightly banded 'follow-the-leader' bonus awards to associates. But, argues Amy Kolz, there is little evidence this practice reflects market reality or even buys them any staff loyalty

    1 minute read

  • August 30, 2011 |

    Linklaters and Skadden lead on €147bn Greece banking merger

    Linklaters and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom are advising on the merger of Greece's second and third largest banks, a tie-up which will create an institution with €147bn in total assets, reports The Am Law Daily. The merger of Alpha Bank and Eurobank, which comes amid the country's sovereign debt crisis, will make the combined entity the biggest lender in Greece and the largest bank in southeastern Europe.

    1 minute read

  • August 22, 2011 |

    Cleary opens new LatAm base with partner relocations to Sao Paulo

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has opened for business in Sao Paulo after receiving approval to launch from the Brazilian authorities. Capital markets partner Juan Giraldez and corporate finance partner Francisco Cestero have relocated from New York and Rome respectively to head up the new base.

    1 minute read

  • August 16, 2011 |

    Cleary and Wachtell lead on Google's $12.5bn Motorola acquisition

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton lawyers have helped guide Google towards completing the largest acquisition in the company's history—the $12.5bn (£7.6bn) acquisition of mobile-device maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc, writes the AmLaw Daily. In buying the Illinois–based handset manufacturer, Google—whose Android operating system is used in many Motorola devices—will assume control of one of the mobile industry's strongest patent portfolios, company executives said.

    1 minute read

  • August 5, 2011 |

    Google legal chief hits out at rivals over 'bogus' patent claims

    Google's chief legal officer David Drummond has hit out at Apple, Microsoft and Oracle for pursuing "bogus" patent claims, reports Corporate Counsel. In an Google blog post entitled 'When patents attack Android', Drummond writes that the success of Android, Google's smartphone operating system, has prompted rivals Microsoft and Apple "to get into bed together" to purchase smartphone patents and has inspired a "hostile, organised campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents."

    1 minute read

  • August 3, 2011 |

    The great game – can British firms retain their upper hand in Hong Kong?

    Though Hong Kong formally reverted to Chinese rule 14 years ago, it often feels as if the British are still in charge. Place names like Victoria Peak and Queen's Road remain unchanged and expatriates from Essex and Kent continue to throng the bars of Lan Kwai Fong. Pub favourites are as easily available as dim sum.

    1 minute read

  • August 3, 2011 |

    Bakers holds London associate pay levels as US firms set salary rates

    Baker & McKenzie is freezing pay for its City associates at last year's levels, with trainees the only London lawyers to see increases in salary rates. The international firm has opted to hold rates at 2010 levels, meaning newly-qualified (NQ) associates at Bakers' City arm will continue to earn £61,000. Lawyers with one year's post-qualification experience (PQE) will earn £68,000 and two and three-year PQE rates will remain at £74,000 and £82,000 respectively. Associates will progress through the pay bands as normal.

    1 minute read