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  • November 4, 2011 |

    Sidley adds capital markets partner in Shanghai with Bakers hire

    Sidley Austin has recruited a capital markets partner for its Shanghai office with a hire from Baker & McKenzie, reports The Asian Lawyer. Anthony Jacobsen, a Hong Kong-qualified partner in Bakers' commercial and securities group in Shanghai, principally advises Chinese companies on Hong Kong law aspects of overseas debt and equity offerings.

    1 minute read

  • November 2, 2011 |

    Dechert continues recent recruitment with hire of rated LG finance partner

    Dechert is to further bulk up its City arm with the hire of LG banking and finance partner Charles Malpass, with the recruitment marking Dechert's fifth partner hire in London since April. The highly-regarded partner is set to join Dechert's London banking and finance team in January next year along with associate Catherine Gooding.

    1 minute read

  • October 25, 2011 |

    Skadden leads for Slovak Republic as €1bn health insurance dispute is dismissed

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has secured the dismissal of a €1bn (£871m) claim against the Slovak Republic. The case, which was dismissed last week, was lodged by Dutch health insurance consultancy Hicee in 2008 and had been one of Europe's largest ongoing investment disputes.

    1 minute read

  • October 25, 2011 |

    Gide London accounts show second consecutive annual revenue dip

    Gide Loyrette Nouel's London office saw revenues fall 16% for the 2010 financial year, according to the firm's City limited liability partnership (LLP) filings. The French firm's UK arm saw turnover fall from £9m to £7.6m for the year ending 31 December 2010, alongside a slight increase in gross profit, which rose by £19,000 to £3.7m.

    1 minute read

  • October 12, 2011 |

    SJ Berwin expands structured finance group with Sidley hire

    SJ Berwin is to add to its structured finance practice with the hire of a partner from Sidley Austin, doubling the team's partner capacity in London. Sidley finance partner Andrew Bliss, who is a UK-qualified solicitor in the US firm's London office, is set to join SJ Berwin's City finance group after being voted into the partnership on 7 October. Bliss, who joined Sidley in 1999, has a practice focused around structured finance deals, including the securitisation of loans and rental deposits, repackagings, and bond and equity-linked transactions in the developed and emerging markets.

    1 minute read

  • October 12, 2011 |

    The Untouchables - legal immunity in Hong Kong

    One of Hong Kong's major appeals as a base for international companies doing business in Asia has been recourse to its British-established common law courts. But recent Hong Kong rulings have raised the unsettling possibility that a whole class of potential defendants may have legal immunity from claims. These are government parties. And, while it is hardly surprising that sovereigns themselves can claim immunity in courts, the long reach of government into the private market in Asia means there are a host of potentially immune state actors that are difficult to identify at first glance.

    1 minute read

  • October 12, 2011 |

    Global 100: Empire builders - does globalisation equal profit?

    Since the early days of the Global 100 survey, globalisation and profit have seemingly grown hand in hand. For the top 50 firms in 1999 – the first year that The American Lawyer published profits per equity partner (PEP) for what was then the Global 50 – the proportion of lawyers employed outside each firm's home country doubled, while PEP more than doubled. But whether there is a causal relationship between global expansion and financial success is unclear, whether one charts the performance of individual firms in a single year or over time. Star performers may be found among the most stubborn homebodies, like Slaughter and May, and the most persistent imperialists, like Allen & Overy (A&O).

    1 minute read

  • September 28, 2011 |

    Cracking China – has Mandarin become de rigueur for modern Asian counsel?

    For would-be new hires at several international law firms in China and Hong Kong, speaking Mandarin has come to be a strict and unyielding prerequisite. "Certainly from our point of view, hiring someone in Hong Kong without Chinese language speaking skills is a waste of time," says Antony Dapiran, a fluent Mandarin speaker and capital markets partner with Davis Polk & Wardwell in Hong Kong. "I honestly do not see how they can function, especially if they are dealing with capital markets work."

    1 minute read

  • August 9, 2011 |

    Slaughters adds third New Zealand firm to secondment network

    Slaughter and May has agreed a new secondment arrangement with New Zealand firm Chapman Tripp. The pair have been in discussions over the last few months and have decided to enter into a non-exclusive programme that will see junior lawyers from each firm seconded to the other for a year.

    1 minute read

  • July 27, 2011 |

    A&O dominates global bond rankings at halfway mark

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has topped Thomson Reuters' debt capital markets (DCM) rankings for international cross-border bonds for the first half of 2011 by both manager and issuer. The firm advised managers on 238 bond deals worth $180bn (£110bn) during the period, giving it a 7.1% share of the market, ahead of Linklaters, which held a 3.5% share of the market, with roles on 117 deals worth $104bn (£63.8bn).

    1 minute read