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  • December 6, 2012 |

    Herbert Smith Freehills shakes up post-merger partner notice terms

    Herbert Smith Freehills is overhauling its notice period in the wake of the merger between the two firms which went live in October, with the new six-month term halving the notice period previously in place at legacy Herbert Smith. Partners at both firms approved the change, which is in the process of being implemented, as part of the merger terms. The six-month term, which will be imposed at the discretion of the firm, effectively doubles the notice for legacy Freehills partners exiting, as they were previously subject to just three months.

    1 minute read

  • November 29, 2012 |

    The view from 9th Avenue – the emerging challenges facing New York's elite

    "Who we are hasn't changed at all in some ways over the years. At a partners' meeting recently someone showed me a letter written by Paul Cravath in 1920 and it was almost the same format that we use today," reflects Cravath Swaine & Moore incoming presiding partner Allen Parker. "Really, it was almost identical." Welcome to Manhattan, the most singular, individualistic, contradictory and competitive legal market in the world. As the rest of the global legal profession changes to reflect the impact of the post-Lehman Brothers world and the rise of finance hubs and economies in the east, it seems that many lawyers in Manhattan's hermetically sealed environment carry on as if little has changed.

    1 minute read

  • November 20, 2012 |

    Bakers joins law firm rush into Korea with application for local licence

    Baker & McKenzie has become the latest international law firm to apply to open in South Korea following the country's move to liberalise its legal market last year. The US outfit is among a slew of global players eyeing the Asian sovereign state for opportunities, with Nam Hung Paik, an M&A partner in Bakers' corporate practice, appointed to lead the new office upon receiving the necessary approvals.

    1 minute read

  • November 15, 2012 |

    Staging a slow comeback – PE and M&A markets are showing signs of recovery

    The rollercoaster continues lurching up and down. For private equity (PE) lawyers, it has been an eventful few years with advisers hard-pushed just to keep up with frenetic deal-doing during the boom years, only for the market to go into a sustained slump after 2007. The industry went on to stage something of a modest comeback through 2011, but the latest indications confirm that buyout activity remains volatile to say the least – and 2012 has unsurprisingly proved a mixed year.

    1 minute read

  • November 8, 2012 |

    Simpson Thacher recruits A&O private equity co-head for City base

    Allen & Overy (A&O) global private equity co-head Derek Baird has resigned to join Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in London. Baird will join the elite US firm as a partner in the City corporate group, taking the total number of partners in the local practice to 12.

    1 minute read

  • October 11, 2012 | International Edition

    Moods in Manhattan – mixed messages from the world's legal capital

    You don't really appreciate until you talk to Manhattan lawyers in their own habitat how Wall Street firms at times seem weighed down by history. In London, partners often struggle to remember as far back as the 1990s. But their counterparts in the bustling yet conservative Manhattan community still find their focus drawn to key moments in their firm's past.

    1 minute read

  • October 11, 2012 |

    Moods in Manhattan – mixed messages from the world's legal capital

    You don't really appreciate until you talk to Manhattan lawyers in their own habitat how Wall Street firms at times seem weighed down by history. In London, partners often struggle to remember as far back as the 1990s. But their counterparts in the bustling yet conservative Manhattan community still find their focus drawn to key moments in their firm's past.

    1 minute read

  • October 4, 2012 |

    New Novartis general counsel completes overhaul of in-house team

    Novartis has shaken up its global in-house legal team following the arrival of new general counsel Felix Ehrat at the end of last year. Ehrat, who joined the pharma giant in October 2011 from leading Swiss law firm Baer & Karrer, began his review at the beginning of this year.

    1 minute read

  • October 4, 2012 |

    New tricks - Novartis GC Felix Ehrat reflects on one of the top jobs in law

    Despite a long career in private practice, Felix Ehrat has proved his mettle in-house as GC of pharmaceutical giant Novartis. Caroline Hill reports

    1 minute read

  • October 2, 2012 |

    CC, Simpson Thacher, Linklaters and SJB lead on KKR UK energy buyout

    Clifford Chance (CC), Linklaters and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have taken roles on KKR's acquisition of UK oil and gas company Acteon, in a deal valued at around £800m. The transaction has seen energy-focused private equity group First Reserve sell its 52% stake in the company to US buyout giant KKR.

    1 minute read