• April 5, 2011 |

    Linklaters, A&O and Bird & Bird line up on £7bn Vodafone sell-off

    Linklaters, A&O and Bird & Bird have taken roles on Vodafone's €7.95bn (£7bn) sale of a 44% stake in French mobile phone operator SFR to Vivendi, reports The Am Law Daily. Linklaters M&A partners Marc Loy in Paris and Iain Fenn in London are acting for Vodafone. Fenn has advised Vodafone on a number of previous deals, including its hostile takeover of Germany's Mannesmann in 2000 and the acquisition of a controlling interest in India's Hutchison Essar in 2007.

    1 minute read

  • April 1, 2011 |

    Nabarro takes action against fire engine company for £1m unpaid fees

    Nabarro is taking legal action against a former client over unpaid fees totalling approximately £1m. AssetCo, which manages and maintains London's fire engines, has been a client of the City firm for over five years. The firm's head of corporate Iain Newman manages the relationship.

    1 minute read

  • March 30, 2011 |

    Leading City firms review student support ahead of tuition fee hikes

    Seven of the UK's 20 largest law firms by revenue are planning to review the financial assistance they offer to future trainees in the wake of planned hikes in university tuition fees. Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Herbert Smith, Hogan Lovells, Eversheds, Addleshaw Goddard and Bird & Bird are all set to review the financial support packages they offer law students over the coming months.

    1 minute read

  • March 29, 2011 |

    Rainy day returns - what lies ahead for the global funds market?

    The European business environment in 2010 was challenging to say the least, with the fallout from the global financial crisis still settling and governments seeking to balance budgets by cutting public spending and increasing taxes across the board. Private equity firms were on the front line of this economic battleground. They rely heavily on debt to finance acquisitions, and that has been hard to come by as banks seek to shore up their balance sheets under new capital adequacy rules. They have also had to deal with the threat of increased regulation, not only from Europe but also from the US (where recent rules have the potential to substantially increase the cost of doing business with US investors).

    1 minute read

  • March 16, 2011 |

    Top UK law firms to target more universities in diversity push

    A raft of the UK's leading law firms are set to increase the number of universities they target for graduate recruitment in a bid to attract a wider pool of students. Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells and Bird & Bird are all planning to up the number of universities they visit during the next recruitment round, starting in September.

    1 minute read

  • March 11, 2011 |

    Bird & Bird receives £400k from Sir Stelios after unpaid fees claim

    Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has paid Bird & Bird almost £400,000 to settle a claim brought against him by the firm over unpaid legal fees. Bird & Bird sued Sir Stelios in November last year for around £389,000 of unpaid legal fees run up easyGroup IP Licensing on a brand dispute over the use of the easyJet name.

    1 minute read

  • March 10, 2011 |

    Bird & Bird bolsters energy group with two partner hires from SNR Denton

    Bird & Bird has strengthened its energy practice with a double partner hire from SNR Denton in the UK. The top 20 UK law firm has hired SNR Denton's joint London heads of climate change, renewables and cleantech, Matt Bonass and Michael Rudd, to join its international energy and utilities sector group.

    1 minute read

  • March 7, 2011 |

    RPC boosts outsourcing with hire of SJ Berwin practice head

    Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) has taken a two lawyer team from SJ Berwin, including the top 20 firm's head of outsourcing. David Meredith has joined RPC as a partner, alongside senior associate Andrew Sutherland, who will take up the position of legal director.

    1 minute read

  • March 4, 2011 |

    Bird & Bird signs up Orrick partner for Paris corporate team

    Bird & Bird has bolstered its corporate team in Paris with a double hire from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe's France arm. Partner Arnaud Larrousse and associate Arnaud Fayolle - who has joined Bird & Bird as senior European counsel - have worked together at Orrick for over nine years. The duo started at Bird & Bird this week.

    1 minute read

  • March 1, 2011 |

    SNR Denton leads on UK company's deal to develop airships for US military

    SNR Denton has taken a lead role advising on a $517m (£319m) contract that will see a UK company develop zeppelin-style airships for the US military. The transatlantic firm advised UK-based specialist air technology company Hybrid Air Vehicles on a contract with the US military to develop the state-of-the-art hybrid airships, which are the size of football fields.

    1 minute read