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  • July 2, 2008 |

    US appeal court upholds sanctions against Cleary

    The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has affirmed sanctions against Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton for allegedly trying to convince a non-party witness not to attend a deposition, reports the New York Law Journal.The circuit's summary order came less than a week after Cleary appeared before the appeals court to argue for the reversal of the sanctions imposed last August by Southern District of New York Judge Loretta Preska.However, the panel of judges ruled that nothing in the record indicated Preska had ruled incorrectly.

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  • June 26, 2008 |

    Cleary appeals sanctions over Congo witness row

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton yesterday (25 June) took to the courts in a bid to overturn sanctions brought against the firm for improperly attempting to dissuade a witness from testifying, writes The American Lawyer. Lawyers from the firm, led by managing partner Mark Walker, filled a number of the gallery seats in the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeal as Cleary attempted to reverse a stinging sanctions order by Southern District of New York Judge Loretta Preska last August saying the firm had shown "a willingness to operate in the murky area between zealous advocacy and improper conduct" in attempting to interfere with the deposition of a non-party witness.

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  • June 20, 2008 |

    US Briefing: Milberg - the morning after

    In the end, says William Taylor III, the lawyer who defended the Milberg firm for more than four years, he had no choice: if Milberg was to survive as a law firm, it had to reach a deal to avoid a guilty plea or conviction in the federal probe of kickbacks to lead plaintiffs in securities class actions. Taylor declined to comment on reports that Milberg had asked spin-off firm Coughlin Stoia to contribute to Milberg's $75m payment of fines. Coughlin Stoia was never indicted in the kickback case.

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  • June 16, 2008 |

    Media trio exit Howard Kennedy to open new boutique

    City firm Howard Kennedy has confirmed the break-up of its six-partner media team following the news that three of the partners have quit to launch their own specialist firm. Partners Susan Aslan, Sue Charles and Hakan Kousetta will launch specialist media boutique Aslan Charles Kousetta next month.

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  • June 13, 2008 |

    US Briefing: Milberg 'to pay $75m to end charges'

    Milberg could agree to pay $75m as soon as this week as part of an agreement to resolve criminal charges against the New York firm in the US Government's kickback case, according to a source familiar with the situation. Federal prosecutors have alleged that Milberg and seven of its partners conspired to obtain $251m in attorney fees by paying kickbacks to lead plaintiffs in shareholder and class action lawsuits.

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  • June 11, 2008 |

    The Am Law 100: Goodbye golden age?

    It was fun while it lasted. In 2007, The Am Law 100 - the top-grossing law firms in the US - finished the best sustained growth spurt since The American Lawyer began tracking firm financials in 1984. For the first time, the firms showed five consecutive years of better-than-average growth in both revenue per lawyer (RPL), the key measure of law firm financial success, and profits per equity partner (PEP), the metric that has turned law firm managers into contortionists. How good was this run? Since 2003, average RPL has increased by $205,000 (£105,000). Before that, it took the firms 10 years - from 1992 to 2002 - to improve that much. The relative gain in profits was even more impressive. Since 2003, PEP has jumped by $438,000 (£224,000), to an average of $1.3m (£665,000). It took the Am Law 100 firms 15 years - from 1987 to 2002 - to make a similar gain.

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  • June 11, 2008 |

    The Am Law 100: Behind the numbers

    Am Law 100 firms all have high gross revenues, but when it comes to translating that money into payouts for equity partners, the similarities end. Average profits per partner among the firms vary widely, from a low of $410,000 (£210,000) at Littler Mendelson to a high of $4.95m (£2.53m) at Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz. Likewise, there was plenty of disparity in firms' rates of profit growth, ranging from an increase of 42% at Cooley Godward Kronish to a decline of 17.6% at Howrey. (For The Am Law 100 as a whole, average profits per partner were $1.3m (£664,000), an 8.7% increase from 2006.) Here are reasons for some of the biggest changes in profits per partner among Am Law 100 firms in 2007.

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  • June 5, 2008 |

    Dechert taps Dewey & LeBoeuf for City arbitration partner Gal

    Dechert has bolstered its London arbitration practice with the hire of a partner from Dewey & LeBoeuf. Daniel Gal (pictured) joined the City arm of the Anglo-American firm this week from Dewey & LeBoeuf, where he had been a partner since January.

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  • May 28, 2008 |

    Beyond borders

    Given the instability of credit markets, the slowdown in activity among domestic M&A buyers and the low US dollar, the US emerged as an attractive destination in 2007 for in-bound, cross-border deals. As foreign buyers increase, foreign law firms and lenders could also benefit. Since 2003, the beginning of the global merger boom, there has been a steady increase in the number of US acquisitions made by foreign companies. Their share of such deals has increased to 20%, from 11% in 2003, according to Dealogic. Some of these foreign buyers are looking to the US as an opposite hedge to investing in emerging markets. The US is seen as a market where there are stable companies, with good investment environments.

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  • May 22, 2008 |

    Countdown to this year's Global 100: the UK members

    Later this year Legal Week and The American Lawyer will be joining forces to produce the Global 100 the definitive ranking and analysis of the world’s…

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