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  • June 15, 2011 |

    Magic circle firms bank leading roles on multibillion-pound Santander bond issue

    A trio of magic circle firms have advised on Santander's £3.75bn bond sale, in one of the biggest UK residential mortgage-backed securities deals since the financial crisis. Slaughter and May took the lead role for Santander, while Allen & Overy (A&O) acted for the joint bookrunners, which comprised Barclays Capital, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Santander Global Banking & Markets. Linklaters also won a role on the transaction advising the trustee.

    1 minute read

  • June 15, 2011 |

    Outriders - the US firms breaking away from the herd in the City

    A disparate band of US firms are breaking away from the herd to become a real competitive force in the City. Caroline Hill assesses how far they've come and the terrain ahead

    1 minute read

  • June 8, 2011 |

    Leaning on M&A - Italian lawyers look to a reviving deal market

    Italy's legal sphere has been buoyed by rebounding M&A and new work in energy, regulation and litigation. Toby Lewis examines the market trends

    1 minute read

  • June 1, 2011 |

    US law firms score high marks for London vacation schemes

    Three US firms have been rated among the best vacation scheme providers in the UK market, with Legal Week research also seeing Allen & Overy (A&O) identified by students as the most prestigious global law firm for the second year running. The Legal Week Intelligence 2011 Law Student Report saw Latham & Watkins and Baker & McKenzie take the top two spots for UK vacation schemes, with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton coming in fourth place behind Ashurst.

    1 minute read

  • May 25, 2011 |

    Fat chance - debunking ideas about Am Law 100 profit margins

    Grow your way to the top? Some common ideas about Am Law 100 profit margins don't hold up, a five-year analysis shows. Amy Kolz reports

    1 minute read

  • May 18, 2011 |

    CC US disputes chief departs for Cleary in Washington DC

    Clifford Chance (CC) has lost its Americas head of litigation and dispute resolution, with Juan Morillo joining Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Washington DC. The departure will be seen as a blow to the magic circle law firm, which heavily restructured its US litigation practice two years ago.

    1 minute read

  • May 9, 2011 |

    CC sees US litigation head quit to join Cleary in Washington DC

    Clifford Chance (CC) has lost its Americas head of litigation and dispute resolution, with Juan Morillo joining Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Washington DC. The departure will be seen as a blow to the magic circle firm, which heavily restructured its US litigation practice two years ago.

    1 minute read

  • May 5, 2011 |

    Rugged individualism – 2010 was a year of firm-specific achievement in the US

    If US culture traditionally celebrates individual achievement, the financial results for the world's largest legal market proved suitably patriotic last year. Overall there was little surprise, with the US top 100 firms achieving underlying revenue growth of 1.4% - a modest but respectable result that returned the group to growth after the 3.4% contraction seen in 2009. The prolonged squeeze on costs was enough to turn this modest revival into an 8.4% increase in average partner profits overall - very solid going for a hardly solid market.

    1 minute read

  • May 5, 2011 |

    US law leaders shrug off tough market to hike profits by 8%

    America's largest law firms returned to growth last year despite turbulent market conditions, with many US leaders achieving sharp increases in profits on the back of a prolonged squeeze on costs. Financial results for the 2010 financial year from Legal Week's affiliate title, The American Lawyer, show gross revenues across the US top 100 grew by 4% to $67.4bn (£40.4bn) against a healthy increase in profits per equity partner (PEP) of 8.4%.

    1 minute read

  • May 3, 2011 |

    Simpson Thacher launches Hong Kong law practice with magic circle duo

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has hired two partners from magic circle rivals to launch a Hong Kong law practice, writes The Asian Lawyer. Celia Lam, the joint Greater China managing partner for Linklaters, and Christopher Wong, the former head of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's China corporate practice, will join Simpson Thacher in the autumn.

    1 minute read