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  • January 17, 2008 |

    JJB price-fixing case prompts calls for group action revamp

    Senior litigation lawyers have called for major revisions to the UK's group action regime following a low-key outcome to the pioneering JJB Sports price-fixing case. The case, which settled last week (9 January), saw the sports retailer set aside more than £100,000 in compensation for consumers who had suffered as a consequence of illegally fixing the prices of replica football shirts. The groundbreaking claim, which was pursued by consumer group Which? and legal adviser Clyde & Co, marks the first successful action brought under new powers that allow 'representative claims' on behalf of consumers.

    1 minute read

  • January 16, 2008 |

    Heller seals hospitality cred with hire of Sidley veteran

    Top 50 US law firm Heller Ehrman has cemented its standing in the hospitality sector after recruiting a veteran partner from the London arm of Sidley Austin. Sidley corporate partner Robert Asher will join the San Francisco-based firm's nine-partner City arm, working alongside Heller's London managing partner, Brian Smith, who specialises in the same sector.

    1 minute read

  • January 9, 2008 |

    Major US law firms bet on Obama to win 2008 presidential election race

    US law firms are throwing their financial muscle behind the Democrats' attempts to reach the White House, with the legal sector providing more funding to the party's leading candidates than any other industry.

    1 minute read

  • December 12, 2007 |

    Online special: Negligence claims could spell the end for a large law firm, say top lawyers

    Partners warn that litigation risks for law firms are mounting in the global marketplace in the wake of a spate of negligence claims, but firms have beefed up their risk management procedures. Michelle Madsen reports on the latest Big Question survey

    1 minute read

  • December 12, 2007 |

    Corporate Counsel: Still worlds to conquer

    Barclays' much-vaunted legal team has followed its ambitious parent through a turbulent year. Michelle Madsen finds general counsel Mark Harding unbowed

    1 minute read

  • December 5, 2007 |

    White collar, black arts

    In his summer of discontent, there were few days of undiluted glory for attorney general Alberto Gonzales and 17 July was no exception. Just six weeks before he resigned, Gonzales stood before hundreds of federal prosecutors and investigators in the US Department of Justice's Great Hall to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the department's Corporate Fraud Task Force and declare victory over white-collar corruption.

    1 minute read

  • December 4, 2007 |

    US duo carve up $19bn Vivendi video game deal

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have won lead advisory roles on the merger of computer games giants Vivendi and Activision. The $18.9bn (£9.2bn) deal will see the makers of best-selling computer games including James Bond and World of Warcraft come together to form the world's largest video games publisher ahead of market rival Electronic Arts.

    1 minute read

  • November 29, 2007 |

    A year in Paris

    Plus ca change; plus c'est la meme chose. An old adage maybe, but an apt summary by one managing partner of the past year for France's independent law firms.

    1 minute read

  • November 21, 2007 |

    Gibson Dunn promotes 14 to partnership

    US law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher is making up 14 new partners in this year's promotion round. The West Coast firm has promoted 14 lawyers with effect from 1 January, 2008, with the firm's London office gaining one new partner. Rachel Couter, who will become a partner in the firm's London litigation practice, is the only lawyer to be promoted outside the US. The firm made up five new partners in Los Angeles and four in Washington DC.

    1 minute read

  • November 14, 2007 |

    Online special: Majority of UK lawyers expect an upsurge in bank-on-bank litigation

    Leading lawyers are united in the belief that the market downturn will lead to an increase in cases between financial institutions, as firms face up to the prospect of taking on the big banks. Claire Ruckin reports on the results of the latest Big Question survey

    1 minute read