Filter This View

  • September 27, 2010 |

    Cravath, Slaughters and Sidley lead on $3.7bn Unilever deal

    Cravath Swaine & Moore and Sidley Austin have taken the lead corporate roles on a multibillion dollar US acquisition by consumer products group Unilever. The acquisition sees Unilever acquire hair care rival Alberto Culver - owner of brands such as V05, St. Ives and TRESemme - in a $3.7bn (£2.3bn) deal, adding to the Anglo-Dutch group's portfolio of hair care brands such as Dove and Sunsilk.

    1 minute read

  • September 22, 2010 |

    Olswang seals hire of Bakers arbitration partner for London office

    Olswang has strengthened its City litigation practice with the hire of an international arbitration and construction partner from Baker & McKenzie. Andrew Aglionby, who will join the firm's London office on 1 October, is based in Bakers' Hong Kong office in the firm's dispute resolution group. He has also headed up the firm's construction group in Hong Kong, as well as its international arbitration practice for the Asia-Pacific region.

    1 minute read

  • September 21, 2010 |

    Freshfields and A&O take headline roles on £1bn Betfair listing

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy (A&O) have won lead roles on the upcoming £1bn initial public offering (IPO) of online gambling company Betfair. Freshfields is advising Betfair with a team including M&A partners Martin Taylor and Tim Jones alongside senior associates Richard Blair and Doug Smith. A&O is advising the underwriters, which include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays Capital and Numis.

    1 minute read

  • September 15, 2010 |

    TfL to reassess Tube Lines panel in wake of legal team job cuts

    Transport for London (TfL) has cut a number of legal roles and put the Tube Lines panel review on hold following its acquisition of the underground operator earlier this year. TfL is currently reviewing whether it will continue to run a separate legal line-up for Tube Lines, which had launched a panel review in April aiming to trim down the roster and look for synergies with the TfL legal panel.

    1 minute read

  • September 1, 2010 |

    CEE-ing potential

    Elections have taken place across the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region this year, including in Hungary and the Czech and Slovak republics. The resulting coalition Governments have had important ramifications for the way businesses operate in each country, with a knock-on effect for local law firms. Many advisers are still focused on the busy infrastructure sector in the region, in particular flagship road projects and the much-touted alternative energy industries.

    1 minute read

  • September 1, 2010 |

    Bridging the divide - the first non-lawyer partners

    When Legal Disciplinary Partnerships (LDPs) came into force in March 2009 the market did not quite know whether to expect a raft of UK law firms to convert and defy their usually conservative wait-and-see approach in order to bring valued senior non-lawyers into the partnership. As it stands, just over a year down the line and the first stage of change under the Legal Services Act (LSA) 2007 has resulted in a somewhat disappointing but predictable slow drip of largely regional law firms including Mills & Reeve, Irwin Mitchell and Halliwells making the move. Other firms including Bird & Bird have considered converting and actively decided against it.

    1 minute read

  • August 12, 2010 |

    View from the ground - Employee Satisfaction Report 2010

    With junior lawyers no longer buying into the partnership dream and the fallout from the tough tactics adopted during the recession beginning to bite, this year's Employee Satisfaction Report poses plenty of questions for law firms to tackle. Alex Novarese analyses the results

    1 minute read

  • August 9, 2010 |

    Trowers reviews associate roles in wake of public sector spending cuts

    Trowers & Hamlins is considering making a number of redundancies following the Government's recent announcement on public sector spending cuts. Trowers confirmed that it is currently reviewing three or four associate roles in its public sector practice across the UK, but that it had not yet reached a final decision. The firm cited the Government's plans to cut public sector spending as the principal reason for the potential layoffs.

    1 minute read

  • August 9, 2010 |

    Ashurst recruits Nabarro financial services regulation chief in the City

    Ashurst has secured a boost for its City regulatory practice with the hire of Nabarro financial services regulation head Rob Moulton. He will join the top 10 UK firm on 1 November as a partner in the financial regulatory group, which is headed by City partner James Perry.

    1 minute read

  • August 4, 2010 |

    Bird & Bird cuts associate pay bands as UK top 20 firms announce rates

    A number of UK top 20 law firms have announced their associate salary levels for the year ahead, with several opting not to increase their rates. Bird & Bird has reduced its pay bands for associates with between one and three years' post-qualification experience (PQE), while trainee and newly-qualified (NQ) salaries remain unchanged. The City firm has taken £2,000 off each pay band between one and three years' PQE with levels now standing at £58,000, £63,000 and £69,000

    1 minute read