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  • October 20, 2010 |

    Simmons keeps US tie-up on the table as part of growth strategy

    Simmons & Simmons has told its partners that a transatlantic tie-up remains an option for the firm, despite the breakdown of merger discussions with Mayer Brown earlier this year. The UK top 15 law firm's management used its annual partner weekend earlier this month (9-10 October) to stress that while a US merger is not a key strategic target, management at the firm still considers it a possibility.

    1 minute read

  • October 20, 2010 |

    New ideas in law: The geek shall inherit...

    Having reached the profession late, law blogging has emerged in recent years to secure real influence. Alex Aldridge assesses how the format has introduced a new range of voices to the legal community

    1 minute read

  • October 20, 2010 |

    Raft of UK firms win spots on first post-merger Lloyds panel

    Lloyds Banking Group has finalised its new-look legal panel, with a raft of City names winning spots on the first combined legal adviser roster since Lloyds TSB sealed its takeover of HBOS in January 2009. Firms understood to have been appointed include regular HBOS adviser Allen & Overy (A&O) and longstanding Lloyds counsel Linklaters, with Clifford Chance (CC), Hogan Lovells, SNR Denton, Norton Rose, Herbert Smith, Ashurst, Mayer Brown, Eversheds and CMS Cameron McKenna among the other firms appointed to the roster.

    1 minute read

  • October 18, 2010 |

    Jones Day Madrid chief relocates to Sao Paulo to launch new Brazil base

    Jones Day's Madrid head Luis Riesgo is relocating to Sao Paulo to launch a Brazil office for the US firm, reports The Am Law Daily. Riesgo, the chair of the firm's Latin American practice, will be followed by partners Sanjiv Kapur and Wade Angus, who have begun the process of becoming licensed as consultants in foreign law in Brazil. The partner trio will be joined two associates who are qualified to practise in New York and Madrid.

    1 minute read

  • October 18, 2010 |

    Speechly Bircham recruits former Mayer Brown partner for City base

    Speechly Bircham has bolstered its City corporate practice with the hire of a former Mayer Brown partner. Jonathan Crawford joins the firm's London office as a partner in the financial services team and will focus on large, cross-border transactional work, working closely with financial services sector group head Nick Janmohamed. At Mayer Brown his practice focused on M&A, restructurings and joint venture transactions. He left at the end of last year after 11 years at the firm, prior to which he was a lawyer at DLA Piper - joining legacy firm Alsop Wilkinson in Liverpool in 1995.

    1 minute read

  • October 15, 2010 |

    Mayer Brown acts on late Liverpool bid as £300m takeover goes through

    Mayer Brown has advised investment company Mill Financial on its failed eleventh-hour bid for Liverpool FC, as US sports group New England Sport Ventures (NESV) completes its £300m takeover of the Premier League club. US investor Mill, which was advised by Mayer Brown's UK corporate head Peter Dickinson and corporate partner Kate Ball-Dodd, today (15 October) held negotiations with co-owner Tom Hicks over the acquisition of his stake in the club.

    1 minute read

  • October 13, 2010 |

    A&O and Mayer Brown win roles as Baja Mining finances Mexico project

    Allen & Overy (A&O) and Mayer Brown have taken lead roles on Baja Mining's $823m (£518m) financing facility for the construction and development of its flagship Mexican mining project. Mayer Brown advised the lending group on the project financing, which is one of the largest of this nature to come to market. The completion of the deal means that full-scale construction activities on the Boleo mining project can commence imminently.

    1 minute read

  • October 13, 2010 |

    EU derivative reforms: the shape of things to come

    On 15 September, the second anniversary of Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy no less, the European Commission published draft legislation overhauling the regulation of Europe's over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market. The proposed legislation covers all OTC derivative contracts entered into by European Union-domiciled financial and non-financial institutions. It contains a framework for centrally clearing most standardised derivative contracts and scrutinising and controlling those which are not; beefy regulation of central counterparties (CCPs) and trade repositories; and strict reporting requirements to those newly-created trade repositories.

    1 minute read

  • October 13, 2010 |

    TLT brings in Mayer Brown partner for private equity practice

    TLT has bolstered its private equity practice with the hire of former Mayer Brown partner Alistair Bird. Bird joined the firm's new City premises on Gresham Street earlier this month (4 October) as a partner in the corporate group. He will work alongside corporate partners Ian Taylorson and Richard Tall, who has just relocated to the City from Bristol.

    1 minute read

  • October 8, 2010 |

    Freshfields and Hogan act on milestone German 'bad bank' deal

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells and Mayer Brown have taken lead roles on the transfer of €173bn (£152bn) in distressed debt from German bank Hypo Real Estate (HRE) to a specially-created 'bad bank'. The deal sees the portfolio of loans and securities transferred to FMS Wertmanagement, which was set up to take on distressed assets from HRE, one of Germany's largest commercial property lenders.

    1 minute read