Filter This View

  • June 22, 2011 |

    Brand versus brawn – can CC get back in the funds game?

    While the initial response to Weil Gotshal & Manges' daring four-partner raid on Clifford Chance's (CC's) private equity funds team focused on what the move meant for Weil Gotshal's UK ambitions, as the dust settles the wider significance for the City market will be defined far more by what the loss ultimately means for CC. There is no doubt that the move punches a sizeable hole in one of the City firm's marquee practice areas. By its own admission, it doesn't currently have the partner ranks to service its existing funds clients once the departing partners – Ed Gander, Nigel Clark and Nick Benson and tax partner Jonathan Kandel – have left. Of course, this is before considering whether clients' patience will hold out – the team having already recently lost high-profile team head Jason Glover to Simpson Thacher & Barlett.

    1 minute read

  • June 17, 2011 |

    Freshfields loses Hong Kong head as Sullivan launches local law practice

    Sullivan & Cromwell has launched a Hong Kong law practice with recruits from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, writes The Asian Lawyer. Kay Ian Ng, formerly Hong Kong managing partner for Freshfields, will lead the new group for Sullivan, with counsel Gwen Wong is also coming aboard. Both focus on capital markets work.

    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 15, 2011 |

    CC hit as four-partner City funds team exits for Weil as US firms step up UK expansion

    US firms' aggressive European private equity drive continues as Weil Gotshal makes significant team hire from CC

    1 minute read

  • June 13, 2011 |

    CC hit by exit of four-partner City funds team to Weil Gotshal

    Clifford Chance (CC) is set to lose the bulk of its City funds practice, Legal Week can reveal, with a four-partner team exiting the firm to join Weil Gotshal & Manges in London. The team comprises funds partners Ed Gander, Nigel Clark and Nick Benson, as well as tax partner Jonathan Kandel, who works closely alongside the funds team.

    1 minute read

  • May 25, 2011 | International Edition

    A change in the private equity guard is opening a few gates

    Last month Clifford Chance (CC) private equity veteran James Baird retired from the firm after more than 25 years as a partner. Clearly the departure is unlikely to spell anything like disaster for a buyout practice as dominant as CC's, but it has certainly got the private equity sewing circle talking. And, no doubt, hoping for opportunities to tighten links with some of Baird's clients, such as CVC.

    1 minute read

  • May 25, 2011 |

    A change in the private equity guard is opening a few gates

    Last month Clifford Chance (CC) private equity veteran James Baird retired from the firm after more than 25 years as a partner. Clearly the departure is unlikely to spell anything like disaster for a buyout practice as dominant as CC's, but it has certainly got the private equity sewing circle talking. And, no doubt, hoping for opportunities to tighten links with some of Baird's clients, such as CVC.

    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 20, 2011 |

    Freshfields and Camerons lead on €9.6bn pharma acquisition

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and CMS Cameron McKenna have advised on the largest European private equity deal since before the global financial crisis, worth €9.6bn (£8.4bn). The two law firms have advised as Japanese pharma company Takeda makes a move into the European market with the debt-free purchase of Swiss-based drug-maker Nycomed from its private equity owners.

    1 minute read

  • May 11, 2011 |

    Five US law firms line up on Microsoft's $8.5bn Skype purchase

    A raft of US law firms have won roles on Microsoft's $8.5bn (£5.2bn) acquisition of Skype Global, the internet voice and video chat service, reports The Am Law Daily. The all-cash deal - Microsoft's largest acquisition ever - will give the software giant a leading communications brand to partner with its other products such as Outlook, Lync, and Xbox LIVE.

    1 minute read