• April 14, 2010 |

    CC relocates Hong Kong finance partner to Singapore MP position

    Clifford Chance (CC) has appointed Geraint Hughes as managing partner of its Singapore office as incumbent Philip Rapp steps down after 11 years. Hughes, who became a partner in 1999 and has a general corporate and commercial practice focusing on oil and gas and projects work, will take over the role from 1 May. He is currently based in the firm's Hong Kong finance practice, and will relocate to Singapore as part of the new role. He will continue to manage CC's Asia energy group.

    1 minute read

  • March 19, 2010 |

    Cravath posts rising revenue and partner profits for 2009

    Cravath Swaine & Moore has posted strong financial results for 2009 after a tough year for New York's elite law firms, reports The Am Law Daily. The US firm saw revenues rise by 7% to $569m (£376m), while profits per equity partner (PEP) increased by 8% to $2.7m (£1.8m).

    1 minute read

  • March 17, 2010 | International Edition

    Pharmaceuticals: The game changer

    The pharmaceutical industry is facing uncertain times as a once-lucrative business model buckles under a globalising world economy. Charlotte Edmond reports on the companies and lawyers battling to secure all-important intellectual property in a rapidly changing market

    1 minute read

  • March 17, 2010 |

    Pharmaceuticals: The game changer

    The pharmaceutical industry is facing uncertain times as a once-lucrative business model buckles under a globalising world economy. Charlotte Edmond reports on the companies and lawyers battling to secure all-important intellectual property in a rapidly changing market

    1 minute read

  • March 15, 2010 |

    Davis Polk posts 10% profits hike as elite NY trio unveil 2009 financials

    Davis Polk & Wardwell has posted a 10% increase in profits per equity partner (PEP) for 2009, marking the firm out as one of the strongest performers among New York's elite law firms, reports The Am Law Daily. The firm also saw revenues rise by 7%, which represents the highest percentage growth reported so far among New York firms.

    1 minute read

  • March 10, 2010 |

    US briefing: Still paved with gold

    Nothing captured the spirit of the leveraged age for Wall Street law firms quite so much as the private equity 'club' deal. As the name suggests, the deals attracted quite the crowd: lawyers for the consortium of buyers, the underwriters who scrambled over themselves to fund the buyouts and the target company. To celebrate a closing, the lawyers even threw what passes in the corporate legal world as a party: speeches, champagne and the exchange of Lucite trophies.

    1 minute read

  • March 9, 2010 |

    Sullivan and Weil lead on $15.5bn AIG sell-off

    Sullivan & Cromwell and Weil Gotshal & Manges have taken key roles on AIG's $15.5bn (£10.4bn) sale of its life insurance unit to rival company MetLife, reports The Am Law Daily. Sullivan advised AIG on the sale of the American Life Insurance Company (Alico), in the latest in a series of sell-offs designed to help the company repay its massive debt to the US Government.

    1 minute read

  • February 23, 2010 |

    A&O takes lead role for Vietnam Government on $1bn bond offering

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has advised the Vietnamese Government on a $1bn (£648m) sovereign bond offering. The deal also handed a role to Wall Street's David Polk & Wardwell as lead international adviser to the underwriting banks.

    1 minute read

  • February 2, 2010 |

    CC and Davis Polk lead $12bn Brazilian ethanol JV

    Clifford Chance (CC) and Davis Polk & Wardwell have secured lead roles on Royal Dutch Shell's entry into Brazil's sugar-based ethanol market in a $12bn (£7.5bn) joint venture with the Brazilian biofuel giant Cosan, writes The AmLaw Daily.CC partner Anthony Oldfield led the team for Shell, according to sources familiar with the deal. CC has a long relationship with Shell; the firm has advised the company on several deals around the world. The London-based law firm also has had an office in Brazil for more than a decade.

    1 minute read

  • January 21, 2010 |

    No more baby steps

    Nothing was ordinary about the first civil trial stemming from Pfizer's controversial epilepsy treatment, Neurontin. Both sides loudly complained about witness intimidation. Colourful plaintiffs lawyer Mark Lanier opened to the jury one day, then settled the next after an anonymous donor deposited $50,000 (£31,000) into an account for the alleged victim's daughter. And at the defence table, high-powered product liability specialists from three separate firms worked as though they were partners - and all on a flat fee basis. "It was," says Pfizer general counsel Amy Schulman, "an extraordinary victory."

    1 minute read