• July 2, 2009 |

    Skadden's London outpost picks up call from Nokia on Nortel acquisition

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom's London arm has advised as Nokia Siemens Networks picked up part of Nortel Network's business for $650m (£397m). London-based restructuring co-head Lynn Hiestand took the lead on the deal, which saw Nokia Siemens purchase Nortel's advanced wireless technology business, working alongside UK corporate partners Scott Simpson and Michal Berkner along with Simpson.

    1 minute read

  • June 25, 2009 |

    White & Case set to hold on to 13 qualifying trainees

    White & Case is to keep on 13 of the 15 trainees due to qualify in London in September, representing a retention rate of 87%. The figure is marginally up on the equivalent intake last year when White & Case kept on 86% of its trainees. The firm kept on 12 of its 13 March qualifiers earlier this year.

    1 minute read

  • June 18, 2009 |

    Herbert Smith set to retain 74% of September trainee intake

    Herbert Smith has retained 48 of its 65 trainees set to qualify this September, equating to 74% of its intake. The retention rate represents a significant drop on last year's figure, when the firm kept on 45 out of 49 (92%) trainees. The firm's March intake earlier this year saw 26 out of 31 (84%) taken on.

    1 minute read

  • June 8, 2009 |

    Cleary, Shearman confirm jobs for September NQs

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is to keep on all six of its September 2009 qualifying trainees in the City while Shearman & Sterling has offered jobs to nearly two thirds of its qualifiers. Cleary has continued its record of retaining every qualifying trainee since it introduced its trainee programme in the City in 1997. One trainee will focus on tax while the remainder will keep a broader corporate practice.

    1 minute read

  • June 2, 2009 |

    Shearman leads on €3bn Danone rights issue

    Shearman & Sterling and Bredin Prat have taken lead roles on French dairy and water company Danone's €3bn (£2.6bn) rights issue. The company, whose flagship products include Evian, Activia and Actimel, launched a public offering in France and Switzerland yesterday (1 June) accompanied by an international private placement in a bid to reduce its debt.

    1 minute read

  • May 19, 2009 |

    Lehman-Barclays: the deal that won't die

    In the frenzied week after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on 15 September last year, lawyers for Lehman (a group that included bankruptcy counsel at Weil Gotshal & Manges, Lehman's longtime outside counsel at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and a team from Sullivan & Cromwell) worked around the clock with lawyers representing Barclays to arrange the sale of Lehman's prized US assets.

    1 minute read

  • May 19, 2009 |

    CC, Cleary act on $7.3bn Bank of America sell-off

    Clifford Chance (CC) and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton have taken lead roles on Bank of America's $7.3bn (£4.7bn) sale of a 16% stake in China Construction Bank (CCB), reports The Am Law Daily. Under pressure from regulators to raise capital, many US banks are now looking for cash, and BoA announced last week that it would sell its 3.5 billion shares of CCB as part of a plan to raise nearly $35bn (£23bn) in capital.Under the terms of the agreement, BoA's CCB stake will be sold to a group of investors that includes China Life Insurance, Chinese private equity firm Hopu Investment Management and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings.

    1 minute read

  • May 14, 2009 |

    A&O hit by Italy walkout as 17 join Gianni

    Allen & Overy's (A&O's) Italian practice has suffered a mass walkout, with more than 20 lawyers quitting last month in moves unrelated to the firm's redundancy programme. Rome corporate partner Lorenzo Parola has become the third partner to quit A&O's Italian practice in a month, leaving to join Dewey & LeBoeuf at the end of April along with a team of at least two associates.

    1 minute read

  • May 13, 2009 |

    The Am Law 100: Losing their balance

    What has the world come to when Cravath Swaine & Moore has a terrible year? The firm that has served for decades as the touchstone for prestige in the profession last year suffered a 13% drop in revenue and a 24% plunge in profits per equity partner (PEP), and has asked incoming first-year associates to delay their start dates.

    1 minute read

  • May 12, 2009 |

    Steps to career heaven

    Becoming a solicitor is a long, hard slog of essays and exams. Legal Week Student takes you through the steps you have to climb to get there

    1 minute read