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  • 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

  • December 15, 2009 |

    Skadden and Davis Polk lead on Exxon's $31bn natural gas buyout

    Davis Polk & Wardwell and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have won lead roles on the biggest energy deal since 2006 - Exxon Mobil's acquisition of natural gas company XTO Energy for $31bn (£19bn). Davis Polk, which represented Exxon on its $80bn (£49bn) purchase of Mobil in 1999, reprised its role as lead M&A counsel, with a team led by M&A head George Bason, alongside corporate partners Louis Goldberg and Arthur Golden, tax partner Avishai Shachar, benefits partner Edmond FitzGerald and environmental partner Gail Flesher.

    1 minute read

  • December 1, 2009 |

    Weil Gotshal makes up just three to partnership as London misses out

    Weil Gotshal & Manges has announced a depleted partner promotions round, with just three lawyers set to join the partnership on 1 January 2010. No London-based lawyers will join the firm's partnership in this year's round, with the total of three promotions representing less than half of last year's tally, when seven were made up worldwide, including one in the City.

    1 minute read

  • November 9, 2009 |

    Ashurst identifies six key US referral firms in renewed Stateside push

    Ashurst has drawn up a list of US firms to use as preferred referral partners in a bid to deliver a more structured approach in the region. The firm has identified Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Davis Polk & Wardwell, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, Ropes & Gray, Schulte Roth & Zabel and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges as its main referral firms, although the relationships are understood not to be exclusive.

    1 minute read

  • October 27, 2009 |

    Freshfields heads up firms on ING restructuring and €7.5bn rights issue

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Sullivan & Cromwell and Stibbe have all landed roles on ING's restructuring, which includes a €7.5bn (£6.8bn) rights issue. Sullivan and Stibbe have been instructed to advise on the bank's rights issue, which was launched yesterday (26 October) as part of a wider restructuring that will see the Dutch banking giant split into two.

    1 minute read

  • October 21, 2009 |

    JPMorgan finalises panel review with rates frozen at 2008 levels

    JPMorgan has completed a review of its preferred legal advisers as Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) nears the end of its review process. The US investment bank, which launched a review of its preferred law firms earlier this summer, contacted its closest advisers over the last few weeks to confirm that they will secure work for the next year, as long as they agree to various conditions. The conditions are believed to include a freeze on rates at 2008 levels - already reduced by 5% on the previous year.

    1 minute read

  • October 7, 2009 |

    Links and Freshfields dominate Euro M&A but activity hits six-year low

    Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have dominated the battered European M&A markets over the first three quarters of 2009. Research from Mergermarket exclusively provided to Legal Week shows Freshfields topping the European rankings by value after working on 105 deals worth $127.9bn (£80bn). Linklaters tops the volume rankings and comes second by value, with roles on 116 deals worth $111.4bn (£70bn) in Europe.

    1 minute read

  • October 1, 2009 |

    Stars at the Bar

    Without the well-honed PR teams of many a law firm and legally unable to promote themselves, barristers rely to a great extent on the recommendations of peers and instructing solicitors for reputation and referral. Unlike the majority of their solicitor counterparts, many commercial barristers will turn their hand to several sectors of the law. And not only do they need to be team players, working closely with law firm partners, they also need to be savvy with strong client skills.

    1 minute read