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  • 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 30, 2009 |

    Greenberg hires ex-Kirkland partner for London restructuring launch

    Greenberg Traurig Maher (GTM) is launching a London restructuring practice with the hire of former Kirkland & Ellis partner Lyndon Norley. Norley will join the US firm in the New Year after serving as a partner with Kirkland in London for seven years. He joined Kirkland in 2002 from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft to launch a UK insolvency team but left in October.

    1 minute read

  • November 27, 2009 |

    You get what you pay for (now online)

    Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that Legal Week has been going through changes to its publishing model that mean we now produce premium content which is only available to subscribers. The foundation for this shift is our monthly In depth stand, which focuses either on industry or practice sectors or issues of interest to senior decision-makers. The original idea was that by stepping outside the news cycle we could properly focus on issues that are lost in the grind of daily deadlines. We also determined that getting input from clients would be crucial to this format, and I think we've lived up to that so far. For example, this month's In depth, on restructuring and insolvency, saw us canvass professionals of the calibre of PwC's Tony Lomas (pictured), Goldman Sachs' Andrew Wilkinson, Deloitte's Neville Khan and Nomura's Matthew French, among many others. Obviously, we also talked to the top legal practitioners in the restructuring market.

    1 minute read

  • November 24, 2009 |

    Mayer Brown promotes 14 to partner with one made up in London

    Mayer Brown has promoted 14 associates to its partnership, with the firm's City office gaining one new partner. Insurance litigation specialist Andrew Westlake has been made up in London, with the Anglo-American firm's European network receiving the majority of the new partners.

    1 minute read

  • November 24, 2009 |

    Mayer Brown completes merger deal with Paris litigation boutique

    Mayer Brown has sealed a merger deal in Paris that will gift the firm a seven-lawyer litigation and arbitration team in the French capital. The firm's Paris office has completed a tie-up with boutique Ayela Semerdjian & Associes, which is led by Christophe Ayela and Renaud Semerdjian, who both join Mayer Brown as partners.

    1 minute read

  • November 13, 2009 |

    Jones Day demotes five London partners to of counsel rank

    Jones Day has demoted a number of London partners over the last year, with five former partners now serving as of counsel at the firm. The demotions, first reported on legal blog RollOnFriday, equate to nearly 10% of the US firm's London partnership, which currently lists 48 partners on its website. The office also lists 16 of counsel and one counsel, in addition to assistants.

    1 minute read

  • November 11, 2009 |

    Commentary: Will Mayer Brown's tie-up in Hong Kong deliver the goods?

    When it comes to international expansion, Mayer Brown doesn't go for half measures. The firm's 2002 merger with London's Rowe & Maw remains one of the largest transatlantic mergers to date. Five years on, Mayer Brown made a similarly big move in Asia, combining with Hong Kong's largest law firm, the 260-lawyer Johnson Stokes & Master (JSM).

    1 minute read

  • November 11, 2009 |

    US Briefing: Mayer without Maher

    In the seven years after Paul Maher helped wed his firm, London's Rowe & Maw, to Chicago-based Mayer Brown & Platt, he established a reputation as the firm's best strategist. He pushed his partners to open a Hong Kong office, which was later used to open the door to a merger with Johnson Stokes & Master, a Hong Kong firm with 300 lawyers in Asia. As vice-chairman, he argued for strengthening Mayer Brown's wilting New York office - a perpetual work-in-progress - and for boosting profitability, which has sagged in recent years.

    1 minute read

  • November 11, 2009 |

    On the bright side

    It seems lawyers are a lot less angry than expected about the personal consequences of the economic downturn, based on responses in this year's Employee Satisfaction Report. The findings of the report, published by Legal Week Intelligence earlier this year, were discussed at a roundtable held, in association with Hays Legal, on 13 October.

    1 minute read

  • November 9, 2009 |

    Former A&O finance partner joins Fried Frank's London office

    Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson has made a rare lateral hire in London, bringing in former Allen & Overy (A&O) leveraged finance partner Mark Wesseldine. Wesseldine will join the US firm's City arm towards the end of the year after serving as a partner with A&O since 2007.

    1 minute read