• March 27, 2007 |

    Sidley taps USTR for senior trade hire

    Sidley Austin has bolstered its international trade and dispute resolution practice with the hire of high-profile US Trade Representative (USTR) general counsel James Mendenhall. Mendenhall, who has been at the USTR since 2001, joined the firm's Washington DC office as a partner earlier this month after two years as general counsel at the government body.

    1 minute read

  • March 23, 2007 |

    GE drops e-bidding for US adviser overhaul

    General Electric (GE) has completed an overhaul of its US panel of advisers, ditching 44 firms and adding 12 new names to the roster. The international conglomerate, which has one of the largest in-house legal departments in the world, has axed 15 litigation firms and 13 US regional firms - including Armstrong Teasdale and Fox Rothschild - from its from its roster, which handles all of GE's legal work in the US.

    1 minute read

  • March 14, 2007 |

    Commentary: Cadwalader faces test as curtain draws on Wilkinson show

    So it was rumoured, so it has come to pass. The persistent gossip in restructuring circles was that Andrew Wilkinson would be quitting Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft as the Eurotunnel restructuring winds down for a major investment bank. And so, with Cadwalader's star confirming last week that he is moving to Goldman Sachs to co-head its restructuring department, he has.

    1 minute read

  • March 7, 2007 |

    Mayer Brown London office avoids brunt of 45-partner de-equitisation

    Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw's London arm looks set to come away largely unscathed from the firm's restructuring, in which 45 partners will be axed from its equity - equivalent to around 10% of its equity partnership. The firm, which announced the cuts last week as part of a drive to boost profits, will remove 42 US partners from its equity partnership, with only three further cuts coming elsewhere. This means the 104-partner London office is unlikely to see many departures.

    1 minute read

  • March 7, 2007 | International Edition

    Commentary: US City results: for whom the bellwether tolls

    If there is one theme emerging from the figures for US firms' London outposts in 2006, it is just how divergent this amorphous group has become - particularly the more established players. On paper, 2006 should have been a great year: markets booming, M&A activity up and UK firms of all sizes mostly announcing record results.

    1 minute read

  • March 7, 2007 |

    Commentary: US City results: for whom the bellwether tolls

    If there is one theme emerging from the figures for US firms' London outposts in 2006, it is just how divergent this amorphous group has become - particularly the more established players. On paper, 2006 should have been a great year: markets booming, M&A activity up and UK firms of all sizes mostly announcing record results.

    1 minute read

  • March 5, 2007 |

    Mayer Brown cull is long overdue

    When Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw took the unusual step of appointing what was effectively a three-man committee to run the firm on the impending retirement…

    1 minute read

  • March 5, 2007 |

    Mayer Brown set for 10% equity cull

    Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw has drawn up plans to axe 45 partners from its equity - equivalent to around 10% of its equity partnership - in a bid to boost profitability at the Chicago giant. Most of the de-equitisations are likely to take place across the firm's US offices, although it is not yet known which offices and practice groups will take the biggest hit.

    1 minute read

  • February 26, 2007 |

    Manhattan elite lines up for record TXU buy-out

    Elite New York firms Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Sullivan & Cromwell have bagged plum roles on the $45bn (£23bn) leveraged buyout (LBO) of utilities giant TXU - potentially the largest LBO to date. Simpson Thacher is lead adviser to the bidding consortium, comprising private equity giants Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) and Texas Pacific Group, which is being advised by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

    1 minute read

  • February 21, 2007 |

    US firms set to tap young talent after booming 2006

    US firms look set to maintain their expansive form in 2007 - and their increasing demand for UK trainees - with a select group of America's leading firms this month unveiling robust results for their London offices. Leading the pack, White & Case achieved a 38% rise in UK revenue to bill $172.2m (£88.4m). London profits per equity partner (PEP) also rose 67% to hit $1.28m (£657,000), against $764,000 (£392,000) in 2005.

    1 minute read