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  • May 7, 2009 |

    Simpson Thacher recruits top CC partner Signy

    Clifford Chance (CC) corporate heavyweight Adam Signy has quit the City giant to join New York leader Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.The move is one of the most high profile partner appointments by a US firm in London for years and will be seen as highly significant.

    1 minute read

  • May 7, 2009 |

    US law firms face worst year for PEP since 1991

    America's legal elite has emerged from its worst financial year since 1991 as partner profits and lawyer productivity at the US's top 100 law firms fell for the first time in 17 years.Eagerly-awaited 2008 results from Legal Week's sister title The American Lawyer confirms the dramatic impact of a fourth quarter dominated by financial turmoil, leading to an immediate global slump in demand for legal services.

    1 minute read

  • May 5, 2009 | International Edition

    Signy quits - not an earthquake but a definite fault line

    Adam Signy's departure from Clifford Chance (CC) may have been well-trailed in the Square Mile, but all the forewarning in the world is unlikely to have lessened the blow for CC. Adam Signy_CC_p17.jpgNot only was Signy generally considered to be the top name in the magic circle firm's public M&A practice, but his move marks the best corporate CV to hit a US firm's London office since Mike Francies joined Weil Gotshal & Manges way back in 1998. The fact that Signy (pictured) is CC born and raised - having spent some 22 years as a partner - only drums home the symbolism; particularly since the last time CC was in this position it managed to hold on to private equity duo James Baird and Matthew Layton, who came within a whisker of joining Weil Gotshal in 2004.

    1 minute read

  • May 5, 2009 |

    Signy quits - not an earthquake but a definite fault line

    Adam Signy's departure from Clifford Chance (CC) may have been well-trailed in the Square Mile, but all the forewarning in the world is unlikely to have lessened the blow for CC. Adam Signy_CC_p17.jpgNot only was Signy generally considered to be the top name in the magic circle firm's public M&A practice, but his move marks the best corporate CV to hit a US firm's London office since Mike Francies joined Weil Gotshal & Manges way back in 1998. The fact that Signy (pictured) is CC born and raised - having spent some 22 years as a partner - only drums home the symbolism; particularly since the last time CC was in this position it managed to hold on to private equity duo James Baird and Matthew Layton, who came within a whisker of joining Weil Gotshal in 2004.

    1 minute read

  • April 21, 2009 |

    Skadden, Simpson head up $2.5bn UBS Brazil sale

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have taken lead roles on the $2.5bn (£1.7bn) sell-off of UBS's Brazilian financial services business to BTG Investments. M&A partner Alan Myers led the Skadden team advising BTG, alongside partners Paul Schnell and Sally Thurston. The elite US firm is connected to BTG by Jon Bisgaier, a former Skadden partner who left the firm last year to join BTG in Brazil, which is led by several high-level executives formerly of UBS's Brazilian unit, Banco Pactual.

    1 minute read

  • April 15, 2009 |

    Weil bills $55m on Lehman as US earnings top $84m

    US legal fees and expenses for work on the Lehman Brothers collapse have already topped $84m (£56.5m), writes The Am Law Daily. Figures released in the US show that between 15 September 2008 and 31 January 2009, legal fees relating to the largest and most complicated Chapter 11 in US history totalled more than $84m.Weil Gotshal & Manges, Lehman's lead counsel, has taken the lion's share, so far billing the bank $55m (£36.9m) for 100,296.40 hours of work. Lead restructuring partner Harvey Miller has billed the most hours - 794.80, at a rate of $950 (£638) an hour. However, he is not the firm's highest biller, as exchange rates pushed the fees of Weil's London lawyers to more than $1,000 (£672) per hour. City head Mike Francies is the highest biller involved, spending nearly 78 hours on Lehman at a rate of $1,170 (£786) an hour. All told, 128 Weil partners and of counsel have spent 29,398 hours on the case.

    1 minute read

  • April 15, 2009 |

    CC, Simpson Thacher lead on $21bn China financing

    Clifford Chance (CC) and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have acted on a $21bn (£14bn) Chinese financing. The money was raised by the Aluminium Corporation of China (Chinalco) ahead of its expected $19.5bn (£13.1bn) investment in mining giant Rio Tinto.Simpson Thacher advised Chinalco, fielding a multi-office team led by Beijing-based corporate partner Douglas Markel, alongside UK finance partner Euan Gorrie in London, New York-based corporate partner Alan Klein and the firm's Washington DC managing partner Peter Thomas, who advised on regulatory aspects. Chinese firm Commerce & Finance also took a role for Chinalco.

    1 minute read

  • April 7, 2009 |

    Simpson Thacher signs up White & Case partner

    Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett has bolstered its bankruptcy practice with the hire of a partner from US rival White & Case in New York. Sandeep Qusba, who joined Simpson Thatcher this week, has a creditor-focused practice covering a wide range of industries, including healthcare, telecoms, technology and energy. He advises on Chapter 11 matters, including distressed acquisitions, exit financings and corporate restructurings. Qusba said: "The firm offers an ideal platform for me to provide my clients with the comprehensive legal services demanded in today's turbulent environment."

    1 minute read

  • March 23, 2009 |

    Korean free trade deal offers little promise for UK firms' Asian ambitions

    If Korea and the EU swiftly ratify the tentative free trade agreement (FTA) they reached on Tuesday (24 March), will UK law firms open offices ahead of…

    1 minute read

  • March 12, 2009 |

    UK firms to miss out as Korea green-lights liberalisation

    UK law firms will not benefit from moves to open up the Korean legal market to foreign law firms due to the lack of a trade agreement between the two countries. The Korean authorities last week (2 March) gave a green light to the first step in a three-stage process to open up the local legal market. The process will effectively allow foreign law firms to set up representative offices in the country, however, it only applies to those countries with an active free-trade agreement (FTA) with Korea.

    1 minute read