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  • June 6, 2008 |

    US Briefing: Making history with Obama

    As an avid student of modern US history, Covington & Burling partner Eric Holder Jr is well aware that he has been a groundbreaker. He was the first black US Attorney for the District of Columbia and later the first black deputy attorney general. Now some are wondering whether Holder - the campaign co-chair for Barack Obama and an individual with an acute sense of his duty to serve - could become the first African-American attorney general.

    1 minute read

  • May 29, 2008 |

    Global 100 countdown: CC outstrips Skadden by half a billion

    Clifford Chance (CC), the world’s largest law firm barring a market-shattering performance from Linklaters, announced its revenues for the last financial…

    1 minute read

  • May 21, 2008 |

    The Treasury Department's false alarm sounds

    Who says lawyers aren't an excitable bunch? On Friday, 29 March, the US Department of the Treasury released a 22-page summary of a radical plan to revolutionise a wide swathe of financial markets. Lawyers sprang into action. Many spent the weekend dissecting the summary and answering calls from panicked clients. Of course, the promise of sweet, sweet billables made the loss of Saturday and Sunday a little more palatable. The following Monday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson held a press conference to announce the new plan, which covered everything from hedge funds to home mortgages. Lawyers felt an earthquake coming. Sweeping new regulations would mean one practice area would boom, another would die. There would be new laws to learn and new deals to make.

    1 minute read

  • May 8, 2008 |

    Kirkland, King & Spalding net $14bn wi-fi JV

    Kirkland & Ellis and King & Spalding have bagged lead roles advising on a $14.5bn (£7.3bn) joint venture between ailing telecoms giant Sprint Nextel and Clearwire Corporation to create a high-speed wireless network dubbed WiMax, writes The American Lawyer. Under the terms of the deal, Clearwire - which was founded by cell phone and wireless pioneer Craig McCaw in 2003 - will combine its wireless broadband network with that of Kansas-based Sprint Nextel. The long-term aim is to create a national network that can be accessed from laptops and mobile phones.

    1 minute read

  • April 30, 2008 |

    Davis Polk adds London partner to management

    Davis Polk & Wardwell has elected the first London-based partner to its management committee. Corporate partner Thomas Reid replaces New York partner Andres Gil on the three-member committee. He joins managing partner John Ettinger and litigation partner Carey Dunne, who were both handed new terms on the committee.

    1 minute read

  • April 30, 2008 |

    Hostile territory

    With all the hostile takeovers and proxy fights, Silicon Valley looks more like Wall Street - and some say the new attitude is here to stay. The question is: can the tech companies and their lawyers handle the more combative culture? Recent headlines illustrate the shift: Oracle's $8.5bn (£4.3bn) conquest of BEA Systems, Microsoft's $40bn (£20.3bn) pursuit of Yahoo! and, most recently, Electronic Arts' $2bn (£1.01bn) bid for Take-Two Interactive. Other tech companies - CNET, Sybase, Transmeta - are also doing battle with hedge funds or other investors seeking at least partial control.

    1 minute read

  • April 23, 2008 |

    Central and Eastern Europe: Centre of attention

    Law firms that invested in Central and Eastern Europe soon after the fall of the Iron Curtain are enjoying the region's enduring economic boom and seeking shelter from the London gloom. Dominic Carman speaks to partners across the region, from Vienna to Kiev

    1 minute read

  • April 10, 2008 | International Edition

    Simmons wins surprise UK role on Bear Stearns fire sale

    Simmons & Simmons has won a surprise role on the fire sale of Bear Stearns - advising the stricken Wall Street giant on the UK aspects of its sale to JP Morgan last month. Simmons' role on the high-profile sale will be seen as a coup for the top 10 City firm's corporate and finance practices, with the partners Jeremy Hoyland (financial markets) and Alan Karter (corporate) brought on board when it became apparent that the bank was in trouble.

    1 minute read

  • April 10, 2008 |

    Simmons wins surprise UK role on Bear Stearns fire sale

    Simmons & Simmons has won a surprise role on the fire sale of Bear Stearns - advising the stricken Wall Street giant on the UK aspects of its sale to JP Morgan last month. Simmons' role on the high-profile sale will be seen as a coup for the top 10 City firm's corporate and finance practices, with the partners Jeremy Hoyland (financial markets) and Alan Karter (corporate) brought on board when it became apparent that the bank was in trouble.

    1 minute read

  • April 10, 2008 |

    O'Melveny Beijing head joins Davis Polk

    Davis Polk & Wardwell has made a rare lateral hire in Asia, bringing in O'Melveny & Myers Beijing head Howard Zhang. M&A heavyweight Zhang joined the New York leader at the beginning of this week (7 April). Davis Polk launched its Beijing office in February 2007 but has had an office in Hong Kong since 1993, with the firm's China practice now comprising around 25 lawyers.

    1 minute read