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  • December 22, 2008 |

    Economic crisis shifts Asian spotlight to litigation

    The story of international law firms in Asia has long been all about transactions - infrastructure financings, foreign investment and, especially…

    1 minute read

  • December 22, 2008 |

    Commentary: Economic crisis shifts Asian spotlight to litigation

    The story of international law firms in Asia has long been all about transactions - infrastructure financings, foreign investment and, especially in recent years, blockbuster public offerings of mainland Chinese companies. But with capital markets in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai now as moribund as those in London or New York, a number of firms are finding an unexpected bright spot in the region: litigation. Linklaters announced last week it would relocate senior litigation partner Tom Lidstrom from London to Hong Kong in January, and other firms are also gearing up for an Asian disputes uptick as well."Contentious work is increasing across the board," says Mark Johnson, head of the Asian dispute resolution group for Herbert Smith in Hong Kong. "We are receiving a growing number of instructions from global and regional financial institutions. Much of this is directly or indirectly related to the credit crisis, including compliance issues and internal investigations."

    1 minute read

  • December 17, 2008 |

    Jones Day reveals 40 new partner promotions

    Jones Day has unveiled a bumper round of partnership promotions with 40 new partners added worldwide, including four in London. The new partners in the City are Edwin Borrini in banking and finance, Paul Bromfield in business restructuring and reorganisation, Alistair Grant private equity and Julian Runnicles in M&A. The new appointments bring the firm's total partner numbers in London up to 53 after a number of lateral hires over the year, including Peter Baldwin from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft and Michael and Stephen Brown from Mayer Brown.

    1 minute read

  • December 11, 2008 |

    City litigators set to press ahead with judge appraisals

    The UK's top judges are to be appraised by court users, with litigators taking the matter into their own hands after plans for non-peer reviews were rejected by the judiciary. The Commercial Litigators Forum (CLF) is pushing ahead with proposals that will see judges subjected to upward reviews, even though the suggestions were snubbed by a working group set up by the Judges Council and overseen by Commercial Court head Mr Justice Andrew Smith earlier this year. The CLF has formed a sub-committee within the last month to come up with a framework for the appraisals, with members including litigation partners Hilton Mervis of SJ Berwin, Lovells' Neil Fagan, Herbert Smith's Tim Parkes, Simon Willis of Mayer Brown and John Reynolds of White & Case.

    1 minute read

  • December 10, 2008 |

    Behind the veil

    On Monday, January 21, 2008, back when extreme stock volatility was still a novelty, world equity markets plunged 6% with no full explanation apparent. Then, on Thursday, the mystery abated when at least a partial explanation for the sell-off appeared. The French bank Societe Generale (Soc Gen) announced that a young trader named Jerome Kerviel had somehow, without the bank noticing, bet A50bn that stock markets would rise. Soc Gen had spent the past few days desperately selling his positions - and set a new standard for rogue trading losses at A6.4bn. Hit by scandal and a potential legal mess, Soc Gen did what plenty of other rich and powerful French institutions would do in such a situation: It hired Jean Veil.

    1 minute read

  • December 2, 2008 |

    Brown Rudnick cuts see City associates laid off

    Brown Rudnick has become the latest firm to make job cuts in the wake of the credit crisis, with the announcement that it is to lay off almost 10% of its global workforce. The job losses affect 20 lawyers, three paralegals, and 20 members of support staff across the firm's Boston, Hartford, New York and Providence offices, with three associates and one member of the firm's support staff laid off in London.Brown Rudnick CEO Joseph Ryan, said: "The global credit crisis and related economic downturn have adversely affected almost all businesses, including law firms and their clients. While we carefully considered all other options, we reluctantly concluded that the painful steps taken are a necessary response to these adverse economic conditions."

    1 minute read

  • December 2, 2008 |

    Simpson Thacher makes up City duo to partnership

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has announced its 2008 promotions, with the US firm making up five new partners. The firm's City arm will gain two new corporate partners, Ian Barratt and Sinead O'Shea, while New York-based Joshua Levine and Nancy Mehlman have been made up in litigation and tax respectively. Beijing was gifted one new partner - Shaolin Luo - in corporate.The promotions will become effective as of January 2009.

    1 minute read

  • November 30, 2008 |

    Linklaters slows as cold wind buffets the City

    Last week (24 November), Linklaters became the latest firm to announce its revenues for the first half of the current financial year, reporting a slight…

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  • November 28, 2008 |

    Dechert set for redundancy consultation

    Dechert has become the latest firm to cut jobs, with the US firm reviewing the positions of a number of administrative staff in its London office. The firm declined to comment on the number of jobs under threat but up to 20% of administrative staff are understood to be involved in the redundancy consultation.When questioned about the jobs at risk Dechert's London managing partner, Steven Fogel, told Legal Week: "It in the nature of a jobs consultation that there should not be a preconceived idea about numbers. I do not know where the percentage you have mentioned comes from. It is not authoritative."

    1 minute read

  • November 27, 2008 |

    Weil makes up seven with one in the City

    Weil Gotshal & Manges is the latest firm to announce its new partner promotions with the US firm making up only a fraction of the number promoted last year. The firm is making up seven new partners worldwide, down from 21 last year. Three of the new partners are in offices across the US with Prague gaining the same number. London gains one partner, down from two last year, with Joanne Etherton, of counsel in the pensions practice, joining the partnership in January.

    1 minute read