Filter This View

  • April 10, 2013 |

    CC recruits five-strong Ashurst Paris funds team led by practice chief

    Ashurst Paris fund formation head Xavier Comaills is set to join Clifford Chance (CC) as head of the firm's fund structuring practice in the French capital. Comaills is moving CC with a team of four associates, including Tiana Rambatomanga, who joins as counsel. The news was first reported by Legal Week sister title unquote.

    1 minute read

  • April 10, 2013 |

    Online direct access Bar portal goes live with 80-plus barristers on board

    A new online service that enables clients to access barristers in their area without the need for a solicitor is going live today (10 April), with more than 80 barristers from 12 UK sets signed up. myBARRISTER, owned and created by former Shearman & Sterling partner Ronald DeKoven, will allow direct access to the Bar through a centralised portal of barristers.

    1 minute read

  • April 4, 2013 |

    Links tops Q1 Asia M&A rankings as global deal levels hit three-year low

    Linklaters has emerged as the top UK firm for Asia-Pacific M&A for the first three months of 2013, after a quarter which saw global deal volumes fall to their lowest level since 2009. Figures from Legal Week's exclusive data provider Mergermarket show Linklaters jumped 28 places on last quarter to top the Asia-Pacific rankings by value, with roles on 17 deals worth a total value of $10.7bn (£7bn), a performance which saw it place second only to King & Wood Mallesons by volume in the region.

    1 minute read

  • March 27, 2013 |

    Top firms relocate more senior lawyers to Asia as East's rise continues

    UK and global law firms are increasingly relocating senior partners and practice group heads to the Asia-Pacific region as they continue to pin their hopes on the market, despite the recent downturn in activity in areas such as capital markets. A survey of 30 UK and US law firms by Legal Week found that 57% of those firms now have at least one global practice head, department co-chair or deputy chair based in Asia, with the majority of these appointed since the start of 2010. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Clifford Chance (CC) and Herbert Smith Freehills each now have at least two international practice heads based permanently in the Asia-Pacific, compared with one or fewer in 2010.

    1 minute read

  • March 25, 2013 |

    The Transfer Window: recent moves including SNR, Gateley, K&L Gates

    Harbottle & Lewis has recruited top-rated defamation and reputation management partner John Kelly from Schillings, in an eye-catching hire for the City firm. Kelly has acted for a raft of high-profile clients including disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong and former England manager Steve McClaren, as well as other celebrities including Steve Coogan, Madonna, Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie and Matt Lucas.

    1 minute read

  • March 7, 2013 |

    Access all areas – the realities of gaining direct access to the Bar

    There are no two ways about it. After years of effectively being a closed shop, the Bar is opening up. A number of initiatives over the years have seen it attempt to open its doors to a more diverse range of young barristers. And more recently, it attempted to stop relying on its traditional referring solicitor client base to attract a more diverse range of clients – whether or not solicitors liked it. The popularity of the scheme myBarrister – to launch later this year – an online service that will promote direct access to the Bar through a centralised portal of barristers (see page 20), is the latest in a string of moves by the Bar to increase direct instructions from clients. The changes are largely down to a concerted push from several individual barristers and sets to increase direct access in light of funding cuts, especially to legal aid, as well as to increased competition from solicitors looking to bring more advocacy work in-house.

    1 minute read

  • March 7, 2013 |

    EU proposals to cap bankers' bonuses risk legal challenge, City partners warn

    EU proposals to cap bankers' bonuses could be in breach of European rules governing pay, paving the way for a potential legal challenge by banks, according to some City lawyers. The reforms, which are set to come into effect next year, were this week backed by EU finance ministers despite opposition from Chancellor George Osborne, and would see bankers' bonuses capped at the same level as their basic salary, or twice salary with shareholder approval.

    1 minute read

  • February 28, 2013 |

    Reed Smith, Sidley Austin and Gibson Dunn post healthy results amid challenging deal market

    A host of elite US law firms have posted their 2012 financials this week, with the vast majority posting broadly positive results despite a choppy global deal market. Reed Smith, Sidley Austin, Paul Hastings, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Proskauer Rose and Shearman & Sterling all saw earnings grow last year, with Mayer Brown one of the few firms to post a drop in both revenue and profits per equity partner (PEP).

    1 minute read

  • February 26, 2013 |

    Gibson Dunn, Shearman and Proskauer unveil 2012 financials

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Shearman & Sterling and Proskauer Rose have become the latest US law firms to reveal their financial results for 2012. Gibson Dunn posted an impressive rise in revenue, up by almost 11% from $1.17bn (£769m) to $1.29bn (£851m). PEP increased at an even higher rate, reaching a record $2.81m (£1.85m), a rise of nearly 14% from $2.47m in 2011.

    1 minute read

  • February 21, 2013 |

    As a wave of US mega-mergers boosts M&A hopes, will they inspire confidence in Europe?

    Three weeks into February, a spate of mega-mergers in the US – capped by Warren Buffett's $28bn (£18bn) acquisition of food giant Heinz – has bolstered hopes of resurgence in the regional M&A markets. Figures from mergermarket for the 2012 calendar year show that with a total value of $825.4bn (£535bn), 2012 was the best-performing year for US M&A activity since 2007. And February has raised aspirations for similar performance in 2013, with the month seeing more than $103bn (£66.7bn) in activity across five deals alone.

    1 minute read