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  • October 26, 2011 |

    RPC set to make international debut in Singapore with hire of Barlows partner

    Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) is set to launch its first-ever international office in Singapore with the hire of a partner from Barlow 
Lyde & Gilbert. The firm's new Singapore arm is set to go live on 
1 November this year, with Barlows' local insurance and reinsurance chief Mark Errington joining to head up the office. The move comes as the firm increasingly targets the insurance market in the region, with growing numbers of insurers setting up a presence in Singapore as an access point for the wider Asia market. RPC is planning to grow the office at both partner and associate level through a combination of hires and relocations over the coming months.

    1 minute read

  • October 24, 2011 |

    Clydes confirms details of Zimbabwe and Singapore alliance deals

    Clyde & Co has expanded its international presence with two new alliances in Zimbabwe and Singapore. The firm set up a best friends relationship with Zimbabwe's Scanlen and Holderness in May this year, while at the same time establishing an association with Singapore law firm Clasis LLC.

    1 minute read

  • October 19, 2011 |

    EC3, then the world - Clydes asserts insurance law on global stage

    Cast your mind back five years ago to what seems like a different era. Clyde & Co was generating not much more than half its current revenues and Holman Fenwick Willan barely scraped into the top 40 while Ince & Co just about made the top 50. Kennedys was nowhere to be seen. Corporate markets were booming, and transaction-driven law firms were really just getting into the swing of the credit boom. Little wonder that insurance-driven law firms were overlooked as the script for global law was written – the sector was associated with nothing more glamourous than brutally executed panel reviews and misconceived cross-selling (Barlow Lyde & Gilbert's lost years and Davies Arnold Cooper's 'pillars of strength' spring to mind). Apart from the startling growth Clydes was already demonstrating, powered by global expansion and a strategy that largely went over the heads of journalists such as, well, me, there was little sign of the breed's future ascendency. Step forward, and it's a very different story, with insurance and transport law firms now having led the pack consistently since the credit crunch hit four years ago.

    1 minute read

  • October 19, 2011 |

    Giant - will size make Clydes and Barlows the future of insurance law?

    The beginning of the end of 170 years of legal history happened on 15 March 2011, the day Barlow Lyde & Gilbert's highly-rated aviation team handed in its notice to move to Holman Fenwick Willan. Until that point, Barlows had looked as if it was finally turning the corner after nearly a decade dominated by partner departures, poor financials and management inertia to regroup around its core insurance practice, a business the firm had hopes of rapidly taking international.

    1 minute read

  • October 19, 2011 |

    Linklaters, Gianni and Credit Suisse settle £118m negligence dispute

    Linklaters, Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners and Credit Suisse have settled a £118m professional negligence dispute relating to advice given to the bank on a deal with Italian food company Parmalat nearly 10 years ago. It is unclear how much the firms have settled for; however, the figure, which both law firms are contributing to, is expected to be only a fraction of the original claim value.

    1 minute read

  • October 14, 2011 |

    Law Firm of the Year 2011 – the whys and wherefores

    Legal Week remains somewhat arms-length from its own awards ceremony, the British Legal Awards. That's mainly because the awards have an independent judging panel - and a very high quality one at that - with the aim being to avoid the event turning into a prize-fest for our best contacts. That said, we do try to draw on Legal Week's editorial experience to assist the process. That happens in several ways. Firstly, Legal Week - largely meaning me and our deputy editor, Georgina Stanley - help to whittle the award entries down to a shortlist for the judges to consider. Frankly, that was a pain this year, because for reasons I won't try to explain we had a record number of entries, up 20% on last year. So apologies to the considerable number of lawyers, firms and barristers sulking at our news team this week for not getting shortlisted - in most categories you were really up against a lot of competition.

    1 minute read

  • October 13, 2011 |

    Ince recruits Barlows partner duo and opens new desk in Lloyd's building

    Ince & Co has announced plans to launch a London market desk in the Lloyd's building at the same time as strengthening its insurance and reinsurance practice with a double partner hire from Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG). The firm will open the market desk on the eighth floor of the Lloyd's building on 1 November as a workspace and a place to meet clients. Partners and associates from practices including insurance and reinsurance, political risk and marine will comes to the office every day on rotation.

    1 minute read

  • October 12, 2011 |

    Clydes, Mishcons and A&O head up nominees for Firm of the Year at British Legal Awards

    Clyde & Co, Allen & Overy (A&O) and Mishcon de Reya are among the firms shortlisted for Law Firm of the Year at the 2011 British Legal Awards. The trio have been nominated for the coveted award alongside Hogan Lovells, Kirkland & Ellis and Stephenson Harwood. A&O and Hogan Lovells have also both been nominated for the M&A Team of the Year Award, alongside magic circle duo Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and US firms Shearman & Sterling and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.

    1 minute read

  • October 12, 2011 |

    Holman opens in Brazil with Barlows arm; as Clydes merger is finalised

    Holman Fenwick Willan has launched in Brazil with the acquisition of Barlow Lyde & Gilbert's local arm. The two firms signed an agreement on Tuesday (11 October) that will see Holman take on Barlows' existing branch in Sao Paulo, following the earlier hire of Barlows' sole partner in the country, aviation partner Jeremy Shebson.

    1 minute read

  • October 5, 2011 |

    Barlows partner trio exit firm to join Norton Rose and Lloyds

    Barlow Lyde & Gilbert is set to see a trio of partner departures ahead of its impending merger with Clyde & Co next month. The departures include the firm's head of marine, energy and trade Patrick Foss, who is joining Norton Rose on 
1 November alongside fellow marine insurance partner Chris Zavos, and financial services regulatory partner Chris Brennan, who has left to join Lloyds Banking Group. Foss and Zavos, who focus on marine and energy insurance claims and shipping disputes, had both practised at shipping boutique Hill Taylor Dickinson before joining Barlows in 2003 and 2006 respectively, with Zavos joining from a two-year stint at legacy Richards Butler.

    1 minute read