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  • October 23, 2008 |

    Kaplan voices interest in BVC replacement

    The number of law schools offering the new Bar entrance course, the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) looks set to increase, with Kaplan Law School - a joint venture operating with Nottingham Law School - considering whether to enter the market. The London college is to decide in the coming weeks whether or not to offer the Bar training course, after the Bar Standards Board (BSB) gave potential new providers until the end of the month to express their interest in offering the course.

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  • October 23, 2008 |

    Dechert combats bloggers to deny stealth layoffs

    Dechert has strongly refuted repeated claims in the legal blogosphere that the firm has made a significant number of associate layoffs. Posters on the legal blog Above the Law have claimed that the top 25 US law firm has laid off between 13 and 80 associates since March of this year.Dechert chairman Barton Winokur (pictured) has denied these claims, saying the number of associates who have left the firm for any reason in the first nine months of the year was lower than in the same period in 2007.

    1 minute read

  • October 22, 2008 |

    Ashurst scoops major role on €1.9bn French energy buyout

    Ashurst has sealed a major role in one of the largest leveraged buy-outs (LBOs) in France this year, acting for the banks on a €1.9bn (£1.4bn) deal to buy a stake in power conversion company Converteam Group. The City law firm has advised HSBC, Natixis, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Societe Generale on their roles providing finance to private equity group LBO France to fund its acquisition of a one-third stake in Converteam. The Ashurst team was led by Paris-based finance partner Laurent Mabilat, assisted by corporate partner Bertrand Delaunay and tax partner Nadine Gelli. Frankfurt-based finance partner Stephan Kock and senior associate Miriam Petri also advised on the deal.

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  • October 15, 2008 |

    Global 100: Man of the world

    They came in saris, cheongsams, and Muslim headscarves - plus the usual black tuxedos and glittering gowns. After cocktails and tapas in the marble halls of the National Art Museum of Catalonia, they streamed into a Roman amphitheatre for an intimate sit-down dinner for 400 colleagues and another 300 or so of their significant others.If Baker & McKenzie ever wanted a sideline, party planning could be just the ticket. That soiree in Barcelona last spring was just one of the frequent global shindigs that Bakers uses to unite its far-flung lawyers. This one brought together Bakers' European and Middle East partners, just a fraction of the firm's 700 partners and its approximately 3,000 associates and counsel, who hail from more than 60 countries and speak 70 languages.

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  • October 15, 2008 |

    CC hires Mayer Brown partner in Hong Kong

    Clifford Chance (CC) has hired a new partner for its Asian litigation practice after taking Elaine Chen for its Hong Kong office from Mayer Brown JSM. Chen, who is a commercial and contentious tax litigator, rejoins fellow partner Brian Gilchrist, with whom she worked for more than 10 years at Mayer Brown JSM and who joined CC in May this year. Chen joined legacy firm Johnson Stokes & Master in 1997, becoming a partner in 2006. She is qualified in England and Wales and Hong Kong.

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  • October 15, 2008 |

    Hogan launches two new offices with Heller hires

    Hogan & Hartson is set to launch two offices in California with the hire of a nine-partner group from Heller Ehrman. The firm will open offices in San Francisco and Silicon Valley with the new hires, while two of the nine partners will join Hogan in New York. Four of the partners will join the new Silicon Valley office, while three will join in San Francisco along with one of counsel.The partners are spread across the securities, white-collar crime, consumer class action, antitrust, M&A and employment litigation practices.

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  • October 13, 2008 |

    More than 100 staff laid off as Heller winds down

    At least 100 Heller Ehrman employees were laid off on Friday (10 October), without receiving the 60 days' wages required by federal law or accrued vacation due under California law, reports The Recorder. Heller staff arriving at work on Friday received one of two emails, either notifying them that they had been laid off, effective immediately, or that the firm would be retaining their services for the time being. The emails did not address whether employees would be paid for accrued vacation or other wages owed to them under federal law. The layoffs were directed at staff not involved in client-service positions and lawyers who were already known to be leaving. At least some legal assistants, library staff, marketing staff, recruiting staff and the firm's group of about 10 IT trainers were laid off.

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  • October 8, 2008 |

    US firm launches credit crunch response group

    US law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has launched a financial markets crisis group in response to the worsening economic conditions. It will keep clients up-to-date on the legal, political and regulatory issues that arise from the current turmoil in the financial markets. The centre will provide regular news alerts, answers to common questions, legal analysis of the latest issues and a round-up of legal and economic articles from across the internet. K&L Gates and Mayer Brown have launched similar initiatives.

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  • October 2, 2008 |

    Heller Ehrman announces dissolution as rivals move to pick up star teams

    San Francisco law firm Heller Ehrman is to dissolve after months of speculation about its future. The firm's chairman, Matthew Larrabee, told the partnership late last week (25 September) that dissolution was unavoidable. The collapse followed a series of failed merger talks between the 118-year-old law firm and rival US players including Mayer Brown and Baker & McKenzie. Law firms are now scrabbling over Heller's practice both in the US and internationally. Morriston & Foerster, Bakers, Proskauer Rose and Vinson & Elkins are among the law firms currently being linked with Heller teams in the US, along with Cooley Godward Kronish. West Coast-based Cooley is also thought to be considering a London launch, with Heller's London venture law team seen by rivals as a good fit. The team, which includes corporate partners Richard Eaton, Christopher Grew and Struan Penwarden, joined in early 2007 from WilmerHale. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is also understood to be interested in a number of Heller's partners in the US. The US technology leader is additionally being touted by some as a possible contender for some of Heller's London office, even though it currently has only one international office - in Shanghai. One City recruiter said: "It is never nice to see a decent firm go under but the opportunities this represents to firms looking to break into the London market don't come around often."Heller's employees will be paid for the next 60 days but partners will not receive their September draw. See Editor's Blog, page 23.

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  • October 1, 2008 |

    US duo launch financial crisis advice services

    K&L Gates and Mayer Brown have launched financial crisis services aimed at advising clients on the impact of the turbulent global markets. K&L Gates has built a global financial services group drawing on lawyers within the firm's banking, securities, regulatory and litigation practices. Mayer Brown has launched a financial institutions response unit in London to assist clients with concerns and has set up a telephone hotline to prioritise response

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