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  • February 8, 2011 |

    Heading the same direction - why a more imaginative approach to billing is required

    When it comes to innovation in fees the UK leads the world. A recent survey by consulting firm Altman Weil found that 94.5% of the 218 US firms they interviewed - and 100% of those with 150 lawyers or more - offered non-hourly billing. But the billable hour is institutionalised in the US, albeit at a lower rate with more diligent time recording. Fixed fees (or, crucially, flexible fixed fees) have typically been used by UK nationals and heavyweight regionals - but even the most traditional of London firms are finding they need to be more imaginative as it becomes increasingly difficult to access the levels of work enjoyed in the past.

    1 minute read

  • February 8, 2011 |

    Weil Gotshal's London office seals double private equity client win

    Weil Gotshal & Manges has won buyout houses Unitas and Towerbrook Capital as new clients for the firm's City office. The client wins came as a result of competitive tender processes, with private equity partner Marco Compagnoni leading the team advising on both subsequent transactions. Compagnoni advised Asian buyout house Unitas alongside London finance chief Jacky Kelly on its €525m (£441m) acquisition of hydraulics manufacturer Hyva from UK private equity firm 3i, a deal which was announced before Christmas.

    1 minute read

  • February 4, 2011 |

    Weil Gotshal posts falling revenue and partner profits for 2010

    Weil Gotshal & Manges saw a decrease in revenue in 2010, according to financial data reported by the firm, writes The Am Law Daily. Gross revenue in 2010 dipped 4% to $1.19bn (£750m) for the US law firm. While revenue fell, a series of cost-cutting measures - total lawyer headcount shrank by more than 90 - pushed net income up by 3% to a record high of $438.5m (£277m). Consequently, Weil's profit margin rose to 37%, its highest level since 1997.

    1 minute read

  • January 26, 2011 |

    Weil recruits new UK restructuring chief with Jones Day London hire

    Weil Gotshal & Manges has made its second London hire in a month with the addition of Jones Day restructuring head Adam Plainer. Plainer is joining Weil as practice head of the US firm's UK business finance and restructuring practice, which currently comprises just one partner, Dominic McCahill. Plainer, who has been handed a remit to build up the practice, advises on a wide range of matters from debtors counsel to insolvency, financial restructurings and distressed M&A. His clients include Honda and Ennstone.

    1 minute read

  • January 25, 2011 |

    Russia and Ukraine: Happily single?

    It was a grim morning in November 2008 when Andrey Goltsblat, managing partner of leading Russian law firm Pepeliaev Goltsblat & Partners (PGP), set out for one of the most difficult meetings of his 20-year career. Moscow was already deep in the grip of winter, the streets buried beneath inches of snow. But it wasn't the weather that troubled Goltsblat as he arrived at the firm's premises and headed to the office he shared with Sergey Pepeliaev, the firm's senior partner. Goltsblat had a dramatic announcement to make: he was leaving the business they'd spent the last two decades building together. And he was taking half the firm with him. Neither man will talk about exactly what was said in that meeting - Pepeliaev would only describe his reaction as "appropriate" - but it's safe to say that Goltsblat's news didn't go down well. In one fell swoop, nine partners and a full 70 lawyers - PGP's entire corporate practice and the firm's heads of real estate, dispute resolution and employment - left to join UK firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP).

    1 minute read

  • January 21, 2011 |

    Weil Gotshal hires former Ashurst partner for London finance group

    Weil Gotshal & Manges is to strengthen its City finance practice with the hire of former Ashurst banking partner James Hogben. Hogben, who stepped down from Ashurst's partnership in March 2010, is set to join Weil next week (23 January). He specialises in general banking law and has particular expertise in cross-border leveraged finance and acquisition finance transactions. At Weil, Hogben will work alongside London finance head Jacky Kelly and structured finance partner Steven Ong.

    1 minute read

  • January 19, 2011 |

    Linklaters and Weil Gotshal lead on RBS's £925m Priory Group sale

    Linklaters and Weil Gotshal & Manges have taken lead roles on Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) £925m sale of the Priory Group to buyout house Advent International. Linklaters advised the seller with a team of lawyers led by private equity co-chief Ian Bagshaw, who was assisted by corporate partner Iain Wagstaff and managing associate Alex Woodward.

    1 minute read

  • January 11, 2011 |

    Ropes & Gray recruits Weil Gotshal City partner to lead Hong Kong banking

    Weil Gotshal & Manges City finance partner Michael Nicklin is set to leave the firm to join Ropes & Gray in Hong Kong. Nicklin will relocate to the region to take over the role of office banking head at the rival US firm, with current head Alison Bomberg set to move back to Ropes' Boston office later this year. Nicklin has been at Weil since 2000 and made partner at the firm in 2007.

    1 minute read

  • January 10, 2011 |

    Camerons hires Simmons partner for international capital markets launch

    CMS Cameron McKenna has launched an international capital markets (ICM) group with the hire of Simmons & Simmons US securities partner Daniel Winterfeldt. As previously reported by Legal Week, Winterfeldt left Simmons in early December 2010. He will join Camerons next month (1 February) to head up the new team, which will span 13 offices in the UK and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and include around 40 partners.

    1 minute read

  • December 20, 2010 |

    CC and Weil lead on $1.1bn Siemens deal

    Clifford Chance (CC) and Weil Gotshal & Manges have advised on Siemens' $1.1bn (£707m) sale of its information technology services unit to French rival Atos Origin, reports The Am Law Daily. Siemens instructed regular adviser CC for advice on the deal, with Munich partners Jan Wrede and Nicole Englisch and Paris partner Catherine Astor-Veyres leading the firm's team. Siemens' in-house team was led by Karin Flesch.

    1 minute read