Filter This View

  • July 15, 2013 |

    Vinson hires top Dentons arbitration partner for London office

    Dentons arbitration partner George Burn, the former head of Salans' UK international arbitration practice, has joined Vinson & Elkins in a key hire for the US firm's London base. Burn, who advises on disputes relating to the energy, construction, transport and financial sectors, is an experienced counsel and arbitrator who joined Salans in 2007 from Denton Wilde Sapte - both of which subsequently formed part of the global merger which this year created Dentons.

    1 minute read

  • July 12, 2013 |

    Vinson & Elkins to shut Shanghai office

    Vinson & Elkins (V&E) is to shut its Shanghai office later this year in a move to consolidate its China offering. The Texas firm is yet to announce a date on which the base will close, but said it wants to turn its attention to offices in Hong Kong and Beijing as the main hotspots for energy dealflow.

    1 minute read

  • July 4, 2013 |

    Near-shoring and LPO takes hold as more top 30 firms eye moves

    Fifteen of the UK's top 30 law firms by revenue have either set up their own low-cost legal centre or are sending routine legal work to legal process outsourcing (LPO) providers, according to research conducted by Legal Week. Several other leading firms are reviewing their options, including Stephenson Harwood, which is considering opening a low-cost legal centre, and SJ Berwin, which is in early stage talks to outsource its document production team.

    1 minute read

  • July 4, 2013 |

    Branching out - how top law firms are going beyond the City to cut costs

    Deutsche Bank's global head of compliance, Simon Dodds, is one of many senior in-house lawyers to have called on City-based law firms to farm out straightforward legal work to low-cost centres. "Magic circle law firms in particular have a problem with their model. [They have] commoditised to some extent but lawyers are sitting in London – the most expensive place in the world," he told a Legal Week conference.

    1 minute read

  • July 2, 2013 |

    Morgan Lewis takes three Vinson partners to launch in Dubai

    Morgan Lewis is to open an office in Dubai, the US firm's first base in the Middle East, with the hire of a three-partner team from Vinson & Elkins, including regional managing partner Ayman Khaleq. The move comes just over a year after Morgan Lewis launched offices in Moscow and Almaty with the hire of a six-partner team from now defunct firm Dewey & LeBoeuf.

    1 minute read

  • June 28, 2013 |

    White & Case seals hire of A&O Milan team

    Allen & Overy's (A&O's) Italy office has seen a seven-strong team of lawyers depart for White & Case, including partner Paola Leocani. Leocani joins the US firm's Milan office alongside a counsel, three associates and two trainees. Leocani joined A&O's international capital markets practice in 1998 and was made up as a partner in 2006. She has worked on mandates including the Italian Government's €18bn (£15.4bn) bond sale in 2012, the third issue of a four-year inflation-linked bond.

    1 minute read

  • June 24, 2013 |

    US firm Bracewell adds three partners in London with A&O, Links and HSF hires

    Bracewell & Giuliani has added three partners to its London office in a series of hires from firms including Allen & Overy (A&O) and Linklaters. Morgan Lewis & Bockius partner Martin Stewart-Smith, A&O senior associate Darren Spalding and Linklaters associate Ben James are all joining the US firm's London office as partners.

    1 minute read

  • June 21, 2013 |

    Eversheds appoints new China chief for Europe as former head exits for GC role

    Eversheds has appointed a new China head for Europe following the departure of partner Sharon Shi, who has left the firm for a general counsel role at Shanghai Environment Group. Paris-based Virginie Deslandres, who specialises in corporate and life sciences work, will be the lead coordinator of cross-border work for the firm's China practice in Europe, adding to her existing responsibilities as head of the China group in France.

    1 minute read

  • June 13, 2013 |

    HK regulatory chief cautions against taking legal advice on price-sensitive info

    Hong Kong's market enforcement chief has warned listed companies against relying solely on legal advice when disclosing price sensitive information in line with new regulations. Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), said lawyers were not qualified to advise on what constituted price sensitive or 'inside information' - which was defined by its ability to impact the behaviour of investors.

    1 minute read

  • June 3, 2013 |

    Department of Health appoints 14-strong cross-department roster

    The Department of Health and the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) have appointed a new panel to provide legal advice to 16 health organisations. In total, 14 firms have won places on the panel, which replaces the previous roster which advised the NHSLA alone. The panel is sub-divided into clinical liability, non-clinical liability and regulatory, health and disciplinary. Eleven firms will advise on the clinical negligence roster, while six firms have taken places on the non-clinical panel. Meanwhile, 11 firms have taken places on the newly created regulatory, health and disciplinary panel.

    1 minute read