Filter This View

  • August 2, 2013 |

    Sidley continues to ramp up Singapore with fourth partner hire since local licence win

    Sidley Austin has hired its fourth partner in Singapore since receiving a local licence in the city-state in February, giving it a total partner headcount of eight. The US firm this week recruited project finance partner Nicholas Grambas from Gilbert + Tobin (G+T)in Melbourne, in a bid to ramp up its infrastructure-focused team.

    1 minute read

  • July 31, 2013 |

    A&O, Linklaters and DLA among firms facing legal action over Dewey hires

    A raft of firms including Allen & Overy (A&O), Linklaters and DLA Piper are facing legal action from Dewey & LeBoeuf's estate over client matters they took on when recruiting former partners of the collapsed US law firm. US firm Diamond McCarthy, which is acting for Dewey's estate, last Friday (26 July) asked the judge overseeing the bankruptcy to grant permission to issue subpoenas to 36 law firms and one accountancy firm which are now home to ex-Dewey partners.

    1 minute read

  • July 26, 2013 |

    Elite US quartet advises on Activision's $8.2bn Vivendi buyout

    Gibson Dunn, Skadden, Wachtell and Sullivan & Cromwell are leading on an $8.2bn (£5.3bn) share buyout of Vivendi's controlling stake in video games giant Activision Blizzard. The games maker, which counts World of Warcraft and Call of Duty (pictured) among its highest selling titles, is purchasing $5.8bn (£3.8bn) worth of shares from Vivendi, while a separate investor group led by CEO Bobby Kotick is buying about $2.3bn (£1.5bn) of shares.

    1 minute read

  • July 23, 2013 |

    A&O, CMS, McDermott lead on €5bn Telefonica Germany mobile purchase

    Allen & Overy (A&O), CMS Hasche Sigle and McDermott Will & Emery have scored the leading roles on KPN's proposed €5bn (£4.3bn) sale of a German mobile unit to O2 owner Telefonica. Telefonica's German listed subsidiary Telefonica Deutschland Holding is set to take over E-Plus, the German business of Dutch telecoms company KPN, in a transaction that is expected to close by mid 2014. KPN would also receive a 17.6% stake in the subsidiary in the deal.

    1 minute read

  • July 17, 2013 |

    Vinson Shanghai energy partner joins Sidley after office closure announcement

    Sidley Austin has ramped up its Singapore energy practice with the hire of M&A partner Tju Liang from Vinson & Elkins in Shanghai. The hire comes just days after Vinson announced plans to close the Shanghai base later this year.

    1 minute read

  • 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