• March 10, 2010 |

    Diversity dips at US firms as recession hits ethnic minority lawyer headcounts

    The number of ethnic minority lawyers in US firms has fallen for the first time in nine years, with large firms losing 9% of minority lawyers, according to research by Legal Week sister title The American Lawyer. The findings, based on statistics from 202 participating firms including Baker & McKenzie and Latham & Watkins, suggest that minority lawyers were disproportionately affected by job cuts at US firms over the last year.

    1 minute read

  • March 10, 2010 |

    DMH Stallard adds former Freshfields finance chief to partnership

    Former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Weil Gotshal & Manges finance partners Perry Noble and Stuart Hills have joined the partnership at DMH Stallard. Noble has become a partner in the corporate team, having initially joined the London and southeast outfit as a consultant in September 2009.

    1 minute read

  • March 9, 2010 |

    Sullivan and Weil lead on $15.5bn AIG sell-off

    Sullivan & Cromwell and Weil Gotshal & Manges have taken key roles on AIG's $15.5bn (£10.4bn) sale of its life insurance unit to rival company MetLife, reports The Am Law Daily. Sullivan advised AIG on the sale of the American Life Insurance Company (Alico), in the latest in a series of sell-offs designed to help the company repay its massive debt to the US Government.

    1 minute read

  • March 9, 2010 |

    Bankruptcy leader Weil sees flat revenue in 2009 as profits edge up

    Weil Gotshal & Manges has reported flat revenue growth and a modest upturn in profits for 2009, despite a year in which the firm led on a string of high-profile insolvency mandates, reports The Am Law Daily. The results will be met with surprise given the firm's position in the busy restructuring market last year. However, executive partner Barry Wolf said that other parts of the firm were hit by the economic downturn.

    1 minute read

  • March 2, 2010 |

    A&O and Weil Gotshal bag roles on $615m crisps buyout

    Allen & Overy (A&O) and Weil Gotshal & Manges have taken lead roles on the $615m (£412m) sale of Kettle Foods. US snacks group Diamond Foods is set to buy the crisp manufacturer from current owner Lion Capital in a cash deal, which was definitively agreed last month (25 February).

    1 minute read

  • March 1, 2010 |

    Slaughters takes headline role for Prudential on $35bn AIG Asia buyout

    Slaughter and May and Debevoise & Plimpton have scored advisory roles on Prudential's high-profile plans to purchase the Asian assets of American International Group (AIG) for more than $35bn (£23.3bn). The two insurance groups are in advanced discussions over the sale of US Government-controlled AIG's subsidiary AIA, with Prudential this week (1 March) confirming both the discussions and the suspension of its shares as a result.

    1 minute read

  • February 23, 2010 |

    New Lehman bankruptcy filing shows Weil Gotshal billings of $300k per day

    Weil Gotshal & Manges has billed the Lehman Brothers estate an average of $300,000 (£195,000) per day since the bank filed for Chapter 11, according to a new bankruptcy filing. Last Friday (19 February) the Lehman estate submitted updated details of the fees it has paid to bankruptcy advisers up to the end of January, with the total now standing at $641.9m (£416m).

    1 minute read

  • February 15, 2010 |

    Bingham sets standard for London salaries with £100,000 pay for NQs

    Bingham McCutchen has emerged as one of the best-paying firms for newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers in London with NQ salaries of more than £100,000. The firm said that it pays New York rates, which currently stand at around $160,000 (£102,000) for NQs.

    1 minute read

  • February 10, 2010 |

    Lawyers in love

    It's a cold February morning in Brooklyn Heights, New York, and the Seymours are huddled under the duvet, each clicking on his-and-her BlackBerrys. Across the bridge, the DeMasis are in the kitchen of their Upper West Side Manhattan apartment, eyes also fixed on their incoming email messages, as their kids clamour for Cheerios. Halfway across the country, on a leafy street in Houston, the Rodriguezes are getting their daughters ready for school as they - you guessed it - toy with their BlackBerrys.

    1 minute read

  • February 9, 2010 |

    Ropes & Gray adds fifth partner in London with Freshfields banking hire

    Ropes & Gray has boosted its City banking capability with the hire of a new partner from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Matthew Cox, who was a counsel at Freshfields, joins the partnership at the US outfit, bringing with him a broad finance practice focused on acquisition leverage and restructuring.

    1 minute read