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  • November 28, 2013 |

    NQ intake at London offices of top US firms dips by 6%

    The intake of newly qualified lawyers (NQs) at the largest US and international firms in the UK fell by 6% in the last year, highlighting the continued uncertainty for lawyers at the junior end of the profession. Just a handful of firms in the group of 21 surveyed by Legal Week posted year-on-year increases in the number of NQs who were offered and accepted a training contract. These included Mayer Brown, Shearman & Sterling, McDermott Will & Emery and Sidley Austin. Sidley Austin, alongside Paul Hastings and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom were the only firms to retain 100% of their intake. The research also highlighted the sizeable impact US and international firms have had on the graduate recruitment market, with Reed Smith, Dentons and Baker & McKenzie each taking on at least 25 NQs in 2013.

    1 minute read

  • November 21, 2013 |

    African Legal Awards 2013: who won what – and why...

    Two hundred lawyers gathered at the African Legal Awards in October to celebrate the achievements of the continent's leading business lawyers. The ceremony was hosted by Legal Week in association with the Corporate Lawyers Association of South Africa (CLASA) and featured leading South African investigative journalist Derek Watts in the role of master of ceremonies.

    1 minute read

  • November 14, 2013 |

    Stars at the Bar 2013 – the up-and-coming barristers making their mark

    From Fountain Court to 4 New Square, Ben Rigby profiles 10 of the most acclaimed young barristers making their mark in a fiercely competitive arena...

    1 minute read

  • November 13, 2013 |

    Cleary and Paul Hastings tuck in to Chinese meat producer IPO

    Paul Hastings and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton are understood to have been appointed as lead advisers on the IPO of Chinese meat processing company Shuanghui International, estimated to be worth up to $6bn (£3.75bn). The planned listing would be the biggest in Hong Kong in four years, providing a welcome boost to the local IPO market, which has seen a dearth of high-value flotations since the middle of 2012. It follows Shuanghui's takeover of the world's largest pork producer – Virginia-based Smithfield Foods – earlier this year. That deal, valued at $7.1bn (£4.7bn), marked the largest ever acquisition of a US company by a Chinese business.

    1 minute read

  • October 30, 2013 |

    Skadden and O'Melveny act on rare US IPO for 'China's Craigslist'

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and O'Melveny & Myers are advising on the US initial public offering (IPO) of China's version of Craigslist, 58.com. The online marketplace – which lists jobs, housing and used goods – is hoping to raise up to $165m (£102m) with the sale of 11 million shares each priced $13-$15 (£8-£9.30) on the New York Stock Exchange.

    1 minute read

  • October 27, 2013 |

    Chelsea FC looks to net first in-house legal adviser

    Chelsea Football Club is set to hire its first in-house lawyer, following the example of other top clubs. Unlike a number of its Premier League rivals- including Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool - Chelsea currently does not have any dedicated lawyers employed by the club.

    1 minute read

  • October 25, 2013 |

    CC and Anjarwalla take top prizes at celebration of Africa legal excellence

    Clifford Chance scooped the headline International Law Firm of the Year award at the inaugural African Legal Awards in Johannesburg last night. The magic circle firm was one of four international firms to secure awards at the sell-out event, which was attended by 200 private practice and in-house lawyers and hosted by Legal Week in association with the Corporate Lawyers Association of South Africa (CLASA).

    1 minute read

  • October 24, 2013 |

    Skadden and Latham cash in on casino bond issue

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has acted opposite Latham & Watkins to advise on casino company Wynn Macau's $600m (£371m) bond issuance. Wynn Macau, a subsidiary of casino developer Wynn Resorts, issued the eight-year bonds at 5.25% interest to US investors in the hope of boosting liquidity as it seeks to raise its profile. The Skadden team advised Wynn on US and Hong Kong law, led by Hong Kong corporate partners Alan Schiffman and Alec Tracy with assistance from lawyers in Washington DC, Sydney and New York. Maples and Calder advised Wynn on Cayman Islands law.

    1 minute read

  • October 17, 2013 |

    The next big thing – regulation's booming popularity in legal business

    September 2007. A month Ian McDonald remembers well. "My banking and finance colleague Kevin Hawken came to see me and said: 'What do you know about SIVs [structured investment vehicles]?'" recalls McDonald, London head of commercial dispute resolution at Mayer Brown. "I thought it was a kitchen gadget. I really had no idea – but that is part of the challenge as litigators." His ignorance was short-lived. Mayer Brown's litigators were among the first called upon to help restructure SIVs – complex financial products once worth an estimated $400bn (£247.3bn) – when the 2007 credit crunch halted the short-term funding that underpinned them. For McDonald and his colleagues, it marked the start of busy few years.

    1 minute read

  • October 10, 2013 |

    Man on a mission – Yahoo!'s Asia-Pacific GC has a lot on his plate keeping up with his acquisitive CEO

    Working in the legal team of one of the world's largest internet companies, Stephen Man is rarely at a loose end. The Canadian-born father of two, who was appointed Asia-Pacific general counsel for Yahoo! in 2011 after working with the company for five years, says his biggest challenge in the past 12 months has been keeping pace with the growth and rapidly evolving vision of the company since Marissa Mayer was made CEO last summer. Despite his hectic schedule, Man says he is – perhaps surprisingly – a strong advocate of lawyers having a work-life balance. Maybe it is one of the quirks of working for an internet company, but, when he's not travelling or on a call, colleagues say he can be found playing his guitar in his office (though he claims to be no more than a beginner). He predicts there will be even more work for Yahoo!'s legal team in Asia now that the company has a clear strategy for how it wants to expand. This is a departure from previous years, he says, because of the changes in management.

    1 minute read