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  • March 11, 2009 |

    Insolvency: Behind with the rent

    The recent decision by the Court of Appeal in the matter of Innovate Logistics (in administration) v Sunberry Properties offers useful guidance on the likely approach of the courts when considering applications by landlords for permission to bring proceedings against companies in administration to terminate occupational licences granted in breach of a lease. This is a topical issue as the grant of such licences to third-party purchasers is often an important and necessary component of pre-pack administrations.

    1 minute read

  • March 6, 2009 |

    55 lawyers lose jobs at Pillsbury

    Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman laid off 55 lawyers and 100 staff yesterday (5 March), writes The Recorder. The cuts - which include associates and counsel from across the country, equate to a 12% reduction in the west coast firm's non-partner ranks.Details of the job losses come weeks after Pillsbury was forced to confirm that it would be making lay-offs after one of its Washington DC-based partners was overheard discussing the impending cuts on the train. The conversation led to a story emerging on legal blog Above the Law, however the firm did not confirm numbers.

    1 minute read

  • March 2, 2009 |

    Morgan Lewis boosts Paris arm with Jones Day hires

    Morgan Lewis has hired three lawyers from Jones Day in Paris, including M&A partner Olivier Edwards. In addition to Edwards, whose practice focuses on the high-tech and biotech sectors, the firm has also taken Jones Day's Paris head of intellectual property and new technologies, Catherine Myul, who has joined Morgan Lewis as of counsel, as well as one associate.Edwards becomes the seventh partner in Morgan Lewis's Paris corporate team, which mainly advises on M&A, private equity, fund formation and securities law.

    1 minute read

  • February 18, 2009 |

    Nabarro and Jones Day act on £587m shopping centre sale

    Nabarro and Jones Day have advised on British Land's sale of 50% of its stake in Sheffield's Meadowhall shopping centre for £587.7m. The deal saw British Land turn to Jones Day for advice as it set up a 50:50 joint venture partnership for the freehold interest in Meadowhall with London & Stamford Property and an uni-dentified joint venture partner. The firm's co-head of real estate, David Roberts, and corporate partner Giles Elliott took lead roles on the transaction, which values Meadowhall at £1.175bn, with the purchase price including a £170m cash consideration.

    1 minute read

  • February 15, 2009 |

    The fire this time: thoughts on the coming law firm hiring crisis

    If present trends continue in the big firm market, we are heading toward - you pick the cliche - a paradigm-shifting, blood-in-the-suites, terror-on-the-campus…

    1 minute read

  • February 11, 2009 |

    US firms see record year for laterals as 2,500 partners swap firms in 2008

    Leading US law firms saw a record year for lateral moves in 2008 despite the financial downturn, with a 4% increase in partner moves during the year. Research from Legal Week sister title The American Lawyer found that 2,509 partners in Am Law 100 and 200 firms transferred to rivals over the course of 2008. K&L Gates took on the most lateral partners, bringing in 185 over the period, followed by Reed Smith with 74, DLA Piper with 58 and Jones Day with 57.

    1 minute read

  • February 11, 2009 |

    Fewer seats at the table

    This is the year of low expectations, where even some who have been elected to partnership - and who expected to make the cut - sound surprised. "I was not so confident, given the economy," says Rena Chng, a newly-elected partner at Mayer Brown's Palo Alto office. Though Chng says she had successfully handled a big litigation matter this past year and was the only one in her office to be put up for partnership, she says, "If they had said, 'you won't make it this year,' I would have understood."Indeed, the number of newly-minted partners has generally plummeted since last year - along, presumably, with the firms' business. For instance, Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy promoted just four this year, compared to 11 last year; O'Melveny & Myers, 15 (23 last year); Mayer Brown, 27 (43 last year); Morrison & Foerster, 10 (24 last year); Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, five (eight for 2007; 13 for 2006); Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, eight (13 last year); and Weil Gotshal & Manges, seven (21 last year).

    1 minute read

  • February 5, 2009 |

    SocGen shakes up adviser roster in global review

    A raft of City firms have won places on Societe Generale's (SocGen's) global legal panel, in a review that has seen Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, White & Case and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe lose out. The bank has cut the number of global panel firms from nine to eight with Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker and Salans winning places on the roster. The process has also seen Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Gide Loyrette Nouel, Shearman & Sterling, Linklaters and Norton Rose re-appointed.

    1 minute read

  • February 5, 2009 |

    City boutique brushes up alongside US trio on $400m haircare buyout

    Cravath Swaine & Moore, Jones Day, Baker & McKenzie and London boutique Wallace have been handed roles on the $411.5m (£288m) sale of haircare business TIGI to consumer products giant Unilever. The deal gives Unilever its first entry into the salon hair-care market, with brands such as Bed Head and S-Factor. Cravath advised Unilever on the US corporate aspects of the deal, fielding a team led by New York corporate partner Peter Wilson and tax partner Michael Schler.

    1 minute read

  • February 4, 2009 |

    Akin Gump posts partner profits hike of 16.7%

    Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld saw revenue increase by 3.8% last year, despite heavy partner losses in 2008. The US firm took in revenues of $780.5m (£542.6m) in 2008, while profits per partner climbed by 16.7% to $1.41m (£980,000). Akin Gump's increase in profits came after the firm shed 59 partners in 2008 - more than any other firm that did not dissolve.

    1 minute read