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  • April 15, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 15/04/08...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; plus the pick of the day's posts; promotions fun on the Legal Week Wiki; and more

    1 minute read

  • April 14, 2008 |

    Clydes promotes nine to break 150-partner mark

    Clyde & Co has made up nine new partners in this year's round of promotions, more than doubling last year's tally of four. Three of the new partners are promoted in the City, the firm announced today (13 April) - energy lawyer Mike Swangard plus insurance specialists Lee Bacon and Geraldine Quirk, who will divide her time between London and the firm's Guildford office. Mark Williamson, who is based full-time in the Guildford branch, is promoted in corporate.

    1 minute read

  • April 14, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 14/04/08...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; plus the pick of the day's posts; a new Legal Villager blogs from Baghdad; and more

    1 minute read

  • April 3, 2008 |

    Reed Smith snares Clydes asset finance hire

    Reed Smith Richards Butler has moved to strengthen its City asset finance team with the hire of a partner from Clyde & Co. Siva Subramaniam joined the US firm from Clydes yesterday (2 April). He had been a partner at the top 20 UK law firm for the last two years.

    1 minute read

  • April 2, 2008 |

    Middle East and India: The new road to riches

    It is easy to become blase about the significance of law firms entering a new market in their droves, and for the pace of change in that market to become a platitudinous talking point among lawyers.But it was not that long ago that some lawyers in the Middle East outposts of City firms routinely took advantage of the Gulf weekend being on Thursdays and Fridays, by rolling the local weekend into the Western weekend for a bumper four-day rest, leaving three days to get their weekly work done. Now it is more common for Gulf lawyers to work both weekends, such is the volume of business being done in the region.

    1 minute read

  • March 25, 2008 |

    Serle Court silk in pioneering Qatar move

    Serle Court's Khawar Qureshi QC is to head the first barristers' set based outside the UK, as McNair Chambers launches in Qatar at the end of the month. McNair launches on 30 March, with Qureshi set to be joined in Doha by high-profile names including former House of Lords judge Lord Slynn of Hadley and fellow Serle Court tenants William Ballantyne and Michael Palmer.

    1 minute read

  • March 12, 2008 |

    Clydes loses lawyer to mobile operator 3

    Clyde & Co competition lawyer Mark Warrington has been swiped by mobile phone operator 3 to head up its in-house competition capability. Warrington, who worked on the UK's first-ever class action against JJB sports last year, will work alongside the mobile company's in-house regulatory division and report to general counsel Stephen Lerner. His appointment brings the operator's in-house legal team to a total of 15 lawyers.

    1 minute read

  • March 6, 2008 |

    Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank makes first general counsel hire

    Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) has appointed Simon Copleston as its first-ever general counsel. Copleston joined the bank from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) on 8 January to become the first lawyer to hold the post. The appointment is Copleston's latest in-house position in the Middle East after leaving Olswang in January 2006 to join investment house Dubai International Capital. It is understood he will be responsible for building up the bank's legal function to around five lawyers by the end of the year.

    1 minute read

  • March 5, 2008 |

    Commercial and Chancery Bar: Centre point

    In an article entitled 'Starting from Scratch' on 29 March, 2007, Legal Week reported on the ambitious plans for the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and its Court. In the subsequent year the world's leading financial institutions have continued to pour into the centre and the list of law firms with a presence in the DIFC now include Akin Gump, Allen & Overy, Al Tamimi & Co, Ashurst, Clifford Chance, Conyers Dill & Pearman, Denton Wilde Sapte, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Lovells, Maples and Calder, Norton Rose, Reed Smith Richards Butler, Simmons & Simmons and Walkers. In addition, the UK law firms Kennedys and Clyde & Co, which are based in greater Dubai, have also been active in the DIFC Court. It is notable that in January the International Bar Association (IBA) established its Middle East office in the DIFC. The opening of the office was timed to correspond with the IBA's Arab regional forum's conference on Islamic finance in the Middle East. The DIFC has set its sights on becoming the world centre for Islamic finance and is itself an active investor. In June 2007, DIFC Investments listed a $1.25bn (£630m) sukuk on the Dubai International Financial Exchange, taking the total value of sukuk listed on the exchange to $10.43bn (£5.26bn) - the highest of any exchange worldwide. The DIFC has also been an active investor in international markets and acquired a 2.2% stake in Deutsche Bank, which, according to publicly-available market data, makes it the largest external strategic shareholder in the international investment bank.

    1 minute read

  • February 15, 2008 |

    Cohen Milstein lands $200m BA-Virgin settlement

    Class action giant Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll has won a landmark victory in the US courts after securing a $200m (£102m) settlement from British Airways and Virgin in relation to price-fixing, it was announced today (15 February). The settlement will see £73.5m put aside for just over five million UK residents who will have until 2012 to claim up to £20 for a return flight after both airlines admitted to price-fixing fuel surcharges on flights between August 2004 to March 2006.

    1 minute read