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  • January 14, 2009 |

    Dealmaker: Helen Burton

    Ashurst finance partner Helen Burton on role models, almost marrying colleagues and the honour of being asked to 'action' Dealmaker

    1 minute read

  • January 14, 2009 |

    A guiding light in corporate social responsibility

    Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming an increasingly serious business at UK law firms. Ad hoc sprees of well-intentioned do-gooding are out, replaced by projects carefully designed to make use of lawyers' skills. The London arm of Weil Gotshal & Manges, for example, assists human rights organisations monitor proceedings in the international criminal court in The Hague. Wragge & Co, meanwhile, gives free legal advice to local charities. And Weightmans runs a project providing work experience for the unemployed.All of this looks impressive on paper, but how does the modern CSR programme work in practice?

    1 minute read

  • January 13, 2009 |

    Cadwalader profits plunge 30% as revenue dips 14%

    Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has confirmed that its partner profits fell by more than 30% in 2008, as the firm unveils results that will be viewed as a bellwether for the US legal market. Cadwalader's profits per equity partners fell to $1.88m (£1.24m), down from $2.725m (£1.8m) in 2007, while revenue fell to $506m (£336m), down 13.8% from $587m (£389m).Chairman Christopher White said the firm is now positioned for 2009 following a series of layoffs in its troubled structured finance practice, which was severely hit by the prolonged turmoil in global credit markets.

    1 minute read

  • January 7, 2009 |

    Weil Gotshal takes lead as Kaupthing sues UK Govt

    Weil Gotshal & Manges has landed a leading role advising Kaupthing after the Icelandic bank decided to bring a suit against the UK Government. Weil Gotshal's City arm has been advising Kaupthing since last year and has been asked to look into the decision taken by Kaupthing Bank's Resolution Committee to bring an action on the Bank's behalf against the Treasury.

    1 minute read

  • December 19, 2008 |

    2008: A year in review

    Legalweek.com covered all of the big stories of 2008. Here's a selection of some of the website's most-read stories of the year.

    1 minute read

  • December 14, 2008 |

    Restructuring round-up: the happy holidays edition

    Looking for some seasonal cheer? One might be hard-pressed to find it in this economy, unless of course you're a bankruptcy lawyer. The long-awaited 'tidal…

    1 minute read

  • December 11, 2008 |

    CSR project of the year

    Despite being a new category for 2008, CSR team of the year attracted the highest number of entries of any category this year. The judging panel was struck both by the quality of the entries and by the diversity of CSR initiatives being carried out by law firms in the UK. Finalists Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), Weightmans and Cripps Harries Hall all demonstrated the extent to which a well-run corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme can encourage voluntary work and channel it effectively into community projects. At BLP, 30% of the staff have taken part in the firm's CSR programme in some capacity while Weightmans has introduced a flexitime policy to allow staff to fit in their voluntary work more easily. Wragge & Co is another UK firm that has been making a major contribution to its local community. Its entry focused on the ongoing help and advice it has provided to Roshni, a Birmingham-based charity for victims of domestic violence.

    1 minute read

  • December 10, 2008 |

    Italy: Jostling for position

    Italian lawyers have a history of finding international law firms as unpalatable as a drop of cream in their afternoon coffee. Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, McDermott Will & Emery, and White & Case all bear the marks of high-profile partner departures, failed mergers, and collapsed alliances in Italy. Most have struggled to challenge the hegemony of the elite independent Italian practices, led by the trio of Bonelli Erede Pappalardo, Chiomenti Studio Legale, and Gianni, Origoni, Grippo & Partners. But for Latham & Watkins and Linklaters, history is no barrier to entry. Throughout 2007, both firms announced ambitious raids on Italian firms to launch outposts focused, at least initially, on winning high-end corporate and finance work. Linklaters made a series of hires from Allen & Overy and local practices Pedersoli e Associati, Bonelli and Camozzi Bonissoni Varrenti e Associati to build an eight-partner team of corporate, finance, and capital markets lawyers. In one fell swoop, Latham took a five-partner team from Bonelli, giving the firm its first Italian-qualified lawyers, split between Milan and Rome, to augment a US and English-qualified team of Italian specialists in London and Brussels.

    1 minute read

  • December 7, 2008 |

    The Middle East, post-Lehman: A tale of two Emirates

    For the aspiring global firm, a shingle in Dubai has been one of the must-haves of the last five years. Last week Weil Gotshal & Manges joined the…

    1 minute read

  • December 5, 2008 | International Edition

    Leading UK lawyers added to new Who's Who list

    Weil Gotshal & Manges City managing partner Mike Francies, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer financial institutions co-head Will Lawes (pictured) and Slaughter and May corporate heavyweight Charles Randell are among a string of high-profile lawyers to land a mention in the 2009 edition of Who's Who.

    1 minute read