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  • October 19, 2008 |

    British Legal Awards: First impressions count

    How can I put this delicately? There were some law firms that submitted entries to the British Legal Awards that didn’t exactly make much effort…

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  • October 16, 2008 |

    How is the Lehman bankruptcy like Hurricane Katrina?

    The Am Law Daily spent Thursday morning and afternoon standing in the aisle of Judge James Peck's courtroom in a federal bankruptcy court for a major hearing…

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  • October 16, 2008 |

    Weil Gotshal in post-crunch City finance shake-up

    Weil Gotshal & Manges has merged its London banking and securitisation practices, as the New York firm moves to deal with the dearth of structured finance work brought on by the credit crunch. The new group, led by co-head of the firm's structured finance practice Jacky Kelly, launched earlier this month and includes six partners and 25 legal staff. It is thought some of Weil Gotshal's other international offices may also consider adopting the plan. Associates will be given training to get up to speed on the broader practice. Kelly said: "Given the market and the events that have occurred in the financial institutions sector, we are convinced that widening the skillset of the finance lawyers in the office will be extremely beneficial for the firm, the office, the lawyers and our clients."

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  • October 16, 2008 | International Edition

    Shearman names NY M&A partner as new Euro chief

    Shearman & Sterling has reintroduced its European managing partner role, with the appointment of New York partner Creighton Condon to the post. M&A partner Condon will relocate to London in the New Year to take up the new position, which will see him working closely with Anthony Ward, who took over from Kenneth MacRitchie as London managing partner earlier this year. The appointment, announced to partners today (16 October), was made by Shearman's senior partner Rohan Weerasinghe.

    1 minute read

  • October 16, 2008 |

    Shearman names NY M&A partner as new Euro chief

    Shearman & Sterling has reintroduced its European managing partner role, with the appointment of New York partner Creighton Condon to the post. M&A partner Condon will relocate to London in the New Year to take up the new position, which will see him working closely with Anthony Ward, who took over from Kenneth MacRitchie as London managing partner earlier this year. The appointment, announced to partners today (16 October), was made by Shearman's senior partner Rohan Weerasinghe.

    1 minute read

  • October 15, 2008 |

    Global 100: The English advantage

    In a downturn, business people like to point out, some truths are laid bare. "You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out," Warren Buffett famously told investors in a 2002 letter. Which is why, after the 2000 dotcom crash, it was the City's elite that were found to be revealing a little too much skin.This time, it is different. After madly shedding partners, doubling-down their bets on foreign offices and tightening their management controls, the big four magic circle firms - Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance (CC), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters - look a little better-dressed than many of their rivals in the US. The irony is that the English law firms have succeeded by following the lesson of their American peers: they have hedged their bets. For US law firms, in the past that has meant a healthy dose of litigation and bankruptcy work to balance a corporate shortfall. For UK law firms, the strategy has been geographic: spreading their risk across several continents.

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  • October 15, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 16/10/08...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; the pick of the day's posts; and more

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  • October 15, 2008 |

    Cadwalader loses London partner to Latham

    Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft is set to lose a restructuring partner in London, the third lateral departure since the firm laid off 96 lawyers in July. Jackson Taylor, who made partner a month before the layoffs, is leaving for Latham & Watkins' London arm, a source familiar with the situation says. Taylor has already resigned from the partnership, though has not yet started at Latham. A spokeswoman for Cadwalader confirmed Taylor's resignation on Monday (13 October). "The firm wishes him well," she says.Taylor, 36, made partner in June, and the firm touted him and promotee Karl Clowry in a press release as "key players in cross-border work, particularly at a time when there is increased distressed debt and workout activity around the world."

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  • October 10, 2008 |

    Court documents reveal Weil's $5m Lehman advance

    Weil Gotshal & Manges received a $5m (£3m) advance in September from Lehman Brothers Holdings for work leading up to the bank's bankruptcy filing, according to court documents made public on Wednesday, reports the Am Law Daily. Lehman reportedly retained Weil Gotshal on 10 September. Five days later, Lehman filed for bankruptcy. Lehman paid the firm a $5m advance to cover legal fees and expenses arising from Lehman's negotiations and efforts to remain in business and to prepare for the possibility of the Chapter 11 filing if negotiations failed.

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  • October 8, 2008 |

    Bank turmoil helps elite firms to tighten grip on M&A market

    Top UK and US law firms dominate the latest European M&A rankings for Q3 2008 - a period in which global deal volume fell by 36% compared with the same quarter the previous year. The latest research from Legal Week's data provider, Mergermarket, shows the magic circle taking the top positions by value and volume for European M&A, with New York leaders also featuring highly.

    1 minute read