Filter This View

  • September 16, 2008 |

    After Lehman: from apocalypse to merger mania in three easy steps

    It’s a cliche to say that intense activity in business, even to the extent of outright turmoil, is good for commercial lawyers. But this week’s…

    1 minute read

  • September 16, 2008 |

    Lehman lawyers look for work as CC acts on Barclays asset hunt

    More than 50 UK lawyers at Lehman Brothers are searching for work in the wake of the bank's shock bankruptcy filing at the weekend. Specialist in-house recruiters are now working in and around the bank's Canary Wharf offices amid widespread expectations that Lehman's 5,000 UK staff will be made redundant.Recruiters working with Lehman lawyers said that there had been no formal notice of redundancy for the group's UK lawyers but it is expected that a UK legal team estimated at between 50-60 lawyers will lose their jobs.

    1 minute read

  • September 15, 2008 |

    A dark mood on Wall St

    The world's leading law firms are facing an uncertain new landscape following the demise of two of Wall Street's biggest and most established…

    1 minute read

  • September 15, 2008 |

    City elite take lead roles on Lehman bankruptcy filing

    A raft of City firms have landed top roles advising on Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy filing. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Clifford Chance (CC) and Lovells have all won roles advising on UK aspects of proceedings after Lehman filed for Chapter 11 yesterday (14 September) in New York. US firm Weil Gotshal & Manges is advising Lehman Brothers in New York, with corporate chief Thomas Roberts and restructuring partner Harvey Miller thought to be advising the bank on the bankruptcy proceedings.

    1 minute read

  • September 10, 2008 |

    After the fall

    Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft's annus horribilis began last summer with a phone call from a client in trouble. James Cayne, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Bear Stearns, was on the line for Dennis Block, his longtime outside counsel. Two Bear Stearns hedge funds were heading for bankruptcy, and Cayne wanted Block to help manage the fallout. What neither man knew was that this failure was the first death rattle for Bear Stearns and, even more important, a spark for the subprime mortgage inferno, a financial disaster that would undercut two of Cadwalader's main businesses.In August, Christopher White, who ran Cadwalader's real estate finance practice, was at his home in New York, trying to enjoy a family vacation. But he couldn't get off his phone as one of the biggest deals of his career threatened to unravel. White represented the banks that had financed Blackstone Group's $26bn (£14.7bn) acquisition of Hilton Hotels Corporation. And now, having sized up the capital markets, they wanted out - all nine. The banks ultimately stuck it out under renegotiated terms, but it was still shocking to White. "In 30 years, I have never seen anything like that," he would remark a year later.

    1 minute read

  • September 4, 2008 |

    Kirkland boosts City tax team with Weil hire

    Kirkland & Ellis has added to its London tax practice with the hire of Jane Scobie from US rival Weil Gotshal & Manges. Scobie, who was a senior associate at Weil Gotshal, will become the third partner in Kirkland's City tax group alongside Ian Taplin and John Baldry. Her practice focuses on private equity, including company takeovers and corporate restructuringsTaplin, the head of Kirkland's European tax practice, was hired by Kirkland to launch the practice in 2003, moving from accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers. Baldry joined the firm from Weil Gotshal in 2006 where he was counsel in the tax practice.

    1 minute read

  • September 3, 2008 |

    Commentary: Will Barter move herald a new kind of general counsel?

    After several years of dramatic moves in the private equity community, City observers have been waiting a while for a really interesting transfer, so perhaps it is surprising that, when it came, it wasn't a law firm that was doing the hiring. The appointment in question, of course, is Charles Barter's move to become Bridgepoint Capital as general counsel. By any standard, it is an interesting move. The Travers Smith veteran has impeccable buy-out credentials, having helped to co-found the firm's much-admired private equity team in 1996.And while the firm is viewed as having a decent crop of younger partners, for many, Barter is up there with Chris Hale as the driving force of the buy-out team. Barter's record was underlined by a strong run of deals, taking management roles on major bids such as Saga's £6.15bn merger with the Automobile Association (AA) and on the £1.02bn buy-out of The Tussauds Group. For sponsor roles, Barter was one of the most prolific deal-doers at the quality mid-market level, a record underlined by his lead role for Bridgepoint on the £360m acquisition of Fat Face.

    1 minute read

  • September 3, 2008 |

    Foreclosing conflict

    Foreclosures have hit epidemic levels in the US. According to a June report by the Mortgage Bankers Association, nearly 10% of homeowners with a mortgage faced foreclosure or fell behind in their payments during the first three months of 2008.This crisis has created an overwhelming need for legal assistance for struggling low-income homeowners who are bewildered by the foreclosure process. It is just the sort of problem that, in the past, law firms have tackled by donating pro bono help. A few big firms have taken foreclosure cases but most have said they can't help. The reason: they represent banks - or want to represent them - and see a conflict."We were trying to get some of the big firms to help," says Daniel Lindsey, the supervising attorney of the home ownership preservation project at Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago. In particular, he has sought help for homeowners who were duped into turning over the title of their home in shady refinancing schemes. But the group continually ran into conflict problems: "The only pro bono help we have gotten has been from solos and small firms."

    1 minute read

  • September 3, 2008 | International Edition

    Cleary confirms exclusive College of Law deal

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton's City arm has sealed an agreement with the College of Law that will see the College become the firm's exclusive provider of the Graduate Diploma in Law, the Legal Practice Course (LPC) and the Professional Skills Course (PSC). The agreement will start in September 2009 when Cleary will send 12 of its future trainees to the College for the LPC. The trainees will be able to study in any of the College's centres around the UK, although most are expected to attend the Moorgate centre, where the LPC and PSC electives will be taught in firm-specific groups.

    1 minute read

  • September 3, 2008 |

    Cleary confirms exclusive College of Law deal

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton's City arm has sealed an agreement with the College of Law that will see the College become the firm's exclusive provider of the Graduate Diploma in Law, the Legal Practice Course (LPC) and the Professional Skills Course (PSC). The agreement will start in September 2009 when Cleary will send 12 of its future trainees to the College for the LPC. The trainees will be able to study in any of the College's centres around the UK, although most are expected to attend the Moorgate centre, where the LPC and PSC electives will be taught in firm-specific groups.

    1 minute read