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  • October 15, 2008 |

    Global 100: Oil in the blood

    In previous careers, Vinson & Elkins (V&E) lawyers were roustabouts and roughnecks - petroleum engineers, land men and oil tanker dispatchers. They anchored pipelines to the Persian Gulf bed and the Atlantic Ocean floor, to the Alaskan tundra and the West Texas plains. Their families were entrenched in this world, too. Litigator Paula Hinton toured a wellhead factory on her first date with the man who became her husband. Regulatory expert Kathleen Lake grew up napping in her family's Oldsmobile station wagon while her father and grandfather, geologists, checked hydrocarbon cores in the dust of South Texas. Carbon trading guru Larry Nettles has six close family members now or formerly in the energy business. "This is the type of 'in the blood' relationship that simply does not exist in New York or London," he says. 'Oil in the blood' is a metaphor that pops up a lot in Houston, especially at the two leading deal firms, V&E and Baker Botts. But some in London are sceptical, including the general counsel of BP, who controls as many billable hours as any oil man on the planet. "Those [law firms] that say they have oil in their veins need to be clear about the distinctive contribution they can make on a particular matter, separate from in-house counsel or other outside firms," says BP general counsel Rupert Bondy.

    1 minute read

  • October 15, 2008 |

    Cleary confirms US bailout plan role rejection

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has confirmed that it was one of the six firms the Treasury Department considered as candidates for a role as lead adviser on the $700bn (£400bn) bailout plan. Only two of those six firms pursued the work that eventually went to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Four of the six law firms have confirmed that the Treasury reached out to them: Simpson, Cleary, Davis Polk & Wardwell, and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz. The two others, including the firm the Treasury turned down, remain unidentified. Two of the most likely candidates - Sullivan & Cromwell and Latham & Watkins - would not comment on the matter. A third, Shearman & Sterling, has not responded to messages.

    1 minute read

  • October 9, 2008 | International Edition

    Banking turmoil sparks wave of takeover work for firms

    The ongoing chaos in the banking sector is continuing to generate roles for firms on both sides of the Atlantic as Benelux financial services group Fortis, Italian bank UniCredit and US bank Wachovia join the ranks of financial institutions striking deals.Linklaters and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton have taken the lead roles as France's BNP Paribas takes control of Fortis in a E14.5bn (£11.2bn) deal. A Linklaters team lead by Brussels corporate partners Jean-Marie Nelissen Grade and Eric Pottier is advising Fortis on the deal, which will see BNP Paribas take over the main banking and insurance operations. Cleary Gottlieb has taken the main role for BNP Paribas, fielding a team under Paris corporate partner Pierre-Yves Chabert.Allen & Overy (A&O) also scored a role on the transaction, advising the Dutch authorities. The takeover follows an attempt to bail out Fortis through a E11.2bn (£8.9bn) cash injection from the governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Herbert Smith ally Stibbe won the lead role advising the Belgian Government as it took a minority stake in Fortis, as well as fellow bank Dexia, and advised on the sale of its stake in Fortis to BNP Paribas. Clifford Chance advised the Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank, on the purchase by the Dutch Government of Fortis's Dutch banking and insurance subsidiaries.Linklaters also advised Fortis on the unsuccessful cash injection, while Cleary Gottlieb advised Dexia, which is to receive a E6.4bn (£5.1bn) injection from the Benelux governments and shareholders. Cleary Gottlieb has also taken the lead for Italian bank UniCredit in its deal to secure up to E6.6 billion (£5.12bn) of funding. The firm's team is being led by Milan partners Roberto Casati, Michael Volkovitsch and Pietro Fioruzzi.Meanwhile, ongoing rescue negotiations for Germany's Hypo Real Estate have generated roles for Shearman & Sterling, advising the bank itself, as well as German independent Hengeler Mueller, which advised a consortium of financial institutions. Linklaters is also understood to have a role for the lender.In the US, Sullivan & Cromwell has taken the lead on negotiations for the rescue of Wachovia, which has seen both Citi and Wells Fargo bidding. Davis Polk & Wardwell is advising Citi on its bid for Wachovia's banking operations for $2.16bn (£1.16bn), while Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz is advising Wells Fargo on its bid to acquire all of Wachovia for $15.1bn (£8.7bn).

    1 minute read

  • October 9, 2008 |

    Banking turmoil sparks wave of takeover work for firms

    The ongoing chaos in the banking sector is continuing to generate roles for firms on both sides of the Atlantic as Benelux financial services group Fortis, Italian bank UniCredit and US bank Wachovia join the ranks of financial institutions striking deals.Linklaters and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton have taken the lead roles as France's BNP Paribas takes control of Fortis in a E14.5bn (£11.2bn) deal. A Linklaters team lead by Brussels corporate partners Jean-Marie Nelissen Grade and Eric Pottier is advising Fortis on the deal, which will see BNP Paribas take over the main banking and insurance operations. Cleary Gottlieb has taken the main role for BNP Paribas, fielding a team under Paris corporate partner Pierre-Yves Chabert.Allen & Overy (A&O) also scored a role on the transaction, advising the Dutch authorities. The takeover follows an attempt to bail out Fortis through a E11.2bn (£8.9bn) cash injection from the governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Herbert Smith ally Stibbe won the lead role advising the Belgian Government as it took a minority stake in Fortis, as well as fellow bank Dexia, and advised on the sale of its stake in Fortis to BNP Paribas. Clifford Chance advised the Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank, on the purchase by the Dutch Government of Fortis's Dutch banking and insurance subsidiaries.Linklaters also advised Fortis on the unsuccessful cash injection, while Cleary Gottlieb advised Dexia, which is to receive a E6.4bn (£5.1bn) injection from the Benelux governments and shareholders. Cleary Gottlieb has also taken the lead for Italian bank UniCredit in its deal to secure up to E6.6 billion (£5.12bn) of funding. The firm's team is being led by Milan partners Roberto Casati, Michael Volkovitsch and Pietro Fioruzzi.Meanwhile, ongoing rescue negotiations for Germany's Hypo Real Estate have generated roles for Shearman & Sterling, advising the bank itself, as well as German independent Hengeler Mueller, which advised a consortium of financial institutions. Linklaters is also understood to have a role for the lender.In the US, Sullivan & Cromwell has taken the lead on negotiations for the rescue of Wachovia, which has seen both Citi and Wells Fargo bidding. Davis Polk & Wardwell is advising Citi on its bid for Wachovia's banking operations for $2.16bn (£1.16bn), while Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz is advising Wells Fargo on its bid to acquire all of Wachovia for $15.1bn (£8.7bn).

    1 minute read

  • October 9, 2008 |

    Linklaters edges aside Freehills to top Asia-Pacific M&A rankings table

    Linklaters has topped Mergermarket's Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) M&A rankings by value for the first three quarters of this year. The firm is closely followed by Wall Street leaders Sullivan & Cromwell and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom in second and third place respectively, while Australian firm Freehills - which topped the ranking at year-end 2007 - has been knocked into eighth place. The rankings show Slaughter and May and Lovells making significant improvements to their positions over the first three quarters of 2008, with Slaughters jumping from number 53 at year-end 2007 to sixth place and Lovells leaping from 38th to 10th position. Australian leader Mallesons Stephen Jaques tops the Asia-Pacific M&A deal rankings by volume so far this year, followed by Freehills and Baker & McKenzie.Linklaters and Shearman & Sterling have advised on the region's largest deal over the period - the $30bn (£17bn) takeover of China Netcom Group Corporation by China Unicom which closed on 2 June. The deal saw Linklaters advise the target while Shearman advised the seller.Mergermarket's rankings also show Linklaters making a significant improvement in the US M&A tables by value. The firm ranked at number 50 at the end of 2007 but jumped to number 10 over Q1-Q3 2008. Only three UK law firms feature in the US M&A rankings, with Allen & Overy climbing from number 21 to 17 and Clifford Chance (CC) from 27 to 18. Skadden is in first place for 2008 swapping places with Sullivan & Cromwell. CC was the only UK firm to feature in the US M&A table by volume, with the firm coming in at number 16 - down from 12th place at the end of 2007.

    1 minute read

  • October 3, 2008 |

    Shearman takes lead on Hypo Real Estate bailout

    Shearman & Sterling has taken the lead role on Germany's first high profile rescue deal - advising on the €35bn (£27bn) bailout of Hypo Real Estate. The loan, which was cleared by the European Commission last night (2 October), has also generated roles for Hengeler Mueller and Linklaters. Shearman advised Hypo Real Estate with German co-head Georg Thoma leading assisted by fellow Duesseldorf M&A partners Alfred Kossmann and Hans Diekmann and Munich-based banking counsel Winfried Carl advising.

    1 minute read

  • September 25, 2008 |

    Shearman's German practice comes under scrutiny after fresh walk-outs

    Shearman & Sterling's German practice was dealt a fresh blow last week as half of the law firm's Munich partners left to launch Allen & Overy's (A&O's) fifth German office. The departures of Shearman's Munich office head Gottfried Breuninger (also German tax head and global co-head of tax) and M&A partner Astrid Krueger to A&O came after the US-based law firm lost global co-head of M&A Hans Rolf Koerfer, and M&A partner Birgit Reese to the magic circle law firm's Duesseldorf arm in January and March respectively.The losses come on top of Shearman's nine-partner Mannheim office walking away from the firm earlier this year.

    1 minute read

  • September 24, 2008 |

    Rewarded by results

    The recent decisions of several law firms to bring in merit-based pay systems for assistants have led some in the profession to speculate that pay based on post-qualification experience (PQE) might have had its day.We investigate the arguments for and against merit-based pay, look at how firms evaluate performance and speak to assistants to gauge their views on the topic.Merit versus PQENorton Rose recently made the move to implement merit-based pay at all levels from newly-qualified (NQ) upwards, replacing the traditional PQE gradings with a three-tier system that divides assistants into categories known as Associate 1, Associate 2 and Senior Associate. Assistants are paid and charged out according to the new categories.Managing partner Deirdre Walker explains the reasoning behind the firm's decision to adopt the model. "The PQE approach is antiquated and often simply not fair. Why should a really excellent one- or two-year qualified lawyer earn less than someone mediocre who just happens to have more experience than they do?" She adds that recently introduced age discrimination legislation played a part in the decision. "It was a factor, but not the driving one. As I understand it, legal opinion is still very much divided on whether PQE will fall foul of the new laws."David Gray, managing partner of Eversheds, which is in the process of bringing in performance-related pay for its assistants, also downplays the significance of the legislation. However, he believes that it is important to have a remuneration structure that allows flexibility in terms of how mature assistants are paid. "Say you have one three-year PQE who has 15 years' experience in another profession and is very capable with clients, and another who has come straight from university. Clearly it is a good idea to have a pay structure in place that allows you to pay the first guy more."Ashurst is another high-profile merit-based pay convert, while across the Atlantic, Howrey became the first firm in the US to adopt a totally merit-based structure earlier this month.

    1 minute read

  • September 23, 2008 |

    US trio act on Morgan and Goldman transformations

    A trio of elite US firms have taken the lead roles on the transformation of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs into bank holding companies, reports The American Lawyer. Cravath Swaine & Moore, Sullivan & Cromwell, and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz. played key advisory roles on the groundbreaking deals, and the same three firms also advised Morgan Stanley and Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group in a deal under which Mitsubishi, known as MUFG, will purchase up to 20% of Morgan Stanley's common stock. The bank holding deal is the most momentous in terms of Wall Street history. In return for access to deposits and the Federal Reserve's lending facilities, Morgan Stanley and Goldman will now be subject to the tight federal regulations that will hamstring their ability to take billion-dollar risks. The Federal Reserve can demand more public disclosure and limit the level of debt the banks can take on in relation to their capital reserves.

    1 minute read

  • September 19, 2008 |

    FSA short-selling block backed by lawyers

    Lawyers have come out in support of the Financial Services Authority's (FSA's) decision to put a temporary hold on short-selling in a bid to restore market confidence. The dramatic intervention by the regulatory authority comes in the face of market abuses which have seen investors making huge profits from ailing businesses.The ban on shorting is effective until 16 January, 2009, when the FSA will take a view on the market conditions and decide whether to extend the trading restrictions.FSA chief executive Hector Sants said: "While we still regard short-selling as a legitimate investment technique in normal market conditions, the current extreme circumstances have given rise to disorderly markets."

    1 minute read