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  • May 16, 2011 |

    DLA adds restructuring partner trio with New York and Madrid hires

    DLA Piper has added three partners to its restructuring teams in the US and in Spain with a Skadden hire in New York and a 13-strong team in Madrid. Roca Junyent restructuring partners Javier Diaz-Galvez and Luis Martin joined DLA's Madrid office today (16 May), bringing with them a team of 11 lawyers and economists.

    1 minute read

  • May 11, 2011 |

    There's something about Canada – but are the country's law firms ready for international mergers?

    Every summer, rodeo fans flock to Calgary for the city's annual Stampede. This year they may be joined by a posse of managing partners from Am Law 100 and other international law firms looking to rope in a merger partner. Top of the list of likely candidates are DLA Piper and Clyde & Co, both of which are currently in talks with Canadian firms about prospective tie-ups.

    1 minute read

  • May 11, 2011 |

    Five US law firms line up on Microsoft's $8.5bn Skype purchase

    A raft of US law firms have won roles on Microsoft's $8.5bn (£5.2bn) acquisition of Skype Global, the internet voice and video chat service, reports The Am Law Daily. The all-cash deal - Microsoft's largest acquisition ever - will give the software giant a leading communications brand to partner with its other products such as Outlook, Lync, and Xbox LIVE.

    1 minute read

  • May 5, 2011 |

    Post-merger turbulence puts pressure on for SNR Denton

    Understandably, the news that SNR Denton's UK arm has launched a sector and practice review to boost profitability was played down by new UK chief executive Matthew Jones as house-keeping. But if strong indications prove correct that profits per equity partner (PEP) are to fall sharply for the UK partnership - perhaps below £250,000 - the firm will be under considerable pressure to demonstrate that it can get the practice back on track.

    1 minute read

  • May 5, 2011 |

    Picking up new business - is the Nordic legal market on the verge of substantial change?

    The fragmented Nordic legal market is potentially on the verge of substantial change. Unlike in many legal markets globally, the force of change appears to be coming from two ambitious local players, Finnish firms Roschier and Hannes Snellman, which have embarked on a pan-Nordic expansion. Both firms have opened offices in Stockholm in recent years, which has placed them in head-to-head competition with Sweden's biggest firms, Mannheimer Swartling and Vinge. Hannes Snellman has also opened in Copenhagen, dominated by local Danish firms, of which the largest is Kromann Reumert.

    1 minute read

  • April 20, 2011 |

    SNR Denton overhauls UK strategy as partner profits disappoint

    SNR Denton is reviewing the focus of its UK business as part of a push to boost profitability, with profits per equity partner (PEP) at the firm's UK arm expected to drop by more than a third this year. The newly-merged law firm is reviewing the practice and sector focus of its UK limited liability partnership (LLP) as it attempts to shore up revenues and profits going into the new financial year.

    1 minute read

  • April 15, 2011 |

    Skadden seals hire of SNR Denton advocacy chief McAlpine

    SNR Denton is set to lose advocacy chief and former deputy chairman Rory McAlpine to the London arm of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, it has emerged. McAlpine was part of the small group of senior partners from the legacy Denton Wilde Sapte that negotiated the firm's transatlantic merger with US firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, which went live in September last year.

    1 minute read

  • April 14, 2011 |

    Santander reviews UK advisers as Barclays quizzes panel on hospitality

    Banco Santander has kicked off a review of its external legal advisers in the UK as it emerges that Barclays is set to grill its global panel firms on corporate hospitality spending for the first time. Santander's review of its own-account legal panel began around two weeks ago and covers the legacy Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley brands.

    1 minute read

  • April 7, 2011 |

    US associate faces charges for using law firm data for insider trading

    A former M&A lawyer has been charged by US prosecutors for an alleged insider trading scheme which involved obtaining information from three leading corporate law firms, writes The Am Law Daily. Matthew Kluger, a former associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Cravath Swaine & Moore and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, has been charged by federal prosecutors in connection with an alleged scheme to trade on inside information. The scheme is alleged to have netted Kluger and a fellow defendant $32m (£19.7m) over more than a decade.

    1 minute read

  • March 29, 2011 |

    Skadden takes key role as tribunal blocks $16bn BP-Rosneft alliance

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has won an arbitration victory for the Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR) group in its dispute with BP over its proposed $16bn (£10bn) strategic alliance with Russia's Rosneft. The arbitration tribunal ruled last week (24 March) that BP will not be allowed to enter into an alliance with Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft, which would have involved an equity-linked partnership to pursue joint projects in the Russian Arctic shelf.

    1 minute read