• November 16, 2010 |

    Freshfields leads line-up of firms on £450m Vue cinema private equity buyout

    A raft of law firms including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom are advising on Doughty Hanson's £450m acquisition of cinema chain Vue Entertainment. Skadden advised Doughty, with London partner Allan Murray-Jones and counsel Julie Bradshaw leading the US law firm's corporate team and finance partner Mark Darley advising on the debt side.

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  • November 5, 2010 |

    You go, girl – is there substance to the work/life spin?

    Why do I feel that the discourse about work/life balance is taking on the tempo of pep rallies and religious revivals? There's a subtle pressure not to ask too many thorny questions or challenge the sacred cows that drive the work/life balance discussion. I sensed that recently when I attended a lunch at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom featuring New York Times reporter Lisa Belkin and Flex-Time founder Deborah Epstein Henry, who's promoting her new book, Law & Reorder. Though billed as a Q&A session, there were no hard-hitting questions here. Instead, it was more like a 'you go, girl' chat between chums who work the same circuit.

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  • November 5, 2010 |

    Skadden and Linklaters win roles on Russian company's London listing

    Linklaters and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have lined up on the $420m (£260m) initial public offering (IPO) of Russian food retailer O'Key, in one of the first listings by a Russian company in London since the financial crisis. Skadden advised O'Key, fielding a team including corporate finance partner Pranav Trivedi, who splits his time between London and Moscow, and Moscow-based M&A partner Dmitri Kovalenko.

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  • November 2, 2010 |

    Former CC associate sues firm for discrimination over job cuts

    A former Clifford Chance (CC) associate has sued the firm for discrimination, claiming it targeted women and minorities when it laid off six US associates in 2007, reports The New York Law Journal. In a complaint filed on Thursday (28 October) in New York's Supreme Court, Karen Ramdhanie said that on the eve of the layoffs, two white male associates were transferred out of her group, leaving just black lawyers and women to be laid off. "They were so blatant in their discrimination," Ramdhanie said in an interview.

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  • October 27, 2010 |

    A&O wins RenCap panel role after Russian bank reviews legal advisers

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has won a first-time spot on Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital's (RenCap's) legal panel. The magic circle firm is the only new global addition to the roster following the review, which has seen all six existing advisers reappointed and a small number of firms added in specific jurisdictions. The overhaul means A&O will line up alongside existing panel members Herbert Smith, Hogan Lovells, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, White & Case, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Latham & Watkins to advise the bank.

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  • October 21, 2010 |

    CC chooses partner duo for new antitrust leadership roles in practice overhaul

    Clifford Chance (CC) has overhauled the management of its global antitrust group with the introduction of new managing partner and chair roles for the practice. London-based competition partner Oliver Bretz will take on the managing partner role while Brussels partner Thomas Vinje becomes the firm's new practice chair.

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  • October 19, 2010 |

    Skadden and Ropes & Gray power up with roles on $9.5bn US utilities merger

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Ropes & Gray have taken the lead roles on a $9.5bn ($6bn) merger which will creating one of the largest utilities companies in the US, reports The Am Law Daily. Northeast Utilities has agreed to pay more than $4bn (£2.5bn) to absorb NSTAR, forming a company with a total enterprise value of $17.5bn (£11bn). The company will continue to be known as Northeast Utilities.

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  • October 18, 2010 |

    Jones Day Madrid chief relocates to Sao Paulo to launch new Brazil base

    Jones Day's Madrid head Luis Riesgo is relocating to Sao Paulo to launch a Brazil office for the US firm, reports The Am Law Daily. Riesgo, the chair of the firm's Latin American practice, will be followed by partners Sanjiv Kapur and Wade Angus, who have begun the process of becoming licensed as consultants in foreign law in Brazil. The partner trio will be joined two associates who are qualified to practise in New York and Madrid.

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  • October 13, 2010 |

    Top names ready to battle for honours at 2010 British Legal Awards

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) are among the firms shortlisted for a number of categories in the 2010 British Legal Awards. The group has been nominated for the much sought after Law Firm of the Year award alongside Clyde & Co, Sullivan & Cromwell and Travers Smith.

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  • October 13, 2010 |

    Leading firms vie for roles on first post-Lehman BarCap US roster

    Barclays Capital has kicked off a review of its legal advisers in the US, marking the first time the group has overhauled its panel since its acquisition of Lehman Brothers' US investment banking operations. The review, which is being led out of New York by Americas general counsel Michael Crowl, is believed to be part of a bid to reduce the number of external counsel after the bank's $1.75bn (£950m) acquisition of Lehman Brothers' North American investment banking and capital markets business in 2008.

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