Filter This View

  • May 26, 2010 |

    Trio of firms lead $23.8bn Ukrainian cell company deal

    Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Magisters have lined up on a $23.8bn (£16.4bn) deal - the largest merger in Ukrainian history. The deal, completed on 21 April, saw Russia's Altimo and Norway's Telenor combine their stakes in cellular operators Russian Vimpelcom and Ukrainian Kyivstar GSM to create Vimpelcom.

    1 minute read

  • May 26, 2010 |

    White & Case restocks City banking team with hire of Gide partner duo

    White & Case has made a double partner hire from Gide Loyrette Nouel's London office as the firm continues to rebuild its banking and capital markets practice in the City. Gide partners Michael Doran and Christopher Czarnocki are set to join the US firm's banking and capital markets practice.

    1 minute read

  • May 26, 2010 |

    Litigation: The long arm of the law

    The evolving state of extradition law calls to mind the process of ageing. One day you have not a care in the world. Seemingly, the next morning everything has changed and it hurts to put on your socks. The new day of extradition law is upon us. While we were looking elsewhere, the big decisions were made. For at least the past decade, the US has been aggressively reaching out to extradite citizens of other nations who have been charged with business crimes. Since the signing of the new extradition treaty between the US and the UK in 2003, the UK has evidenced its willingness to turn its own citizens charged with white-collar crimes over to the US for prosecution.

    1 minute read

  • May 26, 2010 |

    China: Years of the dragon

    On Tuesday 4 May at 7:30am a car arrived to pick up former Lovells Beijing managing partner Robert Lewis from his house in the Shunyi district of the Chinese capital, a part of town popular with expats. As it weaved its way off the estate and onto the traffic-choked main road leading to the city centre, Lewis thought about what lay ahead for him at AllBright Law Offices, the Chinese law firm where he was about to start his first day's work. His decision to join the firm, where his brief is to overhaul AllBright's structure and expand its Beijing office to match its market-leading offering in Shanghai, is one Lewis has been edging towards for years now, and he maintains it is unrelated to Lovells' recently concluded merger with US firm Hogan & Hartson.

    1 minute read

  • May 19, 2010 |

    Citigroup names 'golden nine' line-up of UK firms in two-tier EMEA panel

    Citigroup has overhauled its external legal arrangements, creating two new panels of preferred law firms. The banking giant has unveiled new panels of advisers in the Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA) region and the US, formalising its previous roster of law firms.

    1 minute read

  • May 19, 2010 |

    Wall Street's legal elite stage recovery but fees fall at US top 100

    Wall Street's leading law firms have defied gloomy predictions to stage a notable comeback in 2009, emerging as the top performers among the US's 100 largest law firms. Financial results for 2009 from Legal Week's US sister title The American Lawyer show that the 13 New York firms with profits per equity partner (PEP) of more than $2m (£1.3m) overcame the toughest trading conditions for a generation to raise partner profitability by 3%.

    1 minute read

  • May 19, 2010 |

    The Am Law 100: Lessons of the Am Law 100

    It could have been worse. That's the best that can be said for last year's performance from The Am Law 100, the top-grossing law firms in the US. Three of the four key categories that have been measured for 25 years - gross revenue, headcount and revenue per lawyer (RPL) - fell, while profits per equity partner (PEP) barely increased by 0.3% - up $3,463 (£2,300) to $1.26m (£840,000). But on average, even the bad results weren't nearly as dire as many firms had feared just a year ago. Overall, gross revenue was off by 3.4% and headcount dropped by about 1%. The firms earned a total of $64.8bn (£43.2bn), down roughly $2.3bn (£1.5m). And, in the first year-on-year reduction in headcount since 1993, they cut their lawyer labour force by 1,219 to 80,772. For all the heated attention paid to layoffs, about half the firms actually increased their numbers last year. RPL, which we regard as the most telling economic indicator, was down $15,697 (£10,400) to $802,381 (£534,000), a 2% decline. This was the second consecutive year in which RPL fell, another sign of the toll of the weak economy.

    1 minute read

  • May 19, 2010 |

    The Am Law 100: No easy answers

    After five consecutive years of increasing their ranks and regarding layoffs as anathema, Am Law 100 firms abruptly changed course in 2009, blanketing their workforce with pink slips. Facing a deepening global recession, a dramatic decline in demand and pressure from clients to reduce costs, Am Law 100 firms laid off more than 3,000 lawyers, slashed the size of their incoming associate classes and pushed start dates back for months. The pain was as widespread as it was deep: 54 Am Law 100 firms reduced their total headcount last year, compared to only 22 of those 100 firms in 2008, and eight firms in 2007.

    1 minute read

  • May 11, 2010 |

    International firms win roles on Brazilian mining deals worth $7bn

    A raft of international firms have landed roles as Brazilian mining giant Vale last week announced two deals worth more than $7bn (£4.7bn) combined. Allen & Overy (A&O) and Latham & Watkins have taken lead advisory roles on the $4.9bn (£3.3bn) sale of Vale's aluminium assets to Norsk Hydro. The sale will see Vale take a 22% stake in Hydro.

    1 minute read

  • May 5, 2010 |

    High-profile Paul Weiss partner set to join Goldman defence team

    Goldman Sachs is set to add Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison partner Ted Wells to its big-name defence team as the bank continues to invest heavily in its fight against fraud charges. Wells has taken roles on a number of headline-making cases, including defending Bush White House aide Scooter Libby in his trial over his role in leak of the identity of a CIA officer, while he also advised Eliot Spitzer in the wake of the former New York governor's 2008 prostitution scandal.

    1 minute read