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  • February 24, 2010 |

    Morgan Stanley's top legal officer steps down from role

    Morgan Stanley's chief legal officer is stepping down as the financial services firm overhauls its legal department to better confront new government regulations, reports Corporate Counsel. Gary Lynch - a former executive vice chairman at Credit Suisse and partner at US law firm, David Polk & Wardwell - will retain the position of vice chairman in London, where he has been based since May.

    1 minute read

  • February 22, 2010 |

    Eversheds boosts disputes with hire of Morgan Lewis partner

    Eversheds has expanded its disputes group with the hire of Neville Byford from Morgan Lewis. Byford will join Eversheds' London office as a partner, as the firm aims to ramp up its litigation and arbitration capabilities. He will be joined by associates Emma O'Kane and Zoe Holland.

    1 minute read

  • February 17, 2010 |

    A suitable venue

    Rivers of ink have been spilled on designing a regulatory response to the global financial crisis. On global financial dispute resolution, not so much. "The newspapers are full of stuff about regulation," complains derivatives guru Jeffrey Golden of Allen & Overy (A&O). "But there's not a word about judges and courts. The whole focus is on preventive medicine, and nobody's paying attention to the hospitals full of sick patients." By sick patients, Golden means banks caught in litigation over structured finance.

    1 minute read

  • February 15, 2010 |

    Ropes & Gray and Mason Hayes lead on billion-dollar private equity buyout

    Ropes & Gray and Mason Hayes & Curran have lined up to advise on one of the largest leveraged buyouts in Ireland since the credit crunch - the $1.1bn (£700m) sale of SkillSoft to a private equity consortium. Boston's Ropes and Ireland's Mason Hayes have advised Berkshire Partners, Advent International and Bain Capital as the consortium acquiring electronic education services provider SkillSoft.

    1 minute read

  • February 11, 2010 |

    Morgan Lewis sees sharp drop in profits and revenue

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius saw declines in revenue and profits in 2009 as a general economic slowdown and a hiring spree impacted the firm's bottom line, writes the Am Law Daily. As of 30 September, the end of Morgan Lewis's fiscal year, 2009 revenue declined by nearly 5% to $1.07bn (£685m) from $1.12bn (£718m) in 2008. Profits per equity partner (PEP) dropped by 15% to 2006 levels. The firm's 2009 financials contrast sharply from 2008 - that year, Morgan Lewis saw an 8% boost in partner profits.

    1 minute read

  • February 10, 2010 | International Edition

    Latham makes a statement with lucky 13

    For a firm of its size and ambition, Latham & Watkins has remained curiously under the radar outside the US, emerging only occasionally for significant moves such as 2008's three-pronged launch in the Middle East, before it all goes quiet again. This tendency makes this month's news that the firm is to bring in no fewer than 13 partners from White & Case across London, New York and the Middle East all the more striking.

    1 minute read

  • February 10, 2010 |

    Latham makes a statement with lucky 13

    For a firm of its size and ambition, Latham & Watkins has remained curiously under the radar outside the US, emerging only occasionally for significant moves such as 2008's three-pronged launch in the Middle East, before it all goes quiet again. This tendency makes this month's news that the firm is to bring in no fewer than 13 partners from White & Case across London, New York and the Middle East all the more striking.

    1 minute read

  • February 8, 2010 |

    A&O set to launch in Australia with partner hires: comment and reaction

    Allen & Overy (A&O) is set to enter Australia after hiring 17 new partners to open new offices in Sydney and Perth. Fourteen of the partners join from Australian firm Clayton Utz, which announced today (8 February) that the partners had tendered their resignation with the intention of joining the magic circle firm.

    1 minute read

  • February 4, 2010 |

    Bingham posts 31% increase in City revenues

    Bingham McCutchen's City arm saw revenues increase by almost a third in 2009. The London office has posted turnover of $40.8m (£25.7m) for the last calendar year, compared with $31m (£19.6m) in 2008. The 31% increase comes against marginal growth in profits per equity partner (PEP) to $1.91m (£1.2m) from last year's figure of $1.88m (£1.19m).

    1 minute read

  • February 3, 2010 |

    Slaughters and CC in on New Look IPO

    Slaughter and May and Clifford Chance have bagged leading roles on New Look's £650m Initial Public Offering (IPO), announced yesterday (2 February). Slaughter and May corporate partners Martin Hattrell and Simon Nicholls are leading a team advising the fashion retailer, whose majority shareholders include private equity houses Permira Advisers and Apax Partners, on its proposed floatation on the London Stock exchange.

    1 minute read