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  • January 29, 2010 |

    Ropes & Gray builds City office with hire of Weil restructuring partner

    Ropes & Gray is set to bring in Weil Gotshal & Manges restructuring partner Tony Horspool. Horspool is expected to join the Boston firm on 1 March, less than two years after joining Weil from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft in April 2008.

    1 minute read

  • January 26, 2010 |

    Skadden and Latham land roles on $4bn Japanese telecoms deal

    A trio of US firms have taken lead roles on Liberty Global's $4bn (£2.5bn) sell-off of its minority stake in Japan's largest cable company to mobile phone operator KDDI, reports The Am Law Daily. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom advised Japan's KDDI on the acquisition of Liberty's 38% stake in Jupiter Telecommunications, fielding a team led by Tokyo-based partner Mitsuhiro Kamiya.

    1 minute read

  • January 21, 2010 |

    No more baby steps

    Nothing was ordinary about the first civil trial stemming from Pfizer's controversial epilepsy treatment, Neurontin. Both sides loudly complained about witness intimidation. Colourful plaintiffs lawyer Mark Lanier opened to the jury one day, then settled the next after an anonymous donor deposited $50,000 (£31,000) into an account for the alleged victim's daughter. And at the defence table, high-powered product liability specialists from three separate firms worked as though they were partners - and all on a flat fee basis. "It was," says Pfizer general counsel Amy Schulman, "an extraordinary victory."

    1 minute read

  • January 20, 2010 |

    Skadden, Links and Lovells win roles as Travelport lines up £1.8bn float

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has taken the lead role on one of the largest initial public offerings (IPO) for almost two years. A team from Skadden advised online travel booking company Travelport on its hotly anticipated flotation, which values the company at around £1.8bn.

    1 minute read

  • December 22, 2009 |

    Weil Gotshal and Skadden lead on $1.9bn Sanofi-Aventis buyout

    Weil Gotshal & Manges and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have taken lead roles on Sanofi-Aventis's $1.9bn (£1.2bn) purchase of consumer care products company Chattem, reports The Am Law Daily. The acquisition, set to create the fifth-largest consumer products company in the world, will give the French pharmaceutical company a toehold in the over-the-counter drugs market.

    1 minute read

  • December 17, 2009 |

    Mayer Brown leads on GM sale of Saab assets to Chinese company

    Mayer Brown has taken the lead role for Beijing Automotive Industry Holding (BAIC) on the purchase of Saab assets and intellectual property rights from General Motors. The deal, valued at SEK1.4bn (£119m), could stave off bankruptcy for Swedish car maker Saab while GM continues to search for a buyer, following the failed takeover attempt by Swedish car maker Koenigsegg in the autumn.

    1 minute read

  • December 15, 2009 |

    Skadden and Davis Polk lead on Exxon's $31bn natural gas buyout

    Davis Polk & Wardwell and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have won lead roles on the biggest energy deal since 2006 - Exxon Mobil's acquisition of natural gas company XTO Energy for $31bn (£19bn). Davis Polk, which represented Exxon on its $80bn (£49bn) purchase of Mobil in 1999, reprised its role as lead M&A counsel, with a team led by M&A head George Bason, alongside corporate partners Louis Goldberg and Arthur Golden, tax partner Avishai Shachar, benefits partner Edmond FitzGerald and environmental partner Gail Flesher.

    1 minute read

  • December 13, 2009 |

    Latham & Watkins

    A great US practice and renowned as a decent place to work. However, the London office still looks uneven, so approach very much on the basis of your practice area.

    1 minute read

  • December 8, 2009 |

    Quinn Emanuel set to report profit for 2009 after strong City debut

    Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Hedges' London office is expecting to record a profit little more than a year after formally launching in the City. The London office is set to post a net profit when it reports its results for the 2009 calendar year - despite only launching properly in October 2008.

    1 minute read

  • December 4, 2009 |

    Ex-Broadcom GC avoids criminal charges amid claims of misconduct

    The former general counsel of Broadcom has avoided criminal charges in a stock options backdating case following claims of prosecutorial misconduct, reports The National Law Journal. David Dull, who left the electronics company in 2008 after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed charges against him, is expected to reach a non-prosecution agreement with the US Government, according to court documents.

    1 minute read