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  • December 8, 2009 |

    European law firm of the year

    "A fantastic firm," said one of the judges of Uria Menendez. Another member of the judging panel singled out a commitment by the Spanish law firm not to make redundancies in the face of the worst market conditions for a generation. The eye-catching pledge was made by Uria's co-managing partner, Jose Maria Segovia. In January 2009, he promised to "hire lawyers, pay the same salaries and not carry out redundancies", adding that "if things do not work out well then the partners will just make less money". The firm argues that its commitment to hold on to its staff has put it in a good position to emerge from the recession more quickly than other firms.

    1 minute read

  • December 8, 2009 |

    Law firm innovation award

    Axiom makes a bold claim: "We are constructing the first compelling alternative to the traditional law firm for clients and lawyers alike." The judges - many of whom are buyers of legal services - were suitably impressed. Founded in New York in 2000, Axiom employs over 280 lawyers across offices in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington and London. The London office opened in 2007 and now employs 40 lawyers serving 35 large corporate clients.

    1 minute read

  • November 30, 2009 |

    White & Case set to defend Norris in Supreme Court extradition case

    White & Case is appearing before a nine-strong panel of Justices in the Supreme Court today (30 November) as former Morgan Crucible chief executive Ian Norris continues his landmark battle against extradition to the US.

    1 minute read

  • November 26, 2009 |

    Leading firms act on largest UK pre-pack deal for Wind Hellas

    A raft of UK and US firms, including White & Case, Bingham McCutchen, Allen & Overy (A&O) and Slaughter and May, are advising on the UK's largest ever pre-pack administration. Wind Hellas, one of Greece's largest mobile phone operators, filed for administration with the English High Court earlier this month, with parent company Weather Investments set to rescue the business.

    1 minute read

  • November 25, 2009 |

    Restructuring and insolvency: The clean-up crew

    With debt hard to come by in the post-crunch age, the current restructuring and insolvency market is, according to the Blackstone Group's Martin Gudgeon, rapidly changing. He comments: "[We have] moved from resolving liquidity crises of cash-starved businesses to resolving poor investment returns of over-leveraged businesses. And now we [are] heading into resolving prospective refinancing hurdles."

    1 minute read

  • November 23, 2009 |

    Linklaters Asia chief quits to take up China role for JP Morgan

    Linklaters' Asia managing partner Zili Shao is to leave the firm to become chairman and CEO of JP Morgan's China businesses at the end of January. Shao has held the Asia managing partner role since May this year, when he was voted in as a replacement for Giles White, who left the firm to become general counsel at Hong Kong conglomerate Jardine Matheson.

    1 minute read

  • November 19, 2009 |

    Linklaters leads for JP Morgan on £1bn Cazenove buyout

    Linklaters has taken a lead role for JP Morgan after stepping in to advise on the bank's £1bn purchase of the remaining 50% of Cazenove. Corporate partner Stephen Blackshaw led the magic firm's team on the deal, which will see JP Morgan acquire the remaining components of Cazenove that it does not already own, with the value of the combined bank set to reach £2bn.

    1 minute read

  • November 17, 2009 |

    Nabarro and Ashurst take lead roles on property firm's £191m rights issue

    Nabarro and Ashurst have won roles on Quintain Estates and Development's £191m rights issue as the company pushes forward with two London regeneration schemes. The developer turned to longstanding adviser Nabarro on the fundraising, which will be used for regeneration schemes in Greenwich and Wembley as well as to expand the company's fund management business.

    1 minute read

  • November 13, 2009 |

    Ropes & Gray gains early Euro boost with role on €3.5bn Liberty takeover

    Ropes & Gray's newly-launched City practice has secured a trophy mandate after being instructed to advise cable group Liberty Global on deal finance for its €3.5bn (£3.1bn) takeover of Germany's Unitymedia. The US law firm was instructed two weeks ago to handle the high yield debt backing the acquisition, one of the largest media deals since the credit crunch crippled the leveraged finance market in 2007.

    1 minute read

  • November 11, 2009 |

    Ashurst and Freshfields lead on £360m National Express rights issue

    Ashurst is advising longstanding client National Express as it pushes ahead with plans for a £360m rights issue. London corporate partner Steven Fox is leading the firm's team assisted by senior associate Tom Mercer and US corporate partner Daniel Bushner.

    1 minute read