• July 2, 2009 |

    Skadden's London outpost picks up call from Nokia on Nortel acquisition

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom's London arm has advised as Nokia Siemens Networks picked up part of Nortel Network's business for $650m (£397m). London-based restructuring co-head Lynn Hiestand took the lead on the deal, which saw Nokia Siemens purchase Nortel's advanced wireless technology business, working alongside UK corporate partners Scott Simpson and Michal Berkner along with Simpson.

    1 minute read

  • June 25, 2009 |

    White & Case set to hold on to 13 qualifying trainees

    White & Case is to keep on 13 of the 15 trainees due to qualify in London in September, representing a retention rate of 87%. The figure is marginally up on the equivalent intake last year when White & Case kept on 86% of its trainees. The firm kept on 12 of its 13 March qualifiers earlier this year.

    1 minute read

  • June 25, 2009 |

    Global disputes: Still waiting for the train to leave

    Over the last few months, international law firms have been gearing up for the long-awaited upturn in litigation, with a string of office openings and major hires. With the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) gaining in popularity in recent years, it is no surprise that the UK capital has been at the forefront of the action, alongside other major arbitration centres like New York and Paris. There have also been moves to bulk up on dispute resolution expertise in Asia and the Middle East.

    1 minute read

  • June 25, 2009 |

    Partners predict market consolidation as downturn drives merger interest

    Two out of three partners believe the recession will present attractive opportunities to secure opportunistic mergers, suggesting that the UK market could be set for a run of consolidation. The latest Big Question survey found that 68% of partners believe the downturn will present attractive opportunities to secure domestic mergers. A further 28% thought there may be such deals, leaving only 4% claiming such unions were unlikely.

    1 minute read

  • June 18, 2009 |

    Herbert Smith set to retain 74% of September trainee intake

    Herbert Smith has retained 48 of its 65 trainees set to qualify this September, equating to 74% of its intake. The retention rate represents a significant drop on last year's figure, when the firm kept on 45 out of 49 (92%) trainees. The firm's March intake earlier this year saw 26 out of 31 (84%) taken on.

    1 minute read

  • June 17, 2009 |

    Skadden takes front seat on GM's Saab sell-off

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has advised Sweden's Koenigsegg on its acquisition of General Motors' loss-making brand Saab. The deal, which was backed by Norwegian and US investors, saw Skadden field a team including City corporate finance partner Pranav Trivedi.

    1 minute read

  • June 12, 2009 |

    CC, Sullivan and Skadden lead on $13.5bn Barclays sell-off

    A trio of transatlantic firms have landed plum roles on the $13.5bn (£8.2bn) sale of Barclays' global investment arm to US money manager BlackRock. Blackrock is purchasing Barclays Global Investors - which includes asset management business iShares - for $6.6bn (£4bn) in cash and the remainder in stock.

    1 minute read

  • June 12, 2009 |

    Skadden hires Latham HK partner in rare lateral move

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has recruited Hong Kong corporate partner Julie Gao from Latham & Watkins. Gao, who joined Latham straight out of law school in 1998 and was promoted to partner in 2006, was regarded as an up-and-comer in Latham's Asia practice, focusing on M&A and capital markets transactions.

    1 minute read

  • June 8, 2009 |

    Cleary, Shearman confirm jobs for September NQs

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is to keep on all six of its September 2009 qualifying trainees in the City while Shearman & Sterling has offered jobs to nearly two thirds of its qualifiers. Cleary has continued its record of retaining every qualifying trainee since it introduced its trainee programme in the City in 1997. One trainee will focus on tax while the remainder will keep a broader corporate practice.

    1 minute read

  • May 29, 2009 |

    CC global litigation chief resigns from firm

    Clifford Chance's (CC's) global head of litigation and dispute resolution has quit the firm in the wake of a practice overhaul that will see a number of associates laid off in the US. Mark Kirsch, who has held the global role since early last year, handed in his resignation yesterday (28 May). He has also headed up the firm's US litigation and disputes resolution practice for the past five years.

    1 minute read