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  • May 28, 2009 |

    Lloyds cements in-house legal team after 2008 HBOS merger

    Lloyds Banking Group has finalised the structure of its in-house legal team after its 2008 takeover of UK's banking group HBOS.The shake up sees four of HBOS' legal heads take on management roles at the merged bank, while four of Lloyds' general counsel (GC) will see their roles expanded to cover the enlarged group.

    1 minute read

  • May 27, 2009 |

    Canada: Canada's sisters in law

    Falling in the shadow of the vast North American market, it would be fair to say that the Canadian legal market does not typically generate much foreign press coverage. Major US firms take little heed of their conservative Canadian neighbours, while scant attention is paid by the UK and European legal industries.

    1 minute read

  • May 27, 2009 |

    500 in-housers join LW LinkedIn group

    Legal Week has attracted more than 500 members to its newly-launched LinkedIn group for in-house lawyers. The group, which was set up last month, was established to enable lawyers with an interest in the in-house world to exchange information and forge working relationships on the popular business networking site.More than 1,000 individuals have requested membership of the group, which is currently restricted to in-house lawyers.

    1 minute read

  • May 21, 2009 |

    Latham and MoFo score leads on Hong Kong aluminium IPO

    Latham & Watkins and Morrison & Foerster have taken leading roles on a high-profile Asian initial public offering (IPO) as a run of major deals hit the region. The two firms are advising on the Hong Kong float of aluminium maker China Zhongwang. Latham Hong Kong partner David Zhang led representation of China Zhonwang in its international float of shares valued at around $1.2bn (£800m). Morrison & Foerster represented the lead underwriters on the deal, CITIC Securities, JP Morgan, Macquarie Capital Securities and UBS with a team including partners Ven Tan, Paul Boltz, and Xiaohu Ma. It is the largest IPO in the region so far this year.

    1 minute read

  • May 20, 2009 |

    Linklaters advises on new trading platform

    Linklaters has advised on the creation of a joint venture between three leading banks to bring a new commodities trading platform to market. The platform, dubbed 'Source', has been set up through a joint venture between Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, as a specialist provider of Exchange Traded Products.

    1 minute read

  • May 20, 2009 |

    CC, Slaughters and Davis Polk take on top roles on £510m Taylor Wimpey fundraising

    Clifford Chance (CC), Slaughter and May and Davis Polk & Wardwell have all won roles advising on troubled house builder Taylor Wimpey's £510m fundraising. The fully underwritten placing, which is subject to shareholder approval this month, will cut the company's debt by around one-third. Slaughters reprised its role for regular client Taylor Wimpey, with corporate partner Jeff Twentyman leading the firm's team. Davis Polk advised the house-builder on US aspects, with London-based corporate partner Nigel Wilson advising.

    1 minute read

  • May 14, 2009 |

    Morgan Stanley legal chief promoted to vice-chair role

    Morgan Stanley's chief legal officer Gary Lynch has been named as the bank's vice chairman, a move which coincides with the retirement of international general counsel Keith Clark. Lynch is set to relocate from New York to London to take up the new vice chairman post, where he will work with the bank's co-president Walid Chamman, as well as continuing with his current legal post. Lynch, a former executive vice chairman at Credit Suisse and partner at David Polk & Wardwell, will report to Morgan Stanley chief executive John Mack, who is based in New York.

    1 minute read

  • May 13, 2009 |

    Norton Rose acts on Greece's first consumer finance securitisation deal

    Norton Rose has advised on the closing of the first consumer finance securitisation in Greece. The firm fielded a team from its London headquarters led by capital markets partner Sandrine Sauvel.The loans, originating from Piraeus Bank, are the first consumer finance loans securitised in Greece to be covered by a major credit rating agency. The transaction, arranged by Morgan Stanley, involved €493m (£435m) in class A notes, which were rated by Moody's, and €232m (£208m) in class B notes.

    1 minute read

  • May 8, 2009 |

    Mayer Brown names new City insurance chief

    Mayer Brown has appointed a new head of insurance and reinsurance in London, with Karen Abbott taking over the post. Abbott, who joined the firm in 1985 and made partner in 1994, succeeds former head Sean Connolly, who is now senior partner of the firm's London office. Connolly was elected to the senior partner role in 2007, replacing former chief Paul Maher.

    1 minute read

  • May 6, 2009 |

    Litigation support and e-discovery: Where lawyers fear to tread

    Getting to grips with the disclosure of electronic documents is crucially important for every litigator. E-discovery is more than just a buzz phrase; it plays a key role in many cases. When done properly it can be the key that unlocks a case, and can save significant time and costs for your client. When done badly it can have disastrous consequences. Recent case law provides lawyers with a simple message: every party must give proper consideration to e-discovery or face adverse consequences if they do not. In this article we look at the basic rules, the new case law and provide some practical tips. We also ask the following difficult question: what do you need to know about IT to be a good litigator?

    1 minute read