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  • March 26, 2009 |

    City firms back two-track regulation

    Senior City lawyers, including Linklaters senior partner David Cheyne and Clifford Chance senior partner Stuart Popham, have backed calls for separate regulation for larger law firms in order to maintain global competitiveness. A report from the Government's Professional Services Global Competitiveness Group raises concerns, particularly from large commercial law firms, that the current approach to regulation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) may not suit all firms.

    1 minute read

  • March 26, 2009 |

    With bankruptcies set to sweep Asia, foreign firms face resource crunch

    When economic crisis struck Asia in the late 1990s and early 2000s, international law firms with newly-crippled clients in the region flew in their top restructuring specialists from the US and Europe.This time around, though, those lawyers are much in demand at home, leaving Asian offices somewhat strapped for bankruptcy talent."There will be a resource crunch," says Matthew Bersani, Asia managing partner for Shearman & Sterling. His firm worked on some of the region's largest restructurings of the past decade - including those of Chinese conglomerate Guangdong Enterprises and Singapore-based Asia Pulp & Paper - largely by relying on big-name bankruptcy partners from New York.

    1 minute read

  • March 25, 2009 |

    Corporate lawyers on edge as China blocks trophy Coke deal

    Chinese authorities have blocked a $2.4bn (£1.7bn) bid by Coca-Cola to acquire Chinese beverage maker Huiyuan Juice Group, prompting concerns about the impact the decision will have on M&A in the region. The deal, which would have represented the largest ever takeover of a Chinese target by a foreign company, was rejected in one of the first major tests of the country's recently-adopted antitrust law.

    1 minute read

  • March 24, 2009 |

    Elite trio take lead roles on $2.7bn Daimler sale

    Shearman & Sterling, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have all won lead roles on the high-profile sale of a $2.7bn (£1.9bn) stake in embattled German car giant Daimler to Middle East investors. Shearman advised the buyer, Aabar Investments, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company, on its purchase of up $2.7bn worth of Daimler shares.The New York law firm has advised various Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds on several recent deals, including Mubadala Investments decision to form $8bn (£5.7bn) joint ventures with both Advanced Micro Devices and General Electric.

    1 minute read

  • March 23, 2009 |

    - 2009 Partnership Round: a Legal Week Wiki special -

    Welcome to Legal Week's 2009 partner promotions round-up. Here you'll find all the latest news stories about partner promotions gathered in one place, as well as links to relevant blog entries and any other bits and pieces we think might be of interest.

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  • March 20, 2009 |

    Samsung appoints Asia heavyweight as legal chief

    Electronics giant Samsung has appointed a former United Nations ambassador and South Korean trade minister as its president and chief legal officer. Kim Hyun-Chong will join Samsung on Monday (23 March) in what may be the most senior in-house legal position to date at a major Asian corporation. Samsung spokesman James Chung says the chief legal officer position was a new one at the company and Kim would report directly to chief executive officer Lee Yoon-Woo.The role of in-house lawyers has generally been less pronounced in large Asian corporations than in their American and European counterparts. Relatively few companies have fully-fledged general counsel, with the top legal role frequently filled by a vice president or director instead of a senior-level executive.

    1 minute read

  • March 19, 2009 |

    Skadden in City arbitration lateral hire

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has secured a rare lateral partner hire in London, with arbitration partner David Kavanagh set to join from O'Melveny & Myers. Kavanagh, who is currently co-head of O'Melveny'sLondon litigation practice, will join Skadden along with a team of three associates. His move comes fewer than two years after he joined the West Coast firm with fellow partner David Foster from Watson Farley & Williams in June 2007.

    1 minute read

  • March 18, 2009 |

    Management: Betting on the big four

    The big four magic circle firms (Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters) have had an incredible run over the past 15 years. All of them achieved the benchmark of extraordinary success for a large law firm - profits per equity partner (PEP) near or over $2m (£1.4m) and gross revenues of around $2bn (£1.4bn). What made their success all the more impressive was that in the early 1990s their standing was less than 'magical' relative to premier US firms. As much as these firms achieved over these last 15 years, the current economic crisis raises real questions about how they will fare in the future.

    1 minute read

  • March 18, 2009 |

    China blocks Coke deal; Skadden and Freshfields advise

    In one of the first major tests of China's recently-adopted antitrust law, the country's government has rejected a $2.4bn (£1.7bn) bid by Coca-Cola to acquire Chinese beverage maker Huiyuan Juice Group. If it had been permitted to proceed, the deal would have been the largest-ever takeover of a Chinese company by a multinational. The closely-watched deal saw Coca-Cola represented by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, whose team was led by Nicholas Norris in Hong Kong and Gregory Miao in Shanghai. Huiyuan instructed Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.China's Anti-Monopoly Law came into affect in August 2008. Broadly modelled on Western competition laws, the measure also takes into account proposed mergers' impact on "national economic development".

    1 minute read

  • March 16, 2009 |

    CC re-elects Medwick as Americas chief

    Clifford Chance (CC) has re-elected Craig Medwick as regional managing partner for the firm's Americas practice. Medwick (pictured), who is also a member of the firm's global management committee, will now take up a second four-year term in the role. He has been a partner with CC since 1987 and his practice focuses on corporate and securities transactions.The role as Americas head involves overseeing CC's offices in New York, Sao Paulo and Washington DC.

    1 minute read