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  • April 1, 2009 |

    Professional negligence: Courage under fire

    Recent media stories suggest that the current recession will trigger a huge increase in disputes, including claims against lawyers. And the legal profession is itself concerned - a recent risk management survey sponsored by Marsh of the UK's top 100 law firms indicates 79% of respondents believe that the downturn increases the risks faced by their firm, including that of clients looking to apportion blame, other key perceived recessionary risks being bad debts, credit problems and increased regulatory burden.

    1 minute read

  • March 30, 2009 |

    Freshfields leads on Morgan Stanley Japan tie-up

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Sullivan & Cromwell have taken lead roles on the merger of the Japanese securities units of Morgan Stanley and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), a deal which will form the third-largest brokerage in the country. Freshfields acted for Morgan Stanley, with a team led by Tokyo-based partners James Lawden, Naoki Kinami, James Wood, Junzaburo Kiuchi and Kazuki Okada. The US bank had previously instructed Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz on its $9bn (£6.4bn) sale of a 20% stake to MUFG shortly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September. MUFG turned to Sullivan for advice on the merger - the same firm its used on the Morgan stake purchase.

    1 minute read

  • March 27, 2009 |

    CC leads on Barclays' $6bn iShares auction

    Clifford Chance (CC) has scored another top mandate for Barclays, advising the bank on the auction of its asset management business iShares. Corporate finance partner Guy Norman, who handles the Barclays relationship for the firm, is advising the bank on the potential sell-off.Investment bank Goldman Sachs is thought to be a strong contender to pick up iShares in a deal that could raise $6.5bn (£4.5bn) for Barclays.

    1 minute read

  • March 12, 2009 |

    Hong Kong sees first conviction for inside trading

    Hong Kong's first criminal trial for insider trading has resulted in the conviction of a former investment banker and four other defendants. Ma Hon Yeung, a former vice president at BNP Paribas Peregrine Capital, passed confidential information to his girlfriend and three family members about the proposed privatisation of Egana Jewellry & Pearls, a matter on which he was working. The four tippees all traded in Egana shares before the company announced its privatisation plans in July 2006.The five defendants will be sentenced on 1 April.

    1 minute read

  • March 11, 2009 |

    Insolvency: The Domino effect

    When a company goes into insolvency, the focus tends to be on the losses suffered by its creditors - suppliers, employees, banks, landlords and HM Revenue & Customs. But it is not only creditors who can suffer serious consequences as a result of an insolvency - customers may also find themselves in severe difficulties as a result of the collapse.

    1 minute read

  • March 10, 2009 |

    White & Case to cut 400 as job losses sweep US

    White & Case has confirmed that it is to make 400 staff redundant in a grim day for the US legal market that saw four major firms announce more than 800 job losses. In the largest of the cuts, White & Case chairman Hugh Verrier confirmed the firm's plans to eliminate 200 associate jobs and 200 non-legal staff positions. In addition, the firm is reviewing the partnership for potential cuts.The layoffs were announced on Monday (9 March) afternoon in a firmwide email.

    1 minute read

  • March 6, 2009 |

    55 lawyers lose jobs at Pillsbury

    Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman laid off 55 lawyers and 100 staff yesterday (5 March), writes The Recorder. The cuts - which include associates and counsel from across the country, equate to a 12% reduction in the west coast firm's non-partner ranks.Details of the job losses come weeks after Pillsbury was forced to confirm that it would be making lay-offs after one of its Washington DC-based partners was overheard discussing the impending cuts on the train. The conversation led to a story emerging on legal blog Above the Law, however the firm did not confirm numbers.

    1 minute read

  • March 5, 2009 |

    Hopes rise of a future revival of key banking relationship for Linklaters

    Linklaters has started rebuilding its relationship with JP Morgan, with the magic circle firm drafted in to advise the bank on a handful of special projects in recent months despite being blacklisted last year. Exact details of the mandates remain unclear but it is understood that a small number of the JP Morgan legal team have permission to instruct the firm on new matters. It emerged this week (2 March) that the firm is advising JP Morgan as well as Goldman Sachs as underwriters on HSBC's record-breaking £12.5bn rights issue, but this mandate came through HSBC rather than JP Morgan.

    1 minute read

  • March 4, 2009 |

    Lloyd named as Ashurst's new MP for corporate

    Ashurst has appointed private equity partner Stephen Lloyd as the new managing partner of its corporate practice, replacing Roger Finbow, who is retiring at the end of the financial year. The role will see Lloyd manage the UK practice and work on various client and diversity initiatives within the group alongside corporate head Adrian Clark. The role has no fixed term, and Finbow held the post for around five years.

    1 minute read

  • March 4, 2009 |

    Commentary: Ashurst's US launch - the importance of commitment

    Structured finance has entered weird territory. On one level the market is nowhere and yet it is everywhere. Nowhere, in that the primary market that was driving law firms until the summer of 2007 has all but dried up; yet everywhere, in that clearing up the mess caused by the credit crunch means it's hard to find an area of business in which structured finance skills aren't being called upon.Unwind work for structured investment vehicles (SIVs) and bank failures, advising on products that have suffered credit down-grades and dealing with counter-party risk is now what keeps advisers busy - meaning the practice area in Europe hasn't yet suffered the total wipe-out some were expecting. And, as Clifford Chance's Kevin Ingram points out, accessing government-backed liquidity schemes, which typically require structuring and packaging for the assets which can be used as collateral, is "basically structured finance".Adds Ingram "You can't find a good derivatives lawyer in the City for love nor money."

    1 minute read