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  • February 18, 2009 |

    QC 2009 – they'll be back

    You have to give the QC system credit - no matter how many times it's predicted to be on the way out, just like the Terminator, it keeps coming back for more. And the current round, announced today, appears to be winning more support at the Bar after the two earlier rounds of the relaunched QC kitemark were met with criticism for an unwieldy and expensive applications process. By general consent, the revised and slimmed-down version has been an improvement, even if the new version has come at a considerable cost – around £6,000 for successful applicants.

    1 minute read

  • February 12, 2009 |

    Profits dip at Sullivan, Skadden and Davis Polk

    Wall Street leaders Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Sullivan & Cromwell and Davis Polk & Wardwell have all posted falling profits for 2008, it has emerged, despite the trio avoiding year-on-year declines in revenues. The Am Law Daily reports that Skadden managed to remain the highest-grossing law firm in the US top 100 to date, eking out a 1.4% increase in gross revenue to reach a 2008 total of $2.2bn (£1.47bn). In a dreadful year for M&A, Skadden's corporate practice was relatively strong, particularly in representing takeover targets.Gross revenue at Sullivan and Davis Polk, both of which logged thousands of hours in hectic bailout-related work in the last quarter of 2008, was flat. Sullivan grossed $985m (£670m) and Davis Polk $789m (£537m) - both exactly matching their 2007 results.

    1 minute read

  • February 11, 2009 |

    SH brings in Pinsents hire for projects debut

    Stephenson Harwood has set up a dedicated projects practice after hiring a partner from Pinsent Masons to lead the group.The City firm has brought in Clare McConnell to lead a new standalone projects practice that will bring together 25 partners from the firm's London, Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore offices.McConnell spent four years as a partner at Pinsents. Prior to that she served as an associate at Berwin Leighton Paisner and Simmons & Simmons. She has a wide range of experience advising both private and public sector clients on PPP/PFI projects within the health and transportation sectors.

    1 minute read

  • February 10, 2009 |

    Skadden hires Shearman partner as Sao Paulo chief

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has recruited a new head of its Sao Paulo office with the hire of high-profile Shearman & Sterling capital markets partner Richard Aldrich. Aldrich was the founder and co-head of Shearman's Sao Paulo office, which opened in 2004. He joined the firm in 1975, made partner in 1983, and from 1984 to 1987 headed up the firm's Hong Kong office.Aldrich's practice focuses on public and private financings and he advises on securities offerings, structured financings, project financings and restructurings. He has worked on several high-profile US/Brazil-related deals and is also the former president of the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce.

    1 minute read

  • February 9, 2009 |

    Latham profits plunge 21%, revenue down $100m

    Latham & Watkins saw its profits drop 21% last year, one of the largest falls so far reported by a leading US law firm, writes The Am Law Daily. Profits per equity partner fell from $2.27m (£1.54m) in 2007 to $1.8m (£1.22m) in 2008, it was confirmed today (9 February).The top 10 US firm also saw a dip in revenues - a 4% fall to $1.9bn (£1.29bn) knocked the firm back below the $2bn (£1.36bn) mark. Last year, Latham and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom became the first two US firms to break past the $2bn level in gross revenue.

    1 minute read

  • February 5, 2009 |

    Newly-merged drinks giant names new legal VP for Western Europe

    Anheuser-Busch InBev has appointed UK and Ireland legal director Claude Bahoshy as its new vice president of legal for Western Europe. Bahoshy, who took up the new role earlier this week, replaces long-serving Anheuser-Busch lawyer Oleg Moubarakshin, who is leaving the company after 11 years in the post.Bahoshy, who joined the company in 2002, will retain responsibilities for the UK while the company decides whether or to replace the UK role.

    1 minute read

  • February 4, 2009 |

    Back in the game

    On 23 July the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation's general counsel, Robert Bostrom, rang Randall Guynn, head of the financial institutions group at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Davis Polk was not one of Freddie Mac's outside law firms - Covington & Burling did its regulatory and disclosure work, and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft did its routine corporate work. But Bostrom needed an equity products specialist. Regulators, concerned about the lender's massive exposure to the US mortgage market, had demanded that it shore up its core capital. But with Freddie Mac shares trading at gutter levels, issuing billions of dollars in new equity could backfire.

    1 minute read

  • January 19, 2009 |

    Will crime pay for US firms in Europe?

    Readers of this site have become accustomed to stories of major US law firms striving to get their bankruptcy practices in order. One recent example: last…

    1 minute read

  • January 6, 2009 |

    CC hires new partner from US governmental body

    Clifford Chance (CC) has bolstered its US antitrust offering with the high-profile hire of former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) general counsel, William Blumenthal. Blumenthal joins as a partner in the firm's corporate and litigation groups in New York, and will act as chairman of the antitrust group.At the FTC, Blumenthal represented the governmental body in front of federal and state courts, in addition to advising on proposed legislation, supervising reports to the US President and advising on policy.

    1 minute read

  • January 5, 2009 |

    Barlows set for Brazil with Sao Paulo launch

    Barlow Lyde & Gilbert has initiated plans to launch its first office outside of the UK and Asia, with the firm intending to open in Sao Paulo later this year. The City firm will relocate London-based aviation and insurance litigation partner Jeremy Shebson to Brazil once the office launch is approved by the Brazilian authorities.Aerospace associate director Fernando Albino will join Shebson once the office opens.

    1 minute read