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  • September 23, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 23/09/08...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; the pick of the day's posts; and more

    1 minute read

  • September 22, 2008 |

    Bank in-housers seek law firms as safe port in Wall St storm

    Financial industry lawyers who in the past may have opted for in-house positions at a company like Bear Stearns for lifestyle and work environment benefits…

    1 minute read

  • September 18, 2008 |

    Dealmaker of the Week: S&C's Rodgin Cohen

    This week's crisis on Wall Street presented The Am Law Daily with the right moment to launch a new feature. And it meant that Sullivan & Cromwell chairman…

    1 minute read

  • September 17, 2008 |

    Lehman lawyers paid as hopes rise of UK deal

    Hopes are rising that some jobs in Lehman Brothers' 50-strong in-house legal team can be saved as some legal staff were today told that they would be paid until the end of the month. The move contradicts earlier expectations that the entire UK legal team would lose their jobs in the wake of the bank's shock insolvency and comes as Barclays today (17 September) sealed a £1bn deal to acquire a sizeable chunk of Lehman's investment bank and capital markets business on Wall Street.The Barclays deal has raised expectations that the bank would be interested in taking on some of Lehman's UK business, including its legal team. As revealed on Tuesday (16 September) by legalweek.com, Clifford Chance is advising Barclays on the deal.

    1 minute read

  • September 16, 2008 |

    After Lehman: from apocalypse to merger mania in three easy steps

    It’s a cliche to say that intense activity in business, even to the extent of outright turmoil, is good for commercial lawyers. But this week’s…

    1 minute read

  • September 16, 2008 | International Edition

    Slaughters to launch in Beijing with best friends

    Slaughter and May is set to open an office in Beijing with two of its European best friend firms. The magic circle firm is planning to open the office by mid-2009 with Dutch ally De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Spain's Uria Menendez set to share the space. The office will be Slaughters' second in Asia, as it already has a longstanding base in Hong Kong.

    1 minute read

  • September 16, 2008 |

    Slaughters to launch in Beijing with best friends

    Slaughter and May is set to open an office in Beijing with two of its European best friend firms. The magic circle firm is planning to open the office by mid-2009 with Dutch ally De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Spain's Uria Menendez set to share the space. The office will be Slaughters' second in Asia, as it already has a longstanding base in Hong Kong.

    1 minute read

  • September 11, 2008 |

    Quinn Emanuel lands referral work from Freshfields and Clifford Chance

    Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges has picked up its first magic circle referral work in the City with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Clifford Chance (CC) sending out instructions to the litigation boutique. Both firms referred cases over the summer, suggesting that the US leader is already starting to make an impact in the City following its arrival in May. Freshfields referred a client in a multi-party transaction to use Quinn Emanuel after it became conflicted when a contentious issue arose between the parties. The dispute - which marked Freshfields' first referral to the litigation boutique - has since been settled. However, Freshfields confirmed it is open to referring more work to Quinn Emanuel.CC, meanwhile, has referred a number of cases to the US law firm over the summer.

    1 minute read

  • September 10, 2008 |

    After the fall

    Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft's annus horribilis began last summer with a phone call from a client in trouble. James Cayne, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Bear Stearns, was on the line for Dennis Block, his longtime outside counsel. Two Bear Stearns hedge funds were heading for bankruptcy, and Cayne wanted Block to help manage the fallout. What neither man knew was that this failure was the first death rattle for Bear Stearns and, even more important, a spark for the subprime mortgage inferno, a financial disaster that would undercut two of Cadwalader's main businesses.In August, Christopher White, who ran Cadwalader's real estate finance practice, was at his home in New York, trying to enjoy a family vacation. But he couldn't get off his phone as one of the biggest deals of his career threatened to unravel. White represented the banks that had financed Blackstone Group's $26bn (£14.7bn) acquisition of Hilton Hotels Corporation. And now, having sized up the capital markets, they wanted out - all nine. The banks ultimately stuck it out under renegotiated terms, but it was still shocking to White. "In 30 years, I have never seen anything like that," he would remark a year later.

    1 minute read

  • September 10, 2008 |

    Bear Stearns legal veteran takes new job

    Barbara Bishop, previously senior New York legal director at Bear Stearns, has been appointed as general counsel at financial services firm Pali Holdings. Bishop spent 23 years with Bear Stearns, which was bought by JP Morgan earlier this year, and was senior managing director in legal and compliance on her departure. She will be based at Pali's headquarters in New York, reporting to chairman and chief executive Brad Reifler and chief operating officer Joseph Schenk.

    1 minute read