Filter This View

  • March 19, 2009 |

    Ex-Freshfields partner joins Stephenson Harwood as aviation head

    Strephenson Harwood has recruited a new global head of aviation with the hire of Paul Ng from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Ng, who joins Stephenson Harwood today (19 March), spent ten years at the magic circle firm before his departure in January. He is an English, US and Singapore qualified lawyer and has experience advising in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore.In his new role, he will be primarily based in Stephenson Harwood's Singapore office but will divide his time between Singapore and the firm's Chinese network.

    1 minute read

  • March 18, 2009 |

    Policing the business

    "Everything goes back to reputation," says Michael Blacker, general counsel of FTSE 100 project management and services company AMEC, while discussing the increased importance of compliance issues - to all companies, not just banks - in the post-Lehman world. "The old cliche is true: a good reputation is difficult to acquire and easy to lose. And one of the easiest ways to lose it is by breaking the law."He cites the nuclear sector - in which AMEC has invested heavily during recent years - as an example of where senior management must be made fully aware of the implications of falling foul of regulation. "Not only is nuclear highly regulated, but it is extremely vulnerable to negative publicity. Naturally, this impacts on strategy. As general counsel, it is about knitting all those aspects together," he says.

    1 minute read

  • March 12, 2009 |

    BLG replaces Dickinson Dees on Carillion panel

    Addleshaw Goddard, Barlow Lyde & Gilbert and Kennedys have all won spots on support services and construction company Carillion's new legal panel. Addleshaws has been appointed to advise on private finance matters, with Barlows brought in for construction advice and Kennedys for insurance matters. Kennedys' appointment comes after the firm's insurance team moved over from DLA Piper last year.

    1 minute read

  • March 4, 2009 |

    Genworth Financial European in-house legal team grows to 22 lawyers

    Genworth Financial is set to boost its in-house legal team with plans to expand capacity in Europe and review its outside counsel. The US insurance company is looking to add a commercial lawyer in Italy and a compliance specialist in Scandinavia, with one further lawyer set to join from GE Capital. The hires, which will take the team from 19 lawyers to 22 - including 10 in the UK - follow the January appointments of Miguel Munoz Gaztanaga from Lovells in Spain and Guillaume Lachaud in France.

    1 minute read

  • February 25, 2009 |

    Media darling

    With his thick-rimmed designer glasses and close-cropped hair, AOL international general counsel Tony Wales does not look like a lawyer. And, as he talks animatedly with a slight Brummie accent about 'brand value' and 'social networking verticals', neither does he sound like one.

    1 minute read

  • February 24, 2009 |

    DLA, Pinsents win Glasgow Council panel places

    Glasgow City Council has completed a review of its legal advisers, with DLA Piper and Pinsent Masons winning major instructions from the organisation. The new roster has been split into nine sub-panels covering the council's key work areas and is set to deliver cost savings of 5%-10% in comparison with the previous roster.DLA Piper has landed instructions on six of the firm's nine sub-panels, including general corporate, construction and planning, while Pinsent Masons and McGrigors have also been handed multiple roles on the new roster.

    1 minute read

  • February 19, 2009 |

    Nabarro strikes up LPC deal with Kaplan

    Nabarro has signed an exclusive agreement to send all of its trainees taking the Legal Practice Course (LPC) to Kaplan Law School from autumn 2009. The City firm is the third firm to sign up to Kaplan exclusively, after similar deals were struck up by Bird & Bird in October 2008 and Mayer Brown in November 2006.The education provider teaches Nottingham Law School's LPC, which was last year awarded top marks by the Law Society in all assessment categories.

    1 minute read

  • February 19, 2009 |

    Pinsents boosts Euro banking practice with A&O recruit

    Pinsent Mason has brought in Allen & Overy partner Marcell Nemeth to head up its European banking practice. Nemeth, currently a banking partner in A&O's Hungary office, will relocate to the regional firm's London office on 1 May to take up in the newly-created role.The new European banking group will initially consist of three to four lawyers, with Nemeth's primary focus on the development of existing and new client relationships in Europe.

    1 minute read

  • February 18, 2009 |

    Commentary: Nerves hold as projects market takes the strain

    The projects market speaks with one voice on deal flow in the coming year: it is going to be down. And while 2008 saw the banking community take the brunt of the downturn, the next sector to feel the pinch will be advisory. As the market continues to tighten we have seen a considerable drop in global project finance deal value with full-year 2008 figures falling 8.7% against the 2007 market high.Infrastructure Journal tracked 930 individual infrastructure transactions - combined global project finance and corporate finance deals - to reach financial close over the course of 2008, giving a total of $475bn (£329bn) worth of deals.

    1 minute read

  • February 16, 2009 |

    Nabarro, Wragges land Mercedes-Benz panel roles

    Mercedes-Benz has completed a review of its legal advisers with Nabarro and Wragge & Co winning new instructions from the luxury car company. The UK duo beat off competition from around 11 other firms vying for the two places on the auto manufacturer's panel. Pinsent Masons and Shoosmiths, who were both appointed to the panel in 2005, miss out on instructions this time round.Commenting on the review, Mercedes general counsel Iain Larkins said; "There are a variety of issues we looked at before choosing Nabarro and Wragges; the biggest of which was that they were the firms we felt were most likely to deliver on their promises. It really was a close-run thing."

    1 minute read