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  • September 15, 2008 |

    A dark mood on Wall St

    The world's leading law firms are facing an uncertain new landscape following the demise of two of Wall Street's biggest and most established…

    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 |

    Four Seasons £1.5bn finance talks lures major City line-up

    Macfarlanes, Allen & Overy (A&O), Linklaters, Ashurst and Kirkland & Ellis have advised as the company was this month granted a repayment reprieve until the end of October, giving it time to work with lenders on restructuring its debt.The repayment was part of an agreement with the care-home chain made in 2006 when it was bought out by investment house Three Delta for £1.4bn from former owners, Allianz Capital Partners.The original deal gave Four Seasons until the end of August to refinance the debt but the company was unable to do so owing to the poor credit markets. Macfarlanes has been acting for Four Seasons throughout the negotiations, with corporate partner Ian Martin taking the lead. The top 30 firm has advised Four Seasons since 1999 and Martin advised the company's management team during its 2006 buy-out. Four Seasons has been left with 11 tranches of debt including some payment-in-kind (PIK) loans held by lenders including Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Trafalgar Asset Managers.

    1 minute read

  • September 10, 2008 | International Edition

    Senior lawyers land roles on Govt policy group

    Simmons & Simmons managing partner Mark Dawkins and Linklaters senior partner David Cheyne are among a raft of senior lawyers appointed to the government's newly-created group of professional services champions. The new group, which is intended to help maintain the global competitiveness of the UK's professional services sector, sees senior figures from across the legal and accounting industries meet for the first time today.

    1 minute read

  • September 10, 2008 |

    Senior lawyers land roles on Govt policy group

    Simmons & Simmons managing partner Mark Dawkins and Linklaters senior partner David Cheyne are among a raft of senior lawyers appointed to the government's newly-created group of professional services champions. The new group, which is intended to help maintain the global competitiveness of the UK's professional services sector, sees senior figures from across the legal and accounting industries meet for the first time today.

    1 minute read

  • September 5, 2008 |

    Skadden PE partner joins Paul Hastings in Tokyo

    Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker has sealed the hire of a Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom private equity partner in Tokyo. Kenju Watanabe has made the switch between the US heavyweights' Japanese operations, joining the corporate group at Paul Hastings. His practice focuses on high profile cross-border M&A, private equity and joint venture transactions, and he has represented industrial corporations, financial institutions, and investment funds in the US, Japan, Asia and Europe.

    1 minute read

  • September 5, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 05/09/08...

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

    1 minute read

  • September 4, 2008 |

    A&O closes in on Sao Paulo launch as elite law firms pile into Latin America

    CC drafts in senior lawyers to Brazil, DLA Piper mulls LatAm launch and A&O gears up for Sao Paulo debut.Allen & Overy (A&O) is set to launch its first Latin American office within weeks, it has emerged, as growing numbers of international law firms look to make their mark in the region.

    1 minute read

  • August 28, 2008 |

    McCartney divorce puts Shackleton in spotlight

    Fiona Shackleton has generated more press coverage than anyone else in the legal profession over the last year, according to research by Sweet & Maxwell. Shackleton, who represented Paul McCartney in his divorce from Heather Mills has featured in 274 articles over the past year. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom London head Bruce Buck came second with 234 press mentions - most referring to his role as chairman of Chelsea FC.

    1 minute read

  • August 28, 2008 | International Edition

    McCartney divorce puts Shackleton in spotlight

    Fiona Shackleton has generated more press coverage than anyone else in the legal profession over the last year, according to research by Sweet & Maxwell. Shackleton, who represented Paul McCartney in his divorce from Heather Mills has featured in 274 articles over the past year. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom London head Bruce Buck came second with 234 press mentions - most referring to his role as chairman of Chelsea FC.

    1 minute read