• January 31, 2013 |

    Down but not out – global firms still eye Japan success despite a tidal wave of economic strife

    When the Japanese Government allowed foreign law firms to open offices in the country in 1987 to provide international advice, UK and US advisers started piling onto the bustling streets of Tokyo, then lured by the presence of the world's biggest banks and insurance companies as well as its booming technology and automobile industries.

    1 minute read

  • January 31, 2013 |

    Addleshaws and BLP confirm spring NQ retention rates

    Addleshaw Goddard and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) have become the latest firms to announce retention rates for their March qualifying trainees, with the latter seeing a significant drop on the equivalent round last year. BLP has offered 14 of its 22 newly-qualified trainees (NQs) a position at the firm. All have accepted, giving it a retention rate of 64%.

    1 minute read

  • January 31, 2013 |

    Burges Salmon, FFW and magic circle trio named on 48-strong Govt panel

    Allen & Overy, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May are among a raft of firms to have secured roles on the finalised 48-firm Government Procurement Service panel. The magic circle firms have all been named on the long-awaited roster after firms received final confirmation of their appointments following a ten-day stand still period.

    1 minute read

  • January 30, 2013 |

    Slaughters names new Hong Kong senior partner as 36-year veteran retires

    Slaughter and May has appointed a new senior partner for Hong Kong as long-serving incumbent Richard Thornhill retires after 36 years at the magic circle firm. Thornhill, who joined Slaughters in 1977 and made partner in 1986, has played a key role in developing the firm's Asia practice and has advised on some of the biggest deals in Hong Kong.

    1 minute read

  • January 29, 2013 |

    Monckton QC steers Iceland to Euro court victory in bank collapse dispute

    Monckton Chambers' Tim Ward QC has successfully steered the Icelandic Government to victory in the European courts, with a ruling yesterday (28 January) meaning that the country is not obliged to repay Britain and the Netherlands for rescuing savers in the collapsed Icesave bank. A European Free Trade Association (EFTA) court in Luxembourg yesterday (29 January) dismissed an application brought by the EFTA Surveillance Authority and the European Commission (EC), with Ward defending the Icelandic Government from allegations that it failed to guarantee minimum levels of compensation to savers in the bank.

    1 minute read

  • January 24, 2013 |

    Freshfields and Linklaters emerge as top financial services advisers

    Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have emerged as the top legal advisers on European financial services deals over the past five years. Figures exclusively provided for Legal Week by data partner mergermarket show Freshfields topping the value rankings ahead of Linklaters, with these positions reversed in the volume rankings.

    1 minute read

  • January 24, 2013 |

    Magic circle duo post marginal dips in spring NQ intake

    Magic circle duo Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May have posted marginal drops in trainee retention rates for their spring intakes, posting figures of 85% and 86% respectively.

    1 minute read

  • January 21, 2013 |

    Freshfields and Slaughters lead on £1.5bn Stansted sale

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith Freehills and Slaughter and May have landed key advisory roles on the £1.5bn sale of London's Stansted Airport to Manchester Airport Group (MAG). London's third busiest airport was put up for sale in August by Heathrow Airport Holdings (HAH), formerly known as BAA, after it was forced by the UK Competition Commission to sell off some of its airport assets.

    1 minute read

  • January 17, 2013 | International Edition

    New Year, new start?

    As omens go, news this week that HMV has finally called in administrators while CMS Cameron McKenna is to make around 40 redundancies in the UK means, barely three weeks in, 2013 is not getting off to an upbeat start. The UK law firm's redundancy plans make CMS only the latest in a fast-growing list of practices planning to scale back staff numbers in response to the prolonged malaise in Western economies.

    1 minute read

  • January 17, 2013 |

    New Year, new start?

    As omens go, news this week that HMV has finally called in administrators while CMS Cameron McKenna is to make around 40 redundancies in the UK means, barely three weeks in, 2013 is not getting off to an upbeat start. The UK law firm's redundancy plans make CMS only the latest in a fast-growing list of practices planning to scale back staff numbers in response to the prolonged malaise in Western economies.

    1 minute read