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  • March 14, 2013 |

    214 Asia GCs polled: Linklaters, KWM and Ashurst win client plaudits

    King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), Ashurst and Linklaters have ranked among the top providers of legal advice in Asia in a new Legal Week report on client satisfaction in the region. Legal Week's Client Satisfaction Report Asia, which is based on responses from general counsel at 214 companies in Asia, also saw Singapore's WongPartnership and Australia's Clayton Utz emerge as top-ranking firms in the region for client satisfaction, with all five firms receiving above-average scores. Asia-Pacific giant KWM – formed last March through the merger of China's King & Wood and Australia's Mallesons Stephen Jaques, received the highest average satisfaction score of 8.67 out of 10, ahead of second-placed Clayton Utz. It was rated particularly highly for quality of legal advice and service delivery and responsiveness, receiving scores of 9.5 and 9.3 respectively.

    1 minute read

  • March 14, 2013 |

    Pinsents and Freshfields advise on £385m Ferrovial utilities purchase

    Pinsent Masons and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have both played lead roles on Spanish infrastructure company Ferrovial's £385m acquisition of UK utilities and government services company Enterprise from private equity house 3i. The deal, which requires approval from the European Commission, will see Enterprise merged with Amey, the UK public services and infrastructure business purchased by Ferrovial in 2003. The combined company will have turnover of £2.3bn and a total of 21,000 employees – doubling the size of its UK infrastructure services footprint. It will offer services across the transport, utilities, justice, environmental services and facilities management sectors as well as consulting and asset management.

    1 minute read

  • March 14, 2013 |

    Lands of opportunity – charting the rise of Africa as an attractive destination for deal lawyers

    With much of the world economy in the doldrums, Africa is an increasingly attractive prospect for investment. And while it's risky to generalise about 54 countries, there is a theme of increased sophistication when it comes to the deployment of legal services across the continent. Nuno Antunes, director at Miranda, a practice that has a long-standing alliance in Africa, describes the situation as something of an 'economic conundrum', given the rate at which Africa is growing compared to the rest of the world. He also notes an increasingly long-term approach to investment in the continent. "Short-term gains are not easy, if they ever were, in the current volatile economy," he says.

    1 minute read

  • March 14, 2013 |

    Field Fisher joins firms holding back profits as SNR Denton addresses past delays

    Growing numbers of law firms have been holding back profit distributions in response to the ongoing economic uncertainty, it has emerged, with Field Fisher Waterhouse and SNR Denton joining the ranks of firms to have deferred payments to partners. Field Fisher has opted to delay payment of its March partner distribution ahead of a period of investment after paying the last three 'special drawings' to partners in full and on time. Monthly drawings have been paid as normal. Incoming managing partner Michael Chissick pointed to the firm's change of head office, lateral hiring programme and international expansion as reasons for a "more prudent approach" to distributions.

    1 minute read

  • March 14, 2013 |

    Nabarro raises default partner retirement age

    Nabarro has raised its default partner retirement age from 60 to 62 and brought in a provision allowing partners to continue working beyond this limit if they desire. The move comes after the firm began a review of its retirement policy in the wake of legislative changes in 2011 to phase out default retirement ages for UK employees. Nabarro partners reaching the new retirement age will be able to continue working at the firm, subject to board approval.

    1 minute read

  • March 14, 2013 |

    Partners support firm moves to hold back profit distributions to shore up finances

    The majority of partners see moves by firms to hold back profit payouts as sensible financial management, as new Legal Week research highlights the widespread use of such measures across the profession. The latest Big Question survey found that 45% of respondents have seen regular profit distributions delayed or withheld at their firm over the past 12 months, including 10% whose firms have held back 'all or several' payments in that timeframe. The remaining 55% said all distributions at their firms had been paid out in full and on time.

    1 minute read

  • March 11, 2013 |

    Ashurst appoints new Asia head as Green takes Australia integration role

    Former Ashurst senior partner Geoffrey Green is set to retire from the firm after 34 years, following the completion of its merger with Blake Dawson, now known as Ashurst Australia. Green is stepping down as head of Asia and returning to London, where he will continue to support incoming Asia head Matthew Bubb, who takes over the role from 1 May.

    1 minute read

  • March 7, 2013 |

    BLP holds fire on annual bonus payouts for top equity partners

    Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has delayed its annual bonus payments to senior equity partners because of unsettled market conditions. Senior equity partners, who see 25% of their pay linked to performance, receive around three bonus instalments between November and June each year. But with less than two months to go until year-end, none of these payments have yet been made.

    1 minute read

  • March 7, 2013 |

    Slaughters and Ashurst lead on Esure's London float

    Slaughter and May and Ashurst have won lead roles on the planned London listing of Esure, the insurer behind brands such as Sheilas' Wheels. The UK insurance company, which also owns half of price comparison website gocompare.com, hopes to raise £50m through an offer of ordinary shares to repay outstanding debt.

    1 minute read

  • March 5, 2013 |

    Winston & Strawn to launch fourth Western Europe base in Brussels

    Winston & Strawn is launching an office in Brussels, the firm's fourth base in Western Europe, in a boost for its EU competition practice. The office, which the firm hopes to be operational by June, will initially be headed by London antitrust and competition partner Peter Crowther, with support from associate Lucie Fish.

    1 minute read