• June 26, 2012 |

    Ex-Dewey finance chief urges London partners to team up for US defence

    Dewey & LeBoeuf's former finance chief Bruce Johnston has called on former members of the defunct firm's UK partnership to group together and instruct US bankruptcy counsel to assess their personal liability in the firmwide bankruptcy. Johnston, who was part of the City crisis committee charged with winding down the UK limited liability partnership (LLP) in early May, has urged 22 former Dewey London partners to jointly instruct US bankruptcy counsel to establish whether they should take part in the firmwide bankruptcy settlement put forward last week (19 June).

    1 minute read

  • June 25, 2012 |

    Norton Rose and A&O lead ranking of firms associates want to work for

    Norton Rose and Allen & Overy (A&O) have emerged as the law firms that associates at rival firms would most like to work for, according to new research from Legal Week. Legal Week Intelligence's flagship Employee Satisfaction Report 2012 found the pair ranked ahead of Slaughter and May, Clyde & Co and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) as the five most popular firms to work for, as rated by peers at other law firms.

    1 minute read

  • June 18, 2012 |

    Ex-Simmons senior partner receives OBE in Queen's Birthday Honours

    Former Simmons & Simmons senior partner Bill Knight has been awarded an OBE in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours list. Knight, who was chairman of the Financial Reporting Council until retiring in March this year, has been awarded the honour for services to financial regulation. He was succeeded as chairman of the regulator by former Herbert Smith partner Richard Fleck after spending eight years in the role.

    1 minute read

  • June 14, 2012 |

    The new, new wave - the rapid expansion of the newest entrants to the London legal market

    As new firms continue to flock to London, the cautious growth of earlier entrants has been cast aside in favour of heavy investment and dramatic expansion. JDG Chambers reports

    1 minute read

  • June 12, 2012 |

    Carey Olsen launches new Cayman base with triple hire from offshore rival

    Carey Olsen is launching in the Cayman Islands with a double partner hire from the local base of offshore rival Maples and Calder, marking a move into both Cayman and British Virgin Islands (BVI) advice for the firm. The two partners, Jason Allison and Jarrod Farley, will be joined at Carey Olsen by Maples associate Nick Bullmore, who is joining the new base as a partner.

    1 minute read

  • June 11, 2012 |

    The Transfer Window: recent moves including CMS, Shoosmiths and K&L

    CMS Cameron McKenna has appointed Rita Lowe as its new UK head of banking and finance, replacing Will Meredith in the role. Lowe, whose practice focuses on advising distressed companies and investors, is currently leading the Camerons team advising Dewey & LeBoeuf's UK LLP on its wind-down proceedings, which is expected to take up to 12 months to complete.

    1 minute read

  • June 7, 2012 |

    Sullivan, Freshfields and Slaughters advise on £1.7bn takeover of UK IT leader

    Sullivan & Cromwell, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May have taken lead roles on the £1.7bn takeover of UK IT services company Logica by Canadian rival CGI. Sullivan took the lead role for the acquirers, fielding a team led by European M&A head Tim Emmerson and fellow corporate partner Ben Perry.

    1 minute read

  • June 6, 2012 |

    Slaughters leads on multibillion-dollar Hong Kong rail infrastructure project

    Slaughter and May has taken the lead role on a major Hong Kong deal that will see the HK$79.8bn (£6.7bn) construction of a new train route connecting Hong Kong Island to the New Territories region. Slaughters advised railway company MTR Corporation on the construction agreement with the Hong Kong Government, with the magic circle firm's team led by Hong Kong corporate partner Jason Webber. MTR's in-house legal team was headed up by legal manager Gill Meller.

    1 minute read

  • May 31, 2012 |

    CC sets out new salary bands with pay rises for 1-3 PQE associates

    Clifford Chance (CC) has become the latest magic circle firm to announce associate salary increases, including pay rises for lawyers with more than a year's post-qualification experience (PQE). The increases, will took effect earlier this month (1 May), will apply to CC associates with one, two and three years' PQE.

    1 minute read

  • May 30, 2012 |

    The Transfer Window: recent moves including Shearman, Shoosmiths and DLA

    Shearman & Sterling has strengthened its London finance practice with the hire of Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) partner James Duncan. Duncan, who focuses on derivates and structured products, has been at BLP since 2010 after joining as a partner from Linklaters, where he was of counsel. He spent 13 years at the magic circle firm before joining BLP to help the firm launch a standalone derivatives practice.

    1 minute read