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  • March 4, 2013 |

    Mishcons leads legal rivals in Sunday Times top employer list

    Only two of the UK's 50 largest law firms by revenue have made the grade to appear on The Sunday Times' annual Best Companies to Work For rankings, with Mishcon de Reya the highest ranked legal practice. The London firm has climbed to twelfth place in the rankings, up from number 23 last year, scoring particularly highly in categories including how staff feel about the company, the leadership and their immediate colleagues. The only other UK top 50 firm to feature is Mills & Reeve, which at number 57 has climbed more than 30 places on last year.

    1 minute read

  • February 28, 2013 |

    Beijing-bound firms face culture challenge as global elite flock to Chinese capital

    Home to cash-rich state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and a huge urban population, Beijing – like Singapore, Hong Kong and, more latterly, Korea – has long been a focus for international law firms. This year in particular looks set to see a raft of firms open up in the Chinese capital, with Berwin Leighton Paisner last month announcing plans to launch there in May, while a string of other firms – including Ashurst, Kirkland & Ellis, Eversheds, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Clyde & Co – also expect to receive their licences to practise in the coming months. Those that already have offices on the ground have also been busy ramping up their offerings. DLA Piper announced in January that it had hired a five-strong King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) team for Beijing, including projects partner Carolyn Dong. Norton Rose has brought in three new Beijing partners since March 2012: banking partner Li Jinnan from KWM, corporate partner Jing Wang from Allen & Overy and corporate partner Barbara Li from Baker & McKenzie.

    1 minute read

  • February 14, 2013 |

    And now for the hard part – after five mergers, can Norton Rose's CEO tackle his biggest challenge yet?

    When Norton Rose's merger with US firm Fulbright & Jaworski goes live on 1 June, it will have completed its fifth tie-up in just three-and-a-half years. Given that even one merger is beyond the ability of many of the UK's leading players, the achievement cannot be underestimated. The unions mean that in just 42 months, Norton Rose will have transformed itself from an also-ran UK law firm with a smattering of international offices and turnover of £314m into a global giant operating in 55 locations around the world with revenues approaching £1.3bn.

    1 minute read

  • February 14, 2013 |

    Pinsents continues international expansion with move into Turkey

    Pinsent Masons has become the latest firm to target the fast-growing Turkish market, with the firm set to launch a new infrastructure-focused base in the region. The new Istanbul office will be headed up by Noyan Goksu, the former head of arbitration at Turkish firm Herguner Bilgen Ozeke.

    1 minute read

  • February 8, 2013 |

    Fifteen Hong Kong lawyers win higher rights to appear in court

    Fifteen lawyers have been granted approval to appear in Hong Kong courts with exemption from litigation training, as the region moves to broaden the scope of work law firms are permitted to handle. Some of Hong Kong's top dispute resolution partners - including top-ranked Skadden disputes partner Paul Mitchard QC and Ashurst senior associate and former barrister Sanjay Sakhrani - are among the line-up receiving Higher Rights of Audience (HRA).

    1 minute read

  • February 8, 2013 |

    SJB and Olswang among top firms on Warner's £487m Parlophone purchase

    Olswang, SJ Berwin and Jones Day are among the firms landing key roles in the high-profile acquisition of record label Parlophone by Warner Music. The all-cash transaction, valued at £487m, was signed yesterday (7 January). Parlophone, home to the likes of Blur, Pink Floyd and Coldplay, was formerly a part of UK music company EMI. SJ Berwin was instructed by Universal, a unit of French media giant Vivendi, on the Parlophone deal with a team comprising corporate partners Will Holder and Mark Sanders, senior partner Stephen Kon and competition partner Philipp Girardet. Paris corporate partner Etienne Bouriscan led the team advising on France law matters, while Frankfurt corporate partner Michael Cziesla headed up the team providing German law counsel. Universal general counsel Richard Constant said: "This was an extremely complex transaction carried out under close regulatory supervision and Will Holder, Mark Sanders, Stephen Kon and Philipp Girardet at SJ Berwin and their teams were instrumental in delivering an extremely good result for us in a very constrained time frame. Their ability to deliver for their client is, in my view, incomparable." Shearman & Sterling advised Vivendi with a team comprising London M&A partner Jeremy Kutner, New York M&A partner Clare O'Brien, capital markets partner Robert Evans and finance partner Steven Sherman. Olswang acted for Warner Music, backed by parent company Access Industries, with a team led by London corporate partner Stephen Hermer. Jones Day Brussels advised on competition aspects with a team including Europe head of antitrust Bernard Amory. The £1.2bn acquisition of EMI by Universal Music was given the greenlight by the European Commission last September. Clifford Chance (CC) and SJ Berwin partners Kon and Girardet led on the deal. The competition watchdog approved the takeover bid on the condition that Universal sells around 60% of EMI's European assets, one of which was Parlophone. Universal is set to retain more than two thirds of EMI on a global basis, keeping artists such as the Beatles, Beach Boys and Katy Perry. CC advised EMI and owner Citigroup on the deal in a team comprising global corporate head Matthew Layton City, corporate partners Daniel Kossoff and Rob Crothers, and Brussels head and antitrust partner Tony Reeves. In November 2011 SJ Berwin and Clifford Chance were among a raft of firms winning roles on EMI's recording division and publishing business acquisitions, after it emerged that the company, which houses artists including The Beatles, was to be split in two. CC advised EMI and Citigroup on the sale of both its music division and its publishing business along with US firm Shearman & Sterling and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, while Universal and parent company Vivendi instructed SJ Berwin on the sale of its recording arm in a team led by firm managing partner Rob Day and city corporate partner William Holder. Now-defunct US firm Dewey & Leboeuf took the lead in advising a Sony-led consortium on its publishing takeover, acting alongside Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Weil Gotshal & Manges, Allen & Overy, and Baker & McKenzie.

    1 minute read

  • February 7, 2013 |

    US law firms grow City presence by 8% in face of tough market

    US law firms grew their London offices by an average of 8% last year, despite continued depression in the UK and European legal markets. Research by Legal Week into the activities of 47 US firms in London found that partner headcount increased from 1,205 at the start of 2012 to 1,300 by the first day of 2013, with non-lawyer headcount also rising by a similar proportion. The increase in partner numbers comprises internal promotions, relocations and external hires.

    1 minute read

  • February 7, 2013 |

    Govt unveils competition reforms in 'quantum leap' towards US-style class actions

    The Government has unveiled a new 'opt out' collective redress system, described as "a quantum leap towards US-style class actions", as part of a series of wide-ranging competition law reforms following a consultation last year. The measures, unveiled by business secretary Vince Cable last month, have received broad approval from senior lawyers, after initial proposals were put forward for consultation by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) in April last year.

    1 minute read

  • January 31, 2013 |

    Bakers, Norton Rose among advisers on £700m private equity hospitals deal

    Baker & McKenzie and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are among a group of top firms leading on a £700m refinancing deal for Spire Healthcare Group, which has seen the sale and leaseback of 12 UK hospitals to a consortium of international investors. The consortium features Malaysian pension fund Employees Provident Fund (EPF) – which was last year part of a group of Malaysian investors that bought London's Battersea Power Station – alongside US hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management and private equity group Moor Park Capital Partners.

    1 minute read

  • 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