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  • September 14, 2011 |

    Slaughters ups secondments to referral firms in Asia

    Slaughter and May is set to tighten its relationships with local firms in Asia, with the firm planning to increase secondments to the region and send lawyers to Korea for the first time. The elite law firm is aiming to increase its lawyer secondments across Asia in general but particularly in Japan – where it works with firms including Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu – and South Korea, where despite links with Kim & Chang and Shin & Kim the firm has not carried out secondments to date.

    1 minute read

  • September 14, 2011 |

    Battle royale - the tussle for global dominance shifts eastward

    With elite Wall Street firms finally breaking into Hong Kong law, the stage is set for a high-stakes struggle across Asia between the world's top law firms. Georgina Stanley and Simon Petersen report

    1 minute read

  • September 14, 2011 |

    Top firms break ground with project to boost access to law, but challenge has only begun

    Despite already being touted as a landmark for the industry, the law firms behind the initiative aimed at improving access to the profession are hoping to substantially expand the number of firms 
backing the scheme. The scheme launched with 23 major firms across the UK and Ireland but the backers of the project to hand work experience to under-privileged children believe it will be essential to secure the active support of more law firms before addressing the considerable challenge of building links and co-operation with a broad base of schools nationally.

    1 minute read

  • September 14, 2011 |

    Ladbrokes brings in e-billing to scrutinise firms ahead of review

    Ladbrokes has introduced an electronic billing and online performance review system for its legal advisers ahead of a review of the gambling company's eight-strong panel next year. The e-billing and law firm appraisal system, introduced this month, allows Ladbrokes' in-house team, which is headed by general counsel Jonathan Adelman, to assess firms according to criteria including 'value for money', 'responsiveness' and 'commerciality'.

    1 minute read

  • September 13, 2011 |

    Slaughters leads alongside US firms on £1.5bn transatlantic takeover bid

    Slaughter and May and a number of US firms have won roles on US manufacturing company Colfax Corporation's £1.5bn takeover bid for UK engineering group Charter International. Slaughters has taken the lead role for Charter on the deal, which is conditional upon regulatory and shareholder approvals. The magic circle firm is fielding a team under London corporate partners Andy Ryde and Robin Ogle.

    1 minute read

  • September 13, 2011 |

    DLA Piper and Olswang win roles as Vodafone confirms new legal panel

    Vodafone has completed a review of its group and UK legal advisers, with Olswang and DLA Piper winning first-time appointments. The panel is divided into two - a group panel which will handle the legal services for Vodafone's corporate centre and a dedicated UK panel.

    1 minute read

  • September 9, 2011 |

    23 major law firms come together for ground-breaking diversity initiative

    Twenty-three UK and Irish law firms have come together for a groundbreaking initiative to boost social mobility in the profession with a wide-ranging work experience scheme. The project, dubbed PRIME, will see the firms involved commit to provide significant work experience programmes for state school children from non-privileged backgrounds in a profession-wide bid to improve social diversity in law.

    1 minute read

  • September 7, 2011 |

    Magic circle quartet secure roles on €2bn Endemol debt restructuring

    Four of the magic circle are among a raft of firms to have won roles on the 
multi billion-euro debt restructuring of Endemol, the TV production company behind shows such as Big Brother and Deal or No Deal. Endemol is owned by a consortium comprising Mediacinco, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Cyrte Investments, which are being advised by Clifford Chance (CC), Sullivan & Cromwell and Benelux leader Stibbe respectively.

    1 minute read

  • September 7, 2011 |

    The merger master - how James Retallack's merger experience served him well on the board of takeover target

    Aggregate Industries' (AI's) former legal and compliance director James Retallack knows a thing or two about mergers. In the glare of the public eye he guided Birmingham and London law firm Edge Ellison through the rocky aftermath of dramatically collapsed merger talks with then Pinsent Curtis (now Pinsent Masons) in 1997 and, after an oft-challenging three years, into a union with legacy Hammond Suddards. Only four years later, at major heavy building materials company AI, he was part of the board guiding the FTSE 250 company through a £1.8bn merger with Swiss-founded aggregate and cement giant Holcim.

    1 minute read

  • September 5, 2011 |

    Leading law firms make public pledge to slash CO2 emissions

    Linklaters, DLA Piper and Allen & Overy are among a raft of major law firms to have signed up to a public commitment to cut their carbon emissions. The firms are among 20 'executive' members of the Legal Sector Alliance - a group of law firms and organisations working to reduce Co2 emissions in the legal industry - to agree public targets from the next financial year.

    1 minute read