Filter This View

  • November 2, 2011 |

    Colt reviews European legal panel and requests pitches from 10 firms

    Colt Technology Services has sent out pitch requests to more than 10 law firms with a view to rationalising its European law firm panel. The review, which is being led by longstanding legal director Robin Saphra, will see no more than six firms appointed to advise across a number of practice areas including corporate, intellectual property (IP) and technology.

    1 minute read

  • October 28, 2011 |

    Slaughters and Cleary act on Sony's £920m purchase of Ericsson JV stake

    Slaughter and May and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton have taken lead roles on Sony's £920m acquisition of Ericsson's stake in mobile phone joint venture Sony Ericsson. The deal, which has seen Sony buy Ericsson's entire 50% stake in the joint venture, will allow the Japanese company to ramp up its smartphone efforts as it positions itself to compete with Apple and Samsung in the market.

    1 minute read

  • October 27, 2011 |

    Bakers targets Turkey launch with local alliance deal

    Baker & McKenzie is gearing up to launch in Turkey later this year, with the new office set to operate in co-operation with local firm Esin Attorney Partnership to comply with local Bar rules. Esin, which is based in Istanbul, is a 40-lawyer firm which covers practice areas including corporate, real estate, dispute resolution and competition law. The firm's main clients include NBK Capital, Global Investment House, Unicredit, Carrefour, Metro Asset Management, Credit Suisse and Pfizer.

    1 minute read

  • October 19, 2011 |

    What I wish I knew when I left uni - the profession's finest offer some life advice

    They say hindsight is 20/20 – London's senior lawyers offer their very best advice to Legal Week readers...

    1 minute read

  • October 12, 2011 |

    Global 100: Strong dollar helps US leaders set the pace as City firms face fierce competition

    Rising profits at expansive US law firms and continued weakness in sterling look set to sustain competitive pressure on globally ambitious UK firms for years to come, according to new research. This year's Global 100 – a joint initiative from The American Lawyer and Legal Week – shows leading US players gaining a stronger grip on the upper echelons of the profession globally, based on both profitability and fee income. The three largest law firms in revenue terms are either US-based or the result of unions structured through vereins – with Baker & McKenzie, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and DLA Piper topping the income rankings.

    1 minute read

  • October 10, 2011 |

    Bakers instructed by Australian coal miner for potential $5bn sale

    Baker & McKenzie has been handed a lead role on the potential multibillion-dollar sale of Australian coal mine operator New Hope, reports The Am Law Daily. New Hope announced last week that it would consider takeover offers and has hired Bakers to advise it on the bidding and appraisal process.

    1 minute read

  • October 5, 2011 |

    King of the hill – will Chinese law firms monopolise local competition work?

    In July, Nestle announced it had agreed to pay $1.7bn (£1.08bn) to acquire a controlling interest in Chinese candy company Hsu Fu Chi International. The proposed deal would be the largest-ever acquisition in China by a foreign multinational and would help the Vevey, a Switzerland-based food giant, cement its position in the world's most important growth market. If Nestle is able to pull the deal off, it may just have Susan Ning to thank, above all. Head of the antitrust group and a senior partner at King & Wood, Ning is aiming to guide Nestle around what is likely the biggest obstacle to its deal: China's three-year-old anti-monopoly law. The last time a large multinational attempted a similar acquisition – Coca-Cola's $2bn (£1.28bn) bid for China Huiyuan Juice Group in 2008 – the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) shot it down on antitrust review.

    1 minute read

  • September 28, 2011 |

    Cracking China – has Mandarin become de rigueur for modern Asian counsel?

    For would-be new hires at several international law firms in China and Hong Kong, speaking Mandarin has come to be a strict and unyielding prerequisite. "Certainly from our point of view, hiring someone in Hong Kong without Chinese language speaking skills is a waste of time," says Antony Dapiran, a fluent Mandarin speaker and capital markets partner with Davis Polk & Wardwell in Hong Kong. "I honestly do not see how they can function, especially if they are dealing with capital markets work."

    1 minute read

  • September 28, 2011 |

    The expert temps - will contract lawyers prove a mainstream tool for in-house legal teams?

    As in-house legal teams look for innovative ways to meet demand with frozen or reduced headcount budgets, providers of flexible and cost-effective interim lawyers are moving to fill the lacuna left by law firms as they struggle with their own resourcing and cost issues. Where once interim appointments were a necessary evil in between permanent jobs, the advent of hybrids including virtual law firm Axiom and Berwin Leighton Paisner's (BLP's) client resourcing solution Lawyers on Demand (LoD) is changing the game for corporates, tapping into a growing pool of talented lawyers looking to take more control of their own destiny and affording them a respectable and supported way to take on high-level, well-paid, flexible roles.

    1 minute read

  • September 21, 2011 |

    US firms in London to join diversity initiative; more UK firms get on board

    PRIME, the ground-breaking social mobility initiative launched by 23 major law firms earlier this month, looks set to be expanded to include the London offices of several leading US firms, with White & Case and Shearman & Sterling among those lining up to get involved.

    1 minute read