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  • September 14, 2011 |

    BBC Trust names Bakers as sole legal adviser after competitive tender

    Baker & McKenzie has been appointed as the sole legal adviser to the BBC Trust on regulatory matters following a competitive tender exercise. The Trust, which acts as the broadcasting company's governing body, has instructed Bakers in this capacity since its inception in 2007, but re-tendered earlier this year after the appointment of Lord Patten – a former Cabinet minister and chairman of the Conservative Party – as its chairman. The competitive tender process involved half a dozen UK law firms including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Simmons & Simmons and Field Fisher Waterhouse.

    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 7, 2011 |

    Outgoing SJB partner leads alongside Bakers on Nordbank fund disposal

    SJ Berwin and Baker & McKenzie have taken lead roles on HSH Nordbank's sale of a stake in a portfolio of private equity fund investments, a deal that values the bank's total 47-fund portfolio at €620m (£549m). SJ Berwin was instructed by Germany's Nordbank, a longstanding client of the firm, and fielded a team led by funds partner Nigel van Zyl, who is set to leave the firm with a team of associates to join Proskauer Rose. SJ Berwin's City team worked with Munich funds partner Sonya Pauls on the deal.

    1 minute read

  • September 7, 2011 |

    K&L Gates opens second Middle East branch with Qatar launch

    K&L Gates has launched an office in Qatar, with Dewey & LeBoeuf's former Doha chief, Kenneth Freeling, charged with heading the base. The firm received its licence from the Qatar Financial Centre late last month (23 August) after applying to open in March, with patent and antitrust litigation partner Freeling leading the venture.

    1 minute read

  • September 7, 2011 |

    A waste of money - is the bonus round at top US firms just money down the drain?

    US law firms are conditioned to doling out tightly banded 'follow-the-leader' bonus awards to associates. But, argues Amy Kolz, there is little evidence this practice reflects market reality or even buys them any staff loyalty

    1 minute read

  • September 7, 2011 |

    Bakers and Latham prepare Chinese investment bank for $2bn HK IPO

    Baker & McKenzie and Latham & Watkins have taken lead roles for Chinese investment bank CITIC Securities on its $2bn (£1.3bn) Hong Kong listing, reports The Asian Lawyer. CITIC Securities, a subsidiary of state-owned investment company CITIC Group, is already listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The bank received regulatory approval from China's financial regulator, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, for a Hong Kong listing on 1 September.

    1 minute read

  • August 31, 2011 |

    Investec targets US firms for post-Legal Services Act funding offers

    Baker & McKenzie, Greenberg Traurig Maher (GTM) and Reed Smith are among a raft of firms to have been approached by Investec about the possibility of receiving external investment from the bank in order to take advantage of the Legal Services Act (LSA). Other firms to have been contacted by the South African bank include London funds boutique MJ Hudson, which was founded last year by former Proskauer Rose London managing partner Matthew Hudson.

    1 minute read

  • August 31, 2011 |

    Rising from the rubble - the Arab Spring becomes a summer

    The Arab Spring has become a summer. More than six months since a solitary act of protest in Tunisia became the catalyst for widespread political unrest that swept throughout much of the Arab world, the swelling tide of uprisings in the Middle East continues. As the Muslim month of fasting comes to an end, the region is radically different to how it was one year ago. A violent transformation has taken place: dictators have fallen, dynamics have shifted and the institutional setup of the region has been radically altered. Most pressingly for the legal sector, markets in places such as Bahrain, Egypt and Libya have been hit hard.

    1 minute read

  • August 31, 2011 |

    Partners fear takeover phobia will hamper M&A recovery

    Last month's £7.1bn bid for UK software company Autonomy by Hewlett-Packard has led to renewed calls for the Government to bring in new laws protecting UK businesses from the threat of overseas takeovers. The political flare-up following the largest overseas takeover of a UK company since last year's controversial acquisition of Cadbury by US food group Kraft has prompted collective eye-rolling among corporate partners across the City.

    1 minute read

  • August 23, 2011 |

    Ashurst partner takes up two-year secondment at Takeover Panel

    Ashurst corporate partner Tom Mercer has begun a two-year secondment at the Takeover Panel, becoming the latest City partner to take up a role at the regulator. Mercer, who is based in London and was promoted to Ashurst's partnership earlier this year, has been appointed by the panel as a new secretary for a period of two years beginning next month (12 September).

    1 minute read