Filter This View

  • 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

  • August 17, 2011 |

    Bakers posts single-digit increase in both revenue and PEP

    Baker & McKenzie has posted a single-digit increase in both annual revenue and profits for the 2010-11 financial year ending 30 June, reports the Am Law Daily.

    1 minute read

  • August 17, 2011 |

    Bakers and Freshfields lead on Cargill's $2.1bn Provimi acquisition

    Baker & McKenzie and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have taken lead roles on agribusiness giant Cargill's $2.1bn (£1.3bn) acquisition of Dutch company Provimi, reports the Am Law Daily.

    1 minute read

  • August 8, 2011 |

    Bakers adds energy partner to City base with Freshfields hire

    Baker & McKenzie has added a partner to its London energy, mining and infrastructure (EMI) group with a hire from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Marc Fevre joins Bakers' partnership from Freshfields, where he was a counsel in the firm's Abu Dhabi energy and infrastructure team. The hire brings the total number of partners in Bakers' City EMI group to seven.

    1 minute read