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  • November 23, 2010 |

    The future of the Bar: Tipping points

    'Core values' is a theme that traditionally features heavily at the Bar Council's annual conference. This year - with deep cuts looming to legal aid and huge upheaval expected with the implementation in 2011 of the Legal Services Act (LSA) - was no exception. Speakers including Kim Hollis QC and Lord Neuberger paid customary tribute to the concept, before Mayor of London Boris Johnson took to the stage to deliver a gag-filled address. With laughter still echoing around the Hilton Metropole on Edgware Road, delegates filed out into a foyer full of stalls from upmarket wealth management and luxury goods companies.

    1 minute read

  • November 22, 2010 |

    Slaughters and Herbert Smith advise on £1.7bn food company merger

    Slaughter and May and Herbert Smith have taken roles on the merger of Northern Foods and Greencore Group, two food companies seeking to cut costs by combining operations, reports The Am Law Daily. The new company, called Essenta Foods, will be one of the largest frozen and prepared foods providers in the UK with combined sales of £1.7bn.

    1 minute read

  • November 22, 2010 |

    Davis Polk hires second magic circle Beijing chief for Hong Kong office

    Davis Polk & Wardwell has recruited Linklaters' Beijing head for its burgeoning Hong Kong law practice, marking the US firm's second recent senior magic circle hire, reports The Am Law Daily. The New York-based firm has announced that Paul Chow is set join its Hong Kong office next May, following the hire of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's Beijing chief Antony Dapiran. Chow is expected to continue to work on client matters until his departure. Davis Polk has generally been regarded as conservative when it comes to recruiting lateral partners, but the US firm has moved aggressively to assemble a Hong Kong law group in recent months.

    1 minute read

  • November 16, 2010 |

    Africa rising

    As international law firms look for ways to boost their revenues in the current global markets, Africa's star continues to rise. The continent presents a wealth of new opportunities, welcoming a multitude of investors drawn by its rapidly-growing oil, gas, mining and telecoms industries, as well as major infrastructure developments. In a year when billion-dollar transactions were still few and far between, deals such as Bharti Airtel's $10.7bn (£6.6bn) purchase of Zain Africa and the $2.7bn (£1.7bn) acquisition by China Petroleum & Chemical of a 55% stake in Sonangol Sinopec International were a cause for celebration for the Africa practices of Allen & Overy (A&O) and Herbert Smith. On both deals, the firms advised the bidder. Linklaters meanwhile, adviser to the seller of Zain Africa, Mobile Telecommunications Company, notably dominates mergermarket's league tables by not only value but volume.

    1 minute read

  • November 9, 2010 |

    Deal team media strategy - upmarket or low-hanging fruit?

    Do you have a media strategy for pushing forward your main practice groups? Well, if you are an ambitious UK top 50 practice or major US law firm, the answer is almost certainly 'yes'. But is it working? To that question, the response in many cases remains 'no'. There are a number of reasons strategies to build deal teams' profiles fail. Common ones would include unreasonable expectations or a misconceived sense of what you are trying to achieve.

    1 minute read

  • November 9, 2010 |

    Partners believe tuition fee hikes will damage law's diversity efforts

    Fewer than one in four partners are in favour of Government proposals to allow universities to charge students up to £9,000 in fees, with the clear majority of senior lawyers believing it will damage efforts to improve social diversity in commercial law. Legal Week's latest Big Question survey has found that 61% of partners believe plans to allow universities to increase fees to almost three times the current annual level will damage diversity, with a further 25% thinking it may have a minor impact.

    1 minute read

  • November 4, 2010 |

    Slaughters and White & Case lead on $5.9bn Spanish-Turkish bank deal

    Slaughter and May and White & Case have won lead roles on a $5.9bn (£3.6bn) deal involving Spanish and Turkish banks, reports The Am Law Daily. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentina (BBVA), Spain's second-largest bank, is acquiring a 24.9% stake in Turkiye Garanti Bankasi, Turkey's leading bank. BBVA will purchase 18.6% of the stake in Garanti from GE Capital for $3.8bn (£2.3bn), while the other 6.3% will come from Turkey's Dogus Holdings for $2.1bn (£1.3bn).

    1 minute read

  • November 3, 2010 |

    Slaughters raises annual fee earner bonus to 8% after pay review

    Slaughter and May is set to increase its firmwide bonus, which was halved last year as a result of the downturn, and give fee earners a marginal increase in base salary. The magic circle firm is to pay all fee earners, including trainees, an end-of-year bonus equating to 8% of salary - a significant increase on last year's payout, when the bonus was halved to 5% of salary.

    1 minute read

  • November 3, 2010 |

    Bain Capital hunts for Europe GC as private equity firms bulk up in-house

    Bain Capital has kicked off a search for its first-ever European general counsel, as the US private equity leader moves to build a legal team to mirror the growth of its business in Europe. The Boston-based buyout house has launched its hunt for a GC within the last few weeks and has already contacted a number of City partners, including those at magic circle firms and within the City offices of US law firms.

    1 minute read

  • November 2, 2010 |

    Out in front - Unilever on its IP outsourcing deal with Baker & McKenzie

    Third-party LPOs aren't the only ones in the outsourcing game. Alex Aldridge speaks to Unilever about its decision to use Baker & McKenzie to do its low-cost work

    1 minute read