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  • August 2, 2011 |

    Firms line up on Hong Kong group's £4.7bn Northumbrian Water takeover

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells and Ashurst have taken lead roles on the £4.7bn takeover bid for Northumbrian Water by a Hong Kong consortium. Freshfields has won the lead role for the consortium - which is led by Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI) - and is fielding a London-based team headed by corporate partners Piers Prichard Jones and Edward Braham (pictured), working alongside Hong Kong corporate partner Simon Weller.

    1 minute read

  • July 29, 2011 |

    Ashurst seals hire of Freshfields diversity chief

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's head of diversity and inclusion Deborah Dalgleish is set to join Ashurst in the same role next month. Dalgleish, who has spent the last 12 years at Freshfields, was head of UK trainee recruitment at the firm from 1999 to 2009, and head of diversity for the last three years.

    1 minute read

  • July 27, 2011 |

    Ashurst to extend flexi-time working options for equity partners

    Ashurst has rolled out a new flexible working scheme for equity partners intended to make it easier to work part-time without hindering progression through the lockstep. The City law firm has introduced a new policy that will allow equity partners to remain at the same point in the firm's lockstep while being remunerated on a pro rata basis.

    1 minute read

  • July 21, 2011 |

    Australia's Mallesons in talks to tie up with China leader King & Wood

    Australia's Mallesons Stephen Jaques and Chinese leader King & Wood are in talks about forming an alliance, in what would mark a significant tie-up in the Asia-Pacific market. The pair have discussed creating some sort of link or alliance, with one possibility a combination through a verein structure - as used by firms including Norton Rose - which would allow the firms to keep separate finances while centralising some functions.

    1 minute read

  • July 20, 2011 |

    Continued volatility and more mergers – senior lawyers see a hard road ahead

    Leaders across the top 50 reflect on 2010-11 and predict better performance but no quick return to easy growth

    1 minute read

  • July 20, 2011 |

    UK top 50 law firms endure gloom to post best growth figures since 2008

    The UK's top law firms have endured turbulent market conditions to achieve their best growth performance since 2008 with the top 50 expanding its revenues by 3.6% over the last financial year. Legal Week's 2010-11 results show the UK top 50 increased its revenues from £11.89bn to £12.33bn – returning income across the group to almost exactly 2009 levels. The average revenue growth of top 50 law firms was 5.3%.

    1 minute read

  • July 15, 2011 |

    Ashurst seals new Indian best friend agreement with Mumbai firm

    Ashurst has entered into a best-friends arrangement with Mumbai firm Indian Law Partners (ILP). The non-exclusive tie-up will see the two firms refer work to each other on a preferential basis.ILP, which was created earlier this year by former DSK Legal partners Gopika Pant and Piyoosh Gupta, also houses one counsel and 10 associates.

    1 minute read

  • July 13, 2011 |

    Aviva set to launch European panel as new GC joins from GE

    Aviva is set to put together an inaugural European legal panel after hiring GE Capital's Monica Risam as the global insurer's first European general counsel. Risam, the former global GC of GE Capital's Working Capital Solutions division, joined Aviva's London headquarters last month to take up the newly-created role.

    1 minute read

  • July 13, 2011 |

    BNP Paribas GC launches global panel review with expansion aim

    BNP Paribas has kicked off its first global panel review since bringing in the former head of Herbert Smith's Paris banking practice, Georges Dirani, in October 2010 as general counsel. The France-headquartered bank sent out a tender document to more than 20 firms last month, with a view to increasing the size of the roster to take into account the bank's geographic reach.

    1 minute read

  • July 13, 2011 |

    In strictest confidence – how legal privilege is taking a key role in negligence claims

    Legal professional privilege may be a mainstay of most common law legal systems and arguably the basis on which many high-profile cases are lost or won, but rarely does it enjoy the limelight itself, writes Caroline Hill

    1 minute read