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  • February 22, 2011 |

    The Global 100: The tracks of my tiers

    Once again, it's merger-talk season. There was a flurry of activity last year that culminated in the various Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, Norton Rose and Squire Sanders & Dempsey transoceanic combinations. They were notable because they all opted to organise as Swiss vereins rather than single-profit sharing partnerships, and all were motivated, at least in part, by a desire to get bigger so they could compete for work and talent that was waiting for those firms that, well, got bigger. The wooing continues. Consultants log George Clooney-esque air miles trying to complete promising law firm mergers. And partners seek to convince themselves either that they're not being acquired or that an acquisition is necessary to have a chance at becoming one of the Select 17 (or whatever) who will stand astride the known world, someday really soon.

    1 minute read

  • February 21, 2011 |

    Simmons disputes partner joins Bakers in HK

    Baker & McKenzie has added to its Hong Kong dispute resolution practice with the hire of Simmons & Simmons partner James Kwan. Kwan, who is set to join Bakers on 1 March, joined the Simmons partnership in Hong Kong in 2008 from Allen & Overy's Dubai office, where he was a dispute resolution consultant. His practice focuses on international commercial arbitration and litigation, with a particular emphasis on infrastructure, engineering and energy disputes.

    1 minute read

  • February 16, 2011 |

    No more half measures: can Barlows' management prove the doubters wrong?

    "We're focusing on stability," says Barlow Lyde & Gilbert senior partner Simon Konsta. And who could query those sentiments? Despite having built a reputation as one of the City's top insurance and litigation firms, Barlows has had an unhappy recent history. The last 15 years have been marked by a series of strategic shifts, while over the last five years financial performance has increasingly lagged behind its peer group. Since 2007 the firm has made repeated efforts to update its management and reshape its practice, with Barlows moving to refocus its business around its insurance core. The result has been a series of partner departures and a firm still searching for the stability Konsta cites.

    1 minute read

  • February 15, 2011 |

    IPO outlook - finely balanced but still tipping the wrong way

    Equity capital markets (ECM) lawyers eyeing up another year of uncertainty must be wondering which will win out in 2011: irresistible force or immovable object? On one hand, you have the building pressure to tap the equity markets from the growing queue of companies that have been put off braving the market for more than two years thanks to tough market conditions. In theory, at some point issuers with solid stories for investors must accept that there will be no quick return to rosy valuations and just get on with it.

    1 minute read

  • February 11, 2011 |

    DLA Piper boosts London telecoms practice

    DLA Piper has strengthened its intellectual property and technology (IPT) practice with the hire of Mike Conradi from technology boutique Kemp Little. Conradi, who was a partner in the commercial technology team at Kemp Little, joins DLA Piper as a non-contentious telecoms partner in London.

    1 minute read

  • February 8, 2011 |

    Four firms win spots on NSPCC pro bono panel

    The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has appointed its first formal panel of law firms to provide pro bono legal advice. Clifford Chance (CC), Baker & McKenzie, Wragge & Co and Walker Morris have all been appointed to the roster after 21 firms were invited to pitch.

    1 minute read

  • February 8, 2011 |

    BoA Merrill and Credit Agricole unveil coveted legal panels

    A raft of City law firms have won places as Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoA Merrill) and Credit Agricole finalise their legal panels. BoA Merrill has appointed UK firms including Allen & Overy, Linklaters and Clifford Chance (CC) to its first new legal panel since the two banks merged in January 2009.

    1 minute read

  • February 7, 2011 |

    Herbert Smith private client tax partner joins BLP's London office

    Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has recruited Herbert Smith private client tax partner Rupert Ticehurst for the firm's City base. Ticehurst has joined BLP's London office as a partner in the the UK top 20 firm's tax department. He has been a partner at Herbert Smith since 2005 and headed the firm's private wealth and charities practice. He advises on tax and trusts, in particular legal disputes for families, individuals and charities for UK and international clients.

    1 minute read

  • February 1, 2011 |

    The double life - the rough and the smooth of a client secondment

    Secondees have always been a popular demand from clients. With law firms more often than not covering the cost of the placement, they not only benefit from their advisers having a better understanding of their business, but at a more fundamental level secondments frequently fill a resource gap. And secondments rarely leave law firms disappointed. Invaluable experience, specialised knowledge and greater understanding of the client rapidly convert law firms into advocates of sending their junior lawyers - and increasingly, partners as well - on secondments. But what do lawyers themselves get out of it, and do the benefits of a secondment outweigh the flaws?

    1 minute read

  • January 26, 2011 |

    Linklaters, A&O top volume charts for EMEA debt and equity capital markets

    Linklaters and Allen & Overy (A&O) have topped Thomson Reuters' EMEA equity and debt capital markets rankings for the full 2010 calendar year. Linklaters has held its spot at the top of the equity capital markets (ECM) rankings by manager, advising underwriters on 57 deals worth a total of $39.2bn (£24.8bn). The tally equates to four more deals than in 2009 – although the value is down from last year's figure of $53.3bn (£33.7bn) – putting it significantly ahead of its nearest rival by volume, Davis Polk & Wardwell, which advised on just 14 deals.

    1 minute read