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  • 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

  • January 25, 2011 |

    Russia and Ukraine: Happily single?

    It was a grim morning in November 2008 when Andrey Goltsblat, managing partner of leading Russian law firm Pepeliaev Goltsblat & Partners (PGP), set out for one of the most difficult meetings of his 20-year career. Moscow was already deep in the grip of winter, the streets buried beneath inches of snow. But it wasn't the weather that troubled Goltsblat as he arrived at the firm's premises and headed to the office he shared with Sergey Pepeliaev, the firm's senior partner. Goltsblat had a dramatic announcement to make: he was leaving the business they'd spent the last two decades building together. And he was taking half the firm with him. Neither man will talk about exactly what was said in that meeting - Pepeliaev would only describe his reaction as "appropriate" - but it's safe to say that Goltsblat's news didn't go down well. In one fell swoop, nine partners and a full 70 lawyers - PGP's entire corporate practice and the firm's heads of real estate, dispute resolution and employment - left to join UK firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP).

    1 minute read

  • January 25, 2011 |

    Asia round-up: DLA, White & Case and O'Melveny secure senior lawyers

    The former head of the tax practice at leading Chinese law firm King & Wood has joined DLA Piper in Hong Kong, writes the Am Law Daily. Stephen Nelson joined King & Wood's Shanghai office four years ago from Baker & McKenzie, where he had practised for 20 years. Nelson is bucking a recent trend that has seen a number of veteran Western lawyers in China jump from international firms to local ones. He said he hopes to have a broader practice at DLA Piper, focusing on foreign investment into China as well as tax matters.

    1 minute read

  • January 20, 2011 |

    Howrey antitrust co-head Soames becomes latest departure for firm

    Howrey's Brussels chief and global antitrust co-head Trevor Soames has become the latest in a string of partners to quit the US firm's European network. Soames, who works from Brussels and London, sent an email to contacts earlier today (20 January) confirming that he has left the firm.

    1 minute read

  • January 19, 2011 |

    Expansive Dewey secures seven senior lateral hires in a day

    Dewey & LeBoeuf has struck an expansive note for the New Year after announcing the hire of seven high-profile lawyers from firms including Dechert, Howrey and Sullivan & Cromwell, writes the Am Law Daily. The hires include Howrey intellectual property litigation partners Henry Bunsow, Denise Mory and Brian Smith, who will join Dewey's San Francisco office, and Craig Allison, a patent litigation partner from Dechert, who will join Dewey's Silicon Valley office.

    1 minute read

  • January 18, 2011 |

    Local leaders rank alongside Links, Freshfields and Herbert Smith in Middle East/Asia M&A

    South African practice Webber Wentzel and Linklaters have topped the rankings by deal volume and value respectively in the Middle East and Africa after deals increased 6.3% last year. While both deal value and volume are up on 2009 figures, with 302 deals worth $49.4bn (£31bn) in 2010 compared to 284 deals worth $32.2bn (£20bn) the previous year, both fall far short of pre-recession figures, according to the latest Mergermarket statistics.

    1 minute read