Filter This View

  • April 14, 2011 |

    Ashurst makes up London trio among 12 promotions to partnership

    Ashurst has promoted three London lawyers to its partnership as a part of a 12-strong global promotions round. The appointments, which will take effect on 1 May, are spread across the firm's antitrust, corporate, dispute resolution, energy, finance, infrastructure and real estate practices. The London promotions are Chris Bates and Tom Mercer in corporate, as well as Ross Mackenzie in competition.

    1 minute read

  • April 14, 2011 |

    Ashurst plans Hong Kong dispute resolution practice launch with Simmons hire

    Ashurst is set to launch a Hong Kong dispute resolution practice with the hire of Simmons & Simmons China disputes head Gareth Hughes. Hughes, who specialises in disputes relating to banking and financial services, will become the eighth partner in Ashurst's Hong Kong base.

    1 minute read

  • April 14, 2011 |

    City partners concerned over potential negative impact of Vickers' UK banking reform proposals

    City lawyers have reacted critically to the Vickers report's proposals for reform of the UK banking sector, highlighting the potentially damaging impact on the City's status as a global banking hub. Key proposals contained within the interim report from the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) include the suggestion that UK banks should ring fence their retail divisions from their investment banking arms and that there should be increased capital requirements for "systemically important banks".

    1 minute read

  • April 14, 2011 |

    Santander reviews UK advisers as Barclays quizzes panel on hospitality

    Banco Santander has kicked off a review of its external legal advisers in the UK as it emerges that Barclays is set to grill its global panel firms on corporate hospitality spending for the first time. Santander's review of its own-account legal panel began around two weeks ago and covers the legacy Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley brands.

    1 minute read

  • April 13, 2011 |

    Kirkland boosts London base with Shearman partner hire

    Kirkland & Ellis has strengthened its City office with the addition of a partner from Shearman & Sterling. Shearman capital markets partner Ward McKimm (pictured) is understood to have handed in his notice yesterday (12 April), with the intention of joining US rival Kirkland.

    1 minute read

  • April 11, 2011 |

    Lawyers raise concerns over impact of Vickers' banking reform proposals

    City lawyers have reacted critically to the Vickers report's proposals for reform of the UK banking sector, highlighting the potentially damaging impact on the City's status as a global banking hub. Key proposals contained within the interim report from the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) include the suggestion that UK banks should ring-fence their retail divisions from their investment banking arms and that there should be increased capital requirements for "systemically important banks".

    1 minute read

  • April 6, 2011 |

    Partnership ranks at top UK law firms still in flux, research shows

    DLA Piper has seen more partners resign from its limited liability partnership (LLP) since January 2010 than any other top 10 firm, according to Legal Week research that shows the extent to which leading law firms are continuing to reshape their partnerships. Filings with Companies House show DLA Piper has seen 75 partners resign from its international LLP since January 2010, of which 60 have left the firm entirely. Of the remaining 15, eight have stayed with DLA in non-partner roles, with seven set to rejoin the LLP on 1 May when the merger with former Australian alliance partner DLA Phillips Fox takes effect.

    1 minute read

  • April 1, 2011 |

    Three Ashurst US securities partners to depart firm's London office

    Ashurst is set to see all three of its London-based US securities partners leave the firm. Corporate partners Daniel Bushner, Eric Stuart and Marie Elena Angulo have handed in their notice, with the departures first reported on legal website RollonFriday earlier this morning (1 April). A partner at the firm said Ashurst intended to replace the trio with a team of lateral hires, stating that they were in 'advanced talks' with at least two partners from a rival firm.

    1 minute read

  • March 30, 2011 |

    Top private equity advisers line up on £480m Chiswick Park office sale

    A raft of international law firms have advised on buyout house The Blackstone Group's £480m acquisition of the Chiswick Park office development in West London. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and City firm Herbert Smith were jointly instructed by Blackstone on the deal, with SJ Berwin and Ashurst advising the seller, Chiswick Park Unit Trust.

    1 minute read

  • March 29, 2011 |

    Back at the gate - the challenges ahead for private equity

    A few weeks ago news got out that Bain Capital, one of the world's leading private equity firms, was holding interviews for junior investment professionals a month earlier than usual. Bain's competitors, which include Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) and The Blackstone Group, moved quickly, bringing forward their pre-scheduled cocktail party recruiting events. This was not a surprising development. Five years ago private equity houses often did their entry-level hiring in September. During the boom, such intakes kept drifting earlier into the year as rivals jostled to secure the best aspiring deal-doers.

    1 minute read