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  • March 17, 2011 |

    CC and Simpson Thacher advise on €4bn post-Lehman fundraise

    Former Clifford Chance (CC) funds chief Jason Glover has completed his first deal since joining Simpson Thacher & Bartlett's City office in January, advising on a €4bn (£3.4bn) fundraising for private equity firm BC Partners. The deal, which is the biggest fundraising in Europe since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, saw Glover advise European buyout house BC Partners alongside a team from his former firm, with corporate partner Nick Benson taking the lead role at CC.

    1 minute read

  • March 16, 2011 |

    Ashurst refocuses Middle East arm around energy and infrastructure

    Ashurst is set to restructure in the Middle East, with the firm refocusing its Abu Dhabi and Dubai offices around energy and infrastructure. The restructuring will see corporate partner and Middle East chief Nick Williamson, who splits his time between the two offices, and Abu Dhabi real estate partner Matthew Hooton, returning to London after several years in the region.

    1 minute read

  • March 10, 2011 |

    Firms still confident of growth via laterals

    Senior lawyers remain convinced that hiring partners is an effective way to build their firm's business despite concerns over the difficulty of finding and integrating promising candidates. The latest Big Question survey found that 64% of respondents believed hiring partners laterally was an effective means of strategically developing a law firm, including 15% who said it was 'very effective'. A further 32% felt it was 'quite effective' while 4% said it either did not work or was counterproductive.

    1 minute read

  • March 10, 2011 |

    Kirkland partner profits break $3m mark as revenue surges by 14%

    Kirkland & Ellis has emerged as one of the strongest performers in the 2010 US reporting season, with the US top 10 law firm seeing both revenue and profits climb sharply, writes The Am Law Daily. The firm's revenues rose by 14% to $1.63bn (£1bn) in 2010, while profits per equity partner (PEP) jumped 23% to $3.08m (£1.91m). The PEP figure puts Kirkland in an elite group of US firms with PEP above $3m (£1.9m).

    1 minute read

  • March 9, 2011 |

    House of cards - Howrey's woes expose vulnerability of US model

    It is customary when a large business calls it a day to seek out lessons from that fate. So what is there to take from the turmoil that has engulfed Howrey over the last 18 months if, as seems likely, the firm this week elects to start winding down its business? For one, it has to be said that the firm will have plenty of company. Brobeck Phleger & Harrison, Altheimer & Gray, Coudert Brothers, Testa Hurwitz & Thibeault, Thacher Proffitt & Wood, Thelen, Heller Ehrman – all have passed into the night since 2003.

    1 minute read

  • March 9, 2011 |

    City firms stall on preparation for radical regulatory shake-up

    Many of the City's leading law firms are delaying their preparations for fundamental changes to the way firms are regulated, as they wait for amended guidelines from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Only two of the UK's 10 largest law firms by revenue have confirmed that they have started to make changes in preparation for outcomes-focused regulation (OFR), which will see the SRA's detailed rulebook replaced with an approach founded on broader principles, rather than prescriptive rules, from October this year.

    1 minute read

  • March 4, 2011 |

    Raft of leading UK firms line up on subprime lender's £3bn debt restructuring

    A raft of City law firms have taken roles on the £3bn debt restructuring of troubled financial services group Cattles. The restructuring has handed roles to six City law firms during two years of complex negotiations after a 2009 accounting scandal pushed the subprime lender to the brink of insolvency.

    1 minute read

  • March 4, 2011 |

    Ashurst to open up second Italy base in Rome with Dewey and NCTM hires

    Ashurst is set to open its second office in Italy, with the firm launching in Rome through the hire of a team of lawyers from Italian independent NCTM and US firm Dewey & LeBoeuf. The City firm is bringing in two partners from NCTM - corporate and restructuring partner Francesco De Gennaro and antitrust partner Domenico Gullo - while real estate partner Carmine Bruno joins this week from Dewey. A team of 10 associates are also joining Ashurst from Dewey and NCTM, with start dates for those joining from NCTM still to be confirmed.

    1 minute read

  • March 3, 2011 |

    Trainee retention at UK's top 30 law firms up 10% against last year

    Trainee retention rates at the UK's 30 largest law firms have risen across the majority of practices, with the average rate across the group nearly 10% higher than in March 2010. Average retention across the UK top 30 firms stands at 84% when considering the number of job offers against the number of qualifying trainees. This figure drops marginally to 83% when taking into account rejected job offers. This compares with an average retention of just 75% this time last year, when job offers were affected by the prolonged economic downturn.

    1 minute read

  • March 2, 2011 |

    GE names Europe M&A counsel as Anheuser-Busch InBev reviews firms

    General Electric (GE) has reviewed its European M&A panel, with four of the five firms appointed in 2007 retaining a place on the roster. Slaughter and May, Weil Gotshal & Manges, Allen & Overy and Ashurst have all been reappointed to the panel for another four-year term. The appointments follow a tender process which kicked off last year and was concluded in January after several months of negotiations.

    1 minute read