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  • September 9, 2008 |

    Legal profession snubbed on London advisory body

    The Mayor of London's decision to not appoint an active legal professional to a new business advisory body has been met with disappointment by the legal community. Boris Johnson's International Business Advisory Council for London (IBAC London) features business leaders from The Coca-Cola Company, British Airways and Adidas but has no practising lawyers. The 47-strong group will advise the Mayor on developing ideas and initiatives on improving the capital as a place to live and work.Vincent Keavney, a securitisation partner at Baker & McKenzie, commented: "It is disappointing given the importance of the legal industry

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  • September 9, 2008 |

    Proskauer secures Asia launch with Heller China team

    Proskauer Rose has secured its long-awaited Asia launch after hiring a two-partner team in Beijing from Heller Ehrman, including chief representative partner Joseph Cha, Legal Week can reveal. The departing office head is joined by partner Ying Li and one associate from the top 50 US law firm's new office. The New York-based Proskauer Rose has previously expressed interest in launching in Asia but does not yet have offices in the region.Following the loss, Heller's Beijing office has only one partner - dispute resolution specialist Ing Loong Yang, who shares his time between Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore - plus two associates and three legal consultants.

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  • September 4, 2008 |

    Proskauer's Paris arm signs up partner duo

    Proskauer Rose has bolstered its Paris office with the hire of a Gide Loyrette Nouel intellectual property (IP) partner, along with the addition of a partner from Baker & McKenzie. IP/IT partner Gregoire Goussu joined this week (1 September) from Gide, with antitrust partner Mireille Dany set to follow on Monday (8 September) from Bakers. Each partner will bring at least one associate with them.Dany was previously a partner with EY Law in Paris before joining Bakers in 2003.

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  • September 4, 2008 |

    Heller eyes Mayer Brown deal after Baker Mac talks collapse

    Just two weeks after merger talks between Baker & McKenzie and Heller Ehrman broke down over conflicts issues, Heller has entered into talks with Mayer Brown. News of the discussions was broken by Legal Week's sister title The American Lawyer last week, with sources close to both firms revealing that California-based Heller is aggressively pursuing other merger options, of which the most promising is a combination with Chicago-based Mayer Brown. Both firms have declined to comment on the claims but the talks are understood to represent a second effort to combine the two firms.

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  • September 1, 2008 |

    Heller Ehrman and Mayer Brown in merger talks

    Just two weeks after merger talks with Baker & McKenzie broke down due to conflicts, Heller Ehrmann...

    1 minute read

  • August 28, 2008 |

    Editor's Comment: Reading the runes

    Business moves fast in the post-crunch age. So, as Western economies in August 'celebrated' the first birthday of the prolonged seizure in credit markets, its effects are now, after an initial delay, rapidly unfolding in the real economy. In such a context statistics date quickly. Our recent annual financial results seem an age ago (actually, it was six weeks). So the 2007-08 numbers, which showed a limited impact from the crunch, gave little insight. The reasons are obvious. While many law firms immediately felt the 'market' impact of the crunch as it began to hit activity in M&A and securities, it wasn't until late spring when underlying economies in Europe really felt the strain.

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  • August 27, 2008 |

    Dealmaker: Adam Levin

    Dechert's Adam Levin on his move from New Zealand to the City, his love of Virgin Radio and his son's valuable advice

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  • August 21, 2008 |

    Editor's Blog: Six of the best from the silly season

    We're in the depths of what is commonly dubbed the silly season - that time of the year when the trains are half-empty and newspapers splash on 'killer shark' sightings off the coast of Cornwall. In fact, the last couple of weeks have produced their fair share of interesting legal stories.

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  • August 14, 2008 |

    Bakers breaks £1bn mark with 20% revenue boost

    Baker & McKenzie has broken the £1bn revenue mark for the first time, reporting a 20% increase in global fee income. The firm has posted revenues of $2.19bn (£1.17bn), up from last year's total of $1.82bn (£918m). Firmwide profits per partner have also seen double-digit growth from last year, with a 20% increase up to $1.206m (£644,000) from last year's total of $1.063m (£567,000).

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  • August 12, 2008 |

    Heller cites conflicts as Bakers merger collapses

    Following months of speculation and rumours, merger talks between Heller Ehrman and Baker & McKenzie have been called off, writes The Recorder.In a voicemail sent to partners on Monday morning, Heller chairman Matthew Larrabee cited conflicts as a key reason for the end of the talks. He also said there was an alternative plan in the works and promised to be more communicative.

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