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  • February 11, 2009 |

    Graduate law jobs to defy downturn with 2009 rise

    The number of graduate positions in the legal profession is set to increase during 2009, despite a widespread drop-off in opportunities across a host of other industries, new research has revealed. According to the Graduate Recruitment Survey 2009 Winter Review, compiled by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), the number of graduate positions in the legal sector is likely to rise by 2%.The projected increase is in contrast to a number of other industries that are likely to see a decline in opportunities in the coming 12 months. The banking and financial services sector is predicted to see a decrease in graduate jobs of 10.7%, while investment banking and fund managers are set to be the hardest hit with a drop of 28%. Across the board, vacancies are expected to decline by 5.4%.

    1 minute read

  • February 5, 2009 |

    BUPA adds Travers and Mills & Reeve to new M&A panel

    BUPA is poised to complete a review of its M&A advisers with Travers Smith and Mills & Reeve set to win new instructions from the healthcare company.BUPA, which started reviewing its advisers across most of its main practice areas including litigation and NHS procurement last February, is still to finalise the M&A panel; however, Travers and Wragge & Co have already been selected to handle work valued between £30m and £250m. The organisation has also chosen Ansons, Pitmans and Mills & Reeve to handle work valued at less than £10m. It is still looking to select a third adviser for deals valued between £30m-£250m as well as advisory firms for high-end work in excess of £250m, for which it currently uses Slaughter and May.

    1 minute read

  • February 4, 2009 |

    Back in the game

    On 23 July the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation's general counsel, Robert Bostrom, rang Randall Guynn, head of the financial institutions group at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Davis Polk was not one of Freddie Mac's outside law firms - Covington & Burling did its regulatory and disclosure work, and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft did its routine corporate work. But Bostrom needed an equity products specialist. Regulators, concerned about the lender's massive exposure to the US mortgage market, had demanded that it shore up its core capital. But with Freddie Mac shares trading at gutter levels, issuing billions of dollars in new equity could backfire.

    1 minute read

  • February 4, 2009 |

    Elite trio lead on $666m drinks company sell-off

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Slaughter and May and Mayer Brown have taken lead roles on the $666.5m (£458m) sale of Anheuser-Busch InBev's 20% stake in China's Tsingtao Brewery to Japan's Asahi Breweries.ABInBev, the world's largest brewer, will retain a 7% stake in Tsingtao, the second-largest brewer in China. The deal, which was announced on 23 January, follows InBev's $52bn (£35.7bn) acquisition of Anheuser-Busch last year. The Freshfields team representing ABInBev was led by Robert Ashworth, Freshfields' Hong Kong-based Asia corporate head, and China managing partner Teresa Ko, who is also based in Hong Kong.

    1 minute read

  • February 4, 2009 |

    Travers strikes up LPC deal with BPP

    Travers Smith has agreed a deal that will see BPP become the exclusive provider of the Legal Practice Course (LPC) for its trainees. Travers Smith trainees will study at BPP's Holborn law school in central London from September 2009, with the firm able to tailor the course to give its students the chance to learn about its key clients and practice areas.Travers Smith graduate recruitment partner Tom Purton said: "This will allow us to have much greater input into the development of our trainees during the LPC year and to align our trainees' experience on the LPC with the training provided by the firm."

    1 minute read

  • February 3, 2009 |

    Freshfields named official firm for London 2012

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has landed a trophy role as the official law firm for the 2012 London Olympics. The firm won the role after a tender process carried out towards the end of last year by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).London management group chair Tim Jones will oversee the project, that will see five lawyers initially sent on secondment to LOCOG to carry out a range of work from procurement and property to employment and competition. The firm will provide these services for free as part of the sponsorship agreement.

    1 minute read

  • January 29, 2009 |

    City lawyers braced for widespread partner cuts

    City partners are preparing for a gruesome year, with half of all partners believing that firms are carrying too much deadwood at senior level and 97% expecting to see partnerships downsized. In the wake of Addleshaw Goddard announcing that it is to cut around 10% of its partnership (see page 13), the latest Legal Week Big Question survey found that almost three out of five partners (58%) believe most major law firms are carrying too many underperforming partners.With partnership cutbacks also last week emerging at both Ashurst and Linklaters, most of the 166 respondents expect to see similar restructurings at other leading firms. Only 3% believed the Addleshaws cuts were a one-off, with the remaining 97% all predicting similar moves to follow.

    1 minute read

  • January 28, 2009 |

    Dealmaker: Charles Randell

    Slaughters' Charles Randell on naval dreams, moral dilemmas and keeping sight of the big picture

    1 minute read

  • January 22, 2009 |

    Magic circle trio take lead roles on Government banking rescue plan

    A trio of top City firms has landed advisory roles as the Government this week (19 January) unveiled a second package of measures to help bail out the UK banking system. Slaughter and May, Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have all won roles on the new plan to stimulate lending, which come three months after the previous £37bn bailout was announced.

    1 minute read

  • January 21, 2009 |

    Linklaters and Slaughters lead on RBS' £1.6bn Bank of China shares sell-off

    Linklaters and Slaughter and May have won lead roles on Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS's) £1.6bn sale of its stake in Bank of China. Linklaters has picked up the main role for regular client RBS, with London corporate partner Anne Drummond and Hong Kong corporate partner Betty Yap leading the team.Slaughters advised ABN Amro and Morgan Stanley on the transaction, fielding a team from its Asian practice led by Hong Kong partner Benita Yu. The transaction saw RBS launching an institutional placing of its shares, with ABN and Morgan Stanley acting as placing agents.

    1 minute read