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  • May 29, 2008 |

    UBS tasks in-house trio with GC cover

    UBS has appointed a trio of in-house staff to fill Peter Kurer's general counsel role while the bank looks for a replacement for Kurer, who was named chairman last month. Global head of compliance Neil Stocks, group legal head and general counsel for the corporate centre Bernard Schmid and David Aufhauser, global general counsel for investment banking and general counsel of UBS Americas, will act as co-general counsels until the bank chooses a replacement.

    1 minute read

  • May 28, 2008 |

    Law firm networks: Model of understanding

    During the past three years, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), including Russia, generated 15 deals, each with a value exceeding E3.5bn (£2.8bn), according to Mergermarket. In the same period, Clifford Chance acted on 98 CEE deals with a total value of more than E48bn (£38bn), Baker & McKenzie acted on 95 deals while White & Case acted on 85. This is a stark contrast with 15 years ago when the deal volumes in the CEE region were among the lowest in the world and the local independent law firms typically consisted of two people sharing a desk in an apartment building somewhere in a dusty capital city. Now the local lawyers are no longer the poor relatives: Ion Nestor was on the cover of Business Week Romania. His firm, the 182-people strong Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen, was recognized as one of the Business Superbrands Romania 2007-08.

    1 minute read

  • May 28, 2008 |

    Lord's of the manor

    The Saturday of the first Test of the summer at Lord's is always a good time to catch up with old friends and colleagues. So imagine Maurice Allen's delight, mere weeks into his new career at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, to find that he had time to share a cup of tea with his former White & Case mates in the Mound Stand shortly before play started against the Kiwis on the third day.

    1 minute read

  • May 28, 2008 |

    Ex-Bakers partner indicted for second time

    Brooklyn federal prosecutors have further charged a former Baker & McKenzie partner, indicted last autumn on securities fraud charges, with stealing from a client escrow account. Martin Weisberg, 57, then a corporate partner in Chicago-based Baker & McKenzie's New York office, was charged in October by the Eastern District US Attorney's Office with participating in an illegal short-selling scheme that netted two Israeli investors $55m (£28m). The counts in the indictment include securities fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.

    1 minute read

  • May 21, 2008 |

    Bakers closes €800m UBS securitisation deal

    Baker & McKenzie has won a lead role advising UBS on the €800m (£637m) securitisation of a portfolio of Piraeus Bank's residential mortgages. The deal, which closed earlier this month, saw UBS acting as sole arranger and lead manager on the Greek bank's securitisation.

    1 minute read

  • May 20, 2008 |

    Jones Day hires hand Gibson Dunn Singapore debut

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has launched an office in Singapore after hiring a three-partner team from rival US firm Jones Day. Gibson Dunn corporate partner Jai Pathak has moved from the firm's Los Angeles headquarters to lead the new branch, where he will be joined by three new partners.

    1 minute read

  • May 20, 2008 |

    2008 Assistant Pay League: a Legal Week Wiki special

    Who pays what and how. Your A-Z guide to the pay scales at the top UK and US firms.

    1 minute read

  • May 15, 2008 |

    Linklaters and Freshfields take lead on £182m Centrica Accenture litigation

    Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have landed lead advisory roles on Centrica's £182m action against global consultancy group Accenture. The energy giant is suing Accenture in relation to a customer billing system designed for British Gas that Centrica argues led to a breakdown in customer services and the loss of thousands of customers.

    1 minute read

  • April 30, 2008 |

    Training and education: Power play

    Is the Government's decision to allow private law schools to award degrees a controversial move, or a natural step in the institutions' educational evolution? Choongo Moonga reports

    1 minute read

  • April 30, 2008 |

    The price is right

    Although just a snapshot of the way in which professionals approach the delicate issue of pricing legal work for clients, a recent survey of 260 transactions at a leading mid-market law firm revealed that 72% of quotes were under the final amount billed, by an average of 21%. An additional 12% was also written off before the client's bill was submitted.

    1 minute read