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  • March 20, 2008 |

    Bakers boosts tax with principal economist hire

    Baker & McKenzie has boosted its tax practice with the hire of Richard Boykin as a principal economist. Boykin, who is currently at KPMG practising transfer pricing economics, will help to grow Baker's cross-border transfer pricing capabilities. He will be based in the London office until mid-2009 before moving to New York.

    1 minute read

  • March 19, 2008 |

    Corporate Counsel: There can be only one

    Little more than a year ago, Paul Smith, a partner at Eversheds, received a call from the irate head of a European law firm. Up until then, the European firm had regularly worked for Tyco International. Now, the caller informed Smith, Eversheds had just taken 37% of his Tyco business. What, he asked, did the Eversheds partner intend to do about it? As he recounts the story, Smith rolls his eyes at yet another example of a law firm failing to grasp some basic fundamentals of client service in the modern world. But the caller did have reason for concern. Smith had just led Eversheds' successful pitch to become Tyco's adviser of choice for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. At a stroke, the US security and fire business slashed its legal advisers for day-to-day matters in the region, such as commercial contracts and intellectual property, from a high point of 250 to just one. In early 2007, Tyco handed Eversheds a two-year mandate estimated to be worth more than £10m in total.

    1 minute read

  • March 19, 2008 |

    Russell Lewin: A call to arms for diversity

    We live in a world of luminous diversity and there are few places where humanity's rich variety is more apparent than in our capital city: a socioeconomic melting pot and haven for immigrants - whether from Belfast, Barbados or Bangalore - for over a thousand years. And yet, with certain elements of society remaining significantly under-represented, an examination of a cross-section of 'the City' today would not demonstrate the true extent of this diversity. While the solicitors' profession has for some time acknowledged the importance of addressing this issue, the fact remains that, in 2008, it remains disproportionately white and middle class, if no longer quite so male.

    1 minute read

  • March 5, 2008 |

    Bakers adds to capital markets with Citi hire

    Baker & McKenzie has hired a capital markets partner from Citigroup. Peter Castellon will join the firm in London from his position as director and counsel in Citigroup's markets and banking division. Before working with Citigroup for the last seven years, Castellon worked in the securities practices of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London and Morgan Lewis & Bockius in New York.

    1 minute read

  • February 26, 2008 |

    Links tops law firms in '08 Superbrands survey

    Linklaters has surpassed magic circle rival Clifford Chance (CC) as the UK law firm with the strongest brand, according to a new study. The 2008 table of the top 500 business brands compiled by Superbrands saw Linklaters rank highest among law firms at 259 on the list, with CC at number 296 and Eversheds the third-placed law firm at 309.

    1 minute read

  • February 21, 2008 |

    Pro bono competition venture wins more firms and attracts EC interest

    A pro bono scheme set up to provide free competition law advice to individuals and small businesses has caught the attention of the European Commission (EC).More than 35 City and national firms, including CMS Cameron McKenna, Pinsent Masons, Ashurst, Baker & McKenzie, Taylor Wessing, Simmons & Simmons, Reed Smith Richards Butler and Macfarlanes, as well as two sets of chambers, now participate in the project, which originally saw 21 firms club together to form the group in October 2006.

    1 minute read

  • February 20, 2008 |

    Boutique Climate Change Capital appoints Barlows partner as new group legal head

    Specialist investment house Climate Change Capital (CCC) has appointed Barlow Lyde & Gilbert litigation partner Simon Robert-Tissot as its first-ever groupwide legal head. The veteran litigator, who joins CCC after nine years as a partner at Barlows, is to oversee the group's entire legal function, including monitoring compliance and managing the group's relationships with outside counsel.

    1 minute read

  • February 6, 2008 |

    ConocoPhillips appoints eLong GC as China head

    US oil and gas giant ConocoPhillips has appointed its first-ever legal director for China, hiring eLong general counsel Hal Fiske for the role. Fiske left eLong in mid-December after two years at the online travel service provider, a partially-owned subsidiary of US online travel giant Expedia. He joined eLong from US firm Baker & McKenzie and is yet to be replaced.

    1 minute read

  • February 1, 2008 |

    Pannone the pick as 17 get Best Companies nod

    Addleshaw Goddard, Pannone and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) have retained accredited status with Best Companies, the research group responsible for compiling The Sunday Times' Best Companies to Work For list. The trio are among 17 law firms from a total of 307 businesses recognised by Best Companies in 2008, with Manchester's Pannone the only firm to score the top three-star rating.

    1 minute read

  • January 31, 2008 | International Edition

    Elite US firms struggle to attract senior partner hires in the City

    Lateral partner hires among elite US firms in London have slowed during the last year, according to research from Legal Week, which illustrates the uphill struggle faced by US firms attempting to recruit leading names in the City.The survey of hiring trends at 23 US firms in London found they made a total of 65 lateral hires in 2007, up from 58 the previous year but down on 2005, when hiring activity peaked and 70 lawyers were recruited.Significantly, some of the US' top firms saw a fall in partner-hiring activity with 10 firms, including Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis, Weil Gotshal & Manges and Baker & McKenzie, all reporting a drop in lateral appointments.

    1 minute read