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  • January 31, 2008 |

    St Petersburg deal hands Dentons Russia fillip

    Denton Wilde Sapte has forged an alliance with St Petersburg firm Duvernoix Legal, becoming the first London law firm to secure coverage in the Russian city as it attempts to ramp up its coverage in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).Dentons agreed the tie-up with 18-lawyer Duvernoix last week in a move that will give the UK firm its second base in Russia.The St Petersburg firm specialises in corporate, tax, litigation and real estate advice and is led by managing partner Egor Noskov.

    1 minute read

  • January 30, 2008 |

    Carrington appointed as university rector

    Baker & McKenzie's former London managing partner, Nigel Carrington, has been appointed as the new rector of University of the Arts London. He will take on the post in August, replacing Sir Michael Bichard. Carrington served on Bakers' international executive committee and was chairman of its European and Middle East regional council before leaving in 2000 to become managing director at the McLaren Group, where he later became deputy chairman.

    1 minute read

  • January 30, 2008 |

    Switzerland: An alpine view

    In view of the proposed changes to the tax legislation on residence and domicile as well as on capital gains tax which have been proposed by the current UK government, there are many resident non-domiciled individuals in the UK who are seriously considering a change of residence. Switzerland offers a number of interesting planning opportunities to those seeking to move. Here are some of the proposed changes in the UK that are likely to have set domiciles and non-domiciles thinking: the new treatment of capital gains in trust structures of resident non-domiciled beneficiaries; reporting of such structures to HMRC; days of arrival and departure to be counted for classification of residence; capital gains tax to be charged at a flat rate of 18% without indexation or taper relief; and a charge of £30,000 a year on non-domiciles who stay beyond seven UK tax years and wish to continue to benefit from the remnants of the remittance basis.

    1 minute read

  • January 17, 2008 |

    UK trainees avoid crunch fallout as top firms' retention soars above 90%

    Trainee retention rates across the UK's elite legal profession have remained steadfast, with many firms keeping hold of more than 90% of their intake despite a sharp dip in City lawyers' overall business confidence. Eighteen out of 25 of the UK's top firms are holding on to more than 90% of their March class of qualifying lawyers, including six firms with a 100% retention rate.

    1 minute read

  • January 17, 2008 | International Edition

    UK trainees avoid crunch fallout as top firms' retention soars above 90%

    Trainee retention rates across the UK's elite legal profession have remained steadfast, with many firms keeping hold of more than 90% of their intake despite a sharp dip in City lawyers' overall business confidence. Eighteen out of 25 of the UK's top firms are holding on to more than 90% of their March class of qualifying lawyers, including six firms with a 100% retention rate.

    1 minute read

  • January 17, 2008 |

    O2 prepares to kick off first post-takeover panel review

    Mobile phone giant O2 is preparing for the first review of its legal advisers since its takeover by Spanish telecoms behemoth, Telefonica. The company, which counts Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer among its main advisers, will kick off a process in the coming months, led by general counsel Justine Campbell.

    1 minute read

  • January 16, 2008 | International Edition

    Big four cast long shadow in deal league but nationals gain ground

    It was a good year for London's big four in the key M&A markets, no doubt, but 2007's wildly uneven corporate market also drew a strong performance from firms such as Eversheds and Pinsent Masons. Echoing its market-leading performance in Legal Week's primary adviser tables, which track lead corporate roles on Europe's largest deals, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer topped the full tables for European M&A, according to recently-released research from Mergermarket.

    1 minute read

  • January 16, 2008 |

    Big four cast long shadow in deal league but nationals gain ground

    It was a good year for London's big four in the key M&A markets, no doubt, but 2007's wildly uneven corporate market also drew a strong performance from firms such as Eversheds and Pinsent Masons. Echoing its market-leading performance in Legal Week's primary adviser tables, which track lead corporate roles on Europe's largest deals, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer topped the full tables for European M&A, according to recently-released research from Mergermarket.

    1 minute read

  • January 16, 2008 |

    Online special: Global economic woes create sharp downturn in business confidence

    Business confidence among the UK's top lawyers has dropped from sky-high levels to its lowest rate in almost five years in the clearest indication yet that City partners expect shifts in the global economy to hit the legal sector. The quarterly Legal Week/EJ Legal business confidence poll shows 30% of partners are expecting double-digit revenue growth over the next 12 months, down from last year's high of 70% and significantly down from 66% last quarter.

    1 minute read

  • January 10, 2008 |

    After primary adviser victory, Freshfields tops overall M&A deal league

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has stormed to the top of the European M&A adviser rankings for 2007 after ousting Clifford Chance (CC) from top spot by deal value. After a strong fourth quarter Freshfields completed 282 deals worth €482.8bn (£360bn) in 2007, according to figures from Legal Week's data partner, Mergermarket. CC - which had topped the third-quarter rankings - slipped to second, advising on 292 deals worth a combined €464.7bn (£346bn).

    1 minute read