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  • March 12, 2009 |

    BLG replaces Dickinson Dees on Carillion panel

    Addleshaw Goddard, Barlow Lyde & Gilbert and Kennedys have all won spots on support services and construction company Carillion's new legal panel. Addleshaws has been appointed to advise on private finance matters, with Barlows brought in for construction advice and Kennedys for insurance matters. Kennedys' appointment comes after the firm's insurance team moved over from DLA Piper last year.

    1 minute read

  • March 11, 2009 |

    SRA aims to boost diversity with survey of profession

    The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is gathering information about UK lawyers' gender and ethnicity as part of a diversity drive. The organisation is launching a diversity census and has already gathered data from more than 14,000 lawyers through a secure form that went online in September. It is now urging more solicitors to take part in the survey.

    1 minute read

  • March 4, 2009 |

    Four London firms take legal panel roles for pan-European data business

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Ashurst, Addleshaw Goddard and Lovells have won spots on data centre operator TelecityGroup's first legal panel. The firms were all appointed to the FTSE 250 company's main legal roster earlier this year after a competitive tender process. The appointments will see Freshfields advising the company on high value corporate finance matters, Lovells providing general corporate, commercial and M&A advice, and Ashurst and Addleshaws advising on employment issues and debt advisory matters respectively.

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  • March 4, 2009 |

    Lloyd named as Ashurst's new MP for corporate

    Ashurst has appointed private equity partner Stephen Lloyd as the new managing partner of its corporate practice, replacing Roger Finbow, who is retiring at the end of the financial year. The role will see Lloyd manage the UK practice and work on various client and diversity initiatives within the group alongside corporate head Adrian Clark. The role has no fixed term, and Finbow held the post for around five years.

    1 minute read

  • March 4, 2009 |

    Commentary: Ashurst's US launch - the importance of commitment

    Structured finance has entered weird territory. On one level the market is nowhere and yet it is everywhere. Nowhere, in that the primary market that was driving law firms until the summer of 2007 has all but dried up; yet everywhere, in that clearing up the mess caused by the credit crunch means it's hard to find an area of business in which structured finance skills aren't being called upon.Unwind work for structured investment vehicles (SIVs) and bank failures, advising on products that have suffered credit down-grades and dealing with counter-party risk is now what keeps advisers busy - meaning the practice area in Europe hasn't yet suffered the total wipe-out some were expecting. And, as Clifford Chance's Kevin Ingram points out, accessing government-backed liquidity schemes, which typically require structuring and packaging for the assets which can be used as collateral, is "basically structured finance".Adds Ingram "You can't find a good derivatives lawyer in the City for love nor money."

    1 minute read

  • February 25, 2009 |

    Top firms land roles on controversial restructuring

    A raft of UK and US firms have been handed mandates after chemicals giant LyondellBasell launched Chapter 11 proceedings. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has secured a leading role for the company in the US, with financial restructuring group heads Deryck Palmer and John Rapisardi at the helm. In the UK, LyondellBasell is being advised by Clifford Chance, with head of restructuring Mark Hyde taking the lead.

    1 minute read

  • February 25, 2009 |

    FSA signals intent with prosecutions budget hike

    The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has boosted funds available for future criminal prosecutions in its budget for 2009-10. The regulatory body has increased its contingency fund - which includes an allowance for external legal costs if it chooses to prosecute major criminal cases - to £13.5m to act as an allowance for future prosecutions. The allocated funds comes out of the FSA's corporate services and board budget, which has seen a 67% increase on last year, from £47.2m to £79m. In 2007, the FSA launched its first criminal prosecution for insider trading against former TTP Communications general counsel Christopher McQuoid.

    1 minute read

  • February 25, 2009 |

    UK quartet lead on US investment in Countrywide

    A raft of top firms have landed roles as private equity group Oaktree Capital Management makes its first major investment in the UK with a proposal to buy a stake in the country's largest estate agency, Countrywide. Slaughter and May, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Ashurst and US leader Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz have all scored roles on the deal, which could see Oaktree purchase a 35% stake in the company for around £75m.The proposed transaction comes only two years after firms including Slaughters and Ashurst advised on Apollo Management's £1bn acquisition of Countrywide during the height of the property boom.

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  • February 24, 2009 |

    Ashurst launches US finance team with bold McKee deal

    Ashurst is set to seal its first major move into the US market with the City firm in advanced talks to recruit a US structured finance practice, Legal Week can reveal. The City law firm is in talks to recruit at least 10 finance partners from US practice McKee Nelson which, if finalised, would give Ashurst a practice in both New York and Washington DC

    1 minute read

  • February 19, 2009 |

    City leaders avoiding moves to cut trainee intake

    Future trainees at leading firms look set to escape the worst of the recession, with the bulk of the top 10 City firms stating they have no plans to defer training contract start dates, despite the downturn. Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy, Linklaters, Ashurst and Slaughter and May have all confirmed that they are not intending to ask prospective trainees to push back their start dates with the firms, despite moves by rivals including Lovells and Simmons & Simmons to do just that. Herbert Smith and Norton Rose have emerged as the only top 10 City firms to admit they are looking at the situation. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer confirmed it had no plans to delay any trainees in its next intake in August but could not comment beyond this.

    1 minute read