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  • December 5, 2008 |

    Top 10 City quartet land Singapore licences

    Four top 10 City firms have been awarded licences to practise local law in Singapore. Clifford Chance (CC), Allen & Overy (A&O), Herbert Smith and Norton Rose were among six firms awarded the licences earlier today (5 December), along with US firms Latham & Watkins and White & Case, after a process thought to have seen around 20 firms applying.The firms will have up to six months from 1 January to hire local lawyers and set up their Qualifying Foreign Law Practice (QFLP), with the licenses valid for an initial period of five years.The license means firms will be able to practice all areas of local law except domestic litigation, criminal, family and administrative law.

    1 minute read

  • December 3, 2008 |

    Ashurst, Norton Rose win spots on new FSA panel

    The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has appointed its first-ever panel with two top 10 City firms awarded positions on the roster. Norton Rose and Ashurst have won roles on the regulator's panel after the organisation launched a formal review in April. FSA general counsel Andrew Whittaker led the review, which saw firms pitching for the work over several months. Norton Rose and Ashurst join counsel Michael Brindle QC, Charles Flint QC and Ian Glick QC, respectively of Fountain Court, Blackstone Chambers and One Essex Court on the panel, which is set to be reviewed every three years.

    1 minute read

  • December 3, 2008 |

    Ashurst Stockholm makes partner hire

    Ashurst has bolstered its Stockholm office with the hire of capital markets specialist Jon Ericson. Ericson, who joined the firm this week (1 December) as a partner, comes from the investment banking division of Nordic bank Nordea. Ericson will be the first specialist capital markets lawyer in Ashurst's Stockholm's three-partner corporate team and the sixth partner in the office. The City law firm's Swedish office only launched at the beginning of last year through a merger with M&A boutique AJB Bergh.

    1 minute read

  • December 3, 2008 |

    Commentary: Banking regulation work emerges as the new private equity

    Has there ever been a better time be a specialist in financial services regulation? For years, such lawyers toiled away little-noticed within a dozen or so major commercial firms, prospering in sizeable numbers in Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance (CC) and CMS Cameron McKenna. But despite the creation of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) a decade ago, this group was hardly the most visible or loved of its breed, despite in recent years enjoying some of the highest charge-out rates in the City.

    1 minute read

  • November 28, 2008 | International Edition

    Eversheds, Links honoured at British Legal Awards

    Eversheds was among the winners at the 2008 British Legal Awards, beating a strong field of competition to scoop the coveted Law Firm of the Year award.Former Allen & Overy senior partner Guy Beringer - who now holds non-executive positions at investment managers Fleming Family & Partners and on the board of Her Majesty's Courts Service - was honoured with the City of London Law Society Lifetime Achievement award after 30 years at the magic circle law firm.

    1 minute read

  • November 28, 2008 |

    Eversheds, Links honoured at British Legal Awards

    Eversheds was among the winners at the 2008 British Legal Awards, beating a strong field of competition to scoop the coveted Law Firm of the Year award.Former Allen & Overy senior partner Guy Beringer - who now holds non-executive positions at investment managers Fleming Family & Partners and on the board of Her Majesty's Courts Service - was honoured with the City of London Law Society Lifetime Achievement award after 30 years at the magic circle law firm.

    1 minute read

  • November 26, 2008 |

    Managing a law firm: Daddy day care

    In the last generation there has been a shift in attitude towards male lawyers taking time off to care for their children. What was once looked on as a perk is swiftly beginning to be seen as a right at firms in the US. Kirkland & Ellis, White & Case and Morrison & Foerster all give upwards of four weeks' paid leave to male lawyers at all levels working in their US offices. And one recent case in the Weil Gotshal & Manges Boston office saw a lawyer take an unprecedented 10 weeks' paid paternity leave.

    1 minute read

  • November 20, 2008 | International Edition

    New accounting rules put M&A fees under spotlight

    City law firms look set to face greater scrutiny on bills thanks to new accounting rules that mean M&A fees will directly hit clients' bottom line. The new regulations, to be rolled out from next July, will see all deal costs - including legal fees - detailed as separate expenses directly impacting the profit and loss accounts. Currently, these fees sit on the balance sheet.The changes, drawn up by the International Accounting Standards Board and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board, mean that the costs of legal and financial advisory fees racked up on major M&A deals - often amounting to millions of pounds - will be subject to greater scrutiny with shareholders able to see the direct impact of deal costs on profits.

    1 minute read

  • November 20, 2008 |

    New accounting rules put M&A fees under spotlight

    City law firms look set to face greater scrutiny on bills thanks to new accounting rules that mean M&A fees will directly hit clients' bottom line. The new regulations, to be rolled out from next July, will see all deal costs - including legal fees - detailed as separate expenses directly impacting the profit and loss accounts. Currently, these fees sit on the balance sheet.The changes, drawn up by the International Accounting Standards Board and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board, mean that the costs of legal and financial advisory fees racked up on major M&A deals - often amounting to millions of pounds - will be subject to greater scrutiny with shareholders able to see the direct impact of deal costs on profits.

    1 minute read

  • November 19, 2008 |

    Ashurst and Eversheds make Mid East postings as flight to region continues

    The flight of lawyers to the Middle East shows no sign of abating even as the region starts to feel the impact of the global economic crisis and the falling price of oil. Top 10 UK law firms Eversheds and Ashurst are the latest to post additional lawyers to the region, with Ashurst installing a local head of real estate in Abu Dhabi and Eversheds set to relocate a partner to Doha next year.

    1 minute read