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  • April 10, 2008 |

    Top lawyers rally in support of under-fire UBS chair Kurer

    City lawyers have jumped to the defence of Peter Kurer whose promotion from general counsel to chairman of troubled banking giant UBS last week drew extensive criticism from the press and banking community. Kurer has been accused by critics - including former UBS chief executive Luqman Arnold - of lacking the relevant experience to do the job. In a widely published letter Arnold explicitly criticises the appointment of a lawyer to replace former chairman Marcel Ospel.

    1 minute read

  • April 10, 2008 |

    Firms prove indifferent to BPP Law School's degree courses

    BPP Law School's plans to offer degrees to students have met with a cool reception from law firms, with many of the firms that have signed up to exclusive deals with the school admitting they have no active plans to put their graduates through the optional courses. BPP was granted degree-awarding status in September last year - giving students the opportunity to turn their Legal Practice Course (LPC) or Bar Vocational Course (BVC) into Masters degrees and the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) into an honours degree in law (LLB) for an additional fee.

    1 minute read

  • April 9, 2008 |

    City firms tune in to GCap radio acquisition

    A raft of City firms including SJ Berwin, Clifford Chance (CC) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have advised on the £357m acquisition of Capital Radio owner GCap Media by rival Global Radio. CC and Slaughter and May advised Global Radio, which already owns stations such as Heart FM. Corporate partner Joel Ziff took the lead role for CC while Slaughters provided competition advice under partner Philippe Chappatte.

    1 minute read

  • April 9, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 10/04/08...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; plus the pick of the day's posts; a new Career Clinic dilemma; and more

    1 minute read

  • April 9, 2008 |

    The sultan of Bruni

    With the UK only now getting over its slightly embarrassing teenage-style crush on French premiere madame Carla Bruni (well, not French as such, but... you know), The Diary was last week picking over the metaphorical bones of the super-exclusive reception held for M Sarkozy at the Guildhall on 27 March. The legal profession was represented by such grande fromages as Herbert Smith chief David Gold and SJ Berwin counterpart Ralph Cohen, who rubbed shoulders on table two with a chap from Reed Smith.

    1 minute read

  • April 3, 2008 |

    Lovells jumps 38 places to storm M&A top three

    Lovells jumped 38 places to storm into the top three firms by value for UK M&A deals in the first quarter. Mergermarket rankings for Q1 M&A in the UK show the firm advised on 14 deals over the period worth a total of E148.7bn (£116.9bn), taking it from 41st place at the end of 2007 to third by value and from 20th place to seventh by volume.

    1 minute read

  • April 3, 2008 |

    Boardman hits AmLaw's deal partner list as sole UK lawyer

    Slaughter and May corporate heavyweight Nigel Boardman has become the only UK partner to feature in a ranking of leading deal lawyers compiled by Legal Week's US sister title The American Lawyer. The magazine's annual Dealmakers of the Year list shows Boardman, who has been a partner with Slaughters since 1982 after joining the firm in 1973, to be the sole UK face among a group of high-profile US partners.

    1 minute read

  • April 3, 2008 |

    Linklaters storms to top of Euro M&A tables with big-ticket Q1 performance

    Linklaters has climbed to the top of the rankings for European M&A ahead of City rivals Clifford Chance (CC) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer after winning roles on five of the 15 largest deals of last quarter. The magic circle firm has secured the top place for European M&A by both value and volume in Mergermarket's Q1 2008 rankings, advising on 40 deals worth E172.8bn (£136.4bn).

    1 minute read

  • April 1, 2008 |

    Freshfields, A&O head queue for £20m Northern Rock bonanza

    Northern Rock has paid out more than £20m to law firms and accountants over the course of its struggle for survival, it has emerged, with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy (A&O) both in line for bumper pay-days. According to its latest annual report, published yesterday (31 March), Northern Rock paid £21.2m in professional fees in the second half of 2007 before its controversially nationalisation.

    1 minute read

  • April 1, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 1/04/08...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; plus the pick of the day's posts; and an updated Hit Parade

    1 minute read