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  • September 25, 2008 |

    Skadden and Linklaters cash in on Nomura's Lehman rescue

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Linklaters this week landed lead roles on Japanese investment bank Nomura's $230m (£124m) acquisition of Lehman Brothers' Asian operations and the fallen bank's European and Middle Eastern equities and investment banking businesses. Skadden is fielding a team from its London and Hong Kong offices for the Japanese bank, with partners including Hong Kong corporate co-head Nick Norris, London restructuring partner Lynn Hiestand and London corporate partner John Adebiyi all playing central roles in the rescue.Linklaters, meanwhile, has been instructed to act for liquidators KPMG in Hong Kong, with Asia corporate chief Keith Johnson and litigation partner Melvin Sng advising. The magic circle firm was already acting for Lehman's European administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers, under a heavyweight team including restructuring head Tony Bugg. Nomura, which beat bidders including Barclays to the European assets, has also turned to panel firm Osborne Clarke to advise on the employment aspects of the European deal, with the firm fielding a team under employment partner Victoria Parry. Nomura relationship partner and employment chief David Cubitt and employment partner Richard Brown are assisting.

    1 minute read

  • September 25, 2008 |

    UK real estate M&A feels the sting with just eight transactions in 2008

    Figures produced by Mergermarket for Legal Week reveal the extent of the downturn in real estate M&A over the last year, with the UK seeing just eight such transactions announced during the first half of this year. The figures are little better across Europe, with only 42 deals annouanced throughout the first six months of the year. In comparison, there were 89 real estate M&A deals in Europe during the same period last year. Deal values have been significantly hit, with the first six months of 2008 seeing a combined deal value in Europe of e10.9bn (£8.65bn), while the same period last year saw e53.7bn (£42.6bn).The downturn has inevitably impacted on law firms' individual deal flows. For example, Linklaters acted on 11 European M&A real estate deals during the first half of last year compared with two during the first six months of 2008. Adam Cleal, head of real estate at Allen & Overy, said: "The truth is that it is a tough market and that there is a long way to go, but certain entities will be making lots of money from it."Adrian Dear, Ashurst's real estate head, said: "A number of advisers are looking hard at targeted opportunities and property companies are certainly looking cheap over the medium to long term. They just have to decide if the bottom of the market has been reached and if it has, whether the upturn is about to begin."

    1 minute read

  • September 25, 2008 |

    Ex-Weil Gotshal man sets up own boutique

    Former Weil Gotshal & Manges Paris banking partner Jonathan Nabarro has set up his own boutique. Nabarro, who left Weil Gotshal in March this year, has launched Nabarro Associes with long-term co-worker Jennifer Hinge. Hinge, who is also a partner in the venture, has worked with Nabarro as an associate for the last seven years, during which time he has been a partner with Weil Gotshal, Allen & Overy (A&O) and Ashurst.The pair focus on advising European and US banks, mezzanine lenders and private equity houses on financing leveraged buy-outs, public-to-private transactions, takeover bids and restructuring.Nabarro told Legal Week that the firm's strategy is to remain a boutique firm concentrating on debt and debt restructuring work.The firm has, Nabarro said, no intention of branching out into different areas. He maintained: "It is an intentional strategy to remain relatively small and keep it specialised. A lot of firms do not have such a practice, so we could gain referrals. The idea is to stay expert in a narrow field."Nabarro joined Weil Gotshal in December 2005 as a partner. Before that he spent just under two years as A&O's Paris leveraged finance head. Nabarro joined the magic circle law firm in early 2004 from Ashurst, where he spent eight years. Emmanuel Ringeval took on sole leadership of Weil Gotshal's Paris banking practice after Nabarro's departure.

    1 minute read

  • September 25, 2008 |

    Moscow lawyers wary as Russia feels force of global market rout

    The impact of the credit crunch finally hit the Russian legal market last week, with local leaders of international law firms admitting that they have begun to feel the effects of the turbulence in the global financial markets. Capital markets practices are taking the biggest hit after the Russian Government was last week forced to inject $20bn (£11bn) to support the country's financial markets. aTrading on the country's stock market was halted for several days.

    1 minute read

  • September 24, 2008 |

    Rewarded by results

    The recent decisions of several law firms to bring in merit-based pay systems for assistants have led some in the profession to speculate that pay based on post-qualification experience (PQE) might have had its day.We investigate the arguments for and against merit-based pay, look at how firms evaluate performance and speak to assistants to gauge their views on the topic.Merit versus PQENorton Rose recently made the move to implement merit-based pay at all levels from newly-qualified (NQ) upwards, replacing the traditional PQE gradings with a three-tier system that divides assistants into categories known as Associate 1, Associate 2 and Senior Associate. Assistants are paid and charged out according to the new categories.Managing partner Deirdre Walker explains the reasoning behind the firm's decision to adopt the model. "The PQE approach is antiquated and often simply not fair. Why should a really excellent one- or two-year qualified lawyer earn less than someone mediocre who just happens to have more experience than they do?" She adds that recently introduced age discrimination legislation played a part in the decision. "It was a factor, but not the driving one. As I understand it, legal opinion is still very much divided on whether PQE will fall foul of the new laws."David Gray, managing partner of Eversheds, which is in the process of bringing in performance-related pay for its assistants, also downplays the significance of the legislation. However, he believes that it is important to have a remuneration structure that allows flexibility in terms of how mature assistants are paid. "Say you have one three-year PQE who has 15 years' experience in another profession and is very capable with clients, and another who has come straight from university. Clearly it is a good idea to have a pay structure in place that allows you to pay the first guy more."Ashurst is another high-profile merit-based pay convert, while across the Atlantic, Howrey became the first firm in the US to adopt a totally merit-based structure earlier this month.

    1 minute read

  • September 24, 2008 |

    It's bonus time

    Since bonuses were introduced by law firms in the late 1990s as a way to limit the long-term effects of salary inflation, amounts paid out - and the hoops that assistants have to jump through in order to get their hands on the cash - have varied wildly between firms. Some firms give tens of thousands of pounds to assistants regardless of individual performance, while others require Olympian levels of all-round commitment in return for sums that could probably be more easily obtained through a few after hours' shifts at the local pub.

    1 minute read

  • September 24, 2008 | International Edition

    Simmons leads as Lehman litigation kicks off

    Simmons & Simmons has scored a role on the first litigation to emerge against the European administrators of Lehman Brothers. The City firm is taking the lead for hedge fund RAB Capital, which has come forward as one of the first claimants looking to recover some of the £22bn-worth of assets frozen when Lehman went into administration last week.

    1 minute read

  • September 24, 2008 |

    Simmons leads as Lehman litigation kicks off

    Simmons & Simmons has scored a role on the first litigation to emerge against the European administrators of Lehman Brothers. The City firm is taking the lead for hedge fund RAB Capital, which has come forward as one of the first claimants looking to recover some of the £22bn-worth of assets frozen when Lehman went into administration last week.

    1 minute read

  • September 24, 2008 | International Edition

    Ashurst lands Lehman role on Nomura takeover

    Ashurst is the latest firm to benefit from the fallout of Lehman Brothers' spectacular collapse, with the top 10 City firm advising Lehman's European investment banking division on its takeover by Nomura. Corporate head Adrian Clark and corporate partner Gavin Gordon are leading the team, which also includes employment, incentives and pensions head Caroline Carter. Nomura announced today (23 September) that it had agreed to buy the European and Middle Eastern equities and investment banking operations of the stricken bank. The Japanese bank also beat Barclays to take on Lehman's Asia-Pacific operations.

    1 minute read

  • September 24, 2008 |

    Ashurst lands Lehman role on Nomura takeover

    Ashurst is the latest firm to benefit from the fallout of Lehman Brothers' spectacular collapse, with the top 10 City firm advising Lehman's European investment banking division on its takeover by Nomura. Corporate head Adrian Clark and corporate partner Gavin Gordon are leading the team, which also includes employment, incentives and pensions head Caroline Carter. Nomura announced today (23 September) that it had agreed to buy the European and Middle Eastern equities and investment banking operations of the stricken bank. The Japanese bank also beat Barclays to take on Lehman's Asia-Pacific operations.

    1 minute read