• March 31, 2008 |

    Murphy to lead corporate as Slaughters names new practice heads

    Slaughter and May has elected its new practice group heads, with Frances Murphy set to take on the mantle of corporate head following the election earlier this year of incumbent Chris Saul to senior partner. Murphy will take over from Saul as head of the firm's corporate practice on 1 May following partnership elections last week. Meanwhile, David Waterfield will take over as head of the real estate practice when current chief Graham White steps up to the role of executive partner.

    1 minute read

  • March 28, 2008 | International Edition

    Magic circle duo lead €2bn GE-Santander swap

    Slaughter and May and Linklaters have bagged the lead advisory roles on the agreement between Banco Santander and GE Money to swap European assets worth a combined value of around €2bn (£1.58bn). Slaughters took the lead for General Electric's finance arm as it reached a preliminary agreement yesterday to acquire Italian bank Interbanca from Santander. Linklaters led for the Spanish banking giant, which under the agreement will acquire the GE Money businesses in Germany, Finland and Austria, as well as its credit card and auto-financing businesses in the UK.

    1 minute read

  • March 28, 2008 |

    Magic circle duo lead €2bn GE-Santander swap

    Slaughter and May and Linklaters have bagged the lead advisory roles on the agreement between Banco Santander and GE Money to swap European assets worth a combined value of around €2bn (£1.58bn). Slaughters took the lead for General Electric's finance arm as it reached a preliminary agreement yesterday to acquire Italian bank Interbanca from Santander. Linklaters led for the Spanish banking giant, which under the agreement will acquire the GE Money businesses in Germany, Finland and Austria, as well as its credit card and auto-financing businesses in the UK.

    1 minute read

  • March 20, 2008 |

    Norton Rose a winner as Standard Chartered names new UK panel

    Standard Chartered Bank has unveiled its new panel of UK advisers, with Norton Rose making its debut on the roster and City rivals SJ Berwin and Bird & Bird among those to miss out. The new line-up, which follows the first review of the bank's domestic panel in four years, sees City firms Denton Wilde Sapte and Herbert Smith retained alongside southwest outfit Burges Salmon and national giants Addleshaw Goddard and DLA Piper.

    1 minute read

  • March 20, 2008 |

    Shareholders kick off Northern Rock legal battle

    City boutique Edwin Coe and US giant White & Case are leading the way as shareholders of Northern Rock gear up to battle the Government's controversial plan to nationalise the troubled bank. Both firms have sent 'letters before action' to the Treasury on behalf of their clients - the UK Shareholders Association (UKSA) and hedge fund SRM Global respectively - and will claim that the Government's decision to nationalise Northern Rock violated their clients' human rights under the terms of the European Convention.

    1 minute read

  • March 20, 2008 |

    External funding booms as litigators plot upturn

    Eight out of 10 of the City's top law firms are already using or assessing external funding for litigation and arbitration cases, it has emerged, marking a dramatic move of third-party funding into mainstream practice. All of the top 10 City firms except Linklaters and Slaughter and May are now offering, or considering offering, clients external funding in some cases, Legal Week has established.

    1 minute read

  • March 20, 2008 |

    City firms line up for roles on British Energy takeover

    A raft of City firms are in line for roles on the looming multibillion-pound takeover of FTSE 100 utility, British Energy.Clifford Chance (CC) has the lead role for longstanding client British Energy with London corporate partner Mark Poulton advising the company, which confirmed earlier this week that it is in discussions with a number of interested parties.

    1 minute read

  • March 11, 2008 |

    Lovells leads Autogrill's £545m duty free splurge

    Lovells has landed a plum role advising new client Autogrill on its £545m purchase of World Duty Free Europe (WDF) from airport operator BAA. M&A partner Steven Bryan is leading the team for the top 10 City law firm, alongside fellow partners Kevin Ashman (tax), David Harper (employment) and Nick Broomfield and Lesley Ainsworth (both competition).

    1 minute read

  • March 11, 2008 |

    BPP names director for new LLM programme

    BPP Law School has appointed a director to head up its new LLM programme, which is due to start in September. Professor Barry Rider will start in the newly-created role on 1 April and will oversee the teaching, development and management of the fledgling Masters of Law courses.

    1 minute read

  • March 5, 2008 |

    Herbies gains ground on Slaughters with three FTSE 100 client wins, says rankings

    Herbert Smith gained three FTSE 100 clients last quarter to jump three places in Hemscott's quarterly rankings of advisers to FTSE 100 listed clients. The top 10 firm moved into second place behind Slaughter and May for FTSE 100 clients - also putting in a strong performance with listed clients across the board. Other firms to improve their top client tallies were Lovells - which gained one FTSE 100 client and one place, Norton Rose, Addleshaw Goddard and Burges Salmon.

    1 minute read