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  • August 28, 2008 |

    DLA boss Knowles set to lead firm until 2012

    Nigel Knowles is set to continue in his role at the helm of international heavyweight DLA Piper, after revealing his intention to stand for re-election. Knowles, whose current term as chief executive ends in December, is intending to continue his tenure at the firm for another four years. It is unlikely that anyone will stand against Knowles, who has become one of the most high profile leaders in law since heading the UK firm in 1996.Under Knowles' leadership the firm has seen significant expansion both in the City and internationally through ventures including the transatlantic tripartite merger with Piper Rudnick and Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich at the beginning of 2005.As revealed by Legal Week, the firm overhauled its management earlier this year - cutting the number of chief executives from three to two, with Knowles and the US's Lee Miller remaining as co-chief executives. The third chief executive, Francis Burch, is taking on the global chairman role from George Mitchell.One partner at the firm told Legal Week: "I would be surprised if anyone ran against Knowles. I think the strategy we have followed of diversifying geographically has served us very well and I am sure quite a few of our UK competitors must be envious. He has come up with the strategy, so why not see it through?" News that Knowles is planning to stay in his leadership role comes as a number of firms gear up for management changes. Ashurst is seeking a replacement for outgoing senior partner Geoffrey Green, who is set to relocate to Hong Kong next year to launch the firm's office in the city, while Lovells and Eversheds are also both preparing for management elections.

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  • August 27, 2008 |

    Ashurst and Links take lead on oil giant takeover

    Ashurst and Linklaters have landed lead roles on the proposed £1.4bn takeover of Russian oil exploration giant Imperial Energy.The deal sees Linklaters score a role for Indian corporate ONGC Videsh, whose offer for the oil company has now been recommended and is subject to approval from the Russian government. London based corporate partner Michael Sullivan is heading up the team.

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  • August 27, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 27/08/08...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; the pick of the day's posts; and more

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  • August 21, 2008 |

    Ashurst recruits Dechert Islamic finance head

    Ashurst has bolstered its securities team with the hire of Dechert's Islamic finance head Abradat Kamalpour. Kamalpour, who has been a partner at Dechert since 2006, will joins Ashurst's London office. Before joining Dechert, he was an associate at Norton Rose.Ashurst Dubai managing partner Nick Bryans said that Kamalpour had joined the top 10 firm to help to build up its Islamic finance practice.

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  • August 8, 2008 |

    Links targets Asia growth with partner switch

    Linklaters is set to boost its Asian projects group with the relocation of an energy and infrastructure partner. Richard Ginks - who has been at the magic circle firm since 1996 and became a partner in 2007 - will move to the firm's Singapore arm on 1 September.

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  • August 7, 2008 |

    Ashurst China debut gets Green light

    Ashurst is set to make its long-awaited Hong Kong debut, with senior partner Geoffrey Green earmarked to head up the new practice. The top 10 City law firm is planning to open in Hong Kong at the beginning of next year, fitting in with the end of Green's term as senior partner. Ashurst already has offices in Singapore and Tokyo and is initially planning to focus on corporate, M&A and finance work in Hong Kong - practice areas it already has in its other Asian bases. The firm is also thought to be considering making an application for a licence to practise in mainland China but has not yet decided between Shanghai or Beijing. Managing partner Simon

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  • August 7, 2008 |

    Gartmore hires Bear vet to head legal team

    Bear Stearns' former European legal chief Bill McGowan has joined independent fund manager Gartmore as its general counsel. McGowan, who joined Bear Stearns in 2005 from Lehman Brothers, where he was head of transactional management for Europe, started working at Gartmore earlier this summer

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  • July 31, 2008 |

    Elections to push back India liberalisation

    Attempts to open up the Indian legal market to foreign law firms look set for further delays as the country gears up for a general election. The fears come despite expectations that this autumn the Indian Government will pass a long-awaited bill allowing limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and lifting the country's 20-partner limit. A hearing concerning international firms' right to practise foreign law in the country is also expected to take place over the summer, months before the election is scheduled to take place next spring.

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  • July 31, 2008 |

    BP turns to top City firms for help in resolving Russian TNK dispute

    A raft of international law firms have lined up to advise in the high-profile TNK-BP dispute, as some advisers fear straining UK/Russian relations could impact on the country's legal sector.City players Linklaters, Lovells, Herbert Smith and SJ Berwin have joined the likes of New York leader Cravath Swaine & Moore and Russia's Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners in the proceedings, which took a dramatic twist last week when TNK-BP chief executive Robert Dudley left Russia to try and run the business from outside the country. BP has turned to Linklaters and Egorov for advice with Link-laters' London litigation and arbitration partner Michael Bennett advising on the £181m tax case BP has brought against the four Russian oligarchs making up the Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR) consortium that owns the other half of the joint venture. The case looks set to go to arbitration in Sweden.

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  • July 31, 2008 | International Edition

    MoJ India liberalisation spending totals £100k

    The UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has spent more than £100,000 over the last five years on trips to India, as part of its ongoing efforts to liberalise the local legal market.The government department has spent more than £75,000 sending representations to India over the period, according to figures released to Legal Week under a Freedom of Information Act request.

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