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  • September 19, 2008 |

    A&O bolsters regulatory team with CC hire

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has bolstered its regulatory practice with the hire of Damian Carolan from magic circle rival Clifford Chance (CC). Carolan joins A&O's London office as a partner from CC, where he was a senior associate. He specialises in regulatory matters, specifically focusing on the regulation of wholesale market participants. London regulatory partner Paul Phillips said: "This appointment underlines the firm's commitment to this area at a time when financial regulation is taking on greater strategic importance for our clients."

    1 minute read

  • September 18, 2008 |

    Lloyds says HBOS deal could affect law jobs

    Lloyds TSB has today (18 September) confirmed that there could be legal job losses as a result of its £12.2bn takeover of stricken lender HBOS.The bank, which unveiled details of the union earlier today (18 September), said it is expecting to make cost savings of around £1bn a year through the merger by 2011.Head office operations including legal, HR, risk and finance departments are among those facing consolidation at the two banks, which are acknowledged to have substantial cross-over between their operations.

    1 minute read

  • September 18, 2008 |

    Lehman advisers set to be hit in bank's collapse

    Regular advisers to Lehman Brothers could lose millions of pounds in legal fees following the shock demise of one of Wall Street's leading investment houses. City firms including Ashurst, Allen & Overy (A&O), Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Lovells all sit on Lehman's UK legal panel, with the bank estimated to spend some £40m in legal fees globally each year.Data from Mergermarket shows that Ashurst, Linklaters and Herbert Smith took the lion's share of Lehman's work on European M&A deals over the last year, with roles on deals including Carlsberg's takeover of Scottish & Newcastle and Alcoa's acquisition of a stake in Rio Tinto.Similarly, in the US, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and the already troubled Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft have close links to the 158-year old investment house.While several firms have since won lucrative roles relating to the bankruptcy, it leaves others exposed at a time of already decreased activity in both the finance and corporate markets. In addition to a lack of future mandates from the bank, the firms look set to lose fees for work they are already owed.

    1 minute read

  • September 18, 2008 |

    Norton Rose Dubai team advises on the emirate's new arbitration legislation draft

    Norton Rose has played a lead advisory role on new arbitration legislation drafted by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in an attempt to make the country a more attractive site for international arbitration. The City law firm's Dubai dispute resolution team helped design the new law, which will allow domestic parties and foreign parties without any connection to the DIFC to arbitrate disputes in the DIFC's courts.A raft of local and international law firms also played a role in designing the new law, which came into effect earlier this month (1 September) after being signed off by Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of Dubai. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Allen & Overy and Clyde & Co, as well as local firms Al Tamimi & Co and Hadef Al Dhahiri & Associates, were all part of a focus group reviewing the law, which was also overseen by the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) director general and registrar Adrian Winstanley.Norton Rose's Dubai head of disputes, Patrick Bourke, said the new legislation was part of the DIFC's intent to position itself as a major forum for arbitration in the region. He told Legal Week: "The DIFC now has a user-friendly law as a foundation for its arbitration. It was fascinating and a privilege to be involved in the process and to see the DIFC's desire to make sure that it has a first-class arbitration law."Earlier this year the LCIA and the DIFC launched a joint venture in the Middle East also aimed at boosting the profile of the emirate. The new centre will have access to the LCIA's database of arbitrators and will closely follow LCIA rules.

    1 minute read

  • September 17, 2008 |

    Mishcons and Linklaters take key roles on £108m Earls Court real estate deal

    Mishcon de Reya has secured its first instruction for Capital & Counties by acting alongside Linklaters - on the acquisition of a 50% stake in one of West London's largest properties - the Empress State building in Earls Court - from Land Securities. The deal saw Mishcons advise Capital & Counties - a subsidiary of Liberty International - on real estate aspects of the £107.75m acquisition, fielding a team under real estate chief Nick Doffman.

    1 minute read

  • September 17, 2008 |

    Portal to progress

    Some law firm managers are circumspect about fostering a workplace web culture. But, as Gavin Ingham Brooke explains, lawyers with access to the next generation of web tools are using them to attract new business

    1 minute read

  • September 17, 2008 |

    Season's greetings

    Last week saw the release of Allen & Overy's annual report, which proudly trumpeted the firm's bold ambition to rise to the top of the global elite. And while the magic circle juggernaut may have a little way to go on the numbers front, the firm took its first step towards its goal of global leadership with the unveiling of an enormous Christmas card (pictured above, with bus for helpful size comparison).

    1 minute read

  • September 17, 2008 |

    Latham makes Middle East counsel additions

    Latham & Watkins has added two counsel to its Middle East practice and one in Asia. Mark Godfrey has joined the Abu Dhabi corporate team from Allen & Overy while Craig Stoehr has joined in Doha. Stoehr previously worked in the firm's New York office before taking on a range of roles outside law. In Asia, Latham has hired Louis Rabinowitz from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Rabinowitz will initially be based in the firm's Hong Kong office but will also spend significant time working with the firm's Tokyo lawyers.

    1 minute read

  • September 17, 2008 | International Edition

    Links and A&O set to lead on Lloyds-HBOS talks

    Linklaters is tipped for the top advisory role as Lloyds TSB enters into merger talks with Britain's biggest mortgage lender HBOS. Linklaters is understood to be advising Lloyds TSB on the talks, news of which emerged this morning when the Financial Services Authority was forced to release a statement saying it was satisfied with HBOS's position after the bank's share price went into freefall.

    1 minute read

  • September 17, 2008 |

    Links and A&O set to lead on Lloyds-HBOS talks

    Linklaters is tipped for the top advisory role as Lloyds TSB enters into merger talks with Britain's biggest mortgage lender HBOS. Linklaters is understood to be advising Lloyds TSB on the talks, news of which emerged this morning when the Financial Services Authority was forced to release a statement saying it was satisfied with HBOS's position after the bank's share price went into freefall.

    1 minute read