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  • July 30, 2008 |

    Lords back decision to drop BAE-Saudi inquest

    The House of Lords has ruled that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) was right to drop its investigation into BAE Systems' Saudi arms deal. In a judgment this morning the Lords backed the SFO's appeal against April's High Court ruling that said the SFO was acting unlawfully when it dropped investigations into alleged bribery and corruption involving BAE and its £43bn Al-Yamamah arms contract with Saudi Arabia.

    1 minute read

  • July 30, 2008 | International Edition

    A&O and Slaughters lead on BA/Iberia merger bid

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has landed a high-profile instruction advising Spanish airline Iberia on its merger talks with British Airways (BA). A&O is fielding a team led by Madrid managing partner Inigo Gomez-Jordana and London corporate veteran Alan Paul in what will be seen as a trophy mandate for the top five London firm.

    1 minute read

  • July 30, 2008 |

    A&O and Slaughters lead on BA/Iberia merger bid

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has landed a high-profile instruction advising Spanish airline Iberia on its merger talks with British Airways (BA). A&O is fielding a team led by Madrid managing partner Inigo Gomez-Jordana and London corporate veteran Alan Paul in what will be seen as a trophy mandate for the top five London firm.

    1 minute read

  • July 24, 2008 |

    BAE hunts for senior talent ahead of legal review

    Aerospace and defence giant BAE Systems is set to expand its in-house legal team as part of an extensive overhaul of its legal function that will ultimately see external advisers reviewed. The department, led by general counsel Philip Bramwell, has already made a series of hires - with Clyde & Co lawyer Jo Talbot joining this week to head dispute resolution and risk management across the group. Talbot's appointment marks the half-way point in Bramwell's three-year restructuring of the legal team, which began when he joined from telecoms company O2 in January 2007. A series of further hires are also expected over the next few months.

    1 minute read

  • July 24, 2008 |

    DLA Piper hires Akin Gump duo in Moscow

    DLA Piper has signed up two new partners for its Moscow office from the local arm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Jonathan Socolow and Brian Konradi will join the energy finance and corporate practice departments respectively next month. The hires take the number of partners in DLA Piper's Moscow office to 11, with three new partners joining the office this summer alone. Russia banking head Vyacheslav Khorovskiy joined the firm last month from Allen & Overy.

    1 minute read

  • July 23, 2008 |

    A&O continues reign at top of global projects rankings

    Allen & Overy (A&O) continues to sit ahead of rivals in global project financing by advising on the largest number of deals for the first half of 2008, according to new figures.Infrastructure Journal (IJ) research shows the magic circle law firm advised on 36 deals worth a combined total of $30.5bn (£15.2bn).

    1 minute read

  • July 23, 2008 |

    In-house Lawyer: All systems go

    BAE Systems' ambitious group general counsel Philip Bramwell has only been in his role for 18 months but is already well into a major restructuring of the defence and aerospace giant's legal function.

    1 minute read

  • July 23, 2008 |

    Bandwagon or new dawn

    If you are visiting Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's London office, don't expect to see anyone carrying a Styrofoam coffee cup. Mugs are now the order of the day. Ask for a taxi to your next appointment and the hybrid car will pull up outside - fuelled, partly, by recycled cooking oil from the firm's in-house restaurant. Welcome to the socially responsible magic circle law firm.

    1 minute read

  • July 23, 2008 |

    DLA adds finance/projects head in St Petersburg

    DLA Piper has appointed a new finance and projects head in St Petersburg with the hire of Alexey Chichkanov, the deputy chairman at St Petersburg's City Property Management Committee. The new partner joined the office earlier this month (1 July) to lead the office's three-lawyer finance and projects group, becoming the fourth partner in the office. He is set to expand the group as well as advising clients on real estate and infrastructure investments.

    1 minute read

  • July 22, 2008 |

    Davis Polk wins lead on $43.7bn biotech takeover

    Davis Polk & Wardwell has won the lead role on a $43.7bn (£21.9bn) biotech takeover bid, as Swiss healthcare group Roche offers to buy the remaining shares in US biotech company Genentech. Roche already owns 55.9% on Genentech, and the deal to purchase the remaining 44.1% would form the seventh-largest drug maker in the US, with sales of $15bn (£7.5bn) in the country, according to Roche.

    1 minute read