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  • April 9, 2008 | International Edition

    Commentary: Shearman risks unsettled horses with new City head

    Despite years of grumblings from Shearman & Sterling's London arm, the timing of last week's announcement that long-time office head Kenneth MacRitchie was standing down was still unexpected. And the 1 April announcement not only surprised rivals. Several London partners, caught off guard by lack of consultation, made little attempt to disguise their shock; the appointment of the new City head, the respected leveraged finance partner Anthony Ward, apparently came straight from New York, with some London partners claiming the first they had heard of the power change was a firm-wide announcement.

    1 minute read

  • April 9, 2008 |

    Commentary: Shearman risks unsettled horses with new City head

    Despite years of grumblings from Shearman & Sterling's London arm, the timing of last week's announcement that long-time office head Kenneth MacRitchie was standing down was still unexpected. And the 1 April announcement not only surprised rivals. Several London partners, caught off guard by lack of consultation, made little attempt to disguise their shock; the appointment of the new City head, the respected leveraged finance partner Anthony Ward, apparently came straight from New York, with some London partners claiming the first they had heard of the power change was a firm-wide announcement.

    1 minute read

  • April 9, 2008 |

    City firms tune in to GCap radio acquisition

    A raft of City firms including SJ Berwin, Clifford Chance (CC) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have advised on the £357m acquisition of Capital Radio owner GCap Media by rival Global Radio. CC and Slaughter and May advised Global Radio, which already owns stations such as Heart FM. Corporate partner Joel Ziff took the lead role for CC while Slaughters provided competition advice under partner Philippe Chappatte.

    1 minute read

  • April 9, 2008 |

    The sultan of Bruni

    With the UK only now getting over its slightly embarrassing teenage-style crush on French premiere madame Carla Bruni (well, not French as such, but... you know), The Diary was last week picking over the metaphorical bones of the super-exclusive reception held for M Sarkozy at the Guildhall on 27 March. The legal profession was represented by such grande fromages as Herbert Smith chief David Gold and SJ Berwin counterpart Ralph Cohen, who rubbed shoulders on table two with a chap from Reed Smith.

    1 minute read

  • April 8, 2008 |

    Those slightly less short-term partner prospects

    Given the challenges facing the global economy, London’s top firms can’t be accused of panicking, given the robust number of promotions so…

    1 minute read

  • April 7, 2008 |

    CC sets the pace with 35 promotions worldwide

    Clifford Chance (CC) has made up 35 new partners in this year's partnership round - the most announced by a UK firm so far this year - with 11 promotions coming in London. The remainder of the promotions, announced by the City giant today (7 April), are spread across CC's global network, with the Frankfurt and Paris offices gaining four new partners apiece. Paris and Dubai each receive three promotions, while Amsterdam, Milan and Singapore getting two new partners and Brussels, Madrid, Dusseldorf and Barcelona one apiece.

    1 minute read

  • April 7, 2008 |

    A&O promotes 28 but London gets just eight

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has announced this years round of partnership promotions, making up 28 new partners across its global network, the City giant announced today (7 April). Almost three-quarters of the promotions - which represent a fall from last year's total of 32 new partners - come outside London.

    1 minute read

  • April 7, 2008 |

    A&O NY lands $39bn trophy Novartis-Alcon mandate

    Allen & Overy has bagged a lead advisory role opposite Cravath Swaine & Moore on the sale of eye-care company Alcon to Swiss pharmaceuticals company Novartis - a deal that could be worth as much as $39bn (£20bn). Cravath represented food giant Nestle on the sale of subsidiary Alcon, while A&O advised Novartis in a coup for the magic circle firm's US arm. New York senior partner and US law co-head Dan Cunningham led the team for A&O, along with New York public M&A chief Eric Shube.

    1 minute read

  • April 4, 2008 |

    S&C recruits Shearman tax partner to underpin City push

    Sullivan & Cromwell has ended its search for a senior UK tax partner after recruiting Michael McGowan from the London arm of Shearman & Sterling, Legal Week can reveal. The appointment of a senior tax partner in London will be viewed as evidence of Sullivan's ambitions to substantially expand its transactional practice in Europe.

    1 minute read

  • April 4, 2008 |

    Nabarro exits Weil Gotshal after two-year stay

    High-profile banking partner Jonathan Nabarro has left Weil Gotshal & Manges after little more than two years with the New York firm, it has emerged. Weil confirmed that Nabarro, who was co-head of the firm's Paris banking practice, left the firm on 31 March. His next move is as yet unconfirmed.

    1 minute read