Friederike Heine

October 12, 2011 | International Edition

Ashurst, Hogan Lovells and Travers Smith have taken lead roles on the £124m acquisition of British engineering company Halcrow by US infrastructure company CH2M Hill. Ashurst advised Halcrow, fielding a team under global head of corporate Stephen Lloyd, who worked alongside employment partner Paul Randall and tax partner Richard Palmer. The deal marks Ashurst's first mandate for Halcrow –which has an annual turnover of around £500m.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 12, 2011 | International Edition

Clyde & Co, Allen & Overy (A&O) and Mishcon de Reya are among the firms shortlisted for Law Firm of the Year at the 2011 British Legal Awards. The trio have been nominated for the coveted award alongside Hogan Lovells, Kirkland & Ellis and Stephenson Harwood. A&O and Hogan Lovells have also both been nominated for the M&A Team of the Year Award, alongside magic circle duo Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and US firms Shearman & Sterling and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 12, 2011 | International Edition

Hogan Lovells, Weil Gotshal & Manges and DLA Piper have taken lead roles on Ireland's National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) sale of £660m in debt it held on hotels including Claridges to the Barclay brothers. The deal, which closed last month (27 September), saw a vehicle owned by the Barclay brothers buy £660m debt of Maybourne Hotels Group – parent company of Claridges, The Berkeley and The Connaught – from NAMA.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 12, 2011 | International Edition

Linklaters is to expand its use of paralegals and pilot moving volume legal work outside London as part of a bid to build a lower-cost alternative for clients. The move will see the City giant handle legal work in the Colchester office it currently uses for business support for the first time and will be backed with a deal with outsourcing firm Integreon to supply paralegals to support the venture. The plans form part of a new initiative dubbed Linklaters' Legal Services Centre (LSC), which will see the magic circle law firm ramp up its paralegal numbers to around 80 across the UK and Germany, up to 30 of which could be based in Colchester for additional cost savings. Linklaters will also continue to employ additional paralegal teams in New York and Brussels.

By Friederike Heine

3 minute read

October 12, 2011 | International Edition

Jones Day, CMS Cameron McKenna and Linklaters have taken lead roles on the restructuring and pre-pack administration of Jarvis Hotels by Royal Bank of Scotland's distressed property unit and buyout firm Patron Capital.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 12, 2011 | International Edition

Ashurst is set to see two senior departures from its litigation practice, with litigation chief Michael Madden leaving the firm and partner Wil Thorburn set to join JP Morgan Chase in a newly-created role as EMEA litigation head. Madden, who has been a partner since 1995, is leaving at the end of this month and will be replaced by senior litigation partner Ed Sparrow in his management role. He initially took over the post from Sparrow in 2003.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 11, 2011 | International Edition

Goodwin Procter is effectively relaunching its London office with a double partner hire from Ashurst. The US firm has hired Ashurst's European real estate funds chief David Evans, who sat within Ashurst's corporate practice, and fellow real estate funds partner Samantha Lake Coghlan.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 07, 2011 | International Edition

The managing partners of Nordic law firms Roschier and Hannes Snellman have left their respective firms to launch a new venture in Helsinki. Roschier's Ulf-Henrik Kull and Hannes Snellman chief Carl-Henrik Wallin have joined forces to launch a new law firm, Avance Attorneys, which opened for business earlier this month (4 October).

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 06, 2011 | International Edition

Premier Foods general counsel Suzanne Wise is set to leave the FTSE 100 company to take up the same role at Network Rail. The move, which follows the departure of Network Rail's group company secretary Hazel Walker at the end of September, will see Wise start as general counsel at the rail operator in early 2012.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 05, 2011 | International Edition

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is formulating a new whistle-blowing policy which could see individuals who report misconduct at law firms and alternative business structures (ABS) treated more leniently. The SRA's board and its compliance committee are considering whether to launch a full consultation which would see the legal profession canvassed for feedback on the proposals.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read