Friederike Heine

March 09, 2011 | International Edition

LG and Burges Salmon have been appointed to the Crown Estate's urban portfolio panel following a competitive tender process led jointly by legal director Vivienne King and senior counsel Alex Peeke. The appointments will take effect on 1 April 2011 and see Burges Salmon reappointed for a three-year term to the Crown's St James's portfolio, which it has been working on since 2005, with LG winning a first-time appointment to the Crown's regional portfolio.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

March 08, 2011 | International Edition

Italy's Bonelli Erede Pappalardo and Chiomenti have taken lead roles on luxury goods giant LVMH's £3.2bn takeover of Italian jeweller Bulgari. Bonelli has been instructed by LVMH, which is purchasing a 50.4% stake in Bulgari in a share swap that will make the Italian company the second-biggest family shareholder in LVMH.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

March 08, 2011 | International Edition

Baker & McKenzie and Kirkland & Ellis have taken lead roles on Swiss travel group Kuoni's $720m (£445m) purchase of British rival Gullivers Travel Associates (GTA). Kuoni instructed Bakers on the deal, which is a part of the Swiss company's efforts to develop its online travel business. The firm fielded a team led by London corporate chief Tim Gee.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

March 07, 2011 | International Edition

Leading City law firms have again failed to make the grade in The Sunday Times' annual 100 Best Companies to work for rankings, with Mills & Reeve the sole representative from the UK's top 50 law firms by revenue. Mills & Reeve features at number 90 in The Sunday Times' rankings, compared with number 72 last year.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

March 07, 2011 | International Edition

Ince & Co has become the latest UK law firm to announce its global promotions round, with the firm making nine new partner appointments across its London, Hong Kong, Paris, Shanghai and Singapore offices. The promotions, which will take effect on 1 May 2011, see the firm's London office gain four new partners, with Clare Kempkens , Jamila Khan, Matthew Moore and Kijong Nam all set to join the partnership.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

March 04, 2011 | International Edition

Howrey partners are set to vote on the wind-down of the firm next week, with Winston & Strawn currently on course to take on around 35% of Howrey's remaining partners. Once the vote has taken place, the two firms will begin discussions over associates and support staff, as well as redundancies associated with the firm's wind-down.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

March 03, 2011 | International Edition

Shearman & Sterling's London office has announced its 2010 financial results, posting a 5% increase in revenues against a double-digit drop in profits per equity partner (PEP). The US firm's gross fee income in London stood at $104.2m (£63.9m) for the 2010 calendar year, a 4.5% increase on the 2009 total of $99.7m (£61.2m).

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

March 03, 2011 | International Edition

BPP Law School has unveiled plans to offer its students more flexible ways to pay for their postgraduate law courses. From this September, law students enrolling with BPP will be offered new payment options for the Legal Practice Course (LPC) and Bar Vocational Training Course (BPTC). Part-time students on both courses, who currently pay their annual tuition fees in four installments, will now be able to pay in eight installments.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

March 02, 2011 | International Edition

Banking giant HSBC has added four US firms to its knowledge-sharing venture in a bid to improve its understanding of the US legal market. White & Case, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Wilmer Hale and New York State law firm Phillips Lytle have been added to the bank's in-house SmartSearch database - taking the roster of firms sharing their know-how with the bank to 17.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

March 02, 2011 | International Edition

General Electric (GE) has reviewed its European M&A panel, with four of the five firms appointed in 2007 retaining a place on the roster. Slaughter and May, Weil Gotshal & Manges, Allen & Overy and Ashurst have all been reappointed to the panel for another four-year term. The appointments follow a tender process which kicked off last year and was concluded in January after several months of negotiations.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read