Friederike Heine

November 01, 2010 | International Edition

Barclays Corporate has appointed a new head of legal for its debt financing division with the hire of a senior associate from Ashurst. Catherine Dauger de Caulaincourt - a former lawyer at both Clifford Chance and France's Gide Loyrette Nouel - is set to join the bank after serving her notice period at Ashurst's City HQ.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 29, 2010 | International Edition

Royal Mail has kicked off a review of its employment and property panels which will see a line-up of firms appointed to step in when the current panel contract expires next year. The review is being led by general counsel Doug Evans, who joined Royal Mail in 2006 from logistics company Exel, and is part of an effort by the organisation to to cut legal spend and rationalise its adviser roster.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 27, 2010 | International Edition

Sullivan & Cromwell is set to launch its first graduate training programme in the City as the US firm aims to boost its profile among UK job-seekers. The law firm will take on its first trainee intake in autumn 2013 and is intending to run annual intakes after that. Students will also be encouraged to apply for summer vacation placements, which will start in 2011.

By Friederike Heine

3 minute read

October 27, 2010 | International Edition

Aspiring lawyers are facing an increasingly tough battle to secure a training contract with a top UK law firm, as Legal Week research shows the total number of contracts on offer at top 30 firms has shrunk by 11% over the last three years. The research, which analyses graduate recruitment trends at 27 of the UK's top 30 firms, also highlights the vast differences in popularity between the firms, with Linklaters emerging as the firm securing the most applications for training contracts.

By Friederike Heine

3 minute read

October 27, 2010 | International Edition

Walker Morris and Taylor Wessing have advised on the sale of Portsmouth Football Club, which was concluded this weekend following protracted negotiations over the terms of the acquisition. The sale, which marks the club's exit from administration following months of turmoil surrounding the club's liquidity, saw former owner Alexandre Gaydamak strike a deal with new owners Balram and Deepak Chainrai and Levi Kushnir late on Saturday (23 October).

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 26, 2010 | International Edition

Allen & Overy (A&O) and Herbert Smith have advised on Royal Bank of Canada's (RBC) £963m acquisition of London-based asset manager BlueBay. Herbert Smith advised BlueBay on the deal, which will see the company continue to operate independently from its new owner, as well as retaining investment autonomy.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 26, 2010 | International Edition

As the latest band of students enters the milkround, they join increasing numbers of graduates struggling to make their way onto the career ladder, with rafts of companies cutting back or closing their doors altogether to graduates as they weather the downturn. For the City's largest law firms, which typically recruit for training contracts two years in advance of would-be lawyers walking through their doors, maintaining the right flow of trainees to match predicted future workflows has always been something of a juggling act.

By Friederike Heine

13 minute read

October 26, 2010 | International Edition

Ashurst has boosted its debt capital markets practice with the appointment of former Linklaters partner Stephen Edlmann. Edlmann, who will join the top 10 City firm's London office next Monday (1 November) as a consultant, held several senior management roles at Linklaters, including head of international finance and co-head of equity capital markets.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 26, 2010 | International Edition

French insurer Axa has kicked off its latest panel review, with the overhaul coming as group general counsel George Stansfield takes up an additional role as head of human resources (HR). The Paris-led tender process, which started earlier this month, is the first comprehensive review of the insurer's legal advisers since May 2009, when Axa named at least 11 firms to its panel, including Clifford Chance (CC) and Norton Rose.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 25, 2010 | International Edition

Offshore firm Ogier has sealed the hire of former Lovells managing partner Lesley MacDonagh as a non-executive director. MacDonagh is one of two new non-exec directors appointed by the firm in a bid to strengthen its legal and fiduciary services businesses.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read