Friederike Heine

September 22, 2010 | International Edition

Eversheds has boosted its real estate litigation team with the hire of disputes partner Suzanne Gregson, who joins the firm from Manchester boutique Howarth Goodman Solicitors. Gregson, who headed the litigation practice at Howarth Goodman, specialises in services for the affordable housing and registered provider sector. She has prosecuted and brought actions for housing association clients on a national basis. She joins Eversheds' Manchester office as a partner.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

September 22, 2010 | International Edition

The Bar Council and the Law Society are set to draw up a pro bono panel of law firms to offer legal services at the 2012 Olympic Games. The tender process will kick off in January 2011, when the two representative bodies will issue open invitations to pitch. Bar Council chairman Nicholas Green QC said: "There will be no restrictions on who can apply, but we will be looking for firms, sets of chambers and individuals with experience in sports law and issues such as doping."

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

September 21, 2010 | International Edition

Slaughter and May has won a key role advising Liverpool Football Club as co-owner Tom Hicks attempts to secure backing to refinance the club's £237m debt with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Slaughters is advising the Liverpool FC board, fielding a team led by corporate partners Nigel Boardman and Mark Zerdin, alongside finance partner Stephen Powell.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

September 20, 2010 | International Edition

Wall Street leader Debevoise & Plimpton has boosted its City corporate practice with the hire of Travers Smith private equity partner David Innes. Innes, who has been a partner at Travers since 2000, specialises in private equity and M&A, and has worked on several high-profile transactions including Bridgepoint Capital's £955m sale of Pets at Home, the £6.15bn merger of Saga and AA, as well as 3i's acquisition of retailer Agent Provocateur.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

September 17, 2010 | International Edition

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton have won lead roles on Deutsche Bank's plans to raise €9.8bn (£8.1bn) to bolster its balance sheet and complete its proposed takeover of Deutsche Postbank. The bank has instructed Cleary to advise on the capital raising, with Frankfurt-based capital markets partner Ward Greenberg and securities partner Hanno Sperlich leading the team.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

September 16, 2010 | International Edition

The dispute between Terra Firma and Citigroup over the buyout house's £4bn acquisition of EMI Group can proceed to trial, a US judge has ruled. The private equity giant has alleged that Citi inflated the value of EMI by not revealing that rival bidder Cerberus had withdrawn from the auction. Terra Firma claims that this was a key factor in its bid of 265p a share for the music publishing company.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

September 15, 2010 | International Edition

Hogan Lovells and Bingham McCutchen have taken lead roles on the €2.3bn (£1.9bn) restructuring of Straumur, one of the raft of Icelandic banks taken into government hands last year as a result of the country's financial crisis. Straumur was nationalised in March 2009 after aggressive expansion in Europe during the credit bubble led to losses of almost €700m (£640m) in 2008.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

September 15, 2010 | International Edition

Partners remain bullish that their firms can withstand financial shocks or the impact of mass partner departures despite the aftermath of Halliwells' recent collapse, according to new research. The latest Big Question survey found that 77% of partners remain confident that their firm is able to avoid 'severe financial problems' or a full-scale collapse. In contrast, only 17% of the 158 respondents to the survey admitted that they were 'a little' worried, while 6% of partners stated that they were 'very worried' about their firm.

By Friederike Heine

4 minute read

September 15, 2010 | International Edition

Reed Smith has boosted its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) corporate practice with the hire of partner Samantha Roberts from Holman Fenwick Willan. At Holman, where she spent over 13 years, Roberts was a partner in the corporate, projects and finance department and headed up the firm's ports and terminals industry focus group. Her practice focuses on UK and cross-border M&A and joint venture arrangements.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

September 15, 2010 | International Edition

The Law Society is considering the introduction of an aptitude test for entry onto the Legal Practice Course (LPC) in an effort to reduce the numbers of students taking the course. The society has appointed a consultant to investigate the viability of such a test, in one of a number of initiatives discussed at its monthly board meeting last week (8 September).

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read