Legal Week

August 20, 2009 | International Edition

Linklaters and Allen & Overy (A&O) have taken lead roles on the €12bn (£10.3bn) debt restructuring of ball-bearing manufacturer Schaeffler, in a move which could lead to a merger with auto-parts manufacturer Continental. Linklaters advised a consortium of five lending banks comprising UBS, Royal Bank of Scotland, UniCredit, Commerzbank and LBBW, with London and Frankfurt-based banking partners Stephen Lucas and Marc Trinkaus leading the team.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

August 20, 2009 | International Edition

Seven elite US law firms have come together to lobby the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on how the agency should implement a proposal to allow shareholders to nominate company directors. Lawyers involved in drafting the letter acknowledge it was rare for one letter to come from all the firms, which included Cravath Swaine & Moore, Sullivan & Cromwell and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz. At least four of the firms also sent separate letters addressing concerns with the policy direction the SEC is taking.

By Legal Week

3 minute read

August 20, 2009 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC), Slaughter and May, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and are among a host of firms to advise on the $15bn (£9.1bn) refinancing of cement producer CEMEX's debt. The company, dual-listed in New York and Mexico, completed the debt restructuring last week (14 August), with the deal involving the agreement of all of the company's participating creditors on debt including syndicated loans, bilateral facilities and US private placement notes.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

August 20, 2009 | International Edition

Denton Wilde Sapte has sealed a deal to send all of its future trainees to study exclusively with the College of Law. The agreement, which starts in September, will cover both the Legal Practice Course (LPC) and the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). It will allow those with training contracts with Dentons to study at any of the College's five centres in the UK.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

August 20, 2009 | International Edition

FoxMandal Little has paid out all of the outstanding salaries the firm owed to its Delhi-based fee earners. As reported last month, the Indian firm failed to pay Delhi fee earners their salaries in July after a cashflow problem caused by some 70% of the firm's overseas clients paying their bills late.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

August 20, 2009 | International Edition

"I secured a training contract with a regional office of a large international firm back in 2007 to start in 2009 but, as expected, I have been deferred until 2010. "My problem is that I want to change offices and start my training contract in London. My perceptions of the legal world have changed drastically since applying for TCs towards the end of my second year at university and I now feel that the level of work which is available in London is more suited to my professional aspirations for the future.

By Legal Week

1 minute read

August 19, 2009 | International Edition

It all started with a frustrating phone call with one of the translation agencies I was using in my capacity as a lawyer a couple of years ago. Although the agency was highly reputable and offered translation services in more languages than I knew existed, the quality of the translation left much to be desired. And, I had a tight deadline.

By Legal Week

7 minute read

August 19, 2009 | International Edition

Associates are to gain a new forum to discuss the issues facing young commercial lawyers as they wrestle with the toughest market for a generation, thanks to a new Legal Week event. The first Legal Week Audience with... Associates will take the form of a panel debate with associates from four leading London firms.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

August 19, 2009 | International Edition

The NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) spent £143m on legal fees relating to clinical negligence claims over the 2008-09 financial year. The organisation's latest financial report shows that total legal costs for the year in cases where damages were paid out reached £143.3m, of which only £39.7m went to firms on the NHSLA's panel of defence solicitors.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

August 19, 2009 | International Edition

Addleshaw Goddard has recruited two litigation partners from the London arm of Winston & Strawn, it has emerged. Winston UK litigation practice head Jamie Harrison and partner Kent Philips, both of whom specialise in commercial litigation and international arbitration, will join Addleshaws as partners in September.

By Legal Week

2 minute read