Legal Week

July 02, 2009 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) is to see two international partners leave, with one Dubai partner moving in-house while the firm's Spanish office prepares for the departure of local senior partner Jaime De San Roman. In Dubai, US securities partner Michael Dakin is to leave CC over the next few months to join Middle East-based holding company Future Group as its chief legal officer.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

July 02, 2009 | International Edition

Spanish giant Garrigues is preparing for a management shake-up, with co-managing partners Miguel Gordillo and Jose Maria Alonso set to step down later this year after nearly a decade at the helm. The firm is taking soundings from the partnership about potential successors and is expected to appoint two new leaders at a partner meeting to be held in the coming weeks.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

July 02, 2009 | International Edition

Australia's Minter Ellison has appointed a new chairman, with competition specialist Russell Miller to take on the role. The Sydney-based partner will replace Gillian Brown, who has held the post since 2006. Brown will return to full-time fee earning as head of finance in the firm's Queensland office.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

July 02, 2009 | International Edition

Lovells has refocused its City real estate practice along sector and work-group lines in a bid to target more profitable instructions while the property markets continue to suffer. Lawyers within the group will now work across 13 different sub-groups, with partners taking responsibility for each area and leading initiatives to win new clients and work.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

July 02, 2009 | International Edition

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge has launched a private equity practice in the City just over a year after opening in London through a merger with Kendall Freeman. The Boston-based law firm has hired David Ramm from legacy firm Campbell Hooper to launch the practice. Ramm, who has a broad-based private equity and venture capital practice, joined the firm on 1 July having been a partner with Campbell Hooper since 2006. He previously worked with both Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr and Gouldens.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

July 02, 2009 | International Edition

The legal market is becoming truly global, with the economic influence in the world moving eastwards. I believe Norton Rose needed a significant increase in our Asia-Pacific resources in order to develop our business – but we concluded it would be difficult for any firm to establish a leading Asia-Pacific position without the weight provided by the inclusion of one of the large Australian firms.

By Legal Week

3 minute read

July 02, 2009 | International Edition

Clifford Chance's (CC's) US litigation team has successfully defended ING Life Insurance in a class action suit in the Washington DC court of appeals. The privacy case, which had been brought on behalf of Washington DC government employees alleging that ING lost their private, sensitive financial and personal information, was dismissed last month (18 June) with the court ruling in favour of the insurer.

By Legal Week

1 minute read

July 02, 2009 | International Edition

Eversheds has been appointed sole adviser to Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) for its international work. The three-year appointment will see the firm advise the university as it pushes to develop internationally. It is thought Eversheds saw competition from rivals DLA Piper and Halliwells to secure the mandate.

By Legal Week

2 minute read

July 02, 2009 | International Edition

With their weakness for long-winded sentences, concern with preserving reputation and grinding 24/7 workloads, lawyers aren't the sort of people you'd immediately associate with creative writing. But the link between law and literature has always been strong. And where Charles Dickens, Henry Cecil Leon and John Mortimer once walked, now come the next generation of lawyer-novelists.

By Legal Week

8 minute read

July 02, 2009 | International Edition

Norton Rose has relocated a senior Paris partner to China in a bid to meet increased demand for advice from Chinese banks. Finance partner Nigel Ward joined the firm's Beijing office late last month (22 June) and will be the fifth partner in the 18-lawyer practice.

By Legal Week

2 minute read