Simon Petersen

May 05, 2011 | International Edition

Simmons & Simmons has expanded its Paris banking team with the hire of a partner from SJ Berwin. Colin Millar, who specialises in leveraged finance and restructuring and real estate finance, joined the firm on 2 May. He was a partner at Simmons' Paris office for nine years before joining SJ Berwin as a partner in January 2005 to help develop its banking and finance practice. He began his career at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's London office in 1986.

By Simon Petersen

2 minute read

May 05, 2011 | International Edition

America's largest law firms returned to growth last year despite turbulent market conditions, with many US leaders achieving sharp increases in profits on the back of a prolonged squeeze on costs. Financial results for the 2010 financial year from Legal Week's affiliate title, The American Lawyer, show gross revenues across the US top 100 grew by 4% to $67.4bn (£40.4bn) against a healthy increase in profits per equity partner (PEP) of 8.4%.

By Simon Petersen

4 minute read

May 05, 2011 | International Edition

K&L Gates has expanded its Tokyo office with the hire of a 10-lawyer team from Clifford Chance (CC), including three partners. The team hire comes after CC moved to restructure its Tokyo office and integrate its local joint venture firm into one CC partnership. Before the restructuring, CC had around 12 partners, including the trio joining K&L Gates - Keiji Isaji, Atsushi Yamashita and Naoki Watanabe.

By Simon Petersen

2 minute read

May 04, 2011 | International Edition

Reed Smith is set to launch a Paris intellectual property (IP) practice with the hire of a five-strong team from Howrey. Marina Couste and Francois Jonqueres will join Reed Smith as partners on 28 May, along with two associates and one paralegal, bringing the number of partners at the US firm's Paris office to 15.

By Simon Petersen

2 minute read

May 03, 2011 | International Edition

Baker & McKenzie is set to open its fifth office in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region after confirming its intention to launch in Qatar. Gulf managing partner Borys Dackiw, currently based in Abu Dhabi, will initially head the new office in Doha, which will offer full-service advice to both domestic and international clients.

By Simon Petersen

1 minute read

May 03, 2011 | International Edition

Allen & Overy (A&O) has strengthened its Frankfurt employment practice with the hire of a partner from Hogan Lovells. Hans-Peter Loew, who joined Hogan Lovells in 1996 and has been the managing partner of the firm's Frankfurt office since 2004, is set to join A&O in the coming months, with his start-date still to be finalised.

By Simon Petersen

2 minute read

April 28, 2011 | International Edition

Hill Dickinson has appointed commercial litigation and dispute resolution head Geraldine Ryan as the new head of its Manchester office. Ryan will take up the role on 1 May, replacing David Wareing, who was appointed as senior partner earlier this month.

By Simon Petersen

2 minute read

April 28, 2011 | International Edition

Dewey & LeBouef has taken a lead role on the biggest-ever M&A deal in the Polish media sector. The firm was instructed in the summer of 2010 by longstanding client Cyfrowy Polsat, Poland's biggest satellite TV broadcaster, to advise on its £843.9m acquisition of Polish private TV broadcaster Telewizja Polsat.

By Simon Petersen

2 minute read

April 26, 2011 | International Edition

Dewey & LeBoeuf is to strengthen its Frankfurt corporate finance practice with the hire of a three-lawyer team from Norton Rose. The team is headed by partner Jochen Terpitz, who specialises in the energy and infrastructure sectors, and also includes associates Katrin Vedder and Kevin Quennet.

By Simon Petersen

2 minute read

April 21, 2011 | International Edition

The American Bar Association (ABA) is considering the inclusion of non-lawyers in US law firm partnerships ahead of the implementation of alternative business structures (ABS) in the UK. The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 launched a consultation earlier this month (5 April) seeking feedback on three potential forms of ABS for the US legal market. The proposals include capped non-lawyer partnerships similar to the UK's legal disciplinary partnerships (LDPs), which allow non-lawyers to form up to 25% of a firm's partnership; uncapped non-lawyer partnerships; and multidisciplinary partnerships, which allow firms to offer both legal and non-legal services.

By Simon Petersen

2 minute read