Sofia Lind

February 04, 2008 | National Law Journal

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is leading a heavyweight lineup of advisers on Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid for Web rival Yahoo. The New York firm is advising Yahoo on the deal, while Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft are understood to be acting for Microsoft. Microsoft's appointment of Simpson Thacher could be seen as a blow to Sullivan & Cromwell, which has traditionally been viewed as one of Microsoft's main advisers, defending the company in numerous antitrust cases.

By Sofia Lind

3 minute read

March 15, 2011 | Law.com

A group of nine partners is set to leave DLA Phillips Fox ahead of the Australian firm's full merger with alliance firm DLA Piper. The group is understood to be joining 350-lawyer domestic firm Thomsons Lawyers.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

February 01, 2011 | Corporate Counsel

Outsourcing escalates among U.K. firms--and draws regulators' attention.

By Sofia Lind, Suzi Ring, and Claire Rucki

4 minute read

September 23, 2009 | Law.com

Allen & Overy lost two teams from its Milan office this month, including the firm's entire Italian employment practice. A&O's Italy head of employment and labor law, Piergiovanni Mandruzzato, a senior counsel in the firm's Milan office, has joined Italian boutique LABLAW along with two associates. The Magic Circle firm has also lost a three-lawyer team of real estate lawyers led by senior associate Davide Braghini. The group joined Italian leader Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners earlier this month.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

March 31, 2011 | Corporate Counsel

Clifford Chance's former senior partner Stuart Popham is set to join Citigroup as a vice-chairman of EMEA banking. Citi said that Popham's primary role will be to strengthen relationships with the bank's U.K. large-cap clients, working within a team of senior bankers.

By Sofia Lind

3 minute read

June 06, 2008 | Law.com

In the end it may not have been a surprise, but Linklaters' decision to split with four offices across Eastern Europe has certainly sparked a debate among senior lawyers in the region. The decision to pull out of Budapest, Bucharest, Bratislava and Prague, which will leave the Magic Circle law firm with bases in just Moscow and Warsaw, has been met with surprise from rivals. Linklaters argues the move will allow it to focus on faster-growing markets such as Russia, the Middle East and North Africa.

By Sofia Lind

4 minute read

March 10, 2008 | National Law Journal

Clifford Chance is to open a new office in Kiev later this year, in the latest state of the Magic Circle giant's expansion into Central and Eastern Europe. The firm unveiled its plans to launch in the Ukraine capital Friday, with current Warsaw chief Nick Fletcher in line to lead the new office. The firm also plans to relocate a four-lawyer real estate team and counsel Tomasz Stasiak from Warsaw to the Kiev branch, which will initially focus on property, corporate and finance work.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

October 23, 2009 | Law.com

A growing number of U.K. firms are either holding back or reducing partner profit distributions as a result of the recession. Pinsent Masons and DLA Piper have both withheld profit distributions in recent months. Pinsent has withheld its last two quarterly profit distributions, with the firm attributing the "profits distribution holiday" to a series of management responses to the recession. DLA held back its August distribution firmwide and has yet to decide on its next payment, due in November.

By Sofia Lind

3 minute read

December 01, 2009 | Law.com

Cuatrecasas, Goncalves Pereira has named new office heads in Madrid and Barcelona. The firm has named corporate partner Francisco Perez-Crespo as Madrid managing partner, while fellow corporate partner Miguel Trias has taken up the managing partner role in Barcelona. Meanwhile, Spanish rival Gomez-Acebo & Pombo has announced it will open a Lisbon office in January -- the start of the firm's strategy, first outlined in 2007, to become a pan-Iberian firm

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

February 20, 2009 | The Recorder

Allen & Overy plans to reduce headcount by more than 400 jobs, plus freeze salaries.

By Emma Sadowski and Sofia Lind

4 minute read