Sofia Lind

April 30, 2010 | International Edition

CMS Cameron McKenna is set to make its first full equity promotions since introducing an intermediate partner rank three years ago. The firm will make up four 'gateway' partners to the equity, including two in London as of 1 May. These are energy partner Ben Holland and commercial, regulatory and disputes partner Yuban Moodley. Bucharest partner John Fitzpatrick and Moscow-based Leonid Zubarev also both gain equity status.

By Sofia Lind

3 minute read

April 29, 2010 | International Edition

Simmons & Simmons has won a place on Standard Chartered's UK panel as the bank completes a review of its advisers. The UK top 15 law firm is the only new addition to the panel after the bank decided to reappoint all six of its current UK advisers.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 28, 2010 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) has installed a nine-partner committee to oversee the law firm's recruitment, replacing its former system of handing responsibility to a sole recruitment partner. CC decided on the overhaul in January following the retirement of full-time City recruitment partner Lynn Johansen from the partnership at the end of last year.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 27, 2010 | International Edition

Taylor Wessing has rolled out a global key client strategy in a bid to improve cross-selling across the firm. The Anglo-German law firm has identified a group of 20 core clients and 40 growth clients that it will target with the aim of acting for them all in each jurisdiction in which the firm operates.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 27, 2010 | International Edition

CMS Cameron McKenna is set to overhaul its UK practice group structure in a bid to boost its litigation profile. The changes, which will come into effect this week (1 May), will see the firm break up its commercial practice group to form two new departments called human capital and commercial, regulatory and disputes (CRD).

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 27, 2010 | International Edition

As corporate activity begins its long-awaited recovery in the aftermath of the financial crisis, life certainly promises to be eventful for debt capital markets (DCM) lawyers - which is a considerable improvement on last year. The consensus from deal lawyers is that the debt market is also showing signs of life. New data from Thomson Reuters highlights a healthy revival in DCM activity around the globe, with the first quarter of the year seeing a 37% rise in activity on the last three months of 2009. While Q1 global DCM activity was still down by 10% on the equivalent period last year, the market is no longer entirely driven by companies seeking funding because they have no alternative.

By Sofia Lind

3 minute read

April 23, 2010 | International Edition

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has opted to phase out its joint senior partner role in an overhaul of the firm's management structure. Following a firmwide vote which closed this afternoon, the magic circle firm will now elect a sole senior partner when incumbent duo Guy Morton and Konstantin Mettenheimer step down later this year.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 23, 2010 | International Edition

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Weil Gotshal & Manges have won roles on a £500m private equity deal that sees Advent International take over UK furniture retailer DFS. DFS and Lord Kirkham, the founder and owner of the company, were advised by a Freshfields team led by finance partner Chris Howard and corporate partner Andrew Hutchings.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 21, 2010 | International Edition

Allen & Overy (A&O) has made a number of changes to its partnership deed that will allow the firm to secure strategic decisions with less partner support. The magic circle firm has introduced a number of procedural changes to its quorum as well as rules on the majority required in order to approve management proposals that are put to a firm vote.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read

April 21, 2010 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC) has overhauled its management strategy to free up fee-earning time for its more senior partners. The magic circle firm is attempting to increase the number of partner hours available for fee earning by cutting back on duplicated management positions and encouraging business development staff to get more involved in the running of their practice groups.

By Sofia Lind

2 minute read