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International Edition

Switzerland: An island of calm

In a country renowned for its banking prowess, the financial turmoil of the last months has been keenly felt in Switzerland. While the financial haven is proving less than rosy for many bankers with two of its major institutions, UBS and Credit Suisse, both caught up in the financial storm, Switzerland's legal elite has a more positive story to tell.For many of the country's main firms, the crisis has meant an inflow of lucrative instructions, landing roles in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers - with its plentiful Swiss creditors - for example, or on one of the many reorganisations within Swiss banks.Several of Switzerland's largest firms, including Lenz & Staehelin, Baer & Karrer, Homburger and Schellenberg Wittmer, credit the banking crisis with a major upturn in work in the region."It is clear that last year was dominated by the financial crisis. It has taken a lot of our time and made us quite busy," says Homburger managing partner and co-head of M&A Heinz Schaerer.
11 minute read

International Edition

Switzerland: Code breaking

It is a popular view that Swiss bank secrecy attracts undeclared, illegal money - that it exists only for this purpose and that the need for its removal is self-evident. Many believe that the first steps to achieve this have been successfully taken, with the US Justice Department's attack on UBS. However, first a reminder before you read on: in 1934 Switzerland enacted specific legislation to make divulging bank secrets a criminal offence, partly in response to a law introduced by Adolf Hitler that any German with foreign capital should be put to death.
8 minute read

International Edition

Switzerland: Proceeding in a civilised manner

Although the substantive civil law of Switzerland has long been unified - the Swiss Civil Code recently celebrated its 100th birthday - this small country still affords itself the luxury of no less than 27 different systems of civil procedure. On many issues, the various civil procedure rules differ substantially from one another, making recourse to a local trial lawyer almost inevitable, and constituting a technical barrier to litigation.To date, the federal legislator has only enacted a limited number of civil procedural provisions, including in tenancy law, labour law and divorce law, and unified provisions on jurisdiction. Even the Swiss Supreme Court was unable to put an end to the legal fragmentation in the area of civil procedure since it is essentially barred from reviewing the application of cantonal law and is only able to determine minimum standards with which cantonal proceedings are required to comply.
9 minute read

International Edition

Magisters launches new five-lawyer office in Kazakhstan

Magisters has expanded into the Kazakhstan market with an office launch in Astana. The office will be headed by arbitration partner Marta Khomyak, previously based in Kiev, and will initially have five lawyers. It will advise clients in the oil and gas sector on infrastructure, PPP, corporate and M&A, real estate, arbitration and white-collar crime matters.
1 minute read

International Edition

Simmons to shut down 75-lawyer Rotterdam arm

Simmons & Simmons has announced that it is to shut down its Rotterdam base and merge its Netherlands operation into a single office in Amsterdam. The firm already has 25 lawyers in the Dutch capital, and over the next two years around 75 lawyers will be transferred in stages to Amsterdam, before the Rotterdam office closes for business in 2011.Netherlands managing partner Jean-Pierre van Leeuwe said: "It is our great desire for all staff members to come with us. Some people will live in the Rotterdam region and we will launch a program to aid relocation or aid with cost of public transport."
2 minute read

International Edition

Arthur Cox to lead on Irish bank nationalisation

Leading Irish firm Arthur Cox has been appointed lead legal adviser on the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank. This week the Irish Government announced it was to seize control of the country's third-biggest lender in a bid to restore confidence in the country's banking system after shelving plans for a €1.5bn (£1.4bn) capital injection into the stricken lender.The Labour Party is tabling a bill today (20 January) which will ultimately pave the way for the nationalisation of the bank.
2 minute read

International Edition

DLA Norway office breaks away with local merger

DLA Piper has lost an office in Norway, with the firm's 21-lawyer Bergen arm breaking off to merge with Norwegian firm Streenstrup Stordrange. The decision taken by the five-partner office to merge with Streenstrup was prompted by a desire to improve local client relationships.DLA Piper is the only major international firm to have successfully made an impact in the Norwegian market. The top 10 UK firm will retain its 70-lawyer base in Oslo.
2 minute read

International Edition

BLP opens in Moscow with hire of 70-lawyer team

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has officially opened its Moscow office today (19 January), with the addition of a 70-lawyer team from local firm Pepeliaev Goltsblat & Partners. Russian corporate partner Andrey Goltsblat has joined BLP's Moscow operation - which will be called Goltsblat BLP - bringing with him nine partners and roughly 60 associates.The opening coincides with the launch of the firm's first Middle East office in Abu Dhabi. The Moscow office will be headed by Goltsblat, who is joined by corporate partners Anton Sitnikov and Anton Rogoza; real estate partners Vitaly Mozharowski and Elena Barinova; employment partner Anna-Stefaniya Chepik; customs and foreign exchange partner Vladimir Tchikine; and intellectual property partner Ekatrina Tilling.
2 minute read

International Edition

Fried Frank loses seven-strong team in Paris

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson has lost a seven-lawyer team from its Paris office, just two months after the US firm lost a six-lawyer team in the French capital. The team, which includes corporate/M&A partner Patrick Jais and intellectual property partner Barbara Levy (pictured), joins Paris heavyweight De Pardieu Brocas Maffei today (19 January).In addition, Sophie Touhadian-Giely joins as of counsel from a position as associate at Fried Frank. The teams also include four associates.
2 minute read

International Edition

Swedish merger creates 200-lawyer firm

Sweden's Lindahl has confirmed that it is to merge with the 40-lawyer Rydin Carlsten in a tie-up that will create a 200-lawyer Swedish firm. The combined firm, effective as of next month (1 February), will continue to be known as Lindahl.The merger sees Lindahl - which, with six offices in Sweden, is the country's third-largest firm - take one step closer to market leaders Vinge and Mannheimer Swartling.
2 minute read

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