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International Edition

Smoke signals - there's no easy way to judge verein-backed firms

I knew this one was brewing for months. When Legal Week got around to its annual table of law firm results, there was always going to be a mind-numbing debate about how to treat the law firms put together with multiple profit centres. In many ways, the days when UK tables from Legal Week or US tables from The American Lawyer neatly summed up the upper end of the global legal services market have already passed. With more than 1,500 lawyers working for foreign firms in London, the UK-based tables already fail to reflect a substantial element of the domestic market. Yet merely replacing them with global tables or UK-revenue specific figures in isolation doesn't look that practical.
3 minute read

International Edition

Partners sceptical over split-profit mergers but Hogan Lovells seen as strong platform

Doubts remain about verein-backed mergers but partners believe such unions can deliver a strong service for bluechip clients; Hogan Lovells and Bakers viewed as the most effective platforms. Suzi Ring reports
5 minute read

International Edition

Gov't refers News Corp-BSkyB bid to Competition Commission as Hackgate racks up legal roles

Legal wrangling over News Corporation's controversial bid to take over BSkyB stepped up a gear this week as the proposed deal was referred to the Competition Commission. The referral by culture secretary Jeremy Hunt on Monday afternoon (11 July) was made in response to News Corp withdrawing from a proposed undertaking to spin off Sky News and came amid mounting public pressure for the tie-up to be halted as allegations continued to emerge in the ongoing phone-hacking scandal.
5 minute read

International Edition

Reed Smith signs up Dorsey partner to lead Shanghai launch

Reed Smith has launched a presence in Shanghai with the hire of corporate partner Jay Yan, the former regional managing partner for US firm Dorsey & Whitney. Reed Smith, which already has two Asian bases in Hong Kong and Beijing, will launch in Shanghai with immediate effect, having recently received a licence to open on the ground.
2 minute read

International Edition

News Corp withdraws its undertakings: but why?

This changes everything. As Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in the House in his statement this afternoon, News Corporation has withdrawn its proposed "undertakings in lieu" in relation to BSkyB. These were its undertakings, for instance "spinning off" Sky News to make it independent, and protect it from News Corp dominance. Since it was that package of undertakings that led Hunt to say he was minded to let the deal through, it follows that he must now refer the bid to the Competition Commission. He is free to do so purely on grounds of media plurality. There can be no accusation that he's acted unlawfully or departed from the proper legal procedure.
4 minute read

International Edition

Linklaters adds MoFo partner in shake-up of China management

Linklaters has shaken up its China practice with the appointment of new management and the hire of a partner from Morrison & Foerster (MoFo). MoFo corporate partner Tien-yo Chao, who is set to join Linklaters in August, will split his time between Hong Kong and Beijing. He has a particular focus on M&A and equity capital markets, and before joining MoFo in 2003 was a partner at Slaughter and May.
2 minute read

International Edition

Clydes and Barlows to vote on merger deal by end of July

The proposed merger between Clyde & Co and Barlow Lyde & Gilbert is set to go to a vote by the end of July after Clydes' partnership indicated broad support 
for a tie-up. Clydes' partnership conference in June saw partners given the chance to air their views about the potential tie-up as well as any concerns, with the majority coming out in favour of a deal.
2 minute read

International Edition

GTM to focus on corporate growth over full-service push

Greenberg Traurig Maher (GTM) is set to invest primarily in transactional corporate work with a focus on the energy sector, pulling away from further expansion in other areas. The policy marks a shift for the US-based law firm, which has been one of the most active lateral hirers in the City since launching in summer 2009, bringing in 12 partners in 2010 and 15 in 2009.
2 minute read

International Edition

Bailout behind, opportunities ahead - Portugal's legal outlook

Portugal's bailout has depressed activity in the country. While fees will be hit, lawyers are welcoming the prospect of working on bumper privatisations and activity thrown up 
by the crisis, writes Toby Lewis
8 minute read

International Edition

Freshfields and Linklaters head up H1 deal rankings in Europe amid 'turgid' M&A market

Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have topped Mergermarket's European deal rankings for the first half of 2011 – a six-month period in which deal volumes fell across every geographic region compared with the same period in 2010. Linklaters heads the value rankings in Europe with roles on 106 deals worth $141bn (£87.6bn), while Freshfields ranks first by volume in Europe, working on 108 deals worth $124.8bn (£77.7bn).
4 minute read

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