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October 2007 Archives
US alliance exposed BLP’s image problem
2/10/2007
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has an image problem. Given the number of firms struggling to differentiate themselves in the the City's crowded legal market, there’s nothing unusual about that. The difference with BLP, as underlined by the announcement of the...Silky PR skills can’t quite cover the embarrassment of Links’ Cologne withdrawal
4/10/2007
Linklaters has clearly been taking lessons on managing tricky news, but there is such a thing as being too cute. Buried away at the bottom of a press release confirming the admittedly quite interesting news that the magic circle giant...Demob happy
4/10/2007
The trick for any good leader is to get out when the going’s good. Current market conditions and the wave of favourable press the UK’s magic circle is receiving suggest that Messrs Tony Angel and Guy Beringer, who will both shortly...Democracy White & Case-style leaves London with uncertain constituency
5/10/2007
Judged by a hatful of metrics, White & Case’s London office is an undoubted success. Revenue of $172m (£84.3m) last year, up 38% since 2005; market-leading acquisition finance and project finance practices; high-profile rainmakers with key relationships with Deutsche Bank,...Ashurst tries on Herbies’ elephant trap for size
9/10/2007
What is it about Herbert Smith’s elephant trap that seems so tempting to other law firms? Despite recent years giving repeated proof that, for quality law firms with global aspirations, the one thing that you do not want to get...Mark Stephens beats David Cheyne, weirdly
10/10/2007
Legal Week observed recently that the success story of City law firms in the British economy is still going comprehensively unsung outside the legal goldfish bowl. Well, fresh proof of just how badly underweight commercial lawyers are punching in terms...An altogether better class of deal reporting
11/10/2007
The end of each quarter can be a confusing time for stressed deal lawyers. The plethora of adviser league tables, preliminary M&A rankings and law firms rushing out their selective spin all tends to mean the underlying picture gets lost.In...Freshfields and Sidley get closure but age timebomb ticks on
12/10/2007
Two recent cases on either side of the Atlantic point to one of the most crucial issues currently facing commercial law firms. Namely, how to cope with the pressures caused by ageing partnerships.In the UK, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer finally emerged...Akzo Nobel not so clear cut as many argue
16/10/2007
Law, like all communities, has its accepted truths and prevailing opinion. Take the recent Akzo Nobel judgment, which has been taken up as a cause in the legal community, in the UK at least, for those campaigning for the rights...Legal jobs at banks – hoping no news is good news
17/10/2007
The year’s most popular threat by banking associates wanting a pay rise is that they will leave for an investment bank. These are institutions that are desperate to get hold of them and will pay through the nose to secure...Dewey & LeBoeuf chief drops in for some London fudge
18/10/2007
The newly-merged Dewey & LeBoeuf’s decision not to appoint a London head looks like a confused fudge. Steven Davis, settling in as chairman of the $1bn-plus practice, was in town this week to unveil the new management structure. The famously...A&O gets set for life after Titchmarsh
24/10/2007
It could be said the decision of Allen & Overy’s (A&O's) global head of project finance, Graham Vinter, to leave for BG Group is akin to Alan Titchmarsh’s shock announcement that he was to leave Gardener’s World.Such is the association...Conflicts: the letter of the bore
25/10/2007
Taking the decision to let the dust settle before weighing in on the latest controversy over alleged conflicts of interest is something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it gave us the chance in today’s issue of Legal...Lives less ordinary
31/10/2007
At The American Lawyer Awards they hand out no fewer than eight lifetime achievement gongs. But it doesn’t feel like overkill when you learn what the recipients have got up to during their long – and I mean long – careers....
RSSRecent Posts
- Lives less ordinary31/10/2007
- Conflicts: the letter of the bore25/10/2007
- A&O gets set for life after Titchmarsh24/10/2007
- Dewey & LeBoeuf chief drops in for some London fudge18/10/2007