The past few weeks have been a legal and financial rollercoaster for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and its client Deutsche Bank. Last week $300tr worth of Deutsche Bank and Barclays Libor-backed derivatives were opened up to questioning after the banks lost a landmark appeal hearing. The eye-watering amount was part of a historic ‘David and Goliath’ […]
By Adam Dowdney In UPMS v Fort Gilkicker, the High Court had to decide whether common law recognises the concept of double derivative actions and, if so, whether they survived the coming into force of the Companies Act 2006. The single derivative action is a longstanding principle of English company law. It was established by common […]
Barclays’ head of compliance and regulatory relations Hector Sants, who last month took a temporary leave of absence due to stress and exhaustion, has resigned from the post. Sants, who headed the FSA during the financial crisis, took up the newly-created role in January this year as Barclays looked to overhaul ties with regulators. The […]
Getting cosy with clients is part of the job right? That is what the High Court will decide when it looks at the relationship between Slaughter and May and Ernst & Young after a complaint by liquidators RSM Tenon. The liquidators have asked the court to intervene on the bills issued by Slaughters on the […]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has appointed a new general counsel to replace the retiring Anthony Inglese. The Department of Work & Pensions’ (DWP) director general of legal services, Gill Aitken, will take up the role at the end of January 2014. Aitken was appointed to her post at the helm of the DWP legal […]
Davenport Lyons has closed its film and TV group following the retirement of department head Leon Morgan and senior partner Richard Moxon, resulting in four redundancies. According to sources the department has been winding down over the last 18 months. Morgan and Moxon, the two most senior partners in the group, were understood to have […]
Field Fisher Waterhouse’s (FFW) half year global revenue has come in ahead of budget, ringing in at £49.9m. The figure is an increase of 7 per cent on its turnover of £46.8m at the same stage last year. The firm’s managing partner Michael Chissick said that the final figure was just £137,000 short of […]
Slaughter and May has been hit with criticism over its relationship with Ernst & Young (E&Y) in a judgment relating to its fee-charging in an administration. The firm successfully defended a court application to assess 13 of its invoices, totalling €2.76m (£2.32m), issued during the course of the administration – but not before Mr Registrar […]
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has hired the former global co-chair of DLA Piper’s hospitality and leisure group to its real estate practice. DLA real estate partner Karen Friebe specialises in the acquisition, development and disposal of property in the hotel and leisure sector and will join the firm’s core real estate team at the beginning […]
Freeth Cartwright, Michelmores and Weightmans are among the firms to win first-time slots on Lambeth Borough Council’s legal services panel. A total of 43 firms applied contended for a panel position, which will last for four years and is worth around £3.5m. Pinsent Masons, DAC Beachcroft and Ashfords are among those to have maintained their […]
Davis Polk & Wardwell was once compared to Skadden: a powerhouse in the US, sleepy in London. But then it smelt the coffee and launched an English Law capability in the City with the hire of Freshfields capital markets partner Simon Witty. What of it since? The office certainly isn’t picking up dust. Having hired […]
Travers Smith client Sebastian Holdings has been ordered to pay 85 per cent of the £60m legal bill racked up by Deutsche Bank in an $8bn court showdown between the parties. The bank turned to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partners Andrew Hart, Tom Snelling and Christopher Robinson to lead defence of the mammoth claim, which was heard […]