James Batham, head of the retail sector at Eversheds, has commented on the record retail sales arising from ‘Black Friday’. He said: ‘Retailers are celebrating the significant increase in November sales as a result of the “Black Friday” effect. We have heard that thanks to the interest built up around that day, growth in sales […]
Robin Johnson, partner and co-chair of the cross-border M&A team at Eversheds, has commented on the news that Visteon is set to sell a stake in its air-conditioning business for $3.6bn (£2.9bn). He said: ‘The auto supply chain business is facing a massive change as technology development moves away from moulding and lightweight composites towards […]
Naeema Choudry of Eversheds has commented on the decision of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) on whether EU law protects workers against discrimination on grounds of obesity. The CJEU last week endorsed the advocate-general’s view that there is no general principal of EU law protecting against such discrimination; however, the CJEU has confirmed that, […]
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has been reappointed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as one of 10 firms on its new-look projects panel, but Pinsent Masons has lost its spot. Freshfields’ appointment comes after it was chopped from the roster in 2010. All 10 firms have been appointed for an initial four-year term, with an option […]
Professional negligence claims brought against Nabarro and Weil Gotshal & Manges and due to be heard this year have both settled, it has emerged. Analysis of The Lawyer’s top 20 cases for 2014 (6 January 2014) shows that half of the cases identified as significant at the beginning of this year never reached trial, instead […]
R&R Ice Cream general counsel Francesca Yardley has left Europe’s largest private-label ice cream maker to pursue two new roles in private equity-related start-up companies. Yardley invested in Dragon’s Den contestant Kirsty Henshaw’s healthy ready meal business Kirsty’s and is working part-time in the start-up while providing contract legal advice to private equity house Hambro […]
Australia’s Minter Ellison has bolstered its tax practice with the addition of three partners from rival firm Maddocks. Litigator Carmen McElwain as well as Peter Poulos and Chris Kinsella have moved across with their teams of associates. All three were partners at Maddocks and all three also previously worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where Minter Ellison’s […]
The legal market was far from quiet in November with law firm leaders airing their grievances and banking panels launching and closing. There was also a strong American flavour to the month, with Eversheds seeking a US merger and DLA Piper losing partners to US firms. What managing partners really, really hate It’s not all […]
The last full working week of the year saw Bird & Bird involved in litigation in two countries, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) managing partner Neville Eisenberg step down, and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher hire Kirkland & Ellis big-hitter Stephen Gillespie. Last week was a difficult one for Bird & Bird, with news breaking of two […]
Allen & Overy (A&O), Norton Rose Fulbright, Pinsent Masons and Shepherd & Wedderburn have advised on the financing of a controversial road that will bypass the city of Aberdeen. The £745m Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie to Tipperty project reached financial close last week after a decade of planning and debate that included a trip to […]
Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson has lost a first round for Russian tycoon Sergei Pugachev in the High Court after the billionaire failed in his attempt to lift a $2bn freezing order imposed in July. In the today’s judgment Mr Justice Mann declined to discharge the injuction granted by Mr Justice Henderson and said […]
It’s been a busy year in the legal market. Over the past two weeks we’ve been looking back at the stories of the year, highlighting some of the trends and reminiscing over the news which hit the headlines. Consolidation has been a feature of the sector for some time, and looks unlikely to go away. […]