Back in September 2013, The Lawyer has predicted that there would be a new wave of domestic consolidation among Chinese firms resulting in the emergence of a new look ‘red circle’. Last week, revelations that two of China’s elite firms, Jun He and Zhong Lun, are mulling a possible merger, got the legal market talking. […]
US firms in London continue to be dominated by men, with women representing just 17.6 per cent of UK partners across the top 30 international firms present in the City in 2013. The percentage shows a slight movement on the figure reported in 2012, when sources pointed to a male-dominated lateral hiring market as one […]
DLA Piper, Addleshaw Goddard, Pannone Corporate and TLT have been appointed to the first-ever legal panel installed by online fashion retailer Boohoo.com in the wake of its £560m IPO. Pannone Corporate, which also advised the retailer on its IPO, has been enlisted to advise on IP, corporate, commercial and dispute resolution matters. The firm retained the […]
Littlewoods has been successful in its High Court VAT claim worth more than £1.2bn. The case is a landmark VAT case on whether taxpayers should be paid compound rather than simple interest by HMRC on any overpayments of VAT that they make. Giles Salmond, head of indirect taxes and tax dispute resolution at Eversheds, has […]
Walker Morris will hold the first of its new programme of employment breakfast seminars in Leeds on 7 April 2014. The seminar will cover key developments over the last six months with a focus on: ‘need to know’ recent changes including ACAS early conciliation, financial penalties for employers and practical implications of case law developments; […]
Ian Bridge, a specialist fraud practitioner from No5 Chambers, has successfully defended a North Wales business man who found himself facing eight separate allegations of fraud on his company, which at the time was indebted to the Natwest Bank. According to No5 Chambers, although the business was solvent it was referred to the RBS global […]
Sports law experts at No5 Chambers have been instructed to represent a respected boxing manager whose licence was recently withdrawn by the British Boxing Board of Control. Barristers Philip Williams and Rupert Beloff are representing Bruce Baker, chairman of the Professional Boxing Promoters Association (PBPA), along with David Young, the barrister who has been leading them in the recent British […]
After 30 years in the City, you might think that a corporate partner would want to put his or her feet up. This is not the case at Freshfields. Over the last six months no fewer than four high-profile partners have landed plum roles outside the magic circle firm. First came former managing partner Ted […]
David Mason QC, head of No5 Chambers’ criminal group, has said that the government has suspended the introduction of proposed cuts to fees in the Crown Court and that he is deeply concerned about the persistent stance of reducing fees in respect of VHCC fees and litigators’ fees. Mason said: ‘The efforts to fight the […]
Barristers on the Northern Circuit are leading opposition to a controversial deal between criminal bar leaders and the government cut last week in a bid to settle a dispute over ministers’ plans to slash legal aid rates. An extraordinary general meeting of the Criminal Bar Association has been called for this Wednesday, with Northern Circuit […]
Isn’t it great when a plan comes together? After almost a decade of hard work, a raft of firms has finally managed to reach financial close on the Mersey Gateway Project – solidifying plans for a shiny new toll bridge linking Runcorn and Widnes. DLA Piper, Ashurst, DWF and Freshfields were among the firms to […]
DLA Piper has advised the global infrastructure arm of QIC in relation to its participation in the consortium that will fund the construction of and own the AUD3bn (£1.7bn) NorthConnex motorway in north-west Sydney. The other members of the consortium with QIC are Transurban and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). DLA Piper partners […]