Sharing legal functions with a neighbouring authority – something 17 local councils have done so far – was a decent enough start. But it’s not enough. As budgets shrink further and privatisation of public sector services increase, local authority legal teams – including Lambeth, Buckinghamshire, Harrow and Cambridgeshire – are close to launching an ABS […]
Trowers & Hamlins is putting secretarial jobs at risk across all of its UK offices with the potential of launching a formal consultation over the next few months. The firm employs around 100 non-lawyer staff in its offices across Birmingham, London, Exeter and Manchester and has asked if secretaries are willing to take voluntary redundancy. […]
What would be the impact of a merger between Clifford Chance and Linklaters? Or if Allen & Overy had successfully pursued plans to tie up with Freshfields, as it mooted back in 2006? The Chinese legal market is on the cusp of such a monumental change, with top-tier firms Jun He and Zhong Lun in […]
Allen & Overy Amsterdam has introduced a series of breakfast meetings called ‘Early Birds’, which is organised by the firm’s Amsterdam financial regulatory team and meant for financial regulatory and compliance experts. In these meetings, new legislation will be discussed, with a focus on its interpretation as well as the consequences for clients’ organisations and […]
Conyers Dill & Pearman has advised China Metal Resources Utilization on the $90m (£54m) listing of shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company is the successor to Gushan Environmental Energy, a Cayman incorporated company for which Conyers has acted since its incorporation in 2006. Gushan was listed on the New York Stock Exchange […]
Conyers Dill & Pearman has advised Abu Dhabi Capital Management (ADCM) on the formation and certain legal documentation of a Cayman domiciled real-estate acquisition vehicle that acquired 1 Palace Street, a Grade II-listed former hotel building located close to Buckingham Gate in London. The building comprises 245,000ft² of development space, which will produce 78 luxury […]
German firm Noerr has reported market-beating turnover growth for 2013, with revenues rising from €170m in 2012 to €190.8m (£159m) last year. The 12.3 per cent increase follows a 7 per cent rise in turnover last year (13 March 2013). The firm’s German offices performed most strongly, with domestic revenue increasing by 15.2 per cent […]
Allen & Overy has advised the Flemish Region and PMV/Via-Invest Vlaanderen NV, an investment vehicle of the Flemish Region, on the development of the A11 highway in Belgium. The project is the first Belgian public-private partnership (PPP) to be wholly financed by means of a project bond and the first greenfield project (one that involves […]
The legal team at Cambridgeshire County Council is considering setting up an ABS vehicle in a bid to cut the council’s legal expenditure. The team, which merged its legal function with Northamptonshire County Council’s in 2010 (26 April 2010), has already prepared its ABS application as the council faces a reported £37m in budget cuts. However […]
Public sector lawyers have a lot to put up with. First savage budget cuts, and now outsourcing giants like Capita are circling. But a few local authority legal teams are starting to fight back. Find out how by reading the stories below Local authority law: Public enterprise Public sector roundtable: Authority figures Lambeth London Borough […]
JP Morgan’s £130m legal battle with Berlin’s public transport provider BVG in which Clifford Chance was implicated for allegedly providing negligent advice has settled. The mammoth battle was one of the first cases involving derivatives concluded by European public bodies to get to trial. Transport provider BVG was accused by JP Morgan of having spread risk […]
Trowers & Hamlins has expanded its national practice groups to include a dedicated public sector division in its Birmingham base. The firm plans to relocate partner Amardeep Gill from London to Birmingham to head up the team there from 1 April. Under senior partner Jennie Gubbins the firm adopted a strategy based around five groups […]