A new breed of young lawyer is seeking to reform the legal sector, according to Eversheds’ recent ‘21st Century Law Firm: Inheriting a New World’ report. The law firm’s research revealed young lawyers’ global ambition and desire to modernise the more traditional aspects of the legal profession. According to the report, young lawyers are in […]
Structured trade and commodity finance (STCF) is central to international trade and is progressively becoming an important source of finance for Chinese companies, given that China is now the most significant player in the commodities market. Since the introduction of the free-trade zones (FTZs) in China, there has been increasing discussion among Chinese leaders on […]
DLA Piper has advised European DIY retail network Leroy Merlin on the construction and opening of its second hypermarket in Brovarskyi prospect 3V in Kyiv, with the intention of further expansion throughout Ukraine in future. The transaction consisted of an acquisition of a Ukrainian company that held the land titles for the plot and subsequent […]
Insurance giant Direct Line Group (DLG) has become the latest new entrant to the legal services market, with the announcement today that the Solicitors Regulatory Association (SRA) has authorised it as an ABS. The group’s new legal services subsidiary, DLG Legal Services, is set to launch on 3 March. It will offer legal services to […]
Nationwide Building Society has cut its panel to four after dropping Olswang, Nabarro and Burges Salmon from its roster. Allen & Overy (A&O) and Eversheds have retained their spots on the general panel following an internal review led by general counsel Liz Kelly, with Addleshaw Goddard and Linklaters added to the list. This is Nationwide’s first general […]
London’s mayor is all bluster but produces little action for fellow cyclists, says the lawyer in the capital who several weeks ago forced prosecutors to drop a fixed-penalty fine in a landmark decision. Oliver Jeffcott, an associate at Islington-based Bolt Burdon Kemp, acted at the end of last year for a cyclist who had challenged […]
Running a panel review can be time-consuming and costly. Which may explain why, after mulling over the idea for some time, public services provider Amey has decided not to bother. Instead it’s plumped for an informal referral system. The company currently instructs Morgan Cole and Pinsent Masons, but Amey senior counsel Paolo Steffenini has not […]
Linklaters has won a mandate from HM Treasury to advise on its first-ever Sukuk issue. The project will be led out of Linklaters’ City office by capital markets partner Elaine Keats. Her team will be supported by the firm’s global head of Islamic finance Neil Miller and capital markets partner Richard O’Callaghan, both based in […]
Lewis Silkin’s client House of Fraser (HoF) has lost a High Court battle against Jack Wills for infringing its company logo of a pheasant in a top hat and cane. Preppy fashion label Jack Wills instructed Mishcon de Reya after finding that a pigeon in a hat logo on some of HoF’s clothing is too […]
Scottish firm Maclay Murray & Spens has elected corporate head Kenneth Shand as its next chief executive, following the decision of Chris Smylie to stand down at the end of his three-year term. Glasgow-based Shand will take over from Smylie on 1 June. Until Smylie returns to his role as a planning partner at the […]
No5 Chambers barrister Peter Goatley has acted for Persimmon in an appeal that saw the planning inspectorate uphold Persimmon’s appeal against Stratford District Council’s decision to refuse permission for 81 dwellings in Bishops Itchington. The council conceded that it did not have a five-year housing land supply and that the site constituted sustainable development. However, […]
No5 Chambers members Hugh Richards and James Corbet Burcher will be speaking at the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects Applications Master Class 2014. The practical master class will bring together planning experts to provide guidance to help attendees take their nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP) application from start to finish. Richards and Burcher will be speaking on day […]