The Maryland Office of Public Defender recently announced it will no longer contract with private attorneys to handle an estimated 10,000 cases annually in which it has conflicts because the office has no money to pay them. The office handles about 200,000 cases per year, of which about 5 percent, or 10,000, involve indigent defendants […]
Regional firm Blake Lapthorn has become the latest firm to launch a redundancy consultation, with up to 43 jobs under threat.
The firm launched the review today (30 September), with the process expected to be completed within weeks. The redundancies are likely to affect the firm’s offices in London and across the southeast.
Commenting on the consultation process, Blake Lapthorn senior partner Jonathon Lloyd-Jones said: “Over many months, we have taken steps to review and restructure o
With Monday’s news that Citigroup will swallow up Wachovia’s banking operations in an FDIC-brokered $2.1 billion deal, it’s clear that the tempest roiling Wall Street is not through claiming major victims — and Congress’ vote not to approve a $700 billion bailout package suggests the storm is not about to blow itself out. To assess […]
Regional law firm Cobbetts has kicked off its second redundancy consultation in as many months with up to 40 fee earners likely to face the axe.
The launch of today’s (30 September) consultation follows the end of a redundancy review in August. The consultation resulted in six redundancies, including four associates in its domestic conveyancing and professional support departments earlier this month.
The current review is set to affect the firm’s offices in Birmingham, Leeds and Manch
Ashurst has advised Virgin on its successful claim that BSkyB flouted competition laws by claiming a 17.9% stake in ITV in 2006.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled in Virgin’s favour, agreeing with the decision made by the Competition Commission and business secretary John Hutton that it must reduce its holding in the UK broadcaster to less than 7.5%.
The team from Ashurst was led by London’s head of EU and competition, Nigel Parr, partner Duncan Liddell and associate Ross Mc
Allen & Overy has opened its first office in Brazil with the formal launch of its Sao Paulo base today (30 September).
As previously reported by Legal Week (4 September), the office, which will focus on corporate finance work, will be led by New York-based project finance partner Bob Kartheiser, who also co-heads the firm’s Latin-America practice group.
Kartheiser will split his time between New York and Brazil while senior counsel Bruno Soares has relocated to Brazil full-time. The o
Large global corporations are slowing their spending on legal fees, both for in-house and outside legal counsel — but compensation to lawyers is still on the rise, according to a survey of 223 companies done by legal consultant Hildebrandt International. Lawyer pay — including base salary and bonuses — increased by an average of 8 […]
Herbert Smith’s Dutch ally Stibbe has bagged lead roles advising on the state bailouts of Belgian banking leaders Fortis and Dexia.
The firm is advising the Belgian Government, which has taken minority stakes in both of the troubled banks.
Stibbe’s Brussels office has played the lead role on both transactions with corporate partners Olivier Clevenbergh and Marc Fyon and finance partner Ivan Peeters advising.
Facebook has hired a Republican party insider as its new general counsel, one of the most highly-coveted in-house roles in the market, reports The Recorder.
Theodore Ullyot - a Kirkland & Ellis partner who has worked in the Bush White House and the Alberto Gonzales Department of Justice - will head Facebook’s legal department, the social networking site announced on Monday (29 September).
“It is a fascinating company - it’s dynamic, it’s innovative,” Ullyot, 41, said. “From a lawyer
After selling off $1.75bn (£970m) in assets to Barclays, bankrupt giant Lehman Brothers is to sell much of its money management business, including its asset management unit, Neuberger Berman, to Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman for about $2.15bn (£1.19bn) in cash, reports The American Lawyer.
The Neuberger business is among the biggest outstanding issues for Lehman. Weil Gotshal & Manges, Lehman’s bankruptcy counsel, is handling the deal on Lehman’s end.
A twelve-partner team from