Ashurst excels in Chambers’ Australian rankings

Ashurst excels in Chambers’ Australian rankings
Ashurst has attained the largest number of practice rankings of any firm in Australia for the second year running in the Chambers Asia Pacific Guide.

The firm achieved Band 1 rankings in 12 practice areas and new or improved rankings in three practice areas in Australia. It also scored in 35 practice areas for Asia Pacific along with 157 individual rankings.

"To receive the largest number of practice rankings of any firm in Australia is a testament to the quality of our partnership and our exceptional team,” commented Ashurst regional head Australia Phil Breden.
 
NRF merger strengthens South Africa presence
Norton Rose Fulbright has announced a tie-up with South African law firm Keller Snyman Schelhase.

The Cape Town-based firm which was established in 2012 will join NRF on 1^st February with Andrea Keller, Anton Schelhase and Lauren Fine joining NRF as directors.

The combination will bring Norton Rose Fulbright’s partners in the Cape to 33 and will boost its regional presence which includes offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Casablanca and Dar es Salaam and strategic alliances in Uganda, Burundi, Zimbabwe and Kenya. 
 
Kennedys re-elects senior partner
Nick Thomas is remaining in position as senior partner at international firm Kennedys following an uncontested ballot.

Thomas joined the firm 40 years ago as a trainee and become senior partner in 1997. Since then, the firm has grown from 25 partners in 2 offices in the UK, to 197 partners across 27 locations, 17 of them international including Sydney, Auckland, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The firm has recently added an office in Mexico and an Italian association to its expanding global coverage.
 
McCartney hopes to win legal battle that Duran Duran lost
Last year, eighties legends Duran Duran lost a legal battle with their publisher Sony/ATV in which they tried to regain control of some of their songs but a court ruled that English contract law prevented them from doing so, even in another jurisdiction.

Now, Sir Paul McCartney is trying to get a better result with a lawsuit against Sony/ATV to ensure that he regains rights to certain Beatles songs in 2018. The package of songs was previously owned by Michael Jackson but was sold back to Sony/ATV by his estate after his death.

The Hollywood Reporter says that McCartney has been serving termination notices under US copyright law, but following the defeat for Duran Duran he  wants to ensure that he gets confirmation that he will regain rights to songs including Hey Jude and Yesterday.

McCartney is represented by Morrison Foerster.