Appleby granted first offshore law firm licence
Global legal services provider Appleby has become the first offshore law firm licensed to provide offshore legal advice in mainland China, where it has had a base in Shanghai since 2012.
The company says having the formal permission to offer offshore legal advice to clients within China “is a key milestone in its strategic plan”.
Partner Malcolm Moller is to lead the development of the company’s offering in China, supported in Shanghai by associate Kate Li and fiduciary head of business development in China Scott Reid, as well as the firm’s Greater China team which includes over 15 partners and fee-earners based in Hong Kong.
Clifford Chance leads magic circle firms’ promotions in Asia
News from Clifford Chance that seven of its 21 newly-appointed partners are located in Asia shows leading global firms are increasingly looking east when it comes to finding new partners.
Clifford Chance had the largest promotions round in the region of all the magic circle firms, with
Linklaters making up six out of a total 21 promotions. Allen & Overy promoted three in Asia and, for the first time since it launched in Australia in 2010, promoted two in the jurisdiction.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, however, kept its eyes on the West with eight of its 15 promotions happening in Europe and just one in Tokyo.
Top US firms advise on Energizer Holdings breakup
Four major US firms are handling corporate splits at Energizer Holdings and Alliant Techsystems.
St. Louis–based manufacturer Energizer Holdings announced plans Wednesday to divide into two publicly traded companies, one of which will focus on the Eveready and Energizer and another specializing in consumer and personal care brands.
A press release put out by Energizer states that it has retained Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Bryan Cave to “advise on the separation process.”
Bryan Cave has been a longtime legal adviser to Energizer. Former firm partner Mark LaVigne advised the company on its $1.9 billion acquisition of Playtex Products in 2007 and $275 million buy of Edge/Skintimate in 2009.
Brothers on both sides of GE's Alstom bid
GE has put in a US$16.9 billion bid for French conglomerate Alstrom, which makes up about 70% of the target's operations. Sitting at the helm of GE is Jeffrey Immelt, the brother of Stephen Immelt, who on July 1 will become sole CEO of
Hogan Lovells—one of a half-dozen firms advising Alstom on the negotiations between the two multinational companies.
Hogan Lovells grabbed a key role in the potential deal and firm partner Jacques Derenne, head of Hogan Lovells' antitrust, competition and market regulation practice in Brussels, is advising Alstom on the matter. Rachel Brandenburger, a foreign legal consultant and senior antitrust adviser in New York who joined the firm in February, is also reportedly counseling the suburban Paris–based company.
In December, Hogan Lovells announced that global co-head of litigation and arbitration Stephen Immelt would become the sole CEO of the 2,313-lawyer Swiss verein. At the time that Immelt is the brother of Jeffrey Immelt, who has served as CEO of GE since the retirement of longtime leader Jack Welch in 2000.
Last month, Alstom turned to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for counsel on its roughly US$1 billion sale of a steam components and thermal power unit. Patton Boggs is also representing the company in a long-running bribery probe by the Justice Department that has resulted in charges against several former executives.
Slaughter and May raise salaries for associates and trainees
Slaughter and May has become the first magic circle firm to announce pay rises in 2014, with NQs at the firm’s UK offices now earning £65,000 (NZ$126512).
The firm had been the worst-paying in the magic circle, but from 1 May its trainees and associates started taking home the same or more than their peers at Linklaters, Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy.
| |
1st Seat Trainee |
NQ |
1PQE |
2PQE |
3PQE |
| Slaughter and May |
£39,500 (£39,000) |
£65,000 (£63,000) |
£70,000 (£69,500) |
£79,000 (£78,000) |
£89,000 (£87,500) |
| Allen & Overy |
£39,000 |
£64,000 |
£69,500 |
£78,500 |
£89,000 |
| Clifford Chance |
£39,000 |
£63,500 |
£69,500 |
£78,200 |
£87,800 |
| Freshfields |
£39,000 |
£65,000 |
£72,500 |
£80,000 |
£90,000 |
| Linklaters |
£39,500 |
£64,000 |
£69,500 |
£78,250 |
£89,000 |
*
Table Source: RollonFriday
