Freshfields grows Singapore practice with transfer of global head
Freshfields is relocating its global head of arbitration, Lucy Reed, from Hong Kong to Singapore in an effort to grow its disputes offering in the city-state. Reed moved to Hong Kong from New York two years ago to help invigorate the firm's Asia-wide litigation practice, alongside global investigations co-head Geoff Nicholas, who transferred from London for a temporary period, and her move to Singapore comes as the magic circle firm looks to expand its Southeast Asia base, which re-opened in September 2012 more than five years after closing.
DLA Piper, Pillsbury veterans start DC real estate group
Morris, Manning & Martin, a mid-size law firm with roots in Atlanta, has formed a new Washington DC-based real estate practice with two ‘big law’ veterans – Betsy Karmin, a former real estate partner at DLA Piper and Wendy White, the former head of Pillsbury Winthrop’s DC real estate practice.
Linklaters appoints first female London corporate chief
Linklaters has appointed partner Sarah Wiggins to lead the City corporate practice, as predecessor Shane Griffin’s four-year term comes to an end.
Wiggins already has already served in leadership roles within the firm, including acting as co-head of global chemicals and leader of the corporate natural resources group in the City.
In its latest promotions round, Linklaters significantly increased the number of female lawyers made up into its partnership. This year, 43% of its new partners are women compared to 13% in 2013.
Kirkland advises on latest pharma mega-deal
Kirkland & Ellis is the latest US firm to reap the benefits of the recent boom in healthcare–related M&As. The firm is advising Bristol-Myers Squibb on its agreement to buy biotechnology company iPierian for up to US$725m.
The deal comes on the heels of a string of major transactions in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, led by Valeant Pharmaceuticals' US$46bn hostile bid for Botox maker Allergan and Pfizer's announcement that it is seeking a US$99bn purchase of UK counterpart AstraZeneca. Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis also announced a series of restructuring deals with GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly last week, while Forest Laboratories said Monday it will pay up to $1.46bn to buy Furiex Pharmaceuticals.
Herbert Smith Freehills appoints five new partners
Herbert Smith Freehills has made up five partners in its London litigation department in this year’s promotion round, which sees the City office gain 11 new partners out of a global tally of 23.
The appointments cover nine of the firm’s 20 offices and are split evenly between the UK and EMEA region (12) and Asia Pacific (11).
This is the second partner promotion round since the Anglo-Australian merger that created the firm in 2012.
