Europe

New Top Lawyer for Bank of England

As the credit crunch hammers the UK’s financial system, the Bank of England has named Graham Nicholson, a mergers and acquisitions partner at London’s Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, as its in-house chief legal adviser. He is part of a team at the firm advising the bank on the nationalization of mortgage…

Oct 3, 2008 10:43 AM CDT

UK Firms Earn Top Three Spots for Revenue in Global 100

English law firms have an advantage in the American Lawyer’s Global 100 because of profits from their international expansions. Some firms in the United Kingdom are earning more profits from their international offices than from their London bases, the American Lawyer reports. They include Allen & Overy, which is sixth…

Oct 2, 2008 12:04 PM CDT

After Big Lottery Win, 18-Year-Old Still Plans Legal Career

She no longer has any need for the income that a legal career will bring. But 18-year-old Ianthe Fullagar is still planning to pursue a law degree, after a holiday in Egypt. And, says the United Kingdom teen, the $12.5 million or so (in U.S. dollars) that she just won…

Sep 30, 2008 11:22 PM CDT

Double Trouble for Italian Attorney & Unlicensed Twin

Overwhelmed with work in her law practice and part-time position as a substitute judge, a 54-year-old Italian attorney allegedly exercised an option that isn’t available to most of her colleagues: She apparently sent her twin to cover her defense caseload when she was called in to work as a judge…

Sep 30, 2008 9:39 PM CDT

Sniper Kills Prisoner at French Jail

In a murder that the London Times describes as akin to a scene from a crime thriller film, a sniper shot and killed a prisoner at a French jail from a hillside outside the facility as the victim reportedly was about to be interrogated concerning a murder case. “French Justice…

Sep 29, 2008 11:43 PM CDT

Willkie Raids Fried Frank’s Frankfurt Office, Plans to Triple German Troops

Willkie Farr & Gallagher has lured a capital markets star from the Frankfurt, Germany, office of Fried Frank, as part of a growth plan that reportedly could triple the New York City-based firm’s German practice within the next few years. Michael Schlitt, who currently heads the German capital markets practice…

Sep 23, 2008 8:10 PM CDT

Tort Suits Claim Chinese Chairs are Toxic

Sitting in an armchair or lying on a sofa isn’t ordinarily considered a hazardous activity. But for well over 1,000 people in several European countries, it allegedly was. After the Chinese manufacturer of furniture distributed by a French company put extra packets of a chemical mold retardant, customers began reporting…

Sep 19, 2008 6:50 PM CDT

Islamic Court Rulings are Enforceable in the United Kingdom

Islamic law now has legal effect in the United Kingdom, under a 1996 arbitration statute that recognizes the rulings of a network of five Shariah courts. Although there was a huge public outcry earlier this year when the Archbishop of Canterbury said that further recognition of such courts in Great…

Sep 19, 2008 5:55 PM CDT

Did a Short-Selling Conspiracy Spark the Stock Market Debacle?

Short-selling of a bank’s stock isn’t illegal. But when investors who are betting that a company’s share price will fall fuel the stock’s downslide with false rumors about the company, that can be a different story. So the New York’s attorney general announced today that he is launching an investigation…

Sep 18, 2008 8:26 PM CDT

Lehman’s UK Lawyers Searching for Work

More than 50 lawyers at Lehman Brothers in the United Kingdom are among those expected to lose their jobs as a result of the investment bank’s bankruptcy. Legal recruiters told Legal Week that 50 to 60 lawyers are expected to be laid off, but many law firms may be interested…

Sep 17, 2008 11:41 AM CDT

Conflict Checks Soar as Worried Clients Call Counsel About Wall Street Woes

A shortage of work is not a problem this week for those in charge of performing client conflict checks at law firms representing major corporations worried about the turmoil on Wall Street. “The number of conflicts searches have skyrocketed” among London law firms since Monday, “even at firms that do…

Sep 16, 2008 8:30 PM CDT

Orrick Merges with 55-Lawyer German Firm

Mergers with German law firms were all the rage in 2001, and then came several years of relative quiet. Now there is a new merger to report: The 55-lawyer German firm Hölters & Elsing will merge with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Orrick chairman and CEO Ralph Baxter told the Daily…

Sep 16, 2008 12:48 PM CDT

New Merger Model? Irish Firms Do 3-Way

Three law firms in Dublin, Ireland, have announced a simultaneous merger into a midsize law partnership incorporating all three names. Sherwin O’Riordan (SOR), Mullany Solicitors and Brendan Walsh & Partners will now be known as SOR Mullany Walsh Solicitors, reports the Irish Times. The firm will handle business and litigation…

Sep 15, 2008 5:00 PM CDT

3 UK Lawyers Charged in $7.6M Extortion Scheme re $54M Da Vinci Painting

Three United Kingdom lawyers reportedly are among a group of five men charged with conspiring or attempting to extort $7.6 million for the safe return of a $54 million Leonardo da Vinci painting stolen from a Scottish castle in 2003. The theft made the FBI’s top 10 list of art…

Sep 12, 2008 6:13 PM CDT

Family Challenges London Police Shooting of Armed Barrister

There’s no dispute that a wealthy London barrister was firing a shotgun from his upscale home this spring, before he was shot and killed by police. But authorities overreacted to a situation in which Mark Saunders, 32, wasn’t a threat, his family contended in a High Court hearing this week.…

Sep 10, 2008 5:55 PM CDT