Month: February 2011

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Kop Kings – Liverpool FC

From the fields of Anfield Road to the offices on Bunhill Row, the takeover of Liverpool Football Club was played out in the full glare of the courts and the press. Legal Business talks to the key legal players

When John William Henry II descended the curving flight of stairs into the cool, inconspicuous client reception at Slaughter and May’s offices on Bunhill Row on the afternoon of 15 October 2010, he was met by an unusual sight. As the threshold of a law firm that has long prided itself on its understated manner, it’s usually exceptionally quiet. But that afternoon there was little evidence of calm: pandemonium had taken hold.

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Litigation round table

Trends in international commercial litigation were to the fore in the second Legal Business round table in conjunction with McCann FitzGerald. From the globalisation of disputes to rising levels of disclosure and tougher regulators there was plenty on the agenda

There has arguably never been a better time to be a litigator. Although the much-anticipated tsunami of litigation has not hit the market, there has been a discernible rise in disputes, which more often than not require a litigator to keep them out of the courts.

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Worlds colliding

The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, dreaded by the offshore world, has now been agreed. LB finds out why the offshore world’s law firms are still smiling

After laboured negotiations and more than 30 drafts, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) Directive was finally approved by the EU parliament in November 2010. As the terms were thrashed out in the preceding 18 months, the funds industry held its breath, stifling funds activity both on and offshore. The offshore world is now resting a little easier.

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Going solo

Equity partners from a number of big Austrian firms have decided to go it alone, setting up boutiques over the past 12 months. Legal Business explores the impact these moves are having on the market.

In the final days of last summer in downtown Vienna, a small law firm opened its doors for the first time. Nothing unusual there, except that this firm, Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte, was opened by five well-respected former DLA Piper Weiss-Tessbach partners who quit in January 2010. When the partners left their old firm, they walked out with a fifth of the firm’s revenue and 40% of its equity partners.

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Eine kleine Nachtmusik

With litigation from the banking crisis now starting to filter through in Austria, most commentators believe that disputes work will be a firm feature of the legal market for the next few years. LB explores some of the biggest trends to emerge from the banking crisis

There have been a few late nights at many of Austria’s top law firms in the past year. At the end of 2009, the government was dealing with the emergency nationalisation of the country’s sixth largest lender, Hypo Group Alpe Adria (HGAA), and Austria’s top lawyers had been called in to help clear up the mess.

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