Associate life: the new recruitment battleground
Top firms, whether global or local, need top recruits. Their ideal shopping list includes fluent English and a good master’s… read more
It is ironic at a time when high–calibre associates are in such demand across Europe, with firms of all kinds vying for their affection, that the choices available to young lawyers are becoming increasingly limited. … read more
Much recent debate has focused on the perceived decline in US capital markets. Last November the ‘Paulson Committee’ on capital markets regulation issued a highly-publicised report identifying a substantial reduction in the US share of exchange listings – which it attributed, among other factors, to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and the US litigation climate. In January a McKinsey study cited similar concerns as threats to New York City’s continued success as an international financial centre. These emerging challenges – whose causes and very existence are hotly contested – arise even as European and other markets (notably, London’s AIM market) have actively been seeking to expand the range of opportunities available to corporate issuers.… read more
Should a law firm register its name as a trademark? This is the question being asked by independent outfits up and down the country following a recent Supreme Court ruling. The Court’s decision, to the effect that no professional association can incorporate the designation ‘Studio Legale Carnelutti’, is the culmination of a ten-year legal dispute between two leading Italian partnerships: Arnaboldi Bastianini Rittatore & Partners, which has defiantly continued to use the Carnelutti name; and Vita Samory Fabbrini e Associati, whose lawyers were part of Carnelutti … read more
Although Latvian Venture Capital Association was established not that long ago, several risk capital firms have been active on the market for almost a decade. Their common decision to form an industry association was a logical solution driven by the need to popularise the concept of venture capital in Latvia. Currently, Latvian Ventura Capital Association is a member of the European Venture Capital Association and does participate in different projects, such as publishing of risk capital handbook and organising of different business case studies. Attorneys-at-law Liepa, Skopina/BORENIUS is currently the only law firm, which is a member of Latvia Venture Capital Association and accordingly has developed some insider knowledge about the industry and implementation of risk capital projects in Latvia. As a result, this article provides a short overview of the legal environment applicable to venture capital activities in Latvia as well as touches upon some cases where risk capital was the chosen mode of financing in substitution of the traditional financing methods. … read more
Where the legal labourers are few
Asked why there are so few lawyers from continental Europe in the Middle East, a legal veteran with two decades experience working in the region replied: “It’s simple, people don’t want to live here.” Few Westerners cherish the thought of being based in a location where eight months of the year you gasp for air in the humid 50°C heat – despite all the extraordinary indoor luxuries such as artificial ski slopes and extravagant Turkish baths. … read more
With an estimated global worth of over US$400 billion and an expected continued growth rate of 20 per cent per annum, the market for Islamic financial products has garnered considerable attention from the international financial world. From consumer products tailored for local individuals to large-scale financings targeting global investors, the range of Islamically-compatible financial products has broadened significantly in the last few years. The last 18 months in particular have witnessed a substantial upsurge in the market as the petro-economies in the Middle East continued to see exponential growth and both regional and international investors grew increasingly comfortable with Sharia-compliant financial products. Moody’s estimates there are currently 250 Islamic mutual funds operating with US$300 billion of assets, 300 Islamic financial institutions holding US$250 billion of assets and nearly US$200 billion of assets held in ‘Islamic windows’ (ie, Islamically-compliant subsets of conventional banks). As this developing sector will continue to play an important role in capital market transactions, there is an increasing demand for market professionals to understand how these financial products function. … read more
Two Swedish film directors are currently suing the country’s commercial terrestrial channel TV4 claiming it violated the integrity of their movies and their moral rights by showing advertisements when they were broadcast. According to Peter Danowsky, the partner with Stockholm firm Danowsky & Partners acting for the network, it is not the narrow legal point so much as the existence of the case itself that is emblematic of Sweden.… read more
US counsel backfooted over back- datingUS corporate counsel are coming under increased pressure in the US investment funds scandal as an action involving computer manufacturer Apple intensifies. The IT giant is currently involved in a huge class action led by the New York City Employees Retirement System pension scheme following its appointment as leader of the case in January. … read more
The rise of private equity (PE) is an undoubted success story for Europe’s legal practitioners. Law firms of all sizes are capitalising on the fact that what was previously a small industry for canny investment funds has grown into the dominant force behind corporate deals both in the US and EU, with almost any public company today a possible target. But while law firms are boosting revenues and unsurprisingly want the market to continue to grow, other observers are more than a little worried that PE is moving into ever riskier territory and have called for increased regulation to stabilise the sector.… read more
The legal principle of ‘universal jurisdiction’ permits, and at times requires, states to prosecute certain crimes under international law, regardless of where they were committed, the nationality or location of the suspect or victims and irrespective of any specific connection to the prosecuting state, on the basis that the crimes offend the international community as a whole and all have an inherent interest and responsibility to ensure perpetrators of such crimes do not evade justice. … read more
Albert Birkner has replaced Edith Hlawati as managing partner of CHSH. Admitted as a lawyer in Austria and an international lawyer in the Czech Republic, he has been with the firm since 1995. A banking and corporate finance partner, predominantly in mergers and acquisitions, takeover law and privatisations, Mr Birkner is also the head of CHSH’s mergers and acquisitions practice group. … read more
Significant partner depletion at Lawfort, reducing the firm by almost half, has exposed the perils of determining strategy in the Belgian market. … read more
Further to our coverage in issue 64, leading labour law practice Barthélémy & Associés has now split apart after an internal disagreement over how to handle its future strategy, resulting in the creation of two firms. The smaller part retains the Barthélémy brand and includes founding father, Clermont Ferrand-based Jacques Barthélémy, and five offices.… read more
The recent award on 28 December to IBM and Siemens of the tender for upgrading and unifying the Bundeswehr’s non-military IT systems marks the commencement of Europe’s biggest PPP project ever. But not only does Herkules, as the project is appropriately termed, have a record contract volume of €7.1 billion, it also represents the leading edge of European and German PPP law. … read more
The recently announced business combination of the NYSE and Euronext, which operates securities markets in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon, has raised some interesting questions over the extraterritorial reach of US securities law. It is well established that various US statutes can, and do, reach beyond its territory and the country’s securities laws are among those with the greatest sweeping extraterritorial effect – causing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in some cases to curb this long arm, with regulations adopted under the Securities Act of 1933 (the ‘Securities Act’) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ‘Exchange Act’).… read more
The English jurisdiction is arrogant but undeniably effective. A judge of the High Court of England & Wales may make a freezing order that is effective worldwide, in support of substantive proceedings that have been issued elsewhere and, if necessary, without giving notice to the defendants – a tool lawyers Europe-wide may find useful in applying pressure to cases in other, slower-moving jurisdictions. … read more
EU contract law: missing in action
Two recent consumer-focused initiatives that fall within the Commission’s European contract law project have left some observers asking what has happened to the project’s grander objectives. First, in December 2006 the European Commission published a detailed academic study on member states’ enactment of eight EU consumer law directives, which included recommendations to remove ambiguities, incoherencies and barriers to trade arising from the national implementations. Secondly, the Commission has now published its own green paper on the reform of the consumer acquis. It seems that the larger contract law project has fallen by the wayside.… read more
The time when marketing was the poor relation in law firms has long passed. Instead, nowadays we often find instances of the marketing tail wagging the practice dog.… read more
The Middle East is aptly named, if its central position in the expansion strategies of many leading law firms is anything to go by. With 2006 performance results reportedly confirming that the region generated the second-largest project deal value after Western Europe, firms like the UK’s Lovells and the US’s King & Spalding are the latest in a long line of bees swarming to the big-ticket honey. High oil prices, a significant increase in infrastructure development and privatisation activity, a thriving real estate sector, along with high returns for private equity from the IPO market, are all good news for investors in the region and, of course, their lawyers. … read more
The Gowers Review of the UK’s IP protection system
The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU (AmCham EU) estimated in 2005 that US businesses have invested almost $1 trillion and account for more than 3.6 million jobs in Europe. Many of these investments and jobs involve intellectual property (IP) rights. AmChamEU also expressed concern that the EU does not at present offer a sufficiently “innovation-friendly marketplace” for many US businesses, due in part to the lack of effective enforcement measures and harmonisation in the IP framework throughout the EU and warned that if these issues are not addressed effectively then US businesses may explore other marketplaces. … read more
Venture capital is regulated in Portugal since 1991 in relation to companies and since 1999 in relation to funds, major changes having been adopted in 2002 to simplify the regime and direct it to venture capital and related activities. In 2004 the laws were adjusted to make the funds’ regulations more flexible and converge both the funds and companies’ regime. … read more
Hostility in the Spanish private equity arena
The Spanish private equity market may not be the world’s largest but according to the recent years’ trend it is certainly far from being a quiet environment. In a context of significant growth and consolidation of the economy, players in the local field have been increasingly active in the hunt for valuable transactions and their focus has widened considerably. Deals are now more complex (and so are the financial arrangements around them), the types of equity and debt structures involved have diversified and the use of the stock markets as playground has become more frequent as it ever was.… read more
Going private: transactions by private equity funds in Germany
Takeovers of publicly listed companies by private equity funds have been treated by the media as one of the ‘hot topics’ for private equity in Germany for more than a decade. In comparison to media attention, actual transaction activity has, however, been disappointingly low. On the high end, the market is still waiting for the first takeover bid by a private equity fund for a ‘DAX 30’ company. On the low end of the market, legal complexity and transaction costs for going-private transactions are largely considered excessive in comparison to the size of the transaction. Most notably, even small going-private transactions often ended up in costly litigation with minority shareholders (in particular ‘professional minority shareholders’ specialising in generating hold-up value for their personal benefit as well as shareholder rights organisations closely associated with specialised litigation lawyers). Recent amendments to Germany’s Takeover Act (Wertpapiererwerbs- und Übernahmegesetz / WpÜG) will help to make takeovers of listed companies by private equity funds more attractive and less exposed to litigation.… read more
An insight into today’s global private equity market
For many, the words ‘hostile’ or ‘overpriced’ are reminiscent of the early ’90s when the M&A market was particularly active and the infamous technology bubble was on the horizon. Today, these words seem to be inherent in the global private equity markets and despite a record 2006, they have diverted attention away from the opportunities the sector has brought, and is likely to bring to the global marketplace.… read more
Structuring the ‘management deal’ for private equity investment in Italy
Average deal size in Italy: increasing importance of the management factorThe Italian private equity and venture capital industry has been characterized in the recent past by an average deal size which clearly shows a majority (by number not by volume) of investments in small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Statistics by AIFI (Italian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association) confirm this trend together with a very good development of the market in spite of the lack of mega deals.… read more
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