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Europe’s legal powerhouse back on track
The German legal market has been through a turbulent period like no other in Europe. First there was the invasion of UK law firms … read more
The rule of law is now part of the legal profession’s common vernacular to an extent that was unthinkable even ten years ago. It is the subject of countless conferences, task forces, academic treatises, think tanks, articles, editorials – including many in this journal – and conversations involving lawyers across the globe. … read more
In-house lawyers break down walls
It’s 1982. Prince William is born in London. Poland’s Lech Walesa is released from prison for leading the Solidarity union. Italy wins the football World Cup. And in the US, 52 lawyers gather to form a professional association for in-house counsel. … read more
The distinguishing feature of l’Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats (AIJA) as opposed to other international groups of legal practitioners – pointed out newly-appointed first vice president Duarte de Athayde at the annual conference in August – is the organisation’s 45-year-old age limit. So, given that it is now 45 years since an intrepid band of European attorneys set into motion their dream of an international union of young lawyers, there is no doubt that a highly symbolic benchmark has been reached.… read more
Norway continues to ride the crest of an economic wave as the price of oil and gas, of which it possesses an abundance, remains high. The most prominent example of the energy sector feeding into commerical work was the completion this year of the tie-up between the country’s two biggest and partially state-owned companies Norsk Hydro and Statoil. … read more
Continued failure by the EU to take forward the idea of a new community patent was thrown into relief last month when the French parliament and senate ratified the London Agreement, a measure designed to make the existing fragmented European patent application system easier. Over a period of many years there has been an attempt to harmonise the patents system within the union, but EU proposals have been dogged by arguments over language and the workability of a new patents model. This new development will put further pressure on member states to go back to the drawing board. … read more
Greece has been enjoying a prolonged period of sustained commercial activity according to lawyers working in Athens. In addition there are a number of proposals for privatisation which would see a fillip of transactions across the telecommunications, electricity and ports sectors. But the next few months will be a testing time. The credit crunch that continues to threaten the US economy could chill the Greek market, which is heavily reliant on foreign investors, and the planned privatisations are by no means certainties, since the reforming government is very cautious despite its September re-election.… read more
This summer, President Bush signed into law legislation authorising the electronic surveillance of international telephone conversations and emails, even if one of the participants is a US citizen on American soil, as long as the intercept is undertaken for foreign intelligence purposes and is “directed … read more
Field Fisher Waterhouse has recruited a team of EU regulatory and litigation lawyers from the Brussels office of US firm McKenna Long & Aldridge. Koen Van Maldegem, Claudio Mereu, formerly managing partner with Mckenna Long & Aldridge, and Ruxandra Cana are all to join as partners.… read more
Gleiss Lutz has advised Italian investment bank Gruppo Banca Leonardo on its merger with German M&A advisory firm Drueker & Co, which creates one of the largest independent investment banks in Europe. Completion of the transaction, which still requires the approval of Banca d’Italia, is envisaged for late 2007. Acting in co-operation with Italian firm d’Urso Munari Gatti, the Gleiss Lutz team was led by Alexander Schwarz. … read more
Microsoft master class: Chicago school’s out
After a nine-year case, involving three statements of objection from the Commission, three responses from Microsoft and a protracted hearing last spring, the long-awaited Microsoft judgment last month closed a controversial chapter in EU competition policy.… read more
Ciphering the FSA’s declining caseload
There has been marked reduction in the number of successful enforcement cases brought by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) for market abuse in recent years. Last year the FSA successfully completed only two cases, as compared to ten in 2004. This year, to date, aside from obtaining an injunction to freeze the proceeds of suspected market abuse, there have been no successful market abuse cases. … read more
In-house, but still out of doors
On 17 September, the European Court of First Instance (CFI) rendered its much-anticipated judgment in Akzo Nobel (joined cases T-125/03 and T-253/03) concerning the scope and application of legal professional privilege (LPP) in the context of EU competition law investigations. … read more
JeantetAssociés is searching for a merger opportunity with a smaller Paris firm, it has revealed, as part of a strategy to grow rapidly its corporate, finance and litigation practices. Currently the firm has 22 partners, but is aiming for 30. Jeantet underlined it does not want to cherry-pick individuals, but rather bring aboard significant groups of partners and associates. An alternative approach would be to acquire a large team, or two, from rival firms.… read more
Rodrigo Uría: a European lawyer
Rodrigo Uría passed away unexpectedly on 17 July, while on holiday in Croatia. … read more
Following the merger of Hemmelrath and Partners with French accountants Mazars earlier this year, Hemmelrath’s legal arm is to fuse with Paris firm François Sagasser & Associés, as well as Mazars lawyers from Spain and Italy. … read more
With the evolution of search engine technology, highlighted by the inexorable rise of Google (see the European Lawyer cover story, issue 69), everyone wants to play at being an online detective. Technology circles are awash with talk of so-called ‘semantic web searches’ – that is, sites which have the ability to look at context, not just content. But unsurprisingly, their use is not without legal issues.… read more
Toy soldiers: lawyers on the product safety frontline
German business newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung recently published a cartoon where a man and a woman are sitting on wooden boxes in an empty room, dressed in their underwear. A transistor radio is the only appliance in the room. The couple listens to the news presenter on the radio: “Subsequent to furniture, carpets, lining and summer clothing, producers are now recalling transistor radios from Chinese production, as they contain toxic heavy metals.”… read more
Are UK company law changes all an Act?
Further provisions of the Companies Act 2006 – which came into force on 1 October 2007 and which seek to codify directors’ duties – have left directors of companies across England and Wales wondering whether they are anything more than politically-driven re-branding. … read more
What are the best working conditions for lawyers? Whereas most of us started with our own offices, the current trend is towards open plan. With commercial premises becoming ever more expensive to rent, it makes good sense to make maximum use of space.… read more
Protection of IP rights in Bulgaria
The new possibilities under the Bulgarian legislation The new Bulgarian legislation in the sphere of IP protection has been adopted since 1993. In that respect, it might be stressed that the present national substantive legislation has already been to a great extent synchronized with the EU primary and secondary law. The acts have also been several times changed – amended and/or supplemented for the same purpose. Therefore, it is not expected that foreign persons encounter considerable problems when facing up the Bulgarian IP legislation.… read more
“Be careful what you say. Anything you say can and will be used against you”
Considering the Luxembourg Court’s Decision from June 26th, 2007 with regard to the application of the provisions of the Directive no. 91/308/CEE on the preventing of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering, it seems that any lawyer should welcome his or her client with the above message, paraphrasing the famous Miranda Warning (“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”).… read more
The new legal framework for Public Private Partnerships in Greece
The Greek market is quite familiar with the concept of public-private partnerships (PPP). In the last decade, iconic infrastructure projects such as the Rion–Antirrion Fixed Link and the Athens’ Ring Road were structured as “concession projects”. Their undoubted success lifted initial concerns regarding the provision of public services by private operators and paved the way for a new generation of projects including the Greek Motorways and the Thessaloniki Submerged Tunnel. Nevertheless, due to their size and impact on the local economy, these projects were dealt with on a case by case basis, a fact which did not help in countering the multiple problems arising from their complexity in a systematic manner.… read more
Clearing and settlement of securities: the new Greek law and the European dimension
Law 3606/2007 (the “Law”) implemented into Greek law the so called MiFID. The Law contains in Part Two, titled Clearing & Settlement and Central Counterparty Systems (articles 72-83), provisions concerning the clearing and settlement systems operating in Greece. The Law there provides for the authorisation by the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (“HCMC”) of each Securities Clearing and Settlement or Central Counterparty System (“SSS”) operating in Greece. … read more
Cyprus: an ideal holding company location
Despite being among the smallest countries in terms of population and geographical size, Cyprus has developed into one of the world’s major financial and business centres. Cyprus is the largest source of investment into Russia, ahead of Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, the United States and France, and is now challenging Mauritius as the largest source of investment into India.… read more
The Greek Law 2190 on Societes Anonymes enacted back in 1920 has been the most important piece of Greek corporate legislation for over 87 years. … read more
Akzo to grindAlthough somewhat overshadowed by publication on the same day of its judgment in Microsoft, the Court of First Instance’s (CFI) long-anticipated decision in the Akzo case (Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd and Akcros Chemicals Ltd v Commission of the European Communities, joined cases T-125/03 and T-253/03) was as eagerly anticipated by lawyers across Europe. But the judgment did not offer the certainty that many in the in-house community were hoping for.… read more
Distressed debt opportunities in Spain
Abrand-new Insolvency Law (Ley Concursal) governing financial distress situations was enacted in Spain on September 2004. It introduces a very modern legal system aiming to deal not only with severe insolvency situations, but also with the preliminary stages of a business’ financial crisis, so that the operations may be restructured and saved, thus maximising the possible return to creditors and other stakeholders.… read more
Conquering an Italian listed real estate fund
The Italian legal framework applicable to public tender offers1 on listed quotas of real estate investment funds (“REIFs”) is quite peculiar and has been lengthily debated among scholars. The recent offers launched on Berenice Fondo Uffici, being the first offers ever on quotas of REIFs and being also the first competing tender offers that ran in parallel until the end of their acceptance period, cleared many outstanding interpretative issues.… read more