Law.com International

We’re excited to announce the return of the General Counsel Conference Middle East for in-house counsel! Taking place in Dubai on Weds 30 April 2025, this half-day event is your chance to connect, learn, and grow. Register NOW to secure your spot: https://lnkd.in/ersVc43Y #Legal #Leadership #Networking #InHouseCounsel

What will a Trump Administration mean for Quinn Emanuel's China practice? The firm launched a Beijing office last year (and Singapore earlier this year) citing the growth in disputes and investigations work involving Chinese and U.S. companies and regulators. With Trump as leader, I suspect Quinn Emanuel's found itself on a bit of a trajectory. https://lnkd.in/gbenRAiF

Congratulations to Elise Boehmer of Simmons & Simmons, one of our Private Equity Rising Stars for 2024! One of her clients described her as an efficient first point of contact and a thorough analyst of the topics at stake. She offers “quick, actionable advice and saves precious time in time-constrained deals." They also highlighted how her answers and analysis are "always straight to the point and accurate, free from unnecessary details." "She clearly stands out amongst her peer legal associates I am encountering every year.” See all our honorees: https://lnkd.in/gdA_hBh5

Congratulations to Dipak Bhundia of Kirkland & Ellis, one of our Private Equity Rising Stars for 2024! Throughout his career at Kirkland, Bhundia has been involved in some of the firm's biggest projects, particularly in major transactions where companies are taken private, including the well-publicised purchase of Hargraves Lansdown by a consortium of private equity investors for around ￡5.4 billion. Passionate about promoting diversity within the legal field, he actively mentors team members from various backgrounds. See all our honorees: https://lnkd.in/gdA_hBh5

Congratulations to Jonny Bethell of Taylor Wessing, one of our Private Equity Rising Stars for 2024! According to his firm, clients have trust and confidence not only in Bethell's concise and effective legal advice but also in his understanding of the commercial and practical aspects and context of the transactions he works on. Head of the U.K. corporate group and co-head of the firm’s international corporate group Emma Danks has served as a mentor to Bethell during his time at Taylor Wessing. Notably Bethell led the Taylor Wessing team advising Sullivan Street Partners on the acquisition of UK Addiction Treatment Group ("UKAT"). UKAT is the nation’s leading residential addiction treatment group. The unusual stakeholder dynamics and counterparty interests required creative solutions to get the deal over the line. See all our honorees: https://lnkd.in/gdA_hBh5

Congratulations to Clare Baker of Linklaters, one of our Private Equity Rising Stars for 2024! Baker’s deal work that spans the globe. According to her firm, she has built an excellent reputation in the market and successfully guided her team through the firm's growth in this sector, proving herself to be a leader. Underpinning her market reputation is her work on ultra-high-net-worth and complex deals, which includes acting for six of the world’s largest institutional investors on their investments into EQT X, totalling commitments in excess of €2 billion. See all our honorees: https://lnkd.in/gdA_hBh5

Congratulations to Nikesh Arya of Herbert Smith Freehills, one of our Private Equity Rising Stars for 2024! With a significant client base and several secondments under his belt, Arya is described by HSF Partners as “highly talented, versatile and dedicated” and a “real innovator”. He is commended for his excellent transactional work and relentless enthusiasm. He has acted on deals as the lead associate on acquisitions and led teams advising on equity fundraising. Among other mandates, Arya was a lead associate advising EQT and Icon Group on its acquisition of the Pharmaxo Group from its existing management shareholders and led the team advising Earthshot Prize finalist, Low Carbon Materials, on the equity fundraising of its latest funding round. See all our honorees: https://lnkd.in/gdA_hBh5

A Squire Patton Boggs associate has died after being poisoned by a tainted vodka shot while on holiday in Laos. Simone White, a 28-year-old London-based intellectual property associate at the transatlantic law firm, died just days after she ingested a vodka shot laced with methanol-spirit, according to various reports. She is the fifth tourist to have died after being poisoned by the tainted alcohol, which has also caused a further 11 tourists to be hospitalised in the Laos tourist destination of Vang Vien, the reports said. Many of the tourists were reportedly staying at the same backpacker hostel. Full story from Habiba Cullen-Jafar: https://lnkd.in/gFW3K-tJ

Former prosecutors and defense lawyers reacted with a mix of shock, shrugs and uncertainty about a DOJ agenda led by Gaetz, if he is confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Gaetz, a political firebrand, has earned a reputation as a fierce defender of Trump who does not resist his directives. “I've heard some law firm partners say they're concerned because they think that so many DOJ lawyers will quit,” affecting government cases, said Lauren Drake, a D.C.-based partner and partner recruiter at Macrae. “But then, I've talked to a number of senior DOJ attorneys who do not seem concerned,” she added. While these lawyers say the AG sets the overall tone for the department, she said, they also see that “the deputy attorney general, who's a separate political appointee, is the one who really oversees day-to-day operations and makes decisions about investigations and prosecutions.” One white-collar defense attorney, granted anonymity to speak freely on the subject, said that Gaetz isn't "qualified for the job." Still, the lawyer thought Gaetz would be limited in pursuing unwarranted prosecutions. "I think most lawyers' reaction is pretty much the same of what many of Gaetz's critics' reaction is: he's not qualified for the job," the attorney said. "As far as damage he can do goes, I think that the attorney general will be able to stop things from being done a lot easier than making prosecutions where they can't make them. For example, I think that if he just calls up some U.S. attorney and says, 'You need to prosecute Jack Smith’—I just don't think it can happen given the protections of the grand jury and motions that defense lawyers could make around fishing expeditions and things like that." A law firm partner, who is a former federal prosecutor, indicated Gaetz's nomination is disheartening. "My reaction, honestly, is just kind of deep sadness," the former prosecutor said. "It's a very serious job, and it requires a serious person who knows how to build complicated cases and evaluate complicated cases for when they're worth bringing and when they're not, who can build team loyalty, because it's a very large institution, and people work there because they believe in the mission." Full story from Abigail Adcox: https://lnkd.in/gMAJkhGA

In the 1990s or early 2000s, Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose Fulbright, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Squire Patton Boggs, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Allen & Overy, and German firm Noerr were among the many firms that?opened CEE offices, following clients drawn by a post-Soviet boom. Bird & Bird arrived later—in 2008. But the market hasn’t panned out for everyone. In the last 15 years, Freshfields closed in Bratislava, its last CEE outpost; Hogan Lovells?closed in Prague;?K&L Gates sold its Warsaw office to DWF; and Squire left Budapest. More recently, in August, German firm?Noerr’s Warsaw and Hungary offices became independent firms and its Bratislava, Bucharest and Prague offices transferred to German firm Kinstellar. Some top firms still maintain CEE offices, however. Linklaters exited four locations in 2008, but kept its Poland office. Squire still has offices in Bratislava, Prague and Warsaw. Clifford Chance left Budapest but still has Prague and Poland offices. A&O Shearman,?formed this year through a merger?between Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling,?has?four CEE locations. Arkadiusz Pedzich, A&O Shearman’s managing partner for the CEE and Poland, said the firm is committed to the region’s “dynamic market” and has over 60 lawyers in Warsaw. And just this past July,?Eversheds Sutherland?created an arbitration and complex commercial disputes practice in Warsaw. Full story from Rick Mitchell: https://lnkd.in/enipqK6T