PILLSBURY WINTHROP and Shaw Pittman last week finally confirmed their intention to merge (see also In The City). The firms have signed a letter of intent to merge and when the deal is completed the combined firm will have about 900 lawyers, spread over 16 offices. The firms hope to conclude the merger by the spring. (The Lawyer)
THE investment bank JP Morgan has launched a global review of its external legal advisers. Letters went out to the bank’s advisers last month asking firms to consider and explore fee discounts. The bank, a coveted international client, does not operate a formal panel but has relationships with a number of firms including Clifford Chance, Linklaters and Slaughter and May in the UK. Key US advisers include Davis Polk & Wardwell, Cravath Swaine & Moore and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. (Legal Week)
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BAR leaders have called on the EU to apply the brakes to a third money-laundering directive amid concerns that the damaging ramifications of its predecessor have not been fully analysed. In an open letter to the three main branches of the EU government, leaders representing 45 legal jurisdictions across Europe have demanded that implementation of the directive be delayed “until a proper evaluation of the second money-laundering directive has been carried out” . (Law Society Gazette)
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A LACK of investment in the Commercial Court is undermining the attractiveness of the UK court system for settling commercial disputes, solicitors said as the court published its annual report. Statistics for 2003-04 showed that the number of trials heard dropped to 58, almost a third fewer than the previous year. The number of applications to the court also fell by almost 100 to 1,663. (Law Society Gazette)
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THE House of Lords has sent out a clear warning to solicitors acting for two clients with differing interests, and confirmed the scope of barristers’ immunity from suit. In Hilton v Barker Booth and Eastwood (a firm), five law lords, with Lord Hoffmann presiding, held that if a solicitor puts himself in the position of having irreconcilable duties to two different clients, it was his own fault, and he had to suffer the full consequences. (New Law Journal)
Linda Tsang