0 results for 'Nixon Peabody'
Dreier founder in $113m bogus securities charge
Marc Dreier, the founder of Dreier LLP, has been charged with pawning off $113m (£76.5m) in bogus securities to two hedge funds, reports The New York Law Journal. The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed suit to recover the $113m. Mark Pomerantz of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison has been appointed as receiver to protect Dreier's assets.In another civil suit filed on Monday (8 December), Wachovia Bank alleged that Dreier LLP and Dreier himself had defaulted on a $9m (£6m) revolving credit note made in connection with a $14.5m (£9.8m) credit agreement and a term note in the amount of $5.5m (£3.7m).Nixon Peabody eyes UK merger in global strategy drive
Nixon Peabody has formed a new group to oversee the firm's strategy as it aims to double in size over the next three to four years. Within the same timeframe, the US firm hopes to have a quarter of its lawyers based in international offices.Nixon has outlined London as a key strategic expansion point - with a UK merger on the agenda - after taking on around 25 lawyers from Taylor Wessing to launch a Paris office last month.The global strategies initiative group is made up of around 50 partners in total and a core team of around ten.Nixon set to recruit 100 former Thelen lawyers
Nixon Peabody is set to significantly boost its headcount with the hire of around 100 former Thelen lawyers, reports The Am Law Daily. The firm has extended offers to about 50 partners from Thelen, after the 400-lawyer San Francisco firm voted to dissolve at the end of October. At the time, Legal Week sister title The Recorder reported that Nixon had offered jobs to as many as 60 Thelen lawyers, including Jennifer Kuenster, co-chairwoman of commercial litigation and a member of Thelen's partnership council.Taylor Wessing begins rebuilding in Paris after 'partner-stealing' case
Taylor Wessing has begun the process of rebuilding its Paris office after losing a chunk of its partners to US firm Nixon Peabody to launch in the French capital. Taylor Wessing and Nixon Peabody last week reached an agreement over allegations that the US firm poached a group of 12 partners to launch in Paris after merger talks between the firms collapsed. A court settlement last week in Nixon's favour stated that the firm did not steal Taylor Wessing partners, despite a two-year moratorium agreement on recruitment.Taylor Wessing France is currently in discussions to hire three lateral partners and one senior associate, after losing 25 lawyers from the office in total. The raid leaves the firm with eight partners and 27 associates. Taylor Wessing's new France managing partner Christian Valsamidis said: "The early departure of the team joining Nixon Peabody enables us to move ahead more quickly with our plans to grow the Paris office. Four out of the five founding partners remain and, with four other partners and 27 associates, the French office of Taylor Wessing remains a significant player in the French market." Meanwhile, Nixon's Paris office, headed by former Taylor Wessing Paris managing partner Arnaud de Senilhes, hopes to add four partners and around 20 associates in the next 18 months. It will open with 14 partners after having promoted one former Taylor Wessing associate and relocating New York-based private equity and corporate partner Douglas Glucroft, who is dual-qualified for the New York and Paris bars.De Senilhes said: "We are already pretty much full-service, but we want to add additional capacity in finance, add partner capacity in insurance and we would also like to grow the public-private partnership practice group."Another US firm winds up as Thelen calls it a day
Thelen's partnership council recommended on Tuesday (28 October) that the firm's partnership vote to dissolve, becoming the second major US practice to collapse in as many months. Staff were informed that a dissolution committee had been formed and the firm expected to close on 1 December.Thelen was best known in the UK for setting up an unusual projects and construction focused joint venture with the legacy practice Masons in 2003. The venture was terminated by Thelen and the then Pinsent Masons last year.Taylor Wessing partner-stealing case resolved
Taylor Wessing France and Nixon Peabody have come to an agreement over allegations that the US giant poached 12 partners from Taylor Wessing's Paris office. The agreement will see Nixon officially open its Paris office with former Taylor Wessing partners, including previous Paris managing partner Arnaud de Senilhes, leaving Taylor Wessing's French arm with eight partners and 27 associates.Nixon confirmed its expansion into the French market today (28 October) after releasing a statement saying that de Senilhes was set to lead the new office.Judge: Nixon Peabody did not 'steal' Taylor Wessing partners
Taylor Wessing has lost its battle to stop Nixon Peabody hiring 12 partners after a trial judge ruled the US firm violated no law despite agreeing to a two-year moratorium on recruiting from Taylor Wessing in the wake of failed merger talks, reports The American Lawyer. The ruling by Judge Kenneth Fisher calls into question the kind of non-compete agreements that make merger talks between firms possible, says Dreier name partner Marc Dreier, who represented Taylor Wessing in litigation stemming from those failed talks.Nixon management praised the ruling.Taylor Wessing partner dispute comes to a head
Taylor Wessing learned of the breakaway merger talks held by its Paris office with Nixon Peabody after the plans were left lying around on an office printer, reports The AmLaw Daily. An equity partner at Taylor Wessing's 55-lawyer French arm says he found out about managing partner Arnaud de Senilhes' plans to take a dozen non-equity partners to Nixon Peabody, according to court documents filed on Friday (5 September) in New York trial court.The talks are at the heart of a high-stakes legal battle between the two firms regarding Nixon's hiring of a large team from the Paris office after the merger talks ended last year.Thelen Reid in merger talks with Nixon Peabody
Thelen and Nixon Peabody are in merger talks, with a possible agreement pending, according to sources close to the situation, reports The National Law Journal.The law firms have been in extensive talks, with Nixon Peabody management travelling to San Francisco to meet with their Thelen counterparts, according to two sources. A third confirmed that the two firms had been talking. The combined firm would have about lawyers.A spokesman for Thelen, which has suffered significant partner departures recently, would not confirm that it was speaking specifically with Nixon Peabody, although he said that the firm is actively pursuing a merger partner.Taylor Wessing Paris dozen jump ship to Nixon Peabody
The 12 senior lawyers at the heart of the dispute between Taylor Wessing's Paris arm and Nixon Peabody have quit the UK law firm to launch a Paris office for Nixon Peabody. The lawyers, all of whom were non-equity partners at Taylor Wessing, handed in their notices earlier this month in the wake of failed merger talks between the firms. The departures will leave Taylor Wessing's Paris office with 45 fee earners, of whom eight are partners, including managing partner Christian Valsamidis.The latest defectors - whose impending departures were detailed within a motion filed earlier this month by Taylor Wessing's legal team - will join ex-managing partner Arnaud de Senilhes, who left Taylor Wessing earlier this year, at Nixon Peabody. Confirmation that they are set to switch to Nixon Peabody came just two weeks after Legal Week's sister title, The American Lawyer, exclusively revealed that Taylor Wessing's Paris outpost had launched a $5m (£2.6m) damages claim against the US firm. It argued Nixon Peabody had violated a 2007 agreement not to recruit Taylor Wessing lawyers if merger talks between the two firms fell apart. Those merger talks ended in November 2007.Taylor Wessing's UK managing partner Michael Frawley said fears that the UK arm was planning to tap into outside investment under the Legal Services Act had prompted the French arm to enter the breakaway talks in July 2007. In response to the Taylor Wessing suit, Nixon Peabody has filed a request for a preliminary injunction in New York, claiming the end of the merger talks voided prior agreements relating to recruitment between the firms. The US firm asked the judge to block the lawsuit so that it could push ahead with its plans to hire the French lawyers.However, the most recent motion filed by Taylor Wessing in late August opposes Nixon Peabody's request for the preliminary injunction and also states that Taylor Wessing is attempting to stop the partner moves by asking the Paris Bar Association to step in. It argues that, under French law, the partners must keep working for Taylor Wessing for at least three months before defecting. Other documents filed in the high-stakes suit provide additional insight into why the merger talks fell apart, with one partner saying the talks collapsed when "it became clear Nixon was not prepared to provide us with the sort of financial terms we were seeking".Partners at rival firms have questioned Taylor Wessing's lawsuit, saying it could make it difficult for the office to rebuild in France. One managing partner of the City arm of a US firm told Legal Week: "I cannot see the point of litigating when they have gone anyway. Maybe I am missing something, but the last thing I would want as a client would be to be caught up in litigation between two firms."Another senior City partner added: "Paris can be a difficult market and a whole team leaving will make life difficult. Unfortunately, something like this will stick in the memory of existing partners."Taylor Wessing declined to comment.TRENDING STORIES
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