Kirkland & Ellis has consolidated its position as one of the US’s leading bankruptcy firms, after bringing in nearly $50m (£28.7m) worth of legal fees from just two cases in less than a year. According to a recent filing, the firm notched up a massive $24.8m (£14.2m) in fees as debtor’s counsel to US insurance […]
US firms target European and mid-market bankruptcies as US mega-insolvencies draw to a close
The spotlight on Enron has shifted to Kirkland & Ellis, Vinson & Elkins and Andrews & Kurth – all of which face the threat of litigation from a group of the disgraced energy trader’s unsecured creditors. In a request filed on 26 November, the unsecured creditors of Enron sought permission from New York bankruptcy judge […]
Richards Butler picks up entire defence as Erskine silk and Collyer-Bristow fall foul of legal tactics A senior English silk and Collyer-Bristow have been replaced in the largest insolvency action of recent times, for which prehearings are due to start today (24 November). The trial, set down for January 2004 in the Bahamas, involves claims […]
The Enterprise Act could have introduced a Chapter 11-style process for restructuring in the UK. John Houghton reports on missed opportunities and avoided pitfalls When the changes to insolvency and competition law regimes, now encompassed in the Enterprise Act, were first announced by Gordon Brown in June 2001, much was made of the entrepreneurial regime […]
There has been a minor revolution in the corporate restructuring market in the past few years. Lyndon Norley reports on the changes There are few restructuring lawyers today who have not yet experienced the involvement of a hedge fund in a restructuring. Over recent years there has been a proliferation of such funds, which are […]
Company directors are increasingly culpable for scandals such as Enron. David Leibowitz reports on the extent to which directors’ and officers’ insurance cover can protect them It is a fundamental principle of English law that a company is a separate legal entity from its directors and shareholders. The principle attraction of trading by a company […]
Advising three footballers on the media fallout of the alleged Grosvenor House rape has thrust Graham Shear into the limelight. Naomi Rovnick meets him Graham Shear has given me indigestion. We meet at lunchtime for what turns into a two-hour interview. But there is no lunch, so I’m forced to scoff a sarnie while hotfooting […]
Insolvency reform in Northern Ireland is lagging behind the rest of the UK, says Leeanne Whaley The introduction of the relevant provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 (the act) on 15 September 2003 heralded major insolvency reform in England and Wales. Although the act also implements many changes to the competition regime, the new provisions […]
Interoute has hired experienced Bulldog Comm-unications chief legal officer and general counsel Maurice Woolf, who leaves the telecoms provider after just one year. Woolf succeeds former group legal counsel Richard Hastings, who quit last month to become O2’s UK legal chief. Both share a great deal of experience of insolvency proceedings. Hastings guided Interoute during […]
Bankruptcy lawyers – and their fees – may not be popular, but Kirkland & Ellis’s James Sprayregen says they’re worth it. Maybe it’s my fault, but I think I have been expecting too much from James Sprayregen. For some reason the impression I have of Kirkland & Ellis’s head of bankruptcy and restructuring is of […]
Former Shearman insolvency star Ronald DeKoven is used to the finer things in life. Matheu Swallow talks to a man coming to terms with grotty old London. Ronald DeKoven interrupts our interview – which is taking place in a small and slightly gloomy conference room in the basement of his new home at 3/4 South […]