Birou Avocatura - Moniana Iordachescu

legalweek

Clifford Chance (CC) has won its first major corporate instruction for MasterCard as the US financial services group moves to expand its e-commerce business in a £333m takeover. The deal saw MasterCard acquire DataCash, a UK-based provider of electronic card and payment processing and chip and pin fraud management. The target instructed Denton Wilde Sapte. CC fielded a team led by London-based corporate partner Lee Coney for MasterCard. Other senior lawyers acting included financial institutions partner Tim Page and antitrust partner Greg Olsen.

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Clifford Chance (CC) is set to kick off the first round of its senior partner elections in the coming weeks after three partners announced their intention to stand for the role. German M&A and corporate finance partner Daniela Weber-Ray has most recently entered the race, after City finance partner Malcolm Sweeting announced in an email to the firm's partnership last month (9 August) that he would stand for the position.

legalweek

Four US firms have won roles on the $4bn (£2.6bn) sale of Burger King to investment firm 3G Capital, as the world's second-largest hamburger chain returns to the private sector, reports The Am Law Daily. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom advised Burger King with a team led by Eileen Nugent, the co-head of the firm's private equity group, alongside M&A partners Thomas Greenberg and Richard Grossman, employee benefits chair Stuart Alperin, and banking partners James Douglas and Julia Czarniak.

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The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has selected Kaplan as the sole examining board for the new Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS), which came into force this week. As of 1 September, the QLTS replaced the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT) as the official qualification allowing foreign lawyers to practise in England and Wales. Kaplan QLTS will be the only assessment organisation for the QLTS after the training provider won a tender last month. The QLTT was previously administered by six different law schools.

legalweek

Davenport Lyons has successfully represented publishing company HarperCollins in its battle with the BBC over the publication of the autobiography of Top Gear's The Stig. The case was bought by the BBC this week in an attempt to obtain a temporary injunction preventing the autobiography's publication, after the broadcaster argued that publication of the book would breach confidentiality agreements. In the High Court yesterday (1 September), Mr Justice Morgan ruled that he would not grant the BBC an injunction.

legalweek

Addleshaw Goddard took out a £14.5m loan and asked partners to contribute £15.6m to the business during the past financial year, the firm's limited liability partnership (LLP) filings have revealed. The figure of £15.6m put into the business compares to a total of just £1.2m contributed by the partnership during 2008-09.

legalweek

Withers has entered into a tie-up with financial services advisory firm BeA-asia as the top 30 UK practice targets new business in Asia. The tie-up with BeA-asia, which is based in Shanghai, gifts Withers its second presence in China alongside its existing office in Hong Kong, which opened for business in January 2008.

legalweek

The number of defamation cases in the UK courts rose by 6% during 2009-10 after a spike in the number of claims brought by celebrities, new figures have revealed. The research, conducted by Sweet & Maxwell, shows the number of reported defamation cases rose by 6% from 78 in 2008-09 to 83 in 2009-10, with the number of celebrity cases almost trebling from 11 to 30, including high-profile claims brought by stars including Lily Allen, Kate Beckinsale and David Beckham.

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Finnish firm Hannes Snellman has launched an office in Copenhagen with the hire of Bech-Bruun's head of M&A. Philip Risbjorn has left the Danish firm to head up the new outfit for Hannes Snellman, with Amanda Tonsgaard, a director at private equity manager Capital Dynamics, also joining the new team. Hannes Snellman M&A partner Mathias Lindqvist has relocated from Helsinki to Copenhagen to support the new office and two further hires are set to be announced in the coming weeks.

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Jumeirah Group has announced its new global legal panel, with five firms appointed to the Dubai hotel chain's streamlined roster. Herbert Smith and Weil Gotshal & Manges have won places on the panel following a pitch process, with Clyde & Co, Mayer Brown JSM and Pinsent Masons all reappointed. Jumeirah has chosen to cut back on the number of firms it uses after setting up its first-ever global panel in 2008, which saw six firms appointed to its main roster of advisers, alongside a further six advising on specialist areas or in specific jurisdictions.

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Two partners have left Howrey's Brussels office to join Olswang and McDermott Will & Emery in the Belgian capital. Patricia Cappuyns joins Olswang's intellectual property (IP) group today (1 September) after five years at Howrey, where she made partner in January 2009. Her client portfolio includes MEGA Brands, DSM, Sara Lee and Elvis Presley Enterprises.

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White & Case CEE capital markets head Simon Morgan has left the firm to join US firm Chadbourne & Parke in Moscow. Morgan joins as partner, as the New York-based firm expands its capital markets practice in Russia and CEE.

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Stephenson Harwood has nearly doubled its Paris office with the hire of a five-member team from Norton Rose. Norton Rose Paris shipping finance head Alain Gautron and tax partner Stephane Salou joined yesterday (1 September) with two associates and one paralegal. Salou, previously managing partner of the Paris offices of both Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Watson Farley & Williams, becomes the first tax partner in the Paris office.

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Denton Wilde Sapte is set to boost its Moscow corporate practice with the hire of a partner from Dewey & LeBoeuf's London office. Dentons has hired corporate partner Igor Krivoshekov, who specialises in M&A and private equity. He has joined Dentons in London in a bid to integrate with the corporate team but will relocate to the firm's Moscow arm in January.

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Clifford Chance (CC) has elected a new global real estate head, with the firm's Spanish practice chief taking on the firmwide remit. Alfonso Benavides took on the role from 1 September, succeeding Cliff McAuley, who is retiring from the firm. McAuley has led the real estate practice group for more than seven years after first being appointed in January 2003.