Move of the week

Latham & Watkins partner Martin Cotterill has joined Taylor Wessing’s technology, media and communications team. Cotterill worked at Latham for 13 years, in which time he was also the global technology practice group co-chair. As a commercial lawyer, he has worked on multiple technology and outsourcing transactions.

UK

London

US firm Holland & Knight has opened an office in London with the acquisition of transportation finance firm Clark Ricketts. Six Clark Ricketts lawyers will join Holland & Knight in the takeover, including founding partner Robert Ricketts.

Weil Gotshal & Manges has hired Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF) London private equity head James MacArthur. He was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis for four years before joining HSF in 2010.

Angus Finnegan has joined Taylor Wessing as head of communications from Reed Smith.

DLA Piper has appointed Ross McKean as a partner in its London data protection team. McKean joins from Olswang, where he was head of the firm’s data protection practice.

Charles Russell Speechlys has hired Forsters family law head Shona Alexander as a partner.

Yann Alix has joined Ashurst as a partner in its City resources team. Alix was previously a senior associate at HSF.

Fox Williams has strengthened its employment and immigration offering with the appointment of James Ware Schoenfeld Stephenson partner Sacha Schoenfeld.

Patent firm Gill Jennings & Every has boosted its engineering and physics, IT, software and electronics practice with the recruitment of Peter Arrowsmith from the partnership of Cleveland.

South

Foot Anstey has hired Eversheds head of local government ­commercial litigation Mark Rhys-Jones as the firm expands its commercial litigation offering in Bristol.

Pitmans partners Andrew Peddie, Nicola Kirk and Owen Reynolds have all joined Gateley’s Reading office. Peddie was corporate head of Pitmans and brings with him two additional lawyers. Kirk was a corporate recovery partner, while Reynolds joins as head of the private client offering.

North

Former DWF partner Jonathan Crew has joined Progeny Corporate Law in Leeds. Sabina Dzudza has also joined in London as a senior counsel after a two-year career as an associate solicitor at Blake Morgan.

Scotland

DLA Piper partner Callum Sinclair has joined Burness Paull in Glasgow as head of the firm’s technology sector group. He will also become head of its commercial division, replacing David Goodbrand.

Brodies has expanded its corporate and ­commercial team with the appointment of Pinsent Masons partner Derek Stroud.

Europe

Mayer Brown has strengthened its global banking and finance practice and energy group with the addition of Olivier Mélédo as a partner in Paris. He was previously counsel at Orrick Rambaud Martel.

Dentons is to open its third German office with the hire of three partners from Norton Rose Fulbright. Norton Rose German boss and corporate partner Alexander von Bergwelt will lead the team, becoming managing partner of Dentons’ Munich office.

Stephenson
Harwood has strengthened its global real estate practice with the appointment of HSF partner Pierre-Nicolas Sanzey. He will launch a real estate department in the firm’s Paris office.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer tax partner Antoine Colonna d’Istria has exited for Norton Rose Fulbright. The move follows the departure of five Freshfields partners for Orrick Rambaud Martel, including finance partners Hervé Touraine and Emmanuel Ringeval.

US

The Miami office of K&L Gates has added Michael Levinson as a partner in its healthcare practice. Levinson joins K&L Gates from Hogan Lovells, where he was counsel.

Bijal Vira has joined Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton as a corporate finance partner, based in New York. Vira joins from Winston & Strawn.

Asia-Pacific

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) global arbitration head Kent Phillips has joined Hogan Lovells’ Singapore joint law venture Hogan Lovells Lee & Lee following a five-year stint at BLP’s Singapore office.

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has appointed Shagoofa Rashid Khan as a partner in its Mumbai office. She will be leading the firm’s funds practice and joins from a head of legal role at IDFC Alternatives.

Nabarro has hired the managing partner of Gadens’ Singapore office, Marc Rathbone, in a bid to strengthen its projects practice in Asia.

Clifford Chance’s former Sydney managing partner Mark Pistilli has set up a new corporate boutique just months after stepping down. The new firm is called Pistilli Simmons.

Zhong Lun is launching two new offices in the US thanks to a mass hire from legacy Dacheng, which merged with Dentons last year. The team joining Zhong Lun will be led by former US chief Xiao Ling, and partners Lee Matthews and Rowena Lin.

Promotions

Gowling WLG’s first UK partner promotions as a merged firm are Birmingham-based lawyers Chris Towle and Michael Twining.

Bond Dickinson has made up four lawyers to its partnership. Richard Collins and Andrew Parsons joined the disputes resolution team, while projects lawyer Jackie Gray and construction lawyer Ian Atkinson were made up too.

Shalina Crossley and James Storke are set to become partners in Lewis Silkin’s employment team, while Sam Pennington will be a commercial and corporate partner at the firm.

HSF has promoted nine lawyers to global counsel roles.

Bristows has appointed Theo Savvides as a joint managing partner, working alongside Mark Watts.

London-based Philip Hertz has been appointed as Clifford Chance’s new global head of restructuring and insolvency.

Bevan Brittan has promoted three senior associates to partner in Bristol, Leeds and London: commercial property lawyer Lyndon Campbell, planning lawyer Kathryn Lawrance and procurement specialist Matthew Mo.

Rebecca Naylor was a trainee at Reed Smith until she qualified in March 2016. During the second year of her training contract she was also the firm’s pro bono manager for the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), a job she took on full time upon qualification.

What’s your background? How did you first get involved with pro bono?

What got me interested in law originally was the death penalty. When I was in school we had a talk from Nick Yarris, who was on death row for 23 years before being exonerated. I ended up studying law at university which I really enjoyed, and then I went to work at Reprieve for five months before my training contract started with Reed Smith.

I thought I probably wanted to be a commercial lawyer, but one of the benefits of coming here was there is a six-month pro bono secondment, and I was very excited at the chance to do that. That was quite a big factor for me. I did my first six months here and then I went on secondment to Liberty, the civil rights charity, which I absolutely loved. Then I came back to Reed Smith for a seat in the real estate team.

What did you do at Liberty?

I worked in the advice and information team, responding to queries for the general public by email, letter and telephone. The ‘phone part was particularly challenging, but great. They have an advice line that’s open three times a week and on Wednesday lunchtimes the trainees at Liberty man the line. You get all sorts of queries from the general public that you wouldn’t even imagine. You ask all the key questions and give advice.

We’re going to start that with the lawyers here and send them to Liberty on Monday nights. We’re hoping there will be a good uptake – we’ve got an enthusiastic associate who’s championing that.

How did your full-time pro bono role come about?

About a year ago the lawyer managing the pro bono programme at Reed Smith left. They advertised the job internally and I suddenly realised that although I was perfectly happy in commercial law, what I really wanted to do was pro bono.

I ended up doing the pro bono job at the same time as the second year of my training contract. I sat with [IP partner and the firm’s EMEA head of CSR] Michael Skrein for my final six months and he was very supportive. Then I qualified in March 2016 and started doing pro bono full time, as a lawyer managing the programme.

Did you interview for the role?

Yes. I had to do a ten minute presentation on how I would develop the pro bono brief. In my first year I’d been involved in quite a lot of the projects we’d been doing, so I had ideas about for expanding those, along with a couple of new things I thought I’d try, and ideas about how to engage people who weren’t participating yet.

Was it tough throwing your hat into the ring for the job before you had even qualified?

It was quite daunting. I spoke to my predecessor about what the role involved and I had the support of Michael, so it was helpful to have the backing of a very senior partner.

I did have to learn a lot very quickly – you are suddenly putting yourself out there an awful lot more and people come and ask you for your opinion. I would be doing my trainee work in employment, doing bundles and all that, and then I’d get a call from a partner in another department about a piece of pro bono work they were doing and wanted my advice on. I did have to step up quite quickly.

How was it juggling your trainee work with the pro bono practice?

I sat in employment, which worked very well. The cases are much smaller than in some of the other departments so it was manageable. The good thing about pro bono is that it’s very flexible. It’s busy and there’s a lot going on, but you could drop it for a few hours if something urgent came in on the trainee side, so I did sometimes have to stay late but on the whole people have been pretty understanding and supportive. Then I sat with Michael in litigation. It took a bit of juggling but on the whole everyone was very supportive.

What was the reaction from your fellow trainees when you got the job?

I didn’t tell everyone that I was applying – but a few of my friends weren’t surprised when they found out I’d got the job!

The trainees are fantastic at pro bono. There was no chivvying required from me – they were all involved before I got on board. We have 100 per cent participation from them – it’s voluntary, so that is pretty amazing. We rely on the trainees to champion our projects; for instance our four clinics are all coordinated by the trainees – I’ll supervise them, but they will run the rotas and remind the lawyers and distribute all the useful information. We do rely on them to step up and take responsibility.

What have you learned since taking on the job?

Talking to other firms across the City, it seems that one of the main things that’s quite unique about Reed Smith is that we do have ‘champions’ in every group. I rely on them quite a lot to help get everyone involved and enthusiastic. I hadn’t realised until I started the role how valuable that is. I couldn’t manage all the projects we have if they weren’t all involved too.

At one point I did thank-yous for all the champions and realised that we had about 30 or 40 – that’s a lot of people not just doing pro bono but actively involved in the management as well, from partners down to trainees and paralegals.

What’s a typical day like?

I’m not sure there is a typical day. Some days it’s all meetings with prospective pro bono clients, charities, non-profits. Teams within the firm want to get me in to find out what’s going on. We collaborate with other law firms on pro bono – for instance we’ve got a new domestic violence clinic and we collaborate with five other firms on that.

But I’m also trying to do some of the legal work too, because I qualified as a lawyer and it’s important that I stay involved with the casework as well.

What’s the plan for the pro bono programme?

I meet with our champions quarterly and at the end of last year we put together a strategy for 2016. We reviewed that in March – we’ve ticked off quite a lot of the items but there’s still more to do.

I’m responsible for the EMEA region, so I’m doing the same sort of thing with champions in other offices too. Each jurisdiction is very different: some are more engaged with pro bono than others, so there are different challenges. Its harder to do pro bono in France and Germany but we’ve actually found that our offices there are doing really well. We try to do projects that involve all our offices, so we’ve recently done a project on FGM so that involved a couple of lawyers from several different countries working together.

And what about your own personal career aims?

I think I’ve got the best job, so I’m going to try and hang on to it for as  long as I can! Before I got this job I thought I might go into a non-profit and do legal work, but what I love about this role is that you get to work with so many different people and have such a big impact that you don’t really get anywhere else. And you’ve got the resources of a law firm – 350 lawyers in London and 2,000 round the world that you can put to use to help organisations, which is pretty amazing.

The pro bono world is developing as well – its been quite a busy year across the City – firms are hiring more people to join their pro bono teams. They are growing into small practices so I hope that pro bono will be a developing career path.

May 25

We will discuss this subject with: Prof. Avv. Claudio Consolo, Università di Roma La Sapienza; Prof. Aldo Schiavone, Università di Firenze; Prof. Avv. Alberto Toffoletto, Nctm Studio Legale

Shoosmiths hosted an EU Referendum debate last night to offer clients and contacts different insights into one of the most important decisions the electorate will make in recent times, from esteemed panellists from the world of politics and academia.

Head of office, partner Sanjeev Sharma welcomed more than 80 clients and contacts through the doors of Shoosmiths’ Milton Keynes office to participate in the Question Time-style debate.

The panellists included former home secretary Rt. Hon Ann Widdecombe, former leader of Milton Keynes Council, Coun. Andrew Geary, director of Cranfield University’s Centre for Customised Executive Development Dr John Glen, and Dr Leslie Budd of The Open University’s Department for Public Leadership and Social Enterprise. The event was chaired by Ron Reid, Shoosmiths’ former regulatory partner until his retirement in April.

Shoosmiths’ Sanjeev Sharma, said: ‘It’s our view at Shoosmiths that it is really important for businesses like ours to generate the conversation around the Referendum, so the facts become clear and people can make an informed choice about how to vote.

We have been discussing the impact of the Referendum with clients – whether that is staying in or leaving the EU – so hosting an event such as this with esteemed panellists made a lot of sense.’

‘It was a real pleasure for us to welcome our panellists and guests, who have taken the time out of their busy schedules to attend this event.’

Panellist and former Conservative minister, Rt Hon. Ann Widdecombe said: ‘There is so much over-blown rhetoric around this debate and especially its economic aspect that we need as many opportunities as possible to argue sensibly, so congratulations to Shoosmiths for arranging this debate.’

Shepherd and Wedderburn has announced the hire of corporate lawyer, Carl Powlson, who joins the corporate team of the firm’s London office.

Carl’s expertise and experience spans both UK and cross-border corporate finance matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity and general corporate advice. Carl also has extensive experience of advising on UK and international energy and infrastructure projects. His extensive experience has been gained during his 12 years with Herbert Smith Freehills and more recently with Australian boutique firm Atanaskovic Hartnell.

In welcoming Carl to the firm, chief executive Stephen Gibb said, “Someone of Carl’s calibre is a fantastic addition to our top ranked corporate practice which has a strong track record in advising some of the country’s fastest growing and most agile companies.”

Speaking about his appointment, Carl commented “I am delighted to be joining Shepherd and Wedderburn, with its reputation for excellence and focus on quality of advice, and look forward to working with some of the country’s leading lawyers servicing the firm’s strong UK and international client base, as well as playing a key role in the further development of the London corporate practice.”

Carl’s appointment is hot on the heels of John Rutherford‘s appointment to lead the firm’s Aberdeen operations and follows a very successful 2015, which saw the firm close deals worth £5.4bn.

Shepherd and Wedderburn is again the sponsor of the hotly contested ‘Alcoholic Drink’ category at Scotland’s very own food and drink ‘Oscars’, the Scotland Food and Drink Excellence Awards. 

Celebrating excellence across the sector, 50 businesses will do battle across 19 categories at the coveted event, taking place this year at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) in June. Around 800 guests are expected to attend.

Commenting on the event, Corporate Partner George Frier, head of the firm’s Food and Drink sector group, said: “The craft beer and bespoke spirit sector has been transformed in Scotland in
the past ten years and by sponsoring this award we are recognising this. We have a long track record of supporting innovative food and drink companies so it is appropriate that we support the latest wave of high-quality products being brought to market.”

‘Alcoholic drink’ finalists include:

• Gordon Castle Scotland – Gordon Castle Raspberry Gin
• RTM Sales Solutions Ltd – Magnum scotch malt whisky cream liqueur
• Dunnet Bay Distillers Ltd. – Holy Grass Vodka

The awards are organised by Scotland Food & Drink in partnership with The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland.

Outer Temple Chambers is pleased to announce that Emily Gordon Walker has recently joined our Employment team.

Emily acts for businesses and individuals alike, her practice covering all statutory employment tribunal claims, High Court litigation and discrimination law.

She is regularly instructed by government departments, local authorities and companies ranging in size from SMEs to global corporations, and also by trade unions, insurers and high net worth individuals.

Emily is a member of the Attorney General’s C panel and is ranked as a leading junior in the employment field in both Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500.

Gowling WLG’s pensions and benefits team has assisted internet-based group risk insurer, Ellipse, to launch a new Excepted Group Life Assurance product.

The team was led by principal associate Kevin Gude. Ellipse contacted Gowling WLG to advise on the structuring of the new product and the trust that is an integral part of the arrangement.

Ellipse developed its product in partnership with a third party professional trustee, Pitmans Trustees Limited (PTL). PTL recommended Gowling WLG for its expertise in the risk benefits area to review their trust documentation, advise Ellipse on statutory and technical compliance and provide them with additional commercial insight into the wider market’s approach to the provision of excepted cover.

Principal associate Kevin Gude said: “We’re thrilled to have advised Ellipse on such an innovative and novel approach to excepted life assurance. Ellipse had committed to launching the product in April, so we faced a challenging deadline to provide the required advice and research into the market, but we hit the deadline and that allowed Ellipse to launch on time.

“It was a real endorsement of our abilities that PTL were quick to recommend us as Ellipse’s advisers, and we hope we’ll be able to work with them both in the future.”

Aderant’s annual EMEA client conference is back and will take place at the Hilton Tower Hill Hotel in central London on July 13 & 14.

Collas Crill IP Director David Evans is presenting at an event at the International Trademark Association (INTA) event in Florida next week, arranged to discuss the Guernsey Image Rights Register.

The world’s only registrable image rights products will be discussed at the annual event for attendees to gain a better understanding and ask any questions.

Gateley trading update for the financial year ended 30 April 2016

Trading in the second half of the year has been strong and the Group’s maiden results, following its admission to AIM in June 2015, continue to demonstrate strong organic growth within the business.  The Board is pleased to report results that, subject to audit, include revenue for the financial year ended 30 April 2016 being not less than £66m and Adjusted EBITDA^*being not less than £12.6m. Cash generation has also been strong enabling the Group to invest in the opening of a new office in Reading together with the recent acquisition of Gateley Capitus Limited.

The inquest has heard how the police failed to respond to a 999 call on the night that Luisa Mendes called the emergency services alleging that she was a victim of an assault. She was found dead the following morning. The IPCC criticised police and identified significant systemic and individual failings.

On 19 May 2016 Miss Khalique made an application for further medical evidence to be provided in respect of Mr Taylor. The Assistant Coroner considered a psychiatric report, which was inconclusive as to whether Mr Taylor had capacity to give evidence and be involved in the Inquest, but declined to direct further expert evidence. Miss Khalique argued that this would be in breach of Article 2 and that the court required conclusive additional evidence before making a decision as to whether Mr Taylor should attend and what support was required to assist him in giving evidence.

A group of men from Birmingham and London who went on a “rampage” of violent robberies and burglaries across the West Midlands have been jailed for more than 100 years collectively.

The gang’s multiple violent offences included a bank robbery in Sutton Coldfield in 2013, where they escaped with £700,000.

Their series of crimes came to an end in 2014, where a handful of the gang attempted to rob a supermarket in Tamworth. Staff at the supermarket raised the alarms and police officers arrived at the scene to make the arrests.

The Police inquiry revealed how the gang had planned to burgle the home of a 90 year old from Solihull who had legally held firearms in his house.

Linklaters has elected M&A star Charlie Jacobs as its new senior partner, replacing Robert Elliott, who has held the role since 2011.

Jacobs triumphed after a three-way fight for the role, seeing off a challenge from M&A global co-head Jean-Pierre Blumberg in Antwerp and late entrant, London corporate partner Aedemar Comiskey.

Comiskey added her name to the runners and riders in January causing a stir as the potential first female senior partner at the magic circle.

Jacobs will take over from Elliott on 1 October for a five-year term.

Voting closed earlier today (23 May) with the partnership informed of the decision shortly after.

Jacobs was tipped as the favourite for the job from the off, when it emerged last year Elliott would not stand for a second term. He will now head up Linklaters’ partnership board and run the firm alongside former banking head Gideon Moore, who won a contested election for managing partner last autumn and stepped into the top job on 1 January.

His term as senior partner could see the firm revisit its approach to remuneration as Jacobs has hinted in the past he would be open to holding another lockstep review.

Jacobs is arguably the firm’s biggest player in corporate M&A and has advised on some of the biggest deals of the last 18 months including the SABMiller and AB InBev £71bn merger. Last year he joined the board of FTSE 100 mining company Fresnillo as an independent non-executive director.

Thomson Snell & Passmore CEO Simon Slater outlines what law firm leaders think about firms strategy to outsource work (and roles) to Warsaw and Manila in The Lawyer‘s 60-second interview on key topics from the upcoming Business Leadership Summit.

Are you surprised by this apparent sudden rush to off shore places like Warsaw and Manila?

No, not at all. It is an economic reality of life recognised by some global law firms 10 years ago (Baker & McKenzie springs to mind in Manila). The Poles are renowned for their work ethic and Poland offers a very attractive commercial environment.

What sorts of roles do you think will be affected?

I don’t mean this in any pejorative sense, but key back and middle office professionals plus paralegal and project management services.

What sorts of challenges does a move like this create for the lawyers working in head office?

This depends on how well the transition is led, planned, implemented and managed. I understand that Allen & Overy was very swift in the creation of its Belfast operation.

Do you think we’ll see more of these moves by other major firms?

Yes, it is inevitable.

There is much a successful lawyer on the cusp of starting a family can do to ensure maternity transition is a success. Careful planning increases the likelihood they will return at the end of their leave and do so with the knowledge, skills and support to manage their career with care responsibilities. Based on the women I have coached here are the areas women should consider.

Focus on your career

Maternity can be a great opportunity to take stock and develop or refocus your career. Don’t shy away from career conversations just because you won’t be around for the next six to 12 months.

Think about whether your current role or client coverage plays to your strengths and supports your longer-term career goals. If not, what do you need to do to change this on your return? Have you conveyed your strengths to your bosses? What conversations do you want key influencers to be having about your future before you go on leave?

Identify your internal and external support team

Continuously talk to your supervising partner / line manager about your transition, not forgetting your team who can be a great support for you while you are off.

Your HR team will advise on maternity-related policies including practical advice regarding your firm’s approach to leave and return.

Consider what level of contact you want while on leave

The default position of many organisations is to keep contact to a minimum, unless you invite it as they won’t want to disturb or encroach on your maternity leave. Think ahead and make clear to colleagues how you wish to stay in touch so you are sufficiently in the loop.

If you are keen to return you will want to reconnect with work during the second half of your leave so creating the set up before you go to do this is critical.

Prioritise your network

A successful career in law is inextricably linked to a lawyer’s ability to bring in new business through internal and external client networks. You might want to keep established networks warm while on leave but make sure you manage client and partner expectations around the level of contact you will be able to offer. A warm network will make your return as smooth as possible.

Be proactive in planning your handover

Mention of handing over a case can make some partners and clients nervous. We recommend allowing sufficient time to reassure clients their case has been transferred to a safe pair of hands and that you take a lead in planning your handover.

Identify opportunities to kick-start your handover. If an antenatal appointment or holiday necessities handing over work is it possible to leave it with the covering person? Do also remember that you may have to leave earlier than planned.

Understand what it takes to balance work and home life

The most frequent comment I hear from new mothers recently returned to work is that nothing could have prepared them for the impact home life has on work life and vice versa. Post children some say their focus shifts from linear career progression to finding practical ways to manage both home and work.

Whether it is as a first-time mum planning maternity leave or a mother planning to return to work after second or third children, it’s helpful to connect with others within your firm or through external networks such as CityParents.

Discuss with your partner early how you will both manage your childcare and career responsibilities. What decisions might you need to make as a couple to enable you to both pursue your career and family aspirations?

Think about what you can do before going on leave to achieve greater balance and flexibility on your return and start to make those changes.

Sharing your plans before you leave

While there is no obligation to share your plans for return with your employer or colleagues if you do have a clear idea it’s helpful to build support for your plans before you go. Obviously it’s a good idea to caveat plans as “subject to change” once the baby arrives. 

Make the most of a golden opportunity

Aside from your baby one of the biggest bonuses of maternity leave is the opportunity to evaluate what you want from your life and career. Invest time before you go on maternity leave to consider the career opportunities and balance you would like to return to.

Emma Spitz has over twelve years experience advising City law firms and coaching female lawyers on their career development.

Shepherd and Wedderburn has acted for the shareholders of TwoBigEars, the Edinburgh-based developer of interactive audio applications and tools for mobile devices, on its sale to Facebook, the online social network.

The Shepherd and Wedderburn transaction team included corporate lawyers Stephen Trombala, John Morrison and Eilidh Gillanders, tax partner Stephen Miller and employment partner Neil Maclean. Facebook was represented by Fenwick & West.

Karanović & Nikolić has advised Jet Airways (India) Limited, together with Dentons UKMEA LLP, in an aircraft leasing transaction that will enable the long-haul trans-Atlantic route between Serbia and the United States (Belgrade-New York) to be restored.

The transaction in question consisted of an operating lease of the Airbus A330-202 by Jet Airways (member of Etihad Airways Partners) and Etihad Airways (as sub-lessee) to Air Serbia, with the participation of foreign export credit agencies and banks that provided financing for the acquisition of the aircraft by the owner.

After successfully closing the transaction, the first wide body aircraft in Air Serbia’s fleet landed in Belgrade on 11 May 2016, and was given the traditional water cannon welcome as it made its way around Nikola Tesla airport.

The twinjet aircraft then went for the registration process with the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate, before returning to Abu Dhabi for the process of finalising cabin space adaptation and refurbishment. Once this process is complete, the capacity of the aircraft should feature 18 seats in Business Class and 236 seats in Economy Class, making it the largest commercial aircraft in the region.

The first flight, after 24 years, to the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, is expected to happen on 23 June 2016. This flight will mark the continuation of a route carrying strong historical importance, which Air Serbia’s predecessor, Jat Airways, was forced to terminate in 1992 amid conflicts during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Moreover, apart from returning to the same route, the new flight will also retain its forebearer’s flight number. Throughout the term of the lease, the aircraft will remain registered in Serbia.

The KN team on this case was led by partner Maja Jovančević Šetka and senior associate Goran Radošević. Partner Tanja Unguran handled the tax aspects of the transaction.

Teresa Rosen Peacocke has recently joined Outer Temple Chambers.

Teresa is an American, called to the English Bar in 1982 and admitted as an attorney in New York in 2004. She practises in London and from Chambers’ New York office as both an English Barrister and a New York attorney. Teresa is a welcome addition to our team and greatly strengthens our presence in New York.

In addition, Teresa is an accredited and experienced mediator, an experienced arbitrator and Fellow of the Royal Institute of Arbitrators, and a Governor of the Anglo-American Real Property Institute.

Shepherd and Wedderburn has acted for Spero Oncology Ltd in its recent sale to Veristat International.

UK-based Spero Oncology is a Clinical Research Organisation (CRO) specialising in the provision of oncology drug development consultancy, feasibility studies and early phase oncology trials primarily throughout Europe, but also in Australia and New Zealand.

As a result of the sale, Spero Oncology has become part of Veristat International, a US-based full-service CRO with over 20 years’ experience in supporting clinical trials and regulatory submissions for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies in the US and Canada.