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At Actons, stand-out lawyer Nicky Calthrop-Owen’s contentious insolvency skills were put to use in a variety of complex fraud investigations and asset recovery cases in 2008. Leading player Richard Leman has 30 years’ experience, and Chris Murratt adds to the litigation prowess of the team, which ‘competes easily with larger regional and national competitors’.

The ‘first-class’ Browne Jacobson LLP team is ‘commercially astute and technically excellent’. The practice spans corporate and personal insolvency, and clients range from IPs and banks to purchasers and creditors of insolvent entities, such as an IT supplier to an insolvent Icelandic bank. Dominic Offord stands out for clients, being ‘quick to respond and provide advice which is clear, commercial and pragmatic’.

Eversheds LLP’s Nottingham office handles the full range of instructions from lenders, IPs and corporates on administrations and restructurings, and is a ‘centre of excellence’ within the wider firm for bankruptcy work. Senior associate Mark Wood heads up the group following the departure of Chris Radford.

Banks and insolvency practitioners have followed key regional insolvency player Chris Radford to HBJ Gateley Wareing LLP, which moves up in the ranking this year. Radford’s team focuses on the corporate aspects of insolvencies; recent instructions include numerous sales of insolvent businesses from banks and IPs such as HSBC and PwC.

Simon Baigent at Freeth Cartwright LLP has successfully taken on the administration of a high-turnover company from BDO London, as an extension to his contentious insolvency experience. Graham Greenfield and Charles Darby give further depth to the team.

Geldards LLP’s two-partner team has a balanced mix of corporate recovery work and traditional insolvency work, with litigation and international elements part of the blend.

Harvey Ingram LLP has respected Leicester insolvency player Sean Moran, who takes on a broad range of instructions including recently appointing English administrators over a French limited company.

The focus at Berryman is on complex restructuring and reorganisation. Two significant administrations were highlights of the last year for the team, where Carl Miflin stands out for clients who value ‘quick response times, coupled with accurate and appropriate advice’.

Chattertons has licensed practitioner Peter Cropley for insolvency and bankruptcy advice.

Hewitsons LLP combines contentious capability with advice to companies, shareholders and directors on their rights and liabilities in an insolvency situation.

Howes Percival LLP has recently won significant instructions on complex niche matters requiring innovative solutions to insolvency scenarios.

Nelsons’ East Midlands coverage for insolvency is recognised by IPs and reflected in the number of instructions it receives. Melanie Oswin specialises in property issues.

Roythornes’ debt collection experience frequently leads to instructions on insolvency matters.

Ashwin Mody at Spearing Waite is ‘excellent in terms of knowledge of the subject, commerciality, negotiating skills and focused advice’. He provides a comprehensive service to administrators, liquidators, companies and directors, acting as supervising solicitor where necessary.

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Legal Developments in the UK

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  • Student employees – new restrictions on employment

    On 10 February 2010 a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules was laid before Parliament which is due to come into force on 3 March 2010.
    - Penningtons Solicitors LLP
  • Landlord & Tenant Briefing

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    - Bircham Dyson Bell LLP
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    - Bircham Dyson Bell LLP
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    The Planning Act 2008 (the Act) introduces a new regime designed to speed up the planning and, in turn, the delivery of infrastructure projects of national significance. For transport projects, it is one of the most important pieces of legislation in recent years. The new procedure will have to be used for any third runway at Heathrow, amongst other high-profile projects.
    - Bircham Dyson Bell LLP
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    - Schillings
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    - Bond Pearce LLP
  • The twilight zone: legal issues for directors

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    - Holman Fenwick Willan
  • Cloud computing:key issues for SMEs

    Although many definitions exist, broadly speaking ‘cloud computing’ is the outsourcing of specified IT functions via the internet (the cloud) to provide or receive services that would otherwise only be available if the end user had installed the appropriate hardware and/or software on desktops, or on local networks controlled by that organisation itself. Such services may include the use of software over the internet or remote storage of business data by a third-party provider. One benefit of this is that businesses can structure payment for these services differently (for example pay-as-you-go or on a subscription basis), rather than having to pay large sunk costs for long-term software licences, and the purchase and installation of IT infrastructure necessary to support the services locally.
    - SJ Berwin LLP
  • Commission victorious in ‘regulatory holiday’ action brought against Germany

    On 3 December 2009, following an action brought by the European Commission under article 226 of the EC Treaty (now article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU) the European Court of Justice (ECJ) confirmed that Germany had failed to comply with its obligations under the European regulatory framework for telecommunications (the Common Regulatory Framework (CRF)). The ECJ’s judgment in European Commission v Germany [2009] confirms that Germany acted unlawfully by adopting a national law excluding ‘new markets’ from regulation – so called ‘regulatory holidays’.
    - SJ Berwin LLP
  • New Commission

    On Friday 27 November 2009 the new European Commission, which will begin its mandate early in 2010, was announced by Commission President José Barroso. This announcement followed a week after the appointment of Herman Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton as the President of the European Council and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy respectively, the two new roles created by the Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force on 1 December 2009.
    - Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP

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