Clyde & Co. Enters U.S. Legal Market

06/30/06

Clyde & Co. enters U.S. legal market

Clyde & Co., the international law firm based in the UK, has formally announced its entry into the U.S. market by setting up shop in Los Angeles and New York. The firm opened its office in Shanghai earlier this year and in Moscow last year in July.



The U.S. office will initially concentrate in the field of aviation and aerospace, eventually expanding into energy, international trade, transportation, and insurance law.

A team of four partners from Condon & Forsyth, with whom Clyde & Co. has old ties, has moved laterally to join the firm. The move to set up offices in the U.S. has been dictated by the needs of the firm's international clients. The U.S. team is expected to aid Clyde's projection into the aviation and aerospace markets of Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's scholarship fund
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP has created a scholarship fund at Mount St. Mary's College. $10,000 will be given to pre-law students over a two year period. A Gibson Dunn lawyer will also serve as mentor for every scholarship recipient.

The move is aimed at fostering students' interest in law as a career and emerged out of the law firm's participation in mock trials at the college over the preceding years.

Mount St. Mary is an independent, liberal arts college with a majority of Hispanic students. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is one of the leading international law firms, and it is ranked highly in global industry surveys and legal publications with approximately 800 attorneys spread across 13 offices.

Wickwire merges with Akerman
Construction law boutique firm Wickwire Gavin, with 30 attorneys in Virginia, Los Angeles, and Wisconsin, has agreed to a merger with Florida-based Akerman Senterfitt, which has a total strength of 475 attorneys.

Akerman has more than 80 lawyers in its real estate practice alone with several offices in Florida, as well as in DC. With the merger, Akerman Senterfitt seeks to offer its clients large-scale project development, disaster preparedness and recovery, and government contracts services, both on a national and global scale. Wickwire would also benefit from their lawyers gaining greater access to the Florida market, as well as to Akerman's real estate, taxation, corporate and construction practices.

Winston & Strawn expands Paris office
Winston & Strawn has recruited new attorneys from the French law firm law firm Fidal to practice in Winston & Strawn's Paris office. The firm hired corporate partners Frederic Bailly and tax partners Franck Lagorce and Jean-Pierre Collet.

Bailly will practice corporate law, contributing his experience in M&A and private equity work, while Collet has experience in the field of taxation and will focus on investment funds in France. Lagorce has a background in real estate related tax work, which is an emerging area of importance to Winston & Strawn.

The firm is targeting an increase in the size of its Paris office from 18 to 60 lawyers in two years, and the Fidal hires signify a step in that direction.