Against a background of general market uncertainty, the priorities and needs of our clients have changed significantly in recent months. One of the strengths of Weil Gotshal as a firm, and the London office as the second biggest office of the firm, is the ability to provide the flexibility and specialist expertise to meet these needs. It is not simply a question of having a world-leading restructuring practice in the “bad times” and one of the premier private equity practices in the “good times”, it is that these practices are constantly evolving to the benefit of our clients.
Our restructuring practice is widely recognised as one of the leading practices in its field, referred to as "the gold standard of the bankruptcy bar" (The American Lawyer). The firm has been at the forefront of the credit crisis, advising global financial institutions such as Lehman Brothers, AIG and Kaupthing, as well as providing integrated crisis management advice. These are truly international restructuring programmes, with the London office co-ordinating teams spanning all of the firm’s offices in the rest of Europe and Asia.
We are one of the leading private equity law firms in London and Europe. Our restructuring expertise in the US and Europe has enabled us to provide corporate and private equity clients with cutting-edge advice on the current markets - how to best weather the current storms and prepare for opportunities in the distressed M&A markets.
We advise on all aspects of domestic and cross-border transactional and general corporate issues, including acquisitions and disposals, corporate governance, demergers and re-organisations, equity capital markets, joint ventures, public and private mergers and strategic alliances.
Full-service transactional support is provided by specialists in the fields of commercial contracts, competition, employment/employee benefits, environment, IP/IT, pensions, real estate and tax.
We have an international finance practice which continues to be among the very best practices in London, and spans asset finance, acquisition finance (including senior and mezzanine debt), bank and institutional lending, debt capital markets (including high yield), derivatives, lease financings, refinancings and recapitalisations, and structured finance.
Few firms can match the quality and depth of Weil Gotshal’s experience in litigation, arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution. The London dispute resolution team advises upon, manages and conducts all aspects of domestic and international litigation, from strategic advice during the early stages of negotiations to courtroom advocacy.
Our antitrust/competition practice offers integrated global counseling, litigation, regulatory and transactional services. The London team has an impressive record of winning unconditional clearances from both the European Commission and the Office of Fair Trading.
The London office works closely with cross-disciplinary teams across the firm on a wide range of industry specialisms, including climate change, defence, healthcare, infrastructure and TMT.
Some examples of the London office's Pro Bono experience include:
Advocates for International Development (A4ID)
The London office was instrumental in setting up this award winning London-based pro bono organisation. A4ID is an inter-firm body which uses its members legal skills in support of the UN Millenium Development Goals. A4ID was named "Pro Bono Team of the Year" at the The Lawyer Awards for its work on matters as diverse as negotiation of trade agreements and support for the land rights of nomads. See www.a4id.org for more detail.
Battersea Legal Advice Centre
London lawyers run one evening session every month at this South London advice centre. Clients include an elderly lady who was unable to find help elsewhere regarding the forced sale of her home. Our volunteers pieced together an extremely difficult story and, although nothing could be done to recover the house, were able to locate and have released to the client a total of £70,000 representing the proceeds of the sale.
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
The office has a strong relationship with the NSPCC, one of the UK's leading children's charities. We advised the NSPCC on its efforts to obtain an injunction against a UK broadcaster in relation to a controversial programme about smacking. The programme was broadcast but the court agreed our arguments on an important issue of law that had not been tested before and confirmed that the NSPCC has standing in such cases. This is likely to prove important for the NSPCC's ability to intervene in this area in the future.
Human Rights Watch
Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal - the London office has worked on an amicus curae brief on behalf of Human Rights Watch. In a war crimes trial before the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the court supported the firm's argument that a human rights monitor did not have to disclose his sources for fear of reprisals against them or their families.