Two in the hand

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett doesn't need a long list of clients. The New York white shoe firm's two top private equity clients alone can make any lawyer turn green with envy: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and The Blackstone Group. Now these relationships have been extended to another business ?IPOs involving their clients.

Blackstone appointed Simpson Thacher the sole law firm to advise it on its planned $4 billion (€3 billion) IPO of its management company. According to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration documents, the legal advisors on Fortress Investment Group's IPO, regarded as a precedent for Blackstone's, earned $14.5 million. Fortress' offering in February 2007 raised $634.5 million. Any fees Simpson Thacher earns will have to be shared with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, the law firm advising Blackstone's underwriters, led by Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. Simpson Thacher was also sole advisor to KKR's Euronext offering, which raised $5 billion in May 2006.

That these two private equity relationships alone contribute 15 percent of Simpson Thacher's gross revenue now is the result of long relationships. Jerome Kohlberg, Henry Kravis and George Roberts first started working with Richard Beattie in 1972, when the trio were associates at Bear Stearns; Beattie is now Simpson Thacher's chairman. Robert Friedman, then M&A partner at Simpson Thacher, started working with Blackstone since it was founded in 1985. In 1999, Friedman joined Blackstone full time as its chief legal officer and chief administrative officer.

Simpson Thacher's relationships with these two places it as the only law firm that has advised buyers on four of the largest buyout deals in history to date?the $45 billion acquisition of TXU Corp, $38.9 billion acquisition of Equity Office Properties, $31.4 billion acquisition of RJR Nabisco and $33 billion acquisition of HCA Corp.

No doubt the high flying prospects of the private equity pair is lending swagger to their legal advisor. In 2006, Simpson Thacher did not make Legal Week's top 10 law firms by per partner equity (PEP), the industry's measure for partner profitability. But it recently sparked debate by raising associate base salaries by 10 percent to $160,000, prompting other law firms to follow suit.

Holland & Knight gains Lawrence in China
Richard Lawrence III has joined the international law firm Holland & Knight's international and China practice groups as partner resident in the firm's Beijing office. Lawrence, who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, has extensive experience representing China government agencies and state-owned enterprises, as well as foreign investors. He has advised on a wide range of banking, joint venture, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, project development and finance, corporate finance, technology transfer, and general corporate and commercial matters. In China, Lawrence served as principal legal adviser to the Chinese sponsor in a number of high-profile energy, infrastructure and natural resource projects, including coal mining, nuclear power and pipeline projects. He also advised on the Taiwan high speed rail project. ?Richard's breadth of experience and depth of knowledge significantly enhances our capabilities in this dynamic market,? said Tad Ferris and Hongjun Zhang, partners with the firm's China team who lead Holland & Knight's China regulatory and government affairs practice. Holland and Knight has 17 offices worldwide and employs more than 1,150 lawyers.

Mourant announces merger, New York office launch
Cayman Islands-based law firm Mourant announced that it is merging with fellow Cayman law firm Quin & Hampson, as well as becoming the first offshore law firm to open a New York office. Under the terms of the merger, which is subject to regulatory approval, all of the Quin & Hampson partners will form part of a new Mourant partnership in Cayman, and the employees of Quin & Hampson will all transfer to Mourant. Mourant will also acquire Quin & Hampson affiliate Q&H Corporate Services. Shortly after the merger announcement cam the news that Mourant was opening a New York office, the first offshore law firm to do so. The new office's focus is on third-party fund administration and tax compliance for North American private equity funds. Senior associate Simon Felton is relocating to the New York office from London in April. ?New York is a vital feeder market for the Cayman Islands, and we're very excited to be the first offshore law firm to open an office there,? said Mourant CEO Stephen Ball in a statement.

Cuatrecasas adds Hartala and Jaso
Spanish law firm Cuatrecasas announced new hires in two newly formed tax and litigation groups in February. Former director of Landwell-PricewaterhouseCoopers Joan Hortala joined the firm's Barcelona office as head of one of the teams within its tax group. The group will focus on tax, mergers and acquisitions, and restructuring issues; the group plans to grow to 10 attorneys, up from six now. Meanwhile, Luis Murillo Jaso, the former director of the legal affairs department at Spanish media company Corporation Aragonesa de Radio & Television, has been hired to head Cuatrecasas' newly formed telecoms and technology litigation department. Jaso will be based in the firm's Zaragoza office.

Morgan Lewis hires Yano and Graham
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, the global law firm, announced that Lisa Yano has joined the firm as co-managing partner of its Tokyo office and as co-managing partner of Morgan Lewis-TMI, the firm's joint venture in Japan with TMI Associates. While practicing in Tokyo for more than 15 years, Yano has represented Japanese companies in a broad range of cross-border corporate and financing transactions and assists US and other overseas companies in their activities in Japan. Her practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, joint ventures, financing, and intellectual property transactions. Rory Graham has also joined the firm's London office as a partner in the business and finance practice. Graham represents clients in technology-driven transactions, such as outsourcing, telecommunications, and other matters. He joins the firm with leading associate Simon White. Graham's clients include Fortune 500 companies and financial institutions, and technology startups. His recent work has included advising on the creation of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in Europe and the United States. Morgan Lewis employs more than 1,300 attorneys in 22 offices worldwide.

Woll joins WilmerHale
Law firm WilmerHale announced the addition of Robert Woll as co-partner in charge of its Beijing office, alongside current partner Lester Ross. Woll has expertise in mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, joint ventures and corporate governance issues for a wide range of private equity, venture capital and real estate investment funds Prior to joining WilmerHale, Woll was former managing partner of the Hong Kong office of Morrison & Foerster. ?Bob will build upon the widely respected capabilities of WilmerHale in bringing sophisticated private equity, venture capital and M&A expertise to our clients in a critical region of the world,? said William Perlstein, WilmerHale's co-managing partner, in a statement. WilmerHale has offices in 11 cities in the US, Europe and Asia.

Milbank expands European practice
International law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy announced that Stuart Harray has been elected as a partner, resident in London, where he will take a leading role in Milbank's UK corporate practice. Stuart was a partner at Allen & Overy in London from 1998 to 2005, and in from 2004 to 2005 was a managing partner of its corporate department. During 2006, Stuart was a partner at New Zealand-based Russell McVeagh. Milbank also announced the expansion of its corporate practice into Frankfurt, Germany. Milbank's Frankfurt office has so far been exclusively focused on banking and finance law advice while corporate mergers and acquisitions and tax advice were provided out of the Munich office. Corporate partner Norbert Rieger will now spend half of his time in the Frankfurt office and senior associate Peter Memminger will transfer from Munich to Frankfurt. Additional corporate associates will be recruited for the Frankfurt office. Phillip Fletcher, who manages Milbank's European offices, said in a statement that ?the addition of Stuart Harray and the establishment of a Frankfurt corporate practice are just the latest of a set of important developments, and more would follow in our core practices.?