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How working at Chadbourne & Parke, Morrison & Foerster and Jones Day compares to non-US firms

The problems Middle East funds have in adapting to western buyouts

Turkey Recommended firms Tier 1 Derman Düren Akol Avukatlik Burosu Hergüner Bilgen Özeke Paksoy & Co Pekin & Pekin Tier 2 Bircanoglu Birsel Law Offices Caga & Caga Cakmak Avukatlik Bürosu Pekin & Bayar Taboglu Ates & Demirhan Tier 3 ECE Guner Unlu Law Offices Esin Lokmanhekim Ictem Gürkaynak M Fadlullah Cerrahoglu Law Offices "A rising tide raises the boats" is the phrase a partner used to describe the present Turkish legal market. The economy is growing fast, and domestic companies and foreign investors are realising the potential the country has to offer.

France Recommended firms Tier 1 Bredin Prat Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier Linklaters Tier 2 Gide Loyrette Nouel Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom Sullivan & Cromwell Tier 3 Ashurst Clifford Chance Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Orrick Rambaud Martel Shearman & Sterling Weil Gotshal & Manges Willkie Farr & Gallagher In recent years France has seen a steep rise in private equity. Hedge funds also now wield much more influence and funds are often demanding changes in the way companies are run. This phenomenon has been labelled as shareholder activism, and the expectations of these investors, which are often rooted in short-term gains, can be very different to those of classical public shareholders. And they frequently get their own way – the possession of large equity blocks, and the ability to band together, allows these funds to push through even the most drastic of changes.

Denmark Recommended firms Tier 1 Bech-Bruun Kromann Reumert Plesner Svane Grønborg Tier 2 Accura Gorrissen Federspiel Kierkegaard Tier 3 Jonas Bruun Rønne & Lundgren The Danish M&A market has come back to earth after last year's record-breaking private-equity buyout of TDC, the leading Danish telecoms company. Deal activity has still been very strong but there hasn't been an obvious standout transaction in the market over the past year, which has led to a more even spread of work among the leading firms.

Germany Recommended firms Tier 1 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Hengeler Mueller Tier 2 Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Clifford Chance Gleiss Lutz Linklaters Tier 3 Allen & Overy Baker & McKenzie CMS Hasche Sigle Latham & Watkins Shearman & Sterling Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom White & Case It was a record-breaking year for the mergers and acquisitions market in Germany. The scene was set in early 2006 with Bayer's €16 billion acquisition of Schering and culminated with Porsche's €75.7 billion share increase in Volkswagen.

Finland Recommended firms Tier 1 Hannes Snellman Roschier Tier 2 Borenius & Kemppinen Castrén & Snellman White & Case Tier 3 Dittmar & Indrenius Fennica Merilampi Marttila Laitasalo Waselius & Wist Tier 4 Krogerus Attorneys LMR Cross-border expansion has been the talking point of the market of late, with the big firms opening foreign offices to take advantage of their clients' desire to tap the resources of developing markets. Hannes Snellman and Castrén & Snellman have concentrated on Russia, while Roschier has opened offices in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Canada Recommended firms Tier 1 Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg Goodmans Osler Hoskin & Harcourt Stikeman Elliott Tier 2 Bennett Jones Blake Cassels & Graydon McCarthy Tétrault Ogilvy Renault Torys Tier 3 Borden Ladner Gervais Burnet Duckworth & Palmer Fasken Martineau DuMoulin Fraser Milner Casgrain Macleod Dixon The Canadian mergers and acquisitions market has gone through some interesting transitions in the last year. Firms have seen more foreign acquisitions of Canadian companies and cross-border transactions, particularly in the mining sector, which has previously seen an ebb and flow. One partner expressed concern: "Canada is being hollowed out."

Austria Recommended firms Tier 1 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Schönherr Wolf Theiss Tier 2 Binder Grösswang Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati Dorda Brugger Jordis Tier 3 CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz Fiebinger Polak Leon & Partner Graf & Pitkowitz The arrival of big private-equity funds in Austria was announced with a bang in 2005. European Directories, a Macquarie-led consortium, bought out the Yellow Brick Road telephone directories business from 3i Group and Veronis Suhler Stevenson for €1.83 billion. Since then private-equity activity has risen and risen, with funds happy to acquire stakes in companies where there is seemingly no potential. But while there have been a large number of small private-equity deals, big-hitting private-equity houses often lament that too few prime targets appear on the market.

Australia Recommended firms Tier 1 Allens Arthur Robinson Blake Dawson Waldron Clayton Utz Freehills Mallesons Stephen Jaques Tier 2 Gilbert + Tobin Minter Ellison Tier 3 Atanaskovic Hartnell Baker & McKenzie Australia has seen some colossal deals this year with the surge of private entrepreneurs accessing public markets in an attempt to acquire strategic assets. Such investors are less interested in financial services, due to the heavily leveraged and highly regulated bank sector, and are instead looking towards businesses that can be re-engineered in a short span of time. While private-equity deals remain attractive for their sheer size, they have the potential to present equally huge obstacles for firms attempting to structure transactions under the tight time constraints imposed. As one lawyer pointed out: "Private-equity investors have been able to do these deals too easily. A$3 billion worth of private-equity deals have fallen in the last three months and now we're seeing a reappraisal."