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The London office of New York's Debevoise & Plimpton has won Arthur Marriott from rivals Washington DC-based Wilmer Cutler & Pickering. A leading English advocate, Marriott was one of the first two solicitors made Queen's Counsel in March this year. He takes two assistants with him "Having Marriott will be of great benefit to our clients, for now we will have leading professionals in the international dispute-resolution field on both sides of the Atlantic," says Debevoise's presiding partner Barry Brown. "This move also reflects the firm's overall commitment to our international practice, and to London in particular." International arbitration and litigation issues were formerly handled largely from the firm's New York and Paris offices.

The Court of Appeal upheld, among other things, the freedom of contract in Citicorp Investment Bank (Singapore) v Wee Ah Kee. Under a loan agreement to fund Wee's purchase of shares in CIL, Wee granted Citicorp a charge over CIL shares to secure his indebtedness and a call option to purchase 30% of the CIL shares acquired using the loan.

France’s legal market is now one of the most crowded in Europe. Samantha Wigham went to Paris to find out how French firms are coping with the challenge thrown down by the big six and international competitors

The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire has signed a restructuring agreement with its foreign commercial creditors providing for the repurchase and cancellation of 30% of the country's external commercial debt at a discount. The remaining 70% of the debt will be exchanged for partly secured bonds in dollars and French francs. The agreement covers US$6.8 billion of debt, and is the second of its kind to be completed in Africa.

US firm Kaye Scholer Fierman Hays & Handler has lost corporate partners in New York and Los Angeles including vice-chair of the firm Robert Finley. Finley, who was co-head of the corporate and finance practice, has joined the New York office of Clifford Chance. The English firm is seeking to develop a New York banking practice having built a team of 40 US securities lawyers in New York, London and Hong Kong.

"Three years ago we asked if they wanted to merge and they decided to stay on their own. But over the last few years they have decided that might have been the wrong decision," says Rene Stokman, chairman of Benelux firm Loeff Claeys Verbeke, of Dutch firm Buruma Maris's belated decision to accept a merger proposal. The merger solves a gap in Loeff's coverage, giving it a solid base in The Hague. "Opening there was always on our agenda, and a merger was the easiest way to do that," says Stokman. "It was just a problem of finding the right fit." He notes that the firms rarely meet in practice and so do not expect too many conflicts. Loeff is strong in company law, while Buruma specializes in property, intellectual property, administrative, labour, litigation and telecoms law. Stokman believes that Buruma's litigation practice is particularly attractive, partly because lawyers are admitted to the High Court and are therefore regarded as of the top rank.

Southern US firms McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe LLP and Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy LLP, are in merger talks. Richmond-based McGuire Woods and Atlanta's Powell Goldstein could complete discussions and combine by the end of 1997.

Denton International, the European association, has added a Spanish member, Bufete Lupicinio Rodríguez. The addition of the 25-lawyer firm, which has offices in Madrid and Barcelona, brings the membership to seven.

New York's niche aviation, maritime and transport-related asset finance firm Haight, Gardner, Poor & Havens has agreed to a merger offer from Miami-based general practice firm Holland & Knight. "In the globalizing market you can no longer sit back and say we're Haight Gardner, we're the best in aviation, shipping and asset finance. That's not enough any more," explains Brian Starer, chairman of the firm. "The client base needs broader-based services. We found more and more over the last few years that we had to pass on business such as IPOs to other firms," he continues. "We decided that when we were approached by a firm with a whole shopping cart full of services we should jump into their basket."

Greater transparency is being recognized as the key to identifying the trail of illicit funds in South America. By Rodolfo Gerardo Papa of Cárdenas, Cassagne & Asociados, Buenos Aires