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UK firm Lovell White Durrant has expanded its Chicago practice with the appointment of six lawyers over the last three months. Anne Fortney is the latest to join the niche reinsurance practice, becoming of counsel. She leaves the Washington DC office of Carlsmith Ball Wichman Case & Ichiki, where she was a partner. "Anne is clearly quite a catch," says a Lovell spokesperson. Neal Moglin has also joined the firm as of counsel from rival Kaplan & Begy. Linda Dublow joins from Streich Lang in Chicago; James Chareq from Stuart & Branigin in Indiana; Markus Heyder from Latham & Watkins in Chicago; and Philip Bock from Chicago firm Lord, Bissel & Brook.

UK firm Herbert Smith leads UK firms in Private Finance Initiative (PFI) transactions with 38 deals, according to a new league table published by PFI Report. The table lists Linklaters & Paines second with 35. Dibb Lupton Alsop, in third place, leads Freshfields by seven deals. Allen & Overy comes fifth, with 21 deals.

On December 6 1996, the ECJ issued one of the most important rulings in recent years in the continuing battle between pharmaceutical companies and 'parallel importers', ie independent traders who are able to undercut prices in expensive markets by importing bulk quantities of medicines from low-price EU countries. The Primecrown case upholds the right of parallel importers under the Single Market rules to buy and sell wherever they choose in the EU and fails to answer the claim of patent holders that parallel imports threaten research.

The Polish government will decide the fate of foreign lawyers in a series of votes over the next few weeks. One proposal would restrict foreign law firms' ability to hire domestic lawyers and could require all foreign offices to be operated by Polish firms. But foreign firms should not worry yet, according to Stephen Denyer, partner at Allen & Overy in Warsaw and leader of a group formed by foreign lawyers in Poland. "Although the voting is soon, the government proposed this three-and-a-half years ago," he explains. "The legal regime here will definitely change. It will probably be necessary to have fully-qualified lawyers, and the Polish system will change. But the rules might just restrict foreign firms, rather than forcing foreign lawyers not to practise here."

Mark Harding, general counsel of Union Bank of Switzerland, London, talks to Samantha Wigham

The commoditization of energy and the development of a European energy market is well under way — but will remain incomplete while there is no standardized master contract available. By Mark Haedicke of Enron Capital & Trade Resources Corporation, Houston

The Ontario Securities Commission is attempting to dispel the uncertainties surrounding the status of over-the-counter derivatives trades. By Philip Henderson and Ron Schlumpf of Stikeman, Elliott, London and Toronto

General Telecommunications bill

Slovak bank Vseobecná úverová banka completed the first east European bank's issue of subordinated bonds to private investors.

Singapore firm Chor Pee & Company has broken into two new practices following disagreements between partners. The firm dissolved on December 31. Name partner Lim Chor Pee has started a new practice to be called Chor Pee & Partners, and is taking 20 of the original firm's 28 lawyers with him. But the remaining lawyers claim that he cannot use the name, because it is too similar to the old firm's name.