Legal Business Awards 2010

Olswang advised BBC Worldwide on the ‘Project Kangaroo’ joint venture with Channel 4 and ITV, conceived as an industry-defining video-ondemand service. The sheer collaborative nature of this transaction looked set to redefine the market, changing the future of broadcasting. Kangaroo ultimately proved too much for the Competition Commission, which in early February blocked the project in its current form, though it may yet be modified.

Regardless, the outstanding Olswang team – headed by partner Selina Potter, together with corporate partners Paul Guite and Simon Morgan – took the lead on the licence arrangements between each of the Kangaroo partners and the venture itself. This required a detailed understanding of how each partner commissions programmes and acquires rights, its business as a broadcaster and the nascent market for video on demand. As such it exemplifies the firm’s position at the cutting edge of the TMT sector.

This TMT forte was further illustrated through a range of major matters. The firm advised Satellite Information Services, the foremost supplier of television programming and data services to the UK and Irish betting industry, on the acquisition of the outside broadcasts division of BBC Resources. It also advised the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games on various telecoms and technology projects, including acting on their single largest contract, the appointment of BT and Nortel as the key telecoms and technology providers for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

HERBERT SMITH

Bill Moodie; Mark Shillito

The team led by Bill Moodie, in his last piece of litigation before retiring in May 2008, helped printer manufacturer Markem to secure a comprehensive victory in its complex, six-year patent dispute with Zipher. Moodie deserves recognition not only for his sterling work on behalf of Markem, but also over a distinguished career.

LATHAM & WATKINS

Martin Cotterill

The Latham team has come to embody innovation in outsourcing. For some time now, the firm has led the way with one of the foremost practices in London and has remained committed to the area. It completed a number of impressive deals through 2008, but two in particular illustrate the firm’s market-leading approach: Lloyds TSB and Norwich Union.

LINKLATERS

Richard Cumbley

Linklaters is able to point to a raft of high-level deals with an international dimension. One that was of crucial importance in the midst of the financial crisis saw the team step in to act for PricewaterhouseCoopers on all the technology and privacy aspects of the insolvency of Lehman Brothers. This was a complex piece of work involving negotiation of more than 30 separation and transfer agreements.

TAYLOR WESSING

Charles Lloyd

Taylor Wessing has a long-established track record in all things technology, media and telecoms-related. It was among the first law firms to specialise in TMT in the early 1990s and continues to exhibit outstanding strength in depth across all aspects of contentious and non-contentious IP. Charles Lloyd, in particular, embodies the firm’s approach, employing his undoubted expertise for leading clients in a wide range of businesses in the sector.

Award sponsored by LECG