Hong Kong and Beijing, Slaughter and May's core practice areas are mergers and acquisitions, corporate and financing work. In Brussels, its practice areas are competition, financial regulation, data protection, as well as trade issues raised by Brexit. Carillion collapse In May 2018, a report by a joint inquiry of members of the UK parliament criticized the firm for billing more than £8 million for legal advice to Carillion from when its dire financial position became clear in May 2017 to its eventual collapse in January 2018. Members of parliament said that "names such as Slaughter and May, Lazard, Morgan Stanley and EY were brandished by the board as a badge of credibility. But the appearance of prominent advisers proves nothing other than the willingness of the board to throw money at a problem and the willingness of advisory firms to accept generous fees". The report added that "by the end, a whole suite of advisers, including an array of law firms, were squeezing fee income out of what remained of the company. £6.4m disappeared on the last working day alone as the directors pleaded for a taxpayer bailout". Rachel Reeves, the Labour MP who chaired the Commons business committee, said that after the accountancy firms "it was Carillion's legal advisers who took the big payouts in the company’s dying days". Notable clients and cases During the 2007–2008 Financial Crisis, the firm advised HM Treasury with recapitalising and stabilising UK Banks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the firm advised HM Treasury on the government's emergency corporate covid financing facility (CCFF). The CCFF is intended to purchase commercial paper, a debt instrument, from companies in order to boost their liquidity. The firm advised the now liquidated British multinational construction company Carillion on asset sales, rescue bids and restructuring. In 2019, the firm advised Prudential plc and M&G plc on the demerger of M&G from Prudential. The firm advised New England Sports Ventures (now Fenway Sports Group) in their £300m takeover of Liverpool F.C. The firm advised GlaxoSmithKline on its high-profile joint venture with Novartis. The transaction received the 2015 Deal of the Year award by Financial News. Attorneys and alumni Steve Edge Alan Grieve Giles Henderson Simon Clarke Ivo Stourton Chris Jenkins Seema Kennedy Charles Randell William Watson David Green See also List of largest law firms by profits per partner References External links Official website Law firms of the United Kingdom Law