The "Microsoft" of Miners about to acquire the "Yahoo" of mining

From Forbes.com:

LONDON -
"As you might have expected given last week's bid expectations for Canadian steel maker Alcan, other companies in the metals and mining sector have now found themselves the subject of takeover talk. Analysts at Merrill Lynch recently suggested that BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining stock, could be an attractive target for private-equity interests, but now forecasters at Citigroup think the company would be better off just buying Rio Tinto, its nearest rival.

It might seem a little far fetched given the fact that Rio has a market capitalization of $80 billion, while BHP is worth $136 billion. But investors seemed to be hoping there was some truth the speculation, and sent Rio up 204 pence ($4.07), or 6.1%, to £35.08 ($69.93), in Wednesday afternoon trading in London. BHP was up 24 pence (48 cents), or 2.0%, at £12.09 ($24.10). It wouldn't quite be the biggest takeover of all time -- that distinction goes to AOL for buying Time Warner in 2000 for $165 billion -- but it would probably come a close second.

"Rio Tinto's strong cashflow and nominal gearing may bring it into the crosshairs of private equity, but we think BHP Billiton is a much more likely bidder given synergies and nationalistic control issue of Australian assets," Citigroup's Clarke Wilkins wrote in a research note earlier this week.

Considering Rio Tinto's sheer size, a bid at even a modest premium would need to be around $100 billion or more, and that would leave the only other miners that might conceivably buy it -- Anglo American and Xstrata, which have market values of $80 billion and $50 billion, respectively -- saddled with debt. BHP, on the other hand, has reported a hefty cashflow from operating activities of $10.5 billion for the year to June 30, 2006, and even promised shareholders it would add a massive $10 billion to its share buyback program in February.

A bid from BHP Billiton also looks compelling, Wilkins said, because of the synergies that could be achieved between it and Rio through their existing joint ventures. BHP's dual listing on the Australian and London stock exchanges, along with its being partly based in Australia, would also stand it in good stead with the Australian government since a takeover of Rio would see it gain control of the company's huge iron ore operations in Pilbara, Western Australia. Rio derives about 40% of its earnings from its mines there. "

I first received word of this from The Posse List, who had sent out an email to their DC listerv today. If you are a contract attorney anywhere in America you would be foolish not to sign up with The Posse List listservs. Their information on jobs and the market in general is pretty remarkable.

Kristina Arvanitis is my Hero!

That is not Kristina Arvanitis. That is the actress Helen Slater in Supergirl. I think she is trying to rescue biscuits from Popeyes in that scene.

This is a letter to the editor regarding an article from Boston.com It is an article that I had touched on earlier about how a particular staff attorney was only hiring "top notch" Boston Contract Attorneys.

May 12, 2008
IT IS with a dull anger that I read your article, "These temp lawyers are top-notch, a new firm in Boston promises" (Business, May 5), which my grandmother handed to me as I was clicking on the classifieds in a fruitless effort to find an ad for a junior-level attorney.

You see, I have four years of an Ivy League education, followed by three years of law school, and admission to the bar. In a world where someone with a doctor of jurisprudence is automatically considered to be one of the top earners in the country, the Globe frittered away the opportunity to report on the underclass of lawyers who are mired in tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars in debt and count on document review to pay the bills.

Instead, the story gleefully perpetuated a "stereotype" by noting that a contract attorney is a "fancy name for recent law school graduates who are desperate for work."

And it touts the services of a staffing firm that refuses to hire recent graduates who "couldn't get a job anywhere," without bothering to interview a single contract attorney.

This recent underemployed attorney also used to be a journalist. Maybe I should have remained one, as the Globe could certainly use a refresher in one of the cardinal rules of journalism: Always examine all potential angles.

KRISTINA ARVANITIS
Medford

Now that is classic.

Boston Temp Attorneys are the "New England Patriots" of Attorneys, "Top Notch" Talent, Tremendous Disappointment

From Boston.com

"In the law firm world, "contract attorney" is often a disparaging term - a fancy name for recent law school graduates who are desperate for work or older lawyers lacking the credentials to land full-time positions.
Today, Boston becomes the first New England location for a company that aims to defy that stereotype."

Disclosure: I work for contract attorney agency as many of you know. I normally don't post stuff about my agency or others agencies, but I found this article kind of humorous. All agencies pretty much operate from the same talent pool, and to be honest, I think it is actually an excellent talent pool. There are a few exceptions of course, but overall the quality of attorney that contracts today has sky rocketed from a decade ago. Maybe because contracting has become more acceptable in the legal field.

But what they were paying the Indian Attorneys?

Tusker outsources to India; $25 an hour for an attorney

Austin Business Journal - by Jean Kwon Staff Writer
When Austin-based software company Bluecurrent Inc. went up against Dell Inc. in a trade secret lawsuit over a year ago, it had a fighting chance -- thanks to its lawyers in India.

Tusker Group LC, hired by Bluecurrent's attorneys, reviewed over 70 million pages plundered from both companies' computers during the exhaustive discovery phase of litigation. The locally based company employs lawyers in India to perform litigation document review.

As a result, Bluecurrent, which settled with Dell [Nasdaq: Dell] last year for an undisclosed sum, spent five to 10 times less than what it would have cost to use domestic attorneys.

"We needed to be creative to leverage the amount of money the client had to commit to litigation and get the most bang for the buck," says Jay Ellwanger, a partner at boutique firm DiNovo Price Ellwanger LLP who led Bluecurrent's case. "This was one way of doing that."

Contract Work Evolves with Times

This is a decent article about the evolution of contract work from Georgia's Daily Report.

"That stereotype is changing as temporary attorneys become a permanent part of the legal landscape.
As the billing rates for expensive young associates skyrocket and the number of documents to be reviewed on big mergers and class actions has exploded into the millions, firms routinely use cheaper contract attorneys for legal grunt work.
But an increasing number of lawyers working on contract are experienced attorneys who've traded partnership aspirations for a more manageable work life."