Norton Rose gets on board for both sides in shipping deal

Norton Rose acted simultaneously for both sides in a shipping transaction that completed last week.

The City firm acted for Stena Line in its disposal of 40% stock of joint venture P&O Stena Line - worth more than 182 million - to P&O.

Norton Rose advised Stena chiefly, with Ashurst Morris Crisp handling P&O's corporate work.

But Norton Rose also acted for P&O on the shipping side.

Richard Gradon, head of in-house at P&O, said: 'Norton Rose were not the main lawyers on the transaction, acting on two niche areas, only one of which may have given rise to conflict with Stena, and we agreed that the scope for such conflict was minimal.

'One thinks very carefully in the situations in which you accept that your law firm will use a Chinese wall.'

Norton Rose lead partner Mauro Mattiuzzo - who acted for Stena - said: 'We used two separate teams with a very high Chinese wall between them.'

He said the firm had acted because of its historic role as an adviser to both companies.

Jeremy Fleming