 Becoming part of the solution, not the problemOur cover story this month looks at the impact on law firms of the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA’s) seismic shift from light-touch regulation to a tough enforcement regime. While the Solicitors Regulation Authority remains their main regulator, the scope for law firms to fall under the FSA’s remit is growing exponentially.Dorsey & Whitney partner Andrew Rimmington and former McDermott Will & Emery partner Michael McFall have been charged with insider trading by the FSA. The pair face up to seven years in jail if found guilty at a criminal trial later this month. The news followed the FSA winning its first insider trading case, against TTP Communications’ former general counsel Christopher McQuoid in March. The clear message to any firm turning a blind eye to the mishandling of sensitive information is that this will no longer be tolerated. Also in this issue we publish our inaugural Global IP special, which examines how IP partners are increasing their power bases during the global financial crisis. Our Middle East feature ‘Beyond the mirage’ looks at those markets coming to the fore in light of Dubai’s downturn. The client special, meanwhile, profiles real estate entrepreneur Anton Bilton, who holds firm views on who deserves a slice of his Raven Group’s annual £5m legal spend. According to Bilton, ‘many of the problems we have encountered have been where a firm assumes it can be successful in a new jurisdiction solely on the strength of its brand and not on the strength of its lawyers’. An interesting thought for those firms now trying to reduce their global legal ranks. Bilton is currently focusing Raven’s investment strategy on Russia – a jurisdiction well known to high-profile lawyer Robert Amsterdam, who spends his time battling governments in some of the world’s most corrupt and dangerous legal jurisdictions. In ‘The fixer’, Amsterdam talks to Legal Business about how clients entering emerging markets need to protect themselves against the risks of expropriation – or ‘resource nationalism’ – and the increasing willingness of these countries to criminalise business behaviour. According to Amsterdam, lawyers representing such companies should go on the offensive and not bow down to unfeasible and unlawful demands. A similar mantra in many ways to that now being preached to UK law firms by the FSA. James Baxter, Editor |