Digging for gold

Like tall grass bending in the wind, the global legal community has been bracing itself for a storm that hasn’t yet materialised, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers last year. Some leading international law firms hired high-profile names into their litigation teams, others formed banking litigation task forces.

In what was considered a sign of the times, Allen & Overy’s head of litigation Tim House said last year that a shift in focus could see dispute resolution make up 15% of this famous banking firm’s revenues in three years’ time. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer launched an assault on the New York market at the start of the year with three lateral hires into litigation, while on this side of the pond, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy set up a UK litigation practice with the hire of DLA Piper’s Julian Stait in April. US litigation heavyweight Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges arrived in the UK to much fanfare in 2008, declaring it was here to take on the banks in heavyweight disputes. And Covington & Burling’s London disputes partner Gaëtan Verhoosel arrived in May from the City arm of litigation firm Debevoise & Plimpton, joining Stephen Bond, who was White & Case’s co-head of international arbitration before moving in January.

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