Not reached the bottom yet – sanctions on Russia begin to bite for law firms

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Jaishree Kalia reports on the anticipated fall-off in deal work in the wake of Ukraine crisis

Russia’s volatile political environment has begun to impact the business of international and domestic law firms in Moscow as M&A activity falls, new capital markets work dries up and expanding sanctions cause increasing concern.

Western targeted sanctions imposed largely on individuals in Russia over its handling of the crisis in Ukraine have already had a crippling effect on corporate activity. However, it is the looming threat of yet tougher, broader-based sanctions as the situation escalates, with measures potentially targeting the Russian financial and energy sectors specifically, which could cause advisers even deeper problems.

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European deal wave anticipated amid growing market confidence

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Holcim/Lafarge merger and Vivendi’s SFR acquisition lead the way

Corporate partners are forecasting the next big European M&A wave after deal values this quarter shot up, partly on the back of ready debt finance and growing market confidence. Such conditions have supported a run of lucrative mandates, including the €40bn merger in April of cement companies Holcim and Lafarge and the acquisition of Vivendi’s phone unit SFR by cable group Altice for a total value in excess of €17bn.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer were among a host of firms advising on Holcim’s combination with Lafarge, a deal that, subject to regulatory approval, will create LafargeHolcim, the world’s biggest cement maker.

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Eversheds in talks to extend voting rights as 164 junior partners inject cash

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Fixed-share partners to make capital contributions of 25% of profit share

Eversheds started talks in April over the voting rights of its fixed-share partners (FSPs) after they were asked to contribute 25% of their annual earnings in response to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) tax changes for limited liability partnerships (LLPs).

The firm called on its 164 junior partners to make the contributions to avoid being deemed employees, which would require Eversheds to pay national insurance contributions for them.

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CMS junior partners to pay up to £50k in response to HMRC shake-up

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CMS Cameron McKenna has called on its fixed-share partners (FSPs) to make a substantial contribution of capital in light of HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) recent overhaul of the way partnerships are taxed.

Members of the junior partnership that fall into band one of the firm’s four-tiered remuneration structure have been asked to contribute around £35,000 to £50,000 each. With 90 partners in this bracket, this means a total capital investment of up to £4.5m.

A partner at the firm told Legal Business: ‘The firm doesn’t necessarily need the money – it’s not a call for borrowings or to meet debt requirements. It’s a call to even out the capital positions across the various levels of the partnership. People were not necessarily happy taking on more borrowings but it hasn’t caused any ructions across the junior partnership.’

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HSF shakes off post-merger politics in favour of sole global corporate head as Ferraro takes over

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Setting aside the notoriously difficult post-merger politics of selecting one partner to run a core practice area, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) in mid-April announced that joint global head of corporate Mike Ferraro will this month take over as sole head.

Fellow co-head Patrick Mitchell will, after four years as head of corporate, take up a new role as head of the firm’s infrastructure practice in both the UK and EMEA. Mitchell will work closely with Andrew Clark, head of projects for Australia and Asia, in the continued development of what the firm describes as ‘this strategically important practice’. Mitchell will also maintain his role in developing the firm’s presence in Germany.

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Hogan Lovells gives voice to partners under 45 with new board level role

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Higson elected ahead of move to single global CEO

Hogan Lovells has taken a step towards giving its younger partners a high level representative voice with the announcement in April that it has created a position on its 12-strong board for an equity partner aged 45 and under.

London corporate partner Ben Higson has been elected to the role and the firm has also chosen German IP and technology partner Leopold von Gerlach to take over from José María Balañá as the representative for Continental Europe on the board, which has supervisory responsibility in overseeing the affairs of the firm but without executive responsibility for strategy, management, and operational decisions.

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GC appointments for EY, HarperCollins and BNY Mellon

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Reshuffles see trio promoted to fill senior roles

Three high-profile in-house counsel appointments in the UK and US last month saw accountancy giant EY, publishing house HarperCollins and global investment bank BNY Mellon fill their senior general counsel (GC) roles.

EY promoted its Americas legal chief Michael Solender to global vice chair and GC, which will see him carry out a global reorganisation of the EY legal function and integrate EY’s internal legal operations worldwide.

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Life during law: Helen Burton

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The first deal I worked on when I qualified at Allen & Overy (A&O) was for David Morley and everything went wrong. On the Monday morning, I went to his office and he saw the look on my face and said: ‘Helen, don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.’ I turned around and walked out, but that stayed with me. The job of a lawyer is not to bring problems but to find solutions.

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Heineken UK in talks to appoint sole legal adviser

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The UK arm of global cider and beer producer Heineken is actively considering going down the one-stop-shop route for the bulk of its legal work, appointing a sole legal adviser in a bid to cut down its external legal spend.

Heineken’s company secretary and UK head of legal Graeme Colquhoun anticipates that one of the firms with which the brewer already has a relationship would be best placed to serve in the role, meaning that firms including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Allen & Overy, Shepherd and Wedderburn, TLT Solicitors, Morton Fraser, Irwin Mitchell, Osborne Clarke, CMS Cameron McKenna and Pinsent Masons could all be in line for the windfall instruction.

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Dwindling partner promotions at A&O and Freshfields fail to maintain current partnership levels

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The UK’s elite law firms often point to their rigorous partnership promotion process as a natural selector of the best talent but at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy (A&O) the promotion of just 15 and 16 partners respectively in recent weeks is insufficient even to maintain the partnerships at their current levels.

For Freshfields, the latest promotions round is a marginal increase on the 14 promoted in 2013, but is a significant decline when compared with the 20 partners promoted in 2011 and 2012.

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