Legal Business

Fieldfisher grows finance practice with hire of K&L Gates’ Moller

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Strategic recruitment FieldfisherK&L Gates

Fieldfisher has appointed Stephen Moller as a partner from K&L Gates, further bolstering the firm’s finance team after its April hire of Freshfields’ Dougall Molson.

Moller, who was at Simmons & Simmons for 15 years, 11 of which as a partner, will join Fieldfisher’s financial markets and products group. Moller specialises in structured finance, supply chain finance and securitisation.

Moller also brings alternative finance experience to the firm, having worked with technology platforms to identify and procure financial assets. 

The move for Moller cements the firm’s strategic goal to invest in technology, energy and natural resources, and financial services as the firm’s three ‘accelerated’ focuses.

Fieldfisher’s head of derivatives and structured finance, Guy Usher, commented: ‘Stephen’s experience – particularly his expertise in alternative finance – adds yet more depth and diversity to our offering.’

‘Finance and financial services are a strategic growth area for the firm. Our significant investment in recent key hires not only reflects our dedication to the sector but also the growing client demands for our services in this area.’

Moller said: ‘The Financial Markets and Products Group at Fieldfisher is going from strength to strength.  Already established in derivatives, it is becoming a bigger player across the sector and in structured finance in particular.’

‘I have known Dougall and Richard for some time and I am looking forward to working with them and with the other finance partners,’ Moller added.

The team also recently hired structured finance partner Richard Todd from Mayer Brown.

The April hire of fellow structured finance partner, Molson, launched Fieldfisher’s finance expansion drive. Molson was previously Freshfields’ head of finance in Paris. He left the Magic Circle firm ahead of the reform of its finance practice, in which six finance partners left at the end of April. 

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving doors: Baker McKenzie and Fieldfisher hire in Europe, while Kirkland opens in Boston

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Strategic recruitment Baker McKenzieFieldfisherKirkland & Ellis

 

Despite a slightly less active week for lateral hires in the UK, firms continue to grow their European footprint. Baker McKenzie and Fieldfisher added to their Paris and Dusseldorf bases respectively, as national firm Weightmans hired in Manchester and Kirkland & Ellis opened a new office in Boston.

Adding to its 170-strong Paris office, Baker McKenzie has hired Matthieu Grollemund from Dechert to head its corporate practice there. Davin has been tasked with continuing the development of the private equity and capital markets practices.

Baker McKenzie’s Paris managing partner Arnaud Cabanes said: ‘We are very happy to welcome Matthieu Grollemund and his team to the Paris office which now has 26 partners. His arrival is part of the strategy adopted by our office and our Firm to reinforce our corporate practice in Paris as well as in the world’s principal financial centres.’

Fieldfisher has expanded its Dusseldorf intellectual property (IP) base, hiring partner Benjamin Grzimek from IP specialist firm EIP where he was the head of the Dusseldorf office. A patent litigation expert, Grzimek specialises in enforcement campaigns and cross border work in the US and UK, in particular in the telecoms and consumer electronics sectors.

 Fieldfisher’s Germany managing partner Philipp Plog said: ‘Ben is a superb addition to our IP offering in Germany and we warmly welcome him to the firm. His cross-border expertise will further bolster our strong international offering.  Our German offices have had a strong year and we are looking at continuing to invest in key lateral hires.’

In the US, Kirkland & Ellis announced this week they are opening an office in Boston. This would be Kirkland’s thirteenth office worldwide, and its eighth US base. Kirkland partners Armand Della Monica, Neal Reenan and Ian Bushner will relocate to Boston to join in launching the office.

Kirkland’s chairman of the global management committee Jeffrey Hammes said: ‘Kirkland has strong ties to the Boston community, and we have been fortunate to develop longstanding client relationships in the city. Our new office is a natural evolution for our firm that will help us to provide even better service to Boston-based clients as we continue to grow, and we are very excited to be here.’

Elsewhere, national firm Weightmans has hired Richard Bate as a partner in Manchester to head up its wills, tax, trusts and probate team. Bate was head of private client at Brabners in Manchester, specialising in estate planning, focusing on wills, trust creation and administration, power of attorney and probate work.

Georgiana.Tudor@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

Financials 2016/17: Fieldfisher reveals 34% revenue hike to £165m

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Financial results 2016/17 Fieldfisher

An expansive year geographically, combined with a strong performance in corporate and disputes, has seen Fieldfisher announce a 34% increase in turnover for 2016/17, from £121.5m to £165m.

The increase in turnover amounts to a 50% growth in revenue over four years, and UK turnover now sits at £110m, breaking the £100m mark for the first time.

Profit per equity partner (PEP) at the firm also saw significant growth, rising 16% from £550,000 to £640,000. This year’s eye-catching performance follows a strong year in 2015/16, where turnover grew 7% and a 9% increase in PEP.

Managing partner Michael Chissick (pictured) told Legal Business: ‘It’s a combination of all our offices doing well and all our practice areas doing well. The standouts have been our disputes practice and our corporate practice and in the life sciences and technology sectors.

Chissick indicated that the disputes practice has been fuelled by significant arbitration work, and that the firm expects to have offices in Madrid and Barcelona offices open by this time next year. Both corporate and disputes are now £20m practices, according to the firm.

Fieldfisher has been particularly proactive in launching new offices worldwide – merging in Italy and opening in Amsterdam and Shanghai – and Chissick attributes the strong financial growth to this international presence: ‘Italy has had a great year, the integration has been strong there. Shanghai and Beijing has also got off to a good start, while our Silicon Valley office has just gone from strength to strength. We have the largest Silicon Valley office of any UK firm.’

The five-partner office in Amsterdam is the latest opening on 1 May and is focused on corporate and finance. Marcel Willems will lead the Dutch operation, spearheading a small group of partners who all join from local TMT specialists Kennedy Van der Laan. Willems is joined by Jan Schouten, Marinus de Waal, Frans-Josef Crousen and Louis Bouchez.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Read more: ‘We needed to move on’: Why Fieldfisher has turned its back on the dating game’

Legal Business

Clydes and Fieldfisher take spots on NHS litigation panel as BLM misses out

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Adviser reviews Clyde & CoFieldfisher

The NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) has unveiled a roster of firms for its £544m legal advice panel, with Fieldfisher, Clyde & Co, DAC Beachcroft and Bevan Brittan among those making the cut. Meanwhile, Berrymans Lace Mawer has missed out.

Legal Business revealed in February that the NHSLA was reviewing its panel, with firms being invited to pitch for three sub-panels: clinical liability, non-clinical liability and regulatory, health and disciplinary. The process was overseen by the NHSLA’s director of claims Alan Hunter.

A group of firms have been appointed to offer advice for all three panels, these are Browne Jacobson, DAC Beachcroft, Kennedys and Weightmans.

Firms also on the clinical panel are Bevan Brittan, Capsticks, Hempsons, Hill Dickinson and Ward Hadaway. The non-clinical panel is made up of the four firms who are on all the panels and Clyde & Co, while Blake Morgan, Fieldfisher and Mills & Reeve have also been appointed to the regulatory panel.

The clinical liabilities panel is worth an estimated £480m over four years while the non-clinical liability panel and the RHD panels are worth £32m over the four years. Places available on the clinical and non-clinical panels have decreased since 2013, where there were 11 and six slots available respectively.

This latest panel follows the tender process launched by NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) earlier this month. The panel, which is worth £20m, is due to be finalised in August this year.

In January 2017, the Department of Health began a separate tendering process to form a £6m panel of law firms to pursue litigation against companies in the pharmaceutical industry. The decision followed the £84.2m fine handed down by the Competition and Markets Authority to US-based pharmaceutical company Pfizer after it drastically elevated the prices of anti-epilepsy drugs.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Read more: ‘A buyers’ market – The trends and traumas in adviser reviews’

 

Legal Business

Fieldfisher makes major structured finance play with Freshfields hire

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Strategic recruitment FieldfisherFreshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Fieldfisher has picked up Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer‘s former Paris finance head Dougall Molson. The appointment follows the Magic Circle firm’s rejig of its finance practice, which will see six finance partners leave at the end of the month.

The structured finance partner specialises in complex structured finance, commodity finance and derivatives. His clients have included Talk Talk Telecommunications Group, and a variety of investment banks. He moved to the Magic Circle firm’s London office from Paris in 2015 and will join Fieldfisher’s London office on 1 May.

For Fieldfisher, the move follows its stated strategy to invest in technology, energy & natural resources and finance & financial services as the firm’s three ‘accelerated’ focuses.

His appointment follows last year’s hire of Mayer Brown securities partner Richard Todd to Fieldfisher’s derivatives and structured finance group.

Fieldfisher’s head of derivatives and structured finance Guy Usher (pictured) said: ‘Dougall has got a good solid structured finance practice, he’s worked alongside Richard so they know each other. In addition, he’s been doing quite a lot of structured commodity finance in recent years which is quite valuable to us. His normal deal is probably at the higher end of our normal flow, so he’s bringing in more complex commodity financing.’

Earlier this month Legal Business revealed six finance partners will leave Freshfields at the end of this month, with two more to leave the equity while the Magic Circle law firm implements a restructure of its finance practice.

Legal Business chose not to name the five City partners and one New York partner who will leave the firm at the end of April, including three London partners whose exits come as result of the recent rejig of the Magic Circle firm’s practice. Finance has about 34 partners in London and more than 70 globally.

Two others – one in New York and another in London – are to give up equity partner status in April but it is understood they will remain with the firm in other roles.

In addition to the eight which leave the partnership this financial year, two partner exits from the London practice are expected for April 2018. Another finance partner in Asia, who has already left the firm, was also affected by the recalibration.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

News in brief – March 2017

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Legal mergers Eversheds SutherlandFieldfisherFreshfields Bruckhaus DeringerHogan Lovells

FRESHFIELDS SIGNS 20-YEAR LEASE ON NEW HQ

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has signed a pre-let agreement on a 20-year lease in February to move from existing premises in Fleet Street to 100 Bishopsgate in 2021. The Magic Circle firm will reduce its London real estate by roughly a third when it takes out 255,000 sq ft of office space.

 

Legal Business

‘A hub for the firm’s key sectors’ – Fieldfisher realises Dutch ambitions with five-partner Amsterdam office

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Europe Fieldfisher

Fieldfisher has continued its expansive start to 2017 by opening a five-partner office in Amsterdam. The new office, which will focus on corporate and finance, will open on 1 May.

Marcel Willems will lead the Dutch operation, spearheading a small group of partners who all join from local TMT specialists Kennedy Van der Laan. Willems is joined by Jan Schouten, Marinus de Waal, Frans-Josef Crousen and Louis Bouchez.

Willems, Schouten, Crousen and Bouchez all have over 20 years’ experience in corporate law with de Waal also boasting a strong corporate background as a senior associate.

The Amsterdam opening follows the launch of Fieldfisher’s new four-partner Shanghai office earlier this month, headed by corporate partner Liang Xing. In June 2016, managing partner Michael Chissick highlighted the Netherlands as a potential area for international development.

Chissick said: ‘We’ve been looking at setting up an office in the Netherlands for a while. We’ve had a footprint in the Benelux region for years and it was a natural step to have a Dutch presence as well. We send more work to this jurisdiction than any others where we don’t have an office.

‘Amsterdam in particular, is a hub for the firm’s key sectors including TMT, energy, life sciences and tech.’

Willems added: ‘The Dutch legal market for corporate is really mature. That’s where the current team comes from. But of course you can’t do business anywhere nowadays without having a strong TMT team as well. That’s something we’ll focus on primarily as of now.’ He added that the office is looking to recruit talent swiftly, without ‘cannibalising’ his former firm. ‘We’re looking around and we’re going to find some very fine people.’

Chissick told Legal Business that Fieldfisher is looking to expand further into Europe in 2018, with a view to establishing a new office in Barcelona or Madrid. ‘We want to make sure that Fieldfisher is represented in each of the main capital cities of Europe.’

In a busy beginning to 2017, Fieldfisher also secured a lateral hire in January by appointing Thomas Lenné from Baker & McKenzie to its Brussels office. It also added Luther partner Sven Labudda to the Hamburg office at the start of this month.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Fieldfisher returns to Shanghai with four-partner office opening

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China Fieldfisher

Fieldfisher has strengthened its Chinese presence by opening a new office in Shanghai with four partners, and said it will double its partner count in the city by June this year.

The new addition to the firm’s Chinese verein follows its merger with Beijing-based boutique JS Partners in November 2016.

Fieldfisher corporate partner Liang Xing will lead the new office, bringing expertise in competition law. In early 2016 Fieldfisher ended its previous relationship with Shanghai-based Ryser & Associates, which had operated since 2013.

Partners at the new office will be able to practise Chinese law, expanding the range of services that the firm can offer.

Two of the four new partners arrive from Fieldfisher’s Beijing office. Tax partner Baoen Bai and corporate partner Ming Zhang are accompanied by corporate associate Jie Kong. Corporate partner Xing and Rocky Wu both join from Chinese firms. Xing, previously of Baker McKenzie, Hogan Lovells and Taylor Wessing, arrives from Mylink. Wu, who had worked for Hogan Lovells and Bird & Bird’s associated Chinese firm, Lawjay Partners, joins from JT&N.

Fieldfisher said two partners are set to join the new office in March with another two arriving in June.

Fieldfisher China managing partner Zhaofeng Zhou (pictured) told Legal Business: ‘It was only natural for us to have an office in Shanghai. Chinese companies are starting to pay attention to the legal market.

‘We will combine international knowhow with local knowledge. Our lawyers are Chinese, and that will make the difference. We are able to focus on contentious work, unlike other international law firms. Because they do not have that local knowledge.’

Zhou also revealed that there are plans in place to open further offices in other major Chinese cities in the future.

Fieldfisher managing partner Michael Chissick added: ‘Since JS Partners became part of the Fieldfisher family in November, through a Swiss verein, we’ve been working closely to ensure continued growth of the firm in China – and the opening of a Shanghai office is a natural next step: cementing our Chinese presence and ensuring we are even better placed to serve both local and international clients.’

The international expansion compounds a busy start to the year for Fieldfisher, with the announcement of ‘Condor’, a software-based alternative legal service in January.

Fieldfisher added a lateral hire in January, appointing Thomas Lenné from Baker & McKenzie to its Brussels office. It also added Luther partner Sven Labudda to the Hamburg office at the start of this month. Prior to joining Luther in October 2013 Labudda worked at White & Case and Mayer Brown.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Read more: ‘We needed to move on’: Why Fieldfisher has turned its back on the dating game’

 

Legal Business

Revolving doors: Greenberg hires to support new KWM team as A&O and Fieldfisher add to their benches

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Strategic recruitment Allen & OveryFieldfisherGreenberg Traurig

Greenberg Taurig has made another lateral play in the City to build on its real estate funds hires from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) as Weightmans, Paul Hastings, Mayer Brown, Allen & Overy (A&O) and Fieldfisher have all made new appointments.

Greenberg has hired rising star Dani Martin from Reed Smith as a partner to work alongside its new recruits from KWM’s European practice. Martin will work alongside funds heavyweight Steve Cowins and five other partners who moved to Greenberg as a team. Martin worked in the real estate team at Reed Smith and was promoted to partner in 2013. Her key clients include M7 Real Estate Limited, Starwood Capital, Trinity Investment Management, Goldman Sachs, Oaktree Capital. Last week Greenberg confirmed new clients for the firm include CBRE, Westfield and British Airways’ Pension Fund, following the team’s hire. 

Meanwhile Paul Hastings has also benefited from downfall of KWM’s European arm, with the hire of Jean-Louis Martin to its Paris real estate team.

Martin, who moves with associates Arielle Messawer, David Bensimon and Quentin Jobard, was head of real estate at KWM in Paris.

Paul Hastings chair Seth Zachary said: ‘His reputation with clients in the real estate and private equity funds sectors mirrors our own strengths in our European and global offices.’

Fieldfisher has appointed Thomas Lenné as a partner in its Brussels office. Lenné joins from Baker & McKenzie, bringing 11 years of experience in the private equity, construction, aviation, banking energy and TMT sectors.

A&O has announced the appointment of David Shen to its international Intellectual Property (IP) practice. He joins from AstraZeneca where he has held the role of general counsel for China. Shen, who will join A&O’s China practice, has a comprehensive background in patent litigation and regulatory and compliance issues related to the life sciences sector.

Weightmans has hired Helen Brown as partner for the firm’s local government team in Leeds, joining from Langleys. Brown was Langley’s deputy head of insurance law and head of the public sector unit.

Mitchell Holzrichter has re-joined Mayer Brown, being appointed as a partner in the government practice and global infrastructure group in Chicago. Holzrichter’s reunion with the firm comes after a tenure as deputy chief of staff for Illinois governor Bruce Rauner’s office. He had worked at Mayer Brown in the past, from 2008 to early 2015.

In in-house news, Airbnb has hired Fiona Dormandy as general counsel (GC) for the EMEA region. Dormandy who departed Betfair in March 2016, replaces former GC Aoife McArdle, who is director of business.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Former Ashurst securities head emerges at Fieldfisher to launch alternative legal business

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Legal tech Fieldfisher

Fieldfisher has formed a new business focused on offering alternative legal services aided by document-reading software. The new business unit, called Condor, is being overseen by former Ashurst head of securities and derivatives Christopher Georgiou.

Georgiou (pictured) is chief executive of the new business and is working alongside derivatives partners Guy Usher and Luke Whitmore in conjunction with third-party software providers.

Condor is designed for the financial services market and according to the firm combines document data management and technology solutions with low-cost legal expertise.

Georgiou told Legal Business: ‘Technology is certainly part of it. But it’s more about delivering services and customised solutions to our clients in a way that’s more efficient from a price point of view and more efficient from a process point of view.

He added:’Data extraction is providing clients with the means to understand and organise what’s in their contracts. If you have hundreds of contracts and you want to interrogate them, data extraction and analytics is a way of doing that.

‘It’s a combination of technology and low-cost human resourcing in order to achieve that result.’

Georgiou revealed that Condor is already being implemented with three large banks and that there are two ‘very significant’ projects in place for two global investment banks. However, Georgiou was coy on assigning a monetary value to the new investment.

The fresh focus on technology-assisted solutions for the financial market follows an overarching Fieldfisher strategy to concentrate on financial services. In June last year managing partner Michael Chissick indicated that financial services formed part of three ‘accelerated’ focuses alongside technology and energy & natural resources.

Usher added: ‘In these changing times, with endless amounts of regulatory change, clients are looking for ever faster and cheaper solutions.

‘Some technology platforms already in the market can capture data from standardised industry documents – but Condor has additional value by also providing legal input.’

While working for Ashurst, Georgiou was singled out for praise for his role in securing the firm a place on Credit Suisse’s UK legal panel in March 2016.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Read more: ‘We needed to move on’: Why Fieldfisher has turned its back on the dating game’