Legal Business

Revolving doors: Hogan Lovells and Gibson Dunn expand on continent, McGuireWoods appoint to London, Winston to Dubai

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Strategic recruitment Gibson, Dunn & CrutcherHogan LovellsMcGuireWoodsWinston & Strawn

Firms have strengthened their global practices, as Hogan Lovells appointed a key Paris partner, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher recruited in Munich, McGuireWoods hired in London and Winston & Strawn brought in a new Dubai managing partner.

Hogan Lovells have recruited heavyweight antitrust Francois Brunet in Paris, after a 26-year career building Cleary’s antitrust practice. His practice focuses on complex merger cases and cartel investigations.

Hogan Lovell’s global head of antitrust, competition and economic regulation Suyong Kim said Brunet ‘has won the loyalty of clients through his strategic acumen and his capacity to bring innovative solutions to the handling of their antitrust issues’.

Brunet chaired the Competition Commission of the French Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce since 2010, and has been a member of the board of the French Competition Lawyers Association since its creation.

McGuireWoods continued the expansion of its corporate practice in London with the addition of M&A partner Jeremy Davis from K&L Gates.

Davis’ M&A experience has involved US investments in Europe, amid the metals, packaging, manufacturing and information technology sectors. Last year, he advised Cyprus’ leading pharmaceutical company Remedica’s shareholders on their sale to South Africa-based Ascendis Health for €335m.

Chair of McGuireWoods M&A, corporate and technology department Scott Westwood said Davis’ ‘full-service M&A capabilities and extensive cross-border experience strengthen our corporate practice in London to the benefit of our U.S. and European clients’.

Gibson Dunn hired Sebastian Schoon from Ashurst as a financer partner in the firm’s Munich office. Schoon has been a partner at Ashurst since 2011, and his practice focuses on banking and finance law.

‘Following the recent opening of our Frankfurt office, Schoon’s addition will be a vital step in building our transactional practices in Germany,’ said Gibson Dunn’s chairman and managing partner Ken Doran.

Meanwhile over in Dubai, Winston & Strawn took on Eversheds’ UAE managing partner and head of dispute resolution Ben Bruton in the firm’s litigation department in the area.

During his tenure as UAE Managing Partner, Bruton led the development of Eversheds’ Dubai office over a three-year period. His practice involves high value arbitration and court proceedings in the UAE and internationally across sectors like financial services, engineering, energy and infrastructure, real estate, and construction.

Winston’s Middle East managing partner Campbell Steedman said his arrival ‘will add significant value as we continue to expand upon the strong business connections between Dubai and other global business hubs to better serve our clients.’

Georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Hogan Lovells opens new Boston office in Collora buyout

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US Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells is acquiring Boston-based litigation and investigations firm Collora on 1 September, taking on 15 partners in a move to bolster the firm’s life sciences offering in the US.

The Collora buyout gives Hogan Lovells access to a new market within the US. It will gain Collora’s expertise in life sciences and healthcare, as well as its financial services and technology clients. After the deal completes, Hogan Lovells and Collora will share over 500 life sciences lawyers.

Legal Business

Hogan Lovells launches financial regulatory consultancy with PwC director appointment

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Finance Hogan LovellsPwC

Hogan Lovells is set to offer advice to  through a new financial services regulatory consulting practice, hiring former PwC regulatory consulting practice director Steve Murphy to lead the business.

Aimed at dealing with regulatory finance issues arising in relation to Brexit, the practice, launched today (4 July), will provide financial services companies with comprehensive legal, regulatory strategy and compliance consultancy.

The firm said the practice is a new business model aligned with Hogan Lovells’ consultative approach, combining legal and non-legal capabilities in the cybersecurity, transfer pricing and strategic communications sectors. It will gear its advice towards asset managers, banks, building societies, wealth management firms, payment services providers and insurance companies.

Murphy has led PwC’s regulatory consulting practice since 2008 and has 25 years of experience in financial regulation and compliance.

On the timing of the launch, in relation to financial market uncertainty resulting from the 2016 EU referendum, Hogan Lovells partner Emily Reid said that Britain’s proposed exit from the European Union in March 2019, was likely to bring significant change for the sector.

The ability to provide a more complete range of services than those already provided by the firm would be crucial for clients to ‘successfully navigate the challenges ahead’.

Emily Reid, a Hogan Lovells financial services partner in London, will work closely with Murphy on the consultancy arm.  

marco.cillario@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

CC, Hogan Lovells and Bird & Bird all strengthen European antitrust practices

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Strategic recruitment Bird & BirdClifford ChanceHogan Lovells

Clifford Chance (CC), Hogan Lovells and Bird & Bird have all bolstered their European antitrust practices with key appointments. 

CC has added to its Paris antitrust team with the hire of David Tayar as a partner, who joins from Wilkie Farr & Gallagher’s Paris team, where he has worked for 11 years. 

Tayar, who spent six years as an associate at Freshfields, is a specialist in handling merger control investigations on behalf of European and French antitrust agencies.

CC’s global antitrust head Thomas Vinje described Tayar as having an ‘outstanding reputation’ and the hire would satisfy the firm’s clients’ ‘needs and expectations.’

In Brussels, Bird & Bird has hired Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer competition and EU law specialist Hein Hobbelen as a partner. He will divide his time between the firm’s offices in Brussels and The Hague. Hobbelen is experienced in EU competition law and TMT regulation. Hein Hobbelen spent nearly 14 years at Freshfields.

Anne Federle, head of Bird & Bird in Brussels, told Legal Business that Hobbelen will devote 50% of his time to both offices but that this could change over time.

Federle stated that Hobbelen’s hire came after a drive to find a ‘Brussels-based competition lawyer with a strong media background’, to complement Bird & Bird’s particular focus on technology and media. Federle confirmed that Hobbelen will bring a number of clients with him to the firm.

Hogan Lovells also strengthened its Brussels office with the appointment of partner Salomé Cisnal de Ugarte, from Crowell & Moring.

Ugarte’s expertise spans a range of sectors, although she has a particular focus on consumer goods and financial services. Ugarte has experience advising clients during merger transactions and antitrust investigations.

Matthew Levitt, managing partner of Hogan Lovells’ Brussels office, described Ugarte as ‘exactly the kind of international antitrust lawyer that we look for.’

Suyong Kim, Hogan Lovells’ global antitrust head, added that ‘Brussels has always been a home for the firm, and it is also the home of EU and antitrust law. Her addition will enable us to continue growing our competition law practice in Brussels and globally.’

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

 

 

Legal Business

Revolving doors: Brown Rudnick hires in UK, Hogan Lovells bolsters Madrid, Ashurst adds to Paris, HSF boosts Moscow

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Strategic recruitment AshurstBrown RudnickHogan Lovells

In a series of banking, finance and tax appointments across the globe, international firms are hiring to boost their financial capacities.

In London, Brown Rudnick has appointed partner Benjamin Klinger from Sidley Austin to expand its bankruptcy and corporate restructuring team. 

Klinger’s practice focuses on cross-border and domestic reorganisation, recovery and turnaround matters representing debtors, creditors and practitioners.

Brown Rudnick’s European bankruptcy and corporate restructuring head Louise Verrill said that Klinger’s hire ‘will add significant depth and breadth to our team, and enhance our ability to provide clients with creative ideas and analysis, and advice that is truly multi-jurisdictional’.

Hogan Lovells has hired DLA Piper’s Alfredo Barona as a banking partner to its Madrid finance practice. He has been a partner at DLA since 2012.

Barona’s practice focuses on advising lenders and borrowers on a wide variety of deals. He is already connected with a number of Hogan Lovells’ existing banking clients. Barona knows the firm well, ‘having been on the opposite side of the table’ to the firm in previous deals.

Hogan Lovells recently secured a 15 partner tie-up in Boston with life sciences and litigation firm Collora.

In Paris, Ashurst has appointed Emmanuelle Pontnau-Faure as a partner in its French tax group. She joined from PwC where she was a director since 2016, having practised as a lawyer at White & Case for 14 years.

Pontnau-Faure advises on a broad range of issues relating to corporate, finance, real estate, litigation and restructuring tax. In February, a five partner Ashurst tax team exited in Paris to Freshfields.

Ashurst’s Paris managing partner, Philippe None, said that Pontnau-Faure will work very closely with the Paris, EMEA and US tax teams.

In Moscow, HSF hired finance and banking partner Dmitry Gubarev from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, where he was head of the Russian banking and finance practice.

Gubarev specialises in syndicated loans, real estate and infrastructure financings, pre-export financings and structured products. He is also experienced in securitisation transactions and debt restructuring in the Russian market.

His key credentials include acting for Sberbank of Russia and Bank VTB, including recently acting for Sberbank of Russia on RUB31.5 billion sale of distressed debt of a major Russian metals and mining conglomerate to Gazprombank.

HSF’s Moscow managing partner Alexei Roudiak, said the hire ‘builds on our success in the Russian market and the notable expertise Dmitry brings will significantly strengthen and expand the banking and finance capability and brand in Moscow and internationally’.

Legal Business

Hogan Lovells to open new Boston office in Collora buyout

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US Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells is to merge with Boston-based litigation and investigations firm Collora on 1 September, taking on all of its 15 partners in a move to bolster the firm’s life sciences offering in the US.

The tie-up with Collora gives Hogan Lovells access to a new market within the US. It will gain Collora’s expertise in life sciences, healthcare, financial services and technology. After the merger, Hogan Lovells and Corolla will share over 500 life sciences lawyers.

All Collora’s 10 other lawyers and business services members will join Hogan Lovells. The firm then plans to add to the firm’s regulatory, corporate transactions and intellectual property.

Hogan Lovells global life sciences head Asher Rubin (pictured) told Legal Business that talks regarding opening a Boston office have dated back to late 2014 and specific merger negotiations with Collora commenced late last year.

Rubin described the Boston opening as a ‘unique opportunity in the world’ due to the unusually high concentration of large pharma corporations and world-class medical facilities in the area. ‘We are one of the premier life sciences firms in the world, but we weren’t in one of the premier life sciences locations in the world,’ he said.

The firms pointed to growth in Boston’s financial services and investment community.

Collora managing partner Bill Lovett, who will serve as the managing partner of the new office, said the combination came after searching ‘very hard’ to make sure any potential suitor would have the right ‘cultural fit.’

Lovett told Legal Business that Corolla and Hogan Lovells both shared a commitment to the local community, due to the high amounts of pro bono work both firms undertake. Hogan Lovells was specifically looking for a firm which was well rooted in that community. The firms already have an established relationship.

Collora is Hogan Lovell’s first new office since October 2016, when the firm became only the third to enter the Shanghai Free Trade Zone through an association with local firm Fidelity Law.

Fidelity is based in Xiamen in south eastern China Fujian province with around 170 lawyers and 32 partners specialising in white collar law, real estate, trade and cross-border corporate finance work. The firm previously had six offices in the south China province.

In the UK, Hogan Lovells has halted its search for a new London headquarters, instead preferring to stay in its long-term home of Atlantic House.

The decision came after the firm was able to negotiate a favourable deal with its existing landlord, Deka Immobillien Investment.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

 

Legal Business

Hogan Lovells hikes NQ pay by 5% in latest round of City increases

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Salaries Hogan LovellsShearman & SterlingWhite & Case

Hogan Lovells’ UK newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers pay has risen 5%, as the firm increases junior associates’ salaries.

NQ pay jumped £3,500 to £71,500, while first year trainees’ salaries rose by £1,000 to £44,000. Second year trainees have also received a £1,000 increase to £49,000.

The changes came into effect on 1 May.

Lawyers with one year’s post-qualification experience (PQE) at Hogan Lovells have their pay determined by a merit based pay model with broad salary bands.

A firm spokesperson told Legal Business the mechanism ‘ensure[s] that we are able to take into account an individual’s performance when determining salary within the relevant salary band.’

‘In addition, our lawyers have the ability to earn significant bonuses based on chargeable hours and/or a discretionary bonus.’

Earlier this month, White & Case announced its London associates would receive a significant pay increase, with the US firm awarding its NQs a £15,000 pay hike to £105,000 for 2017.

White & Case lawyers with one year-PQE received a 16% raise from £95,000 to £110,000, while two year-PQE salaries increased by the largest percentage, up 19% to £120,000.

Shearman & Sterling were the first to announce UK pay increases this year. Shearman’s NQ pay rose by 10.5% from £95,000 to £105,000, with mid-level associates receiving a 9.5% bump in their pay from £126,000 to £138,000. The start of its senior associate salary band has risen by 5.6% to £165,000, from last year’s £156,000. 

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Hogan Lovells pilots radical associate assessment programme

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Associates Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells is piloting a new model of reviewing associates, dropping formal annual reviews in favour of a programme of continuous feedback.

The new system, called Pathways, will assess performance in quick sessions with partners, as opposed to lengthy annual reviews. The firm rolled out the scheme at the start of this year, across 500 of its 1,800 associates.

The move will see the firm also drop annual appraisal grades, which Hogan Lovells UK and Africa managing partner Susan Bright (pictured) said were ‘distracting’. Instead, associates will have quarterly briefs where they will have to seek out three pieces of feedback on different matters, as well as a less formal, yearly conversation.

Bright added: ‘We are trying to embed a culture of continuous feedback and we want it to be more consistent around the world. This forward-looking process chimes with the expectations of younger people coming into the profession, they want to know how to do things even better next time.’

One Hogan Lovells partner said: ‘Senior associates seem to like it; we asked them beforehand and they said they liked the principle. I’ve spoken to people on the pilot and they feel it’s a good, progressive way to look at development.’

Hogan Lovells global head of diversity, inclusion and wellbeing Alison Unsted said: ‘We put a lot of effort on development programmes. It is about the broader aspects of being a lawyer and is a real plus in our firm.’

The move comes as Allen & Overy confirmed last week it has been running a performance pilot scheme for the last six months, dropping traditional annual appraisals in a new approach to performance management.

The pilot scheme, focused on feedback and dialogue as tools to strengthen development and performance, has been running since October 2016 and currently involves 500 fee-earners and business staff across several practice groups and support functions in London, Singapore and the Middle East.

matthew.field@legalease.co.uk

Read more: ‘Hogan Lovells’ marriage has settled down but can the union blossom into global power couple?’

Legal Business

Hogan Lovells pilots radical associate assessment programme

Posted on |
Associates Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells is piloting a new model of reviewing associates, dropping formal annual reviews in favour of a programme of continuous feedback.

The new system, called Pathways, will assess performance in quick sessions with partners, as opposed to lengthy annual reviews.

Legal Business

Hogan Lovells launches global mentoring scheme in latest drive to hook fintech clients

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Innovation Hogan Lovells

In the latest in the trend of firms offering free advice to budding fintech start-ups, Hogan Lovells has launched a global fintech mentoring programme to guide clients.

The firm’s fintech mentors will operate in the UK, US, Germany and Hong Kong and offer commercial insight into launching and expanding new products as well as complimentary legal and compliance training and the use of fintech tools developed by Hogan Lovells.

Hogan Lovells head of financial institutions Rachel Kent said: ‘It is great for the industry that so many law firms are offering support to fintechs. What we offer is more than just legal advice, we help start-ups to integrate themselves into the fintech ecosystem and to fulfil their objective of bringing their product to market.’

Some of the City-based fintech mentors at the firm will include Kent, head of commercial and retail banking Emily Reid and Pinsent Masons lateral John Salmon.

The launch of the global mentoring initiative adds to the growing number of ways law firms are attempting to lure in fast growth fintech clients.

Other firms have a set aside a fund of free legal advice for start-ups they sign up. Simmons & Simmons promised four companies up to £100,000 of free advice to the start-ups, while Addleshaw Goddard and Slaughter and May raised the bar by promising up to £500,000 and £300,000 in legal mentorship respectively.

Meanwhile, in the ongoing bid for more and more law firms to act like venture capital outfits, Allen & Overy and Mishcon de Reya have launched technology competitions for tech start-ups to join firm-run incubators, with the law firms housing the small businesses and offering them advice, office space and mentoring.

matthew.field@legalease.co.uk