Legal Business

Revolving Doors: Linklaters hires former Herbert Smith Asia head as Clayton Utz and Norton Rose make key hires

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment Clayton UtzHerbert Smith FreehillsLinklatersNorton Rose Fulbright
legal-business-default

Herbert Smith Freehills recent internal confidence that its run of post-merger exits had come to an end has been dashed after Friday (16 August) saw former Asia disputes head Gavin Lewis leave to join Linklaters.

A ‘solid and experienced litigator’, Lewis is ‘among the best in Hong Kong’ according to The Legal 500 and his departure is a blow to the firm in the wake of the exodus of other high profile litigators such as Ted Greeno to Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan earlier this year and Kevin Lloyd to Debevoise & Plimpton last year.

Lewis joined Herbert Smith in 1996 and after spending two years as managing director at UBS in Hong Kong, returned to the firm in 2008, becoming head of the firm’s first-tier Asia disputes practice in 2011.

His departure follows that of Hong Kong colleague and financial services regulatory partner Tim Mak, who left for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in April this year. Meanwhile, Lewis is Linklaters’ third raid on Herbert Smith in less than a year, after contentious financial regulation partners Martyn Hopper and Nikunj Kiri joined in September and January respectively.

A spokesman for Herbert Smith said: ‘We’re grateful for Gavin’s contribution and wish him all the best for the future.’

The fallout of largely legacy Herbert Smith partners have been attributed to a number of factors, all related to its merger with Australia’s Freehills, including the resistance of many of Herbert Smith’s more conservative partners to operating as a global merit driven business.

Elsewhere, the ink had only just dried on SJ Berwin’s market changing tie-up with Asia-Pacific firm King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) when Clayton Utz last week announced the hire of KWM Australia real estate partner Andrew Norman.

Norman had been with legacy Mallesons for 22 years and has been involved in projects including the leasing and development of National Australia Bank’s Commercial office headquarters in Docklands, Melbourne, and the sale of GE Real Estate’s Australian property portfolio to Mirvac, valued at over Aus$1.4bn.

Clayton Utz, one of the big six Australian firms which has made clear its strategy to remain independent, is looking to boost its property practice as the country suffers from a dip in transactional activity.

A spokesperson for the firm told Legal Business: ‘It’s a strategic lateral hire in an area where we’re anticipating strong future growth.’

Meanwhile, Norton Rose Fulbright has boosted its dispute resolution practice with the hire of Elisabeth Bremner from DLA Piper in London.

Bremner’s broad ranging practice includes investigating allegations of insider dealing, market abuse and trader mis-marking in the investment banking and hedge fund sectors.

‘Our litigation team continues to grow with the appointment of Elisabeth and recent hires including Kirsty Hick. In addition, through our recent combination we have expanded our global offering to include over 1000 dispute resolution lawyers,’ said Deirdre Walker, head of dispute resolution and litigation for Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Legal Business

NQ retention and pay: Good news for NRF and Bird & Bird but FFW puts 5 trainees on extended contract

Posted on |
Salaries Bird & BirdFieldfisherNorton Rose Fulbright
legal-business-default

If you see a rabble of trainees at the pub this lunchtime they may well be from Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF), which today (13 August) announced it has increased its newly-qualified (NQ) salary by £1,500 and offered in excess of 90% of its trainees a permanent position.

The newly merged, 3,800-lawyer firm has announced a trainee retention rate of 92% after offering 24 of its 26 trainees a NQ role, up from 89% in its last round in May. It has also increased its NQ salary from £61,500 to £63,000, effective 1 July (and backdated to 1 May this year). First and second year trainees will remain constant at £38,000 and £43,000 respectively.

On the retention figures, Sarah Kelly, London head of HR at NRF said: ‘These are our first retention figures since our US combination went live and we are really pleased with the rise to a 92% retention rate. We have had three qualification rounds this year and have kept a consistently high retention rate throughout.’

Elsewhere, the news has also been good for trainees at Bird & Bird, which this round boasts a 94% retention rate. A total of 15 out of 16 trainees from the 2011 intake were made offers, with all accepting associate roles with the firm, while one chose to return to university.

Commercial partner Christian Bartsch said: ‘We are delighted to have been able to offer full contracts to 15 of our trainees from the 2011 intake. They have worked very hard and demonstrated an exceptional level of commitment to the firm. We would like to take this opportunity to welcome them as associates within their respective practice groups.’

However, at City firm Field Fisher Waterhouse the position for trainees is far less clear. The firm’s retention rate appears on the surface to be a respectable 76%, as the firm has offered 12 of its 17 trainees a role and all have accepted. But the figure is in fact far lower as five of these 12 positions have been structured as a 12-month fixed term contract to give the partners further time to assess their performance. A spokesperson for the firm claimed that ‘none of the fixed-term positions are for a paralegal role being dressed up as a NQ role,’ and that the firm is ‘confident that all of these will ultimately result in permanent positions.’

At Orrick, meanwhile, only two out of its eight trainees applied for a training contract, according to a spokesperson for the firm, giving it a retention rate of just 25%.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Reappointing and renewables – the newly-merged Norton Rose Fulbright and Bond Dickinson in again on Crown Estate energy panel

Posted on |
Adviser reviews Norton Rose FulbrightWomble Bond Dickinson
legal-business-default

Norton Rose Fulbright and Bond Dickinson have been reappointed to the Crown Estate’s energy and infrastructure panel in what will be regarded as an important win for both law firms.

The Crown Estate said that the move ‘consolidated legal advice across an extremely diverse portfolio’, cutting the body’s previous specialist panel from five to two advisers after a competitive tender process. The appointments will be considered as trophy roles for both firms, in particular underlining their credentials in the renewable energy sector, which remains a coveted area for advisers despite protracted challenges in Europe’s sustainable energy sector.

Norton Rose Fulbright, which was one of only two firms appointed to the Crown Estate’s first energy panel in 2008, will advise on its activities in offshore wind, carbon capture, wave energy, natural gas storage and emerging technologies such as biomass. Bond Dickinson will advise on the estate’s marine aggregates business and its interest in transmission and pipelines, with chairman Nick Page acting as relationship partner to the client.

Bond Pearce was also on the energy panel prior its merger with Dickinson Dees in May this year, and also previously provided advice on other matters across the body’s marine, urban, rural and Windsor estates.

Crown Estate legal director Vivienne King said: ‘The energy and infrastructure portfolio is one of the most diverse and exciting parts of our business making for an extremely competitive tender process. Having worked with both Norton Rose Fulbright and Bond Dickinson before, we know that they share our values understand our ambitions for the portfolio which is at the forefront of the offshore low carbon industry.’

Norton Rose and US law firm Hunton & Williams were the only two firms to take a place on the Crown Estate’s initial energy panel in 2008, offering advice on the development of the UK’s offshore wind capacity.

The panel was later expanded to include the legacy Bond Pearce, as well as Burges Salmon and Scots practice Anderson Strathern.

The Crown Estate, which is responsible to the UK Treasury, manages a property portfolio valued at £8.6bn. The body is responsible for the management of almost the entire UK seabed and around 50% of the UK foreshore as well as holding rights to all natural resources on the UK continental shelf, excluding fossil fuels. It also holds the rights to license the generation of renewable energy and gas storage in the same area.

Francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Can’t make an omelette – newly-merged Norton Rose Fulbright sees exodus in Middle East

Posted on |
Middle East and Africa Norton Rose Fulbright
legal-business-default

So far the high-stakes merger between Norton Rose and US practice Fulbright & Jaworski has been sealed with minimal fall-out but a prominent exception has been confirmed in the Middle East with an eight-partner team quitting the legacy Houston law firm’s Dubai arm for a rival.

Baker Botts today (16 July) confirmed the hire of a 14-lawyer team, which includes the bulk of the legacy Fulbright & Jaworski’s Dubai branch.

The eight-partner team includes corporate partner John Lonsberg, who was a key figure in putting Fulbright on the map in the Middle East. He has had experience of working in the Middle East since 1980.

Following Lonsberg are his Dubai colleagues Mark Bisch and Richard Devine, both finance partners, disputes partners Jonathan Sutcliffe and Joseph Colagiovanni, corporate partner Hassan Elsayed and financial institutions partner Philip Punwar. Sam Eversman, a finance partner also joins from Fulbright’s Riyadh branch. Joining in addition are five associates, a trainee and several support staff.

The partners will be based across Baker Botts’ network in the Middle East, including Dubai, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, although the majority will work out of Dubai.

This is the first sign of substantive fallout from the merger between Norton Rose and Fulbright, which went live last month, creating a global giant with combined revenues of nearly $2bn.

Fulbright’s legacy office was based in a different part of the emirate, Festival Tower, as opposed to the Dubai International Finance Centre where Norton Rose and the majority of international law firms are based. The departures have left the firm with only one remaining partner in its Festival Tower office, John Boehm, head of the Riyadh and Dubai practices.

With the departures the firm has around 50 lawyers in the region across Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai and Riyadh.

Kenneth Stewart, managing partner of Norton Rose Fulbright’s US member firm, said:  ‘Any combination of organisations brings inevitable changes in leadership and responsibilities and some overlap, and we understand that not all individuals will embrace those changes.  The overwhelming majority of our partners and clients are excited with our combination and the expanded global platform it provides.’

Commenting on his move Lonsberg said: ‘I knew [Baker Botts] was interested in growing its platform and practices, and I saw our team’s 30 years’ presence in the Middle East as a full complement to what Baker Botts has developed here in recent years.’

‘This group of talented and experienced lawyers will cement our position as one of the dominant legal forces in the region,’ said Robert Jordan, partner-in-charge of Baker Botts’ Middle East practice.

This move is a signal of intent for Baker Botts’ Middle East ambitions. The Houston-based energy specialist now has 40 lawyers in the region. In March the 700-lawyer firm also announced an alliance with Kuwait’s International Legal Group, Baker Botts’ first foray in the country.

The Middle East had also been an unsettled region for the legacy Norton Rose with the firm seeing a number of senior departures in recent years. However, Norton Rose Fulbright did move to bolster its City practice this week with the hire of CMS Cameron McKenna corporate partner Richard Bull. Bull, whose move was confirmed today, focuses on private equity transactions.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Global 100: Norton Rose Fulbright

Posted on |
Financial results 2013 Norton Rose Fulbright
legal-business-default

The ascent of Norton Rose up the global league has been swift in recent years, with the City-based law firm currently in 14th place in the Global 100, with turnover marginally up to $1.33bn. Profits per equity partner (PEP) were $887,000.

This growth came due to the dramatic expansion of the Norton Rose Group with the addition of Australian mid-tier Deacons in 2010 and subsequent takeovers in Canada (Ogilvy Renault and Macleod Dixon) and South Africa (Deneys Reitz).

Legal Business

CC to boost London corporate and regulatory insurance capability with hire of NRF’s Ashley Prebble

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment Clifford ChanceNorton Rose Fulbright
legal-business-default

Clifford Chance (CC) has hired Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) corporate insurance partner Ashley Prebble as the Magic Circle firm aims to boost its Lloyds and London market and general insurance capability.

Prebble, who will work closely with the firm’s private equity and regulatory teams, specialises in corporate and regulatory insurance work including initial public offerings (IPOs), mergers and acquisitions, Part VII transfers, distribution agreements and regulatory matters.

While at NRF, Prebble advised on a number of high profile insurance transactions including the Part VII transfer of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Churchill, Direct Line and NIG businesses into UK Insurance last year, said at the time to be the largest general insurance portfolio transfer ever completed in the UK, with the four insurance business together worth in excess of 20 million policies.

Other headline deals he has advised on include the £135m sale of HSBC Insurance Brokers to Marsh, Admiral Group’s £711 million IPO and Brit Insurance Holdings’ $300m sale of Brit Insurance Limited to Riverstone Holdings.

Katherine Coates, head of the corporate insurance practice at CC, said: ‘Ashley joins us at a key time for the insurance industry, which faces unprecedented challenges and uncertainty due to market and regulatory pressures.

‘Ashley’s particular experience of the London market and general insurance operations will be a valuable addition to our current team, which is uniquely placed to support our clients across the sector on a wide range key strategic projects and transactions in both mature and growth markets.’

CC’s global insurance industry sector group comprises over 180 lawyers from its corporate, banking & finance, capital markets, M&A, regulatory, dispute resolution, antitrust, tax, real estate, pensions and employment teams.

Prebble added: ‘Joining Clifford Chance is the perfect opportunity to develop my practice in the London market and internationally, working as part of a leading global insurance sector team. I look forward to working closely with the firm’s pre-eminent private equity and regulatory teams, as financial investors are playing an increasing important role in the sector and sweeping changes in regulation and regulator approach pose new challenges for clients.’

caroline.hill@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Comment: Don’t push your luck with partnership

Posted on |
Leadership DLA PiperHogan LovellsNorton Rose Fulbright
legal-business-default

Do law firms take partnership for granted? They really shouldn’t as the model has served them so well. Just consider the case. Partnership aligns management and ownership. This has helped large law firms to avoid the patchy governance and rewards-for-mediocrity seen at public companies over the last 20 years and drives partners to a pure form of performance pay. It is inherently long-term and as such has a strong record in promoting independence and ethical standards. And given that law isn’t a capital-intensive trade – at least once you cross the Rubicon of international expansion – partnership is workable (if not ideal) from a financing point of view.

But the killer app of partnership is the meritocratic oddity of institutions aiming to turn a group of workers into owners. It promotes a razor focus on career development and does a lot of the heavy lifting in governance terms at law firms. That obsessive focus on standards and talent coming through the door truly marks out the legal profession from other, less successful industries.

Why the love-letter to partnership? Well, looking at the grim statistics on partner promotions, as we do this month, you can’t escape the feeling that leading law firms are pushing their luck. The top ten largest UK firms, including DLA Piper and Hogan Lovells, together have over 5,500 partners. This group collectively promoted 197 new partners in 2013 – equivalent to 3.5% of their current ranks. These levels are well below the replacement rate needed to sustain partnerships at current sizes and the picture is considerably worse if you look at UK partner prospects. Given that less than half of those making partner trained with their firm or joined at intake level, the traditional track to equity is under unprecedented strain. And as to women making partner – well, even a hard-nosed pragmatist would have to say the current numbers at major City firms – with the honourable exception of Norton Rose – are woeful given the public hand-wringing of recent years.

It still works for now but at a certain point, an increasingly remote partnership will surely cease to function as an effective long-term engagement tool. That would likely leave you with strong junior ranks given the appeal of law. But if joining a law firm really becomes mainly about a start of a career largely focused outside of private practice, the crucial mid-tier associate ranks will be under siege. This is not theoretical – a growing body of research confirms the fading allure of partnership, especially among female lawyers.

Law firm leaders acknowledge this existential threat to partnership but, when it comes down to the annual promotion round, the model is chipped away every year with smaller promotions and more barriers to equity.

We’ve moved into a curious half-life of partnership where the pretence is maintained that the old deal hasn’t changed. But it has changed and we could even soon reach a tipping point where the dominant path for a legal career is one without partnership. That would have huge implications for the UK legal profession. The suspicion is managing partners will come to regret pushing to breaking point the institution that once elevated them.

 

alex.novarese@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Merger watch – Norton Rose Fulbright Dubai team in talks to join rival

Posted on |
Legal mergers Baker BottsNorton Rose Fulbright
legal-business-default

It’s a cliché that you can’t do large legal mergers without some fallout, a truism that Norton Rose Fulbright now has the chance to contemplate, as it emerges that its Festival Towers Dubai office is likely to move in the wake of its merger this month.

Dubai is one of the few international jurisdictions where Norton Rose and US partner Fulbright & Jaworski had overlapping offerings, which has resulted in a clash of personalities. The two firms combined on 3 June forging a top 10 global practice in revenue terms.

The fifteen-lawyer legacy Fulbright branch is led by corporate and banking partner John Boehm. Eight of the ten lawyers are partners who between them cover dispute resolution, corporate and banking.

The legacy Norton Rose DIFC arm has 21 lawyers in total, including 10 partners, covering dispute resolution, corporate, banking, Islamic finance and projects.

The Fulbright team is understood to be in talks to join another firm, with the front-runner cited as 700-lawyer Houston practice Baker Botts, which already has a 13-lawyer Dubai arm. The top 100 US law firm also has offices in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.

Before the merger Fulbright had international offices in Hong Kong, Munich, Beijing and Riyadh, where Norton Rose did not have an office. The pair have already physically consolidated offices in London, Beijing and Hong Kong and plan to do so with Munich later in the year. A partner told Legal Business that Dubai was the only location where Norton Rose Fulbright anticipated such potential fallout.

Large international mergers often experience significant departures where offices overlap, as was the case with the 2010 tie-up of Lovells and Hogan & Hartson.

So far the Norton Rose Fulbright union has been generally welcomed by its partners, though there has been some focus on the integration of its two London offices. A handful of London-based Fulbright partners are remaining part of Fulbright’s partnership, an arrangement the firm says is due to transitional tax arrangements rather than lack of enthusiasm for the deal.

Norton Rose declined to comment.

caroline.hill@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

A giant’s first steps – Norton Rose Fulbright goes live with suitably comprehensive governance team

Posted on |
Leadership Norton Rose Fulbright
legal-business-default

One of the most touted legal mergers of the last decade today (3 June) goes live with Norton Rose and US partner Fulbright & Jaworski unveiling a full governance team for the combined practice.

Norton Rose Fulbright confirmed the make-up of its global executive committee and group-wide supervisory board, with Fulbright managing partner Kenneth Stewart joining the executive committee.

Five partners from the Houston-based law firm join the 20-strong executive body, with six members on the oversight team.

The bodies are charged with governance duties for a 3,800-lawyer firm spread across 54 offices, including 11 in the US. The firm was formed after Norton Rose sealed a deal with Fulbright & Jaworski in November, making good on the City-based firm’s long-held ambition to secure a substantive merger in the US.

Norton Rose chief executive Peter Martyr retains the top leadership role with the Sydney-based Adrian Ahern acting as firm-wide chairman. The firm announced in May that legacy Norton Rose partner Martin Scott will assume the global head of corporate, while Fulbright partner Linda Addison becomes group head of litigation. Norton Rose’s Jeremy Edwards retains the head of banking role.

Long-time Norton Rose head Martyr has pushed his firm through a dramatic period of growth, securing major mergers in Australia, Canada and South Africa over the last three years ahead of the high-stakes Fulbright tie-up.

Though Norton Rose’s run of expansion has been criticised by some for avoiding full financial integration, the consensus remains that Martyr has repositioned an ailing City player as a potential global leader over the last 10 years. The creation of a 20-strong executive team suggests that Martyr will remain very much the driving force of the combined firm, a robust leadership style stance that has generated some disquiet internally alongside undoubted admiration for his vision.

Commenting the launch, Martyr said there was now ‘nothing major’ to add to the Norton Rose Group, though the firm is currently examining its options to launch in Brazil, South Korea, Turkey and Mexico, with a branch in Seoul ‘probably front of the queue’.

Commenting on realities of managing a rapidly-assembled network, Martyr observed: ‘The main thing is the challenge of running a multi-speed business in which some parts of have been doing this longer and are moving at a different speed.’

On those different speeds, Martyr said that the firm’s Australian practice was ‘doing fantastically well’, while its South African arm was ‘roaring along’. Aside from integration, the firm aiming to raise its game in financial investigations and regulatory law and securities work.

Martyr says that he remains agnostic on the long-term imperative to merge Norton Rose Group’s multiple profit centres. ‘On financial integration – I’m open-minded but the key thing is to ensure we encourage common global behaviour. I think we can achieve that without financial integration so I would need to be convinced there was an additional benefit.’

The executive committee comprises:

• Peter Martyr – global chief executive, London

• John Coleman – Montréal

• Rob Otty – Johannesburg

• Wayne Spanner – Sydney

• Kenneth Stewart – Dallas

• Kevin Mortell – London

• Tim Marsden – London

• Linda Addison – New York

• Jeremy Edwards – London

• Martin Scott – London

• Jane Caskey – Toronto

• Alison Deitz – Sydney

• Gregg Harris – Washington DC

• Tom Jarvis – Melbourne

• Michael Lang – Toronto

• Gerry Pecht – Houston

• George Scofield – San Antonio

• David Stannard – Hong Kong

• Bill Tuer – Calgary

• Deirdre Walker – London

The supervisory board is made up of:

• Adrian Ahern – global chairman, Sydney

• Rodney Acker – Dallas

• Mark Baker – Houston

• Pierre Bienvenu – Montréal

• Jill Gauntlett – London

• Deborah Gitomer – Houston

• Sbu Gule – Johannesburg

• Cameron Harvey – Melbourne

• Louise Higginbottom – London

• Clarke Hunter – Calgary

• Mark Jones – London

• Raj Karia – London

• Layne Kruse – Houston

• Chris McLeod – Perth

• Stephen Parish – London

• Norman Steinberg – Montréal

• Louis Strubeck – Dallas

• Tom Vita – London

• William Wood – Houston

• Ava Yaskiel – Toronto

alex.novarese@legalease.co.uk

Commenting the launch, Martyr said there was now ‘nothing major’ to add to the Norton Rose Group, though the firm is currently examining its options to launch in Brazil, South Korea, Turkey and Mexico, with a branch in Seoul ‘probably front of the queue’.

Commenting on realities of managing a rapidly-assembled network, Martyr observed: ‘The main thing is the challenge of running a multi-speed business in which some parts of have been doing this longer and are moving at a different speed.’

On those different speeds, Martyr said that the firm’s Australian practice was ‘doing fantastically well’, while its South African arm was ‘roaring along’. Aside from integration, the firm aiming to raise its game in financial investigations and regulatory law and securities work.

Martyr says that he remains agnostic on the long-term imperative to merge Norton Rose Group’s multiple profit centres. ‘On financial integration – I’m open-minded but the key thing is to ensure we encourage common global behaviour. I think we can achieve that without financial integration so I would need to be convinced there was an additional benefit.’

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-GB
X-NONE
X-NONE

Legal Business

Norton Rose Fulbright announces global practice heads as Withers chair moves to New York

Posted on |
Leadership Norton Rose FulbrightWithers
legal-business-default

Both Norton Rose and Withers have made changes to their senior management, with one entering a seven-day countdown to its full merger with Fulbright & Jaworski as the other regroups after talks with Speechly Bircham fell through last week.

Norton Rose Fulbright today announced its global practice heads for the firm’s three largest practice areas; corporate, banking and finance.City-based legacy Norton Rose partner Martin Scott, currently head of corporate for Europe, will take over as global head of corporate from Hong Kong-based David Stannard, who re-joined Norton Rose in 2001 from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.

UK-based Norton Rose banking partner Jeremy Edwards will maintain his current position as global head of banking, while Fulbright’s US-based Linda Addison will take over as global head of dispute resolution and litigation from Deirdre Walker, who has been Norton Rose group head since 2009.

Global chief executive Peter Martyr – who alongside Scott, Edwards and Addison formally adopts the role when the merger goes live on 3 June 2013 – appointed the practice heads and, unlike many other large City firms, those appointments are not limited to a set term.

Martyr said: ‘Dispute resolution and litigation; corporate, M&A and securities and banking and finance will continue to be key strengths for Norton Rose Fulbright globally, in conjunction with our existing six key industry strengths.’ The merger will create a 3,800-strong lawyer firm, with 54 offices including 11 in the US.

Withers, meanwhile, has confirmed that New York-based senior partner Ivan Sacks will take over from Anthony Indaimo as chairman in July.

Withers last week voted against a potential tie-up with Speechly Bircham, with the private client firms issuing a joint statement stating that a merger ‘would not be in the best interests of both firms.’

However, the vote to replace Indaimo – who has served the maximum two consecutive three-year terms allowed under Withers partnership agreement – took place in March, long before the talks collapsed.

That merger would have created a 600-lawyer practice with a combined revenue of £170m, elevating it into the top 25 of the Legal Business 100.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk