Legal Business

Reed Smith adds 10% to European headcount with hire of 50 lawyers from KWM

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Strategic recruitment King & Wood MallesonsReed Smith

Reed Smith has hired what is understood to be the largest group of lawyers from collapsed legacy SJ Berwin in a move which adds 10% to its European headcount.

The US firm has hired 50 fee-earners, including 17 partners, three counsel, 22 associates, one jurist and seven trainees, nine other support staff.

In London, the firm hired financial regulatory partners David Calligan, Tim Dolan, Tamasin Little and Adrian Brown, corporate partners Delphine Currie and Mark Sanders, private equity partner Laura Brunnen and tax partner Gareth Amdor.

The former KWM financial services regulatory team led by Calligan advises banks, funds, real estate, private equity and retail banking, as well as advising on structured finance matters.

In Paris, Reed Smith is joined by seven partners including competition and antitrust partners Marc Lévy and Natasha Tardif, tax partners Sylvie Vansteenkiste, Fanny Combourieu and Raphaël Béra and corporate and private equity partners Guilain Hippolyte and Pierre-Louis Périn.

In Germany, Reed Smith will be joined by competition and antitrust partner Tilman Siebert (in Munich) and litigation partner Francis Bellen (in Frankfurt). According to the firm, the two teams will work closely together on major cartel damages cases and other contentious competition matters, representing global corporates, financial institutions and private equity houses.

The partners and their teams are expected to join the firm on Monday 23 January and follow several lawyers and business services personnel who have already joined the firm on Monday 16 January. The 50-strong group represent many of the same clients as Reed Smith, and the teams are understood to bring with them clients ‘in the multiple double digits’.

‘It is a mutually rewarding opportunity,’ said Tamara Box, managing partner for Europe and the Middle East.

Box added: ‘These teams recognised that our global platform, strong collegiate culture, and high quality client base were a good fit for them.’

The US firm had been in discussions with the partners for a few weeks and has been through ‘robust internal processes’ since early December, before KWM filed a notice to appoint administrators on December 22.

‘We found these KWM partners really stood out in the process as being very collaborative and team oriented, having clearly built sustainable businesses within their teams by working really well together. That was ultimately what helped us hone in on them, alongside the fact that they stood head and shoulders above others in terms of advancing our strategic priorities,’ said Box.

She also explained that partners were independent in the process, all pursuing opportunities at various firms. Reed Smith’s conversations with KWM were more about smooth transition of work and clients.

‘It was a pretty opaque process, but we are aware that partners had independent conversations with other firms both within and outside of the process. We believe every single partner had other offers, and in most cases multiple offers,’ Box added.

Read more: ‘Outside the Box: Can Reed Smith’s new Euro heads take the firm’s London practice to the next level?’

Legal Business

Reed Smith poised to take more KWM heavyweights in Europe as Proskauer hires in London

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Reed Smith continues its quest to recruit King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) partners in Europe and is in talks with corporate heavyweight Mark Sanders in London and a leading trio in Paris.

M&A specialist Sanders, Paris co-head of funds Arnaud David, head of tax Sylvie Vansteenkiste and head of EU, competition and regulatory Marc Levy are all in talks with the US firm. All four partners are among legacy SJ Berwin’s top billers, having raked in nearly £6.5m together last year.

When hiring is complete it is expected Reed Smith will have taken on the largest group of partners from the global giant’s beleaguered European arm. The US firm is talking to other partners in France, Germany and London, and has been targeting practices such as financial regulation, funds, tax and private equity. It is understood the talks are at due diligence stage.

Among his key mandates, Sanders played a role in the £2.4bn sale of a stake in data giant Global Switch to a consortium of Chinese investors in December 2016.

David is co-head of funds, and his work includes buyout, infrastructure, mezzanine, debt, fund of funds, venture, corporate, real estate and special focus funds.

Vansteenkiste is one of the founding members of SJ Berwin’s Paris office and head of tax, with 20 years’ experience in complex tax structuring of investment funds.

Levy is head of the EU, competition & regulatory department. He joined SJ Berwin as a partner in 2003 and was elected a member of the Paris management committee in 2012.

Most recently, Reed Smith was also reported to be taking on the bulk of the firm’s financial regulation team in London led by partner David Calligan.

Reed Smith Europe and Middle East managing partner Tamara Box (pictured) said: ‘We confirm that we continue to progress with very positive discussions with a number of impressive European KWM partners. As you would expect from a global law firm of the size and calibre of Reed Smith, we have very robust processes in place which focus on strategic alignment and strong integration with all new partners or teams who join our firm. While we therefore still have some work to do internally to ensure all that our own procedures are fully satisfied, we remain optimistic about the potential opportunities for us to grow in London, Frankfurt, Munich and Paris through these discussions.’

Meanwhile, Proskauer Rose announced today (9 January) that it has hired tax partner Stephen Pevsner from KWM Europe. Pevsner will join Proskauer’s London tax practice, and he focuses on UK and international M&A and private equity transactions, corporate reorganisations, and new business formations. He follows in the footsteps of former managing partner Rob Day and finance partner Andrew Wingfield, who also joined Proskauer last year.

KWM’s European arm is expected to file another intention of notice to appoint administrators today, giving the firm’s various suitors more time to finalise deals to take on parts of the legacy business, including agreements about work in progress within already announced large team moves, including DLA Piper, Greenberg Traurig, Reed Smith and KWM’s Chinese arm.

georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk

For more on King & Wood Mallesons, subscribers can read ‘Branded’ for an in-depth look at the firm

Legal Business

Reed Smith takes on finreg team as KWM exits continue

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US firm Reed Smith is the latest to hire from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) European practice, taking on the bulk of the firm’s financial regulation team. It is also in discussions with a number of other partners in Europe.

The team is led by partner David Calligan and includes several other partners in the London office.

Calligan joined SJ Berwin in 1989 from The Securities Association and now acts principally for banks, broker dealers and investment management firms.

It is understood that Reed Smith’s global managing partner Sandy Thomas has flown to London to participate in talks with partners from the legacy SJ Berwin practice.

Reed Smith’s managing partner in Europe and Middle East Tamara Box (pictured) said in a statement: ‘I confirm that we continue to have positive discussions with a number of impressive European KWM partners. We remain committed to investing in top legal talent and, at this time, are optimistic that we will be joined in 2017 by some great ex-KWM lawyers.’

She added: ‘As you will appreciate, however, negotiations continue and we have our own usual protocols and processes to follow around such potential hires. At this time, I am unable to confirm any definitive hires,’ she added.

The news comes as today (21 November) City firm Macfarlanes made a triple lateral hire with three partners from KWM, taking on Tom Usher, Cameron Firth and Christoph Humpe, and the KWM’s former European senior partner Stephen Kon as a consultant.

Partners have been peeling away from the legacy SJ Berwin practice after the partnership, which is carrying more than £30m in debt, failed to agree to a recapitalisation plan in November.

K&L Gates and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe have also taken on a number of lawyers from KWM’s Munich office, while one of KWM’s top billers Craig Pollack and part of his team are to join Covington & Burling.

DLA Piper will take on real estate partner William Naunton and several members of his team including partners Cornelius Medvei, Bryan Pickup, Ed Page, George Burrha and Jeremy Brooks. Managing associate Omer Maroof will also join as a partner, alongside eight other lawyers and three trainees.

Tax partner Clive Jones will join Greenberg Traurig, alongside top biller Steve Cowins and Marc Snell, M&A partners Michael Goldberg and David Fitzgerald and partner Matthew Priday along with their teams.

georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk

Read more on KWM in ‘Comment: The moment of truth arrives in the SJ Berwin saga’

For an in-depth assessment of KWM, subscribers can see our July cover feature ‘Branded’



Legal Business

Outside the Box: Can Reed Smith’s new Euro heads take the firm’s London practice to the next level?

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Georgiana Tudor and Victoria Young talk to Tamara Box and Andrew Jenkinson about competing in the London market

Three years ago, Legal Business noted that an upwardly-mobile Reed Smith was, in its own understated fashion, making notable strides in the City under EMEA head Roger Parker. The London office had been performing well on the back of investment in lateral hires to develop its key sector groups. In 2012, London revenues jumped 21% to £114.7m from £94.5m, with Parker predicting UK revenues of $200m for 2013.

Legal Business

Leadership and the modern GC: a special report

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We teamed up with Reed Smith to ask which skills the GCs of tomorrow will need to lead and what the future holds for in-house leadership training.

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Legal Business

Taught leaders – executive training for the ambitious GC

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Leadership training has until recently neglected the growing ranks of GCs. To begin our Insight special with Reed Smith, we assess the educational options for in-house counsel striving to meet growing skills demands

In 2012 the MBA degree established itself as the most popular subject of postgraduate education in the US, accounting for more than a quarter of all enrolments according to the US Department of Education. Along with the usual diet of macroeconomics, management theory and financial accounting, MBA programmes have ensured that those who seek to carve out a corporate career focus on one quality above all others: leadership.

Legal Business

The art of leadership in Asia – an evolving role for legal heads

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What does leadership mean in a region where the role of the in-house lawyer is rapidly evolving?

‘Becoming an in-house lawyer has not traditionally been a desirable career path for Asia’s top graduates,’ says Amy Ng, general counsel (GC) for the Asia-Pacific region at global real estate company CBRE. ‘But we are seeing a lot of change now in the number of people leaving private practice to work for a business.’

Legal Business

Perspectives: Maria Varsellona, Nokia

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Nokia’s transformation over the last few years has tested the leadership skills of all function heads. In April 2014 it completed the $7.2bn sale of its handsets business to Microsoft, and by January 2016 its $16.6bn acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent was in place, cementing its transition from a large phone producer to an even larger networking and IT business.

In spite of the changes, core elements of Nokia remain in place, including its respected learning and development centre, the Nokia Academy. A group-wide emphasis on training, says Maria Varsellona, who joined Nokia Solutions as general counsel in 2013 and was promoted to chief legal officer of the wider Nokia group a year later, is at the heart of running a successful legal function.

Legal Business

Perspectives: Clare Wardle, Coca-Cola European Partners

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Recruited from FTSE 100 company Kingfisher to oversee the legal function at the newly-merged soft drink entity Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP), Clare Wardle has plenty of leadership experience to undertake the challenge of integrating the three legal teams at Coca-Cola Enterprises, Coca-Cola Iberian Partners, and Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke.

Wardle was called to the Bar in 1984 and moved to Lovells in 1986 where she worked for ten years before moving in-house – first at the Post Office, where she served as head of legal, before working as general counsel (GC) and company secretary at Tube Lines. She joined British retailer Kingfisher in 2010 as group legal director, taking over as group GC in 2012 where she became responsible for risk, governance, competition and compliance matters. Now based in Uxbridge, Wardle serves as a member of the executive leadership team at CCEP, reporting to chief executive John Brock and serving as legal adviser to company chair Sol Daurella.

Legal Business

Perspectives: Sabine Chalmers, Anheuser-Busch InBev

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‘The leadership aspect of my role has definitely increased as the company has grown,’ notes Sabine Chalmers, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s chief legal and corporate affairs officer. Following AB InBev’s $104bn acquisition of SABMiller, this is putting it mildly. Mega-deals aside, the need for leadership skills has also come with the broadening of the legal function at large corporations. ‘When I first started I was just responsible for legal. Since then I have taken on corporate affairs, communications, regulation, sustainability and corporate and social responsibility. Handling all that puts a big focus on leadership.’

Early in her career, Chalmers was given an enduring piece of advice by a chief executive. ‘If you want to spot a leader look for three things: judgement, influence and drive.’ It is a benchmark she has continued to use in measuring both her own progress and the potential of her team to step into more senior roles. ‘As a GC you are expected to get the law right and advise appropriately, but the big differentiator is the judgement you apply to that. If you don’t have the influence or the drive to take your judgements through to conclusion there’s no point in having the job of general counsel.’