Legal Business

Revolving doors: European expansion all-around as Simmons and Dentons make key hires

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Strategic recruitment DentonsSimmons & Simmons
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The first week of October brought with it several continental appointments at Simmons & Simmons, Dentons and Bird & Bird, while Clyde & Co and Trowers & Hamlins expanded in London.

Simmons announced two lateral hires in Milan from White & Case in capital markets lawyers Paola Leocani and Nicholas Lasagna. This comes just a year after Simmons closed its Rome office, relocating staff to Milan.

A top-tier capital markets lawyer in Italy, Leocani’s practice focuses on debt and securitized derivatives and joined White & Case in June 2013 from Allen & Overy. Lasagna joined White & Case in 2011 from Latham & Watkins and he is also admitted to practice law in England & Wales.

Simmons’ international financial markets head Jonathan Hammond said: ‘Their arrival emphasises our continued commitment to developing our international capital markets offering and brings the number of partners who have joined our international financial markets practice so far this year to 10.’

Dentons has also strengthened its ranks in Europe by hiring a team of three lawyers from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in Munich. Thomas Strassner, alongside counsel Christopher Mayston and associate Michael Rebholz joined Dentons as of 1 October in the newly-opened Munich office.

Joining the firm as partner, Strassner specialises in company restructuring, private equity, venture capital, financing and M&A transactions and related litigation and dispute resolution. Mayston specialises in banking and finance, and advised Capita Group as part of the merger of TUI AG and TUI Travel merger.

Meanwhile, Clydes fortified its real estate practice in London by appointing planning lawyers Brian Greenwood and Stephen Webb. Greenwood is a planning, infrastructure and environmental lawyer and joins Clydes from Winckworth Sherwood. His environmental expertise includes the constructions of the Millenium Dome and the regeneration of the Spitalfields Market.

Webb joins from King & Wood Mallesons with over 25 years’ experience, and his recent work includes the redevelopment of the Filton Airfield Bristol.

Trowers & Hamlins also expanded its banking and finance team in London this week, by recruiting Richard Hathaway from Osborne Clarke. Hathaway has over 12 years of legal experience in corporate banking, real estate finance and acquisition and leveraged finance.

And finally, Bird & Bird added IP attorneys Felix Landry and Felix Harbsmeier to its Hamburg office. Both Landry and Harbsmeier specialise in electronics, physics and engineering and have been at Uexküll & Stolberg since 2001 and 2004 respectively.

Co-head of Germany Michael Alt said: ‘We will be expanding our Hamburg office in the patent sector even further, and we are delighted to have achieved this first step with such an experienced team.’

georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Simmons instructs Brick Court to advise on future of EU patent court

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Competition Brick Court ChambersSimmons & Simmons
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City law firms are supporting an investigation into the future of the UK’s position in the Unitary Patent Court (UPC) post-Brexit with Simmons & Simmons instructing Brick Court on the matter.

An opinion delivered by Brick Court Chambers EU law specialist Richard Gordon QC and Tom Pascoe stated that the UK could remain bound by the UPC providing it is still bound by EU law relating to the court.

Linklaters and Herbert Smith Freehills are among 20 law firms supporting the investigation into the possibility of a non-EU member state remaining part of the UPC. LB100 firms Bird & Bird, Gowling WLG, Fieldfisher, CMS Cameron McKenna and Browne Jacobson all supported the instruction.

The UPC was to have exclusive powers over European patents in member states who have ratified the agreement, but the UK’s expected exit from the EU placed its position in the court at risk.

The authors of the report said it was constitutionally possible for the UK to participate in the EU court if it signed up to all its legal provisions, but it would also need support from the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The life sciences and chemistry branch of the court was planned to sit in London. Premises for the court had already been found in 2015 after the government signed a lease for office space in Aldgate Tower.

Simmons head of IP Rowan Freeland told Legal Business: ‘We instructed counsel who were experts in EU constitutional issues, around 20 firms were involved to play a part in the thought leadership in the discussions.

‘Most of the debate around Brexit has suggested we need a hard Brexit, but this is an area where, within a tightly circumscribed area of the law it would be possible for the UK to achieve a softer Brexit and maintain the advantages of participation in the UPC.’

Freeland was joined by a consortium including the IP Federation, an industry body representing IP owners, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys and several law firms that specialise in patent litigation.

matthew.field@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Allen & Overy takes another two from Simmons in sustained IP push

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Allen & Overy (A&O) has taken its third and fourth IP partner from Simmons & Simmons this year, as it strengthens its City IP practice.

IP partner Mark Heaney (pictured left) and David Stone are to join the Magic Circle firm. Heaney, who specialises in contentious matters across a broad range of IP, joined Simmons only last year from Baker Botts.

Stone has been a partner at Simmons & Simmons for eight years and specialises in trademarks and registered/unregistered designs.

Heaney and Stone join Simmons’ former IP head Marc Döring, with A&O announcing he would join the firm last month, and former Simmons partner Marjan Noor who moved to the firm in June.

London’s head of IP Nicola Dagg said: ‘We are excited to have Mark and David join our team, this is step-change for us. Now is a time of increasing recognition of the ever-growing value and role that IP has to play in the economies our clients operate in.’

‘Whether it comes down to patents and planning for pan-European patent litigation; TMT and clients who are facing an unprecedented period of change brought about by digital transformation; or the continued threat of counterfeiting and piracy taking on a new dimension in the digital age. A full-service, top-ranked IP practice will help us overcome these challenges for clients.’

A&O has taken on high-profile four partners this month, with Heaney and Stone joining Hong Kong capital markets partners Lina Lee and Jonathan Hsui joining from Ashurst as new recruits at the Magic Circle firm.

The hires follow the Magic Circle firm breaking lockstep in August when it took on a finance team in Manhattan, led by finance partner Scott Zemser, who joined with Alan Rockwell and Judah Frogel from White & Case. At the same time Proskauer Rose partner Rajani Gupta also moved to A&O with Todd Koretzky, an associate from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy who was made up to partner by the firm.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Ashurst loses another outpost leader with Brussels duo off to Simmons

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Ashurst has lost another office head with its long term Brussels managing partner leaving the firm in favour of Simmons & Simmons, along with one counsel.

Brussels managing partner Carl Meyntjens joined the firm as partner in 1998 from legacy Linklaters & Paines and has managed the firm’s Brussels office since 2007. An all-rounder, Meyntjens has wide corporate and finance experience, specialising in M&A and private equity.

Meyntjens will be joined by corporate counsel Kelly Cherrette who joined the firm as an associate in 2002 before moving up to counsel in 2010.

Head of the Simmons’ Brussels office Koen Platteau said: ‘This is a stellar team with a widely renowned reputation and expertise in local and cross-border transactions, both in Belgium and abroad. Their combined expertise complements that of our existing team and enhances our Benelux and European offering in corporate and finance for our clients.’

Meanwhile, Ashurst has rejigged its Brussels practice announcing competition and EU law partner Denis Fosselard will take up a newly created head of Brussels role, with banking and finance partner Arnaud Wtterwulghe replacing Meyntjens as office managing partner.

The firm expects the new management team to ‘significantly enhance our business, strengthen our offering and maximise opportunities’, a spokesperson said.

Meyntjens and Cherrette are the latest exits with the firm’s Abu Dhabi head Alastair Holland left for New York-based Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, its Singapore head Shaun Lascelles leaving with fellow corporate partner Keith McGuire leaving in favour of PwC Legal.

Paul Hastings has also taken a structured finance trio and heavyweight finance partner Nigel Ward, Allen & Overy has taken two Asia finance partners and Latham & Watkins added regulatory partner Nicola Higgs to its ranks.

The firm’s management team chairman Ben Tidswell and new managing partner Paul Jenkins told Legal Business they had managed out partners as they re-evaluated the direction of the firm following its merger with Blake Dawson but refused to say how many.

Around 45 partners have left the firm since May last year with the firm announcing a 19% drop in profit per equity partner with figures dwindling to £603,000 from £747,000 for the 2015/16 financial year. Ashurst has also seen a 10% drop in turnover to £505m.

Following the disappointing results, Ashurst delayed its quarterly partner distributions for August, with one former partner telling Legal Business it was the second delayed payment this year after a postponement in February.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving doors: DLA, Simmons and Fieldfisher all look abroad with international hires

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Strategic recruitment DLA PiperFieldfisherSimmons & Simmons
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The summer lull is over with a spate of new laterals for firms including multiple hires at DLA Piper, Simmons & Simmons and Fieldfisher, while US firm Winston & Strawn recruited in the City and Bristows and Weightmans both added to their benches.

DLA led a transfer spree in South Africa with a nine-lawyer hire, including four partners. The firm adds former Webber Wentzel partner Peter Bradshaw as its new head of corporate, along with corporate partners Marita van der Walt and Nada van Dyk and two associates. It also hired finance and projects partner Jackie Pennington from Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr along with two associates. DLA also added and a new director, Janine Simpson, to its competition practice.

The firm launched its own South African office in October 2015 after ending its 10-year alliance with Cliffe Dekker. South Africa managing partner Johannes Gouws said: ‘The calibre of the lawyer that have joined us clearly demonstrates the strength of DLA Piper’s brand locally and internationally. Our South Africa office is very much open for business with a strong client offering centred on our corporate and finance capabilities.’

In Paris, Simmons & Simmons boosted its financial market practice with lateral hire Nicolas Duboille from Granut Avocats and partner Agnes Rossi from King & Wood Mallesons. The firm recently appointed Simonetta Giordano to its Paris branch, previously of counsel at Clifford Chance.

Fieldfisher was another to strengthen the bench in Europe, with three new partners in its Germany offices. The firm added two lawyers from DLA in Cologne to its Düsseldorf office. Marcus Kamp was a counsel at DLA and Marcus Iske a senior associate, and both join as partners. The firm also adds Oliver Süme as an IT partner in Hamburg, who has acted as president of the European Internet Service Providers Association.

In the City, Winston & Strawn rehired Michael Stepek, who spent 17 years at the firm until 2005 before moving to legacy Hogan & Hartson and then to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in 2010. Stepek is an international arbitration partner, having worked across the major global arbitration centres.

UK firms also added to the hiring spree. Bristows added Anna Cook as a partner in its commercial and technology disputes team. Cook had been working as a consultant to Bristows, and was previously a partner at RPC. While Weightmans signed Cassandra Auld as a partner into its Glasgow real estate team. She was formerly a senior associate at Pinsent Masons.

matthew.field@legalease.co.uk

 

 

Legal Business

On the ball: Simmons scores largest broadcast deal in Japanese sports history

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In $2bn deal, Simmons & Simmons has netted a lead role advising UK company Perform Group for the rights to broadcast the top tiers of Japanese football.

The 10 year deal, starting in 2017, will see Perform Group broadcast the top three divisions of the J.League on its internet TV platform, DAZN.

Simmons & Simmons head of Japan Richard Kramer on the deal, supported by a team of associates. The firm worked with local Tokyo law firm Socius Legal Servies with partner Kiyoshi Takahashi.

Kramer said: ‘We are delighted to have assisted Perform Group in achieving this first of its kind agreement, which will allow viewers to watch sport across a range of digital devices.’

J.League said the deal is the largest broadcasting deal in Japanese sports history, moving the football matches away from traditional linear broadcasting and into a new streaming service which can be watched on smartphones or tablets.

DAZN head of legal Sam Moorhouse said: ‘This historic 10 year rights agreement is part of our overall strategy to bring Japanese consumers the very best sports content. Simmons & Simmons played an instrumental role.’

Perform recently DAZN in Europe with the aim of broadcasting content from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, including matches from the English Premier League, La Liga in Spain, Serie A in Italy and Ligue 1 in France. It will also provide access to sports such including basketball, tennis and rugby.

Broadcasting deals remain lucrative work for law firms. Last year, DLA Piper technology and media partner Nick West won the trophy instruction for BT and Sky’s broadcasting rights for the Premier League, valued as more than £5.14bn over three years – valuing matches at £10m per game.

Player and manager contracts also keep firms with the necessary specialists busy, with Withers global sports group head Luca Ferrari recently advising manager Jürgen Klopp on his move to Liverpool in 2015, and his £15m contract extension in July this year.

For more on sports law see: ‘Good sports – the in-house counsel getting on the pitch in top-flight sports’.

matthew.field@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Real estate practice worst-hit as Simmons makes redundancies across its London office

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Simmons & Simmons has laid off lawyers in London following the Brexit vote. While the firm has refused to comment on the number of redundancies, banking and real estate are two practices known to be affected.

A spokesperson for Simmons & Simmons told Legal Business: ‘We’re not going to give any details about this but yes, we have let one or two people go. That’s just part of what any business would do when events like Brexit happen. The numbers are not big. It’s largely in real estate.’

The news, first revealed by RollOnFriday, follows a slump in the firm’s profitability, with profit per equity partner falling 10% in 2015/16 to £585,000. Simmons & Simmons has also closed its Abu Dhabi and Rome offices in the last 12 months.

Real estate practices have experienced a marked slowdown in transactions since the Brexit vote on 23 June, with many citing cancelled deals. The vote resulted in an exodus of capital that has caused some funds to halt trading, with retail investors withdrawing £1.4bn from property funds in June according to the Investment Association.

While Simmons & Simmons is the first major firm in the City known to have made redundancies, in June Berwin Leighton Paisner, which has a major real estate practice, froze pay and bonuses until November. In an email to staff, managing partner Lisa Mayhew said the reason was ‘political and financial uncertainty in the UK following the recent vote to leave the EU.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk


Legal Business

Simmons loses another patent heavyweight as A&O takes IP head

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Strategic recruitment Allen & OverySimmons & Simmons
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Allen & Overy (A&O) has made its fifth major lateral hire this month, taking on Simmons & Simmons head of IP Marc Döring in a boost to its patent litigation offering.

He joins former Simmons IP partner Marjan Noor, with the firm announcing her arrival in June. A&O also hired Simmons partner Tom Butcher to head up the firm’s Middle East TMT and IP practice in March.

Döring’s experience is focused on intellectual property disputes, primarily patent litigation in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, hi-tech and chemical industries. He joins the firm’s 15 partner strong global IP group.

A&O IP partner Nicola Dagg described Döring as ‘a renowned and formidable IP litigator who brings the skills and experience that will complement our existing team and help us to exploit new opportunities down the line.’

Global head of litigation Tim House added: ‘Our IP offering is unique among the big international firms with top tier IP partners in key European jurisdictions and, with this move, an unrivalled galaxy of stars in the UK. Unlike others in our peer-group, we have consistently prioritised IP as a strategic growth area for the litigation practice and Marc adds an additional dimension to our already strong offering.’

Döring joins four US lateral hires the firm announced last week making a significant boost to its finance practice. A&O took on three partners from White & Case, one from Proskauer Rose, as well as an associate from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy as partner. The group of five join the Magic Circle firm’s New York team.

Finance partner Scott Zemser, joining from White & Case, will head up the team, with fellow White & Case partners Alan Rockwell and Judah Frogel joining him. Rajani Gupta has also moved to the firm from Proskauer Rose with Todd Koretzky rising to partner in his move from Milbank.

The new team’s clients include Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.

The five partner US finance hire will soften the blow of the loss of one of London’s most high-profile banking lawyers to US firm Latham & Watkins. Legal Business revealed this month Stephen Kensell had made the move following a failed bid for senior partner earlier this year.

In June new leaders Wim Dejonghe and Andrew Ballheimer indicated their goal is to ‘keep growing in a quality way’ with further growth expected across the US, China and Europe.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

 

 

Legal Business

Simmons takes leading arbitration lawyer Dutson from Eversheds

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Strategic recruitment Eversheds SutherlandSimmons & Simmons
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Simmons & Simmons has hired Eversheds‘ star arbitration partner Stuart Dutson in a bid to strengthen its Africa practice.

Dutson (pictured) leaves Eversheds after seven years at the firm, having made partner on his arrival from Linklaters in 2009. He spent a decade at Linklaters, which he joined from Herbert Smith.

Dutson’s practice is heavily built around the energy and gas sector, one of the biggest users of international arbitration, and has designed complex dispute resolution mechanisms for oil and gas projects in Russia, Chile, Kuwait and Nigeria. His knowledge of that market has seen Dutson carve out a strong reputation for handling disputes in Africa, and he served as Malawi’s State Advocate between 2000 and 2001.

Dutson is listed by the Legal 500 as one of 36 leading lawyers for international arbitration work in London and his exit means Eversheds has lost its two strongest international arbitration partners in the City in just seven months, with disputes veteran Andy Moody having left for Baker & McKenzie at the start of the year.

For Simmons & Simmons, Dutson’s arrival comes as part of a wider play for work emerging out of Africa. The firm hired Dentons’ projects star Paul Bugingo, who as director of Dentons’ Africa group was the architect behind a profitable referrals network in the region, two years ago.

Dispute resolution head Hans-Hermann Aldenhoff said: ‘As international trade and commerce have grown, so too has the international arbitration market. Stuart’s arrival will add significant value to our arbitration practice across the firm, and the existing offering to our clients and their businesses, particularly across the global markets in which we operate.’

The hire also follows a period of strong investment in Simmons & Simmons’ international arbitration group, with construction disputes specialist Rob Horne joining from Trowers & Hamlins last year.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

A mixed bag for Simmons & Simmons as firm posts record turnover but tumbling PEP

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Financial results 2015/16 Simmons & Simmons
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Results season has proved something of a mixed bag for Simmons & Simmons, with turnover up 2% in 2015/16 to hit a record £295.1m but partners suffered a sharp fall in profits as its cost base soared.

Growth slowed last year after something of a revival for the City stalwart in 2014/15, when revenue rose 8% to £290.1m and profits per equity partner (PEP) leapt 17% to £649,000.

Revenue was up £5m to £295.1m in the 12 months to 30 April 2016, which while far from impressive on a year-on-year basis, gives the firm its strongest showing since 2008/09 when turnover hit £291.3m. It is also in sharp contrast to the dismal results posted by City peers Ashurst, which saw revenue plummet 10% £505m, and Berwin Leighton Paisner, which saw revenue drop 2% to £254m.

Nonetheless, the costs associated with closing down its offices in Rome and Abu Dhabi, combined with rising rent and salary costs, hit Simmons & Simmons’ bottom line. Net profit decreased 6% to £88.8m, with PEP dropped back below the £600,000 barrier to £585,000.

This means the average take home pay across the firm’s partnership is £64,000 lower than in 2014/15, when PEP hit a record high of £649,000.

Simmons & Simmons managing partner Jeremy Hoyland (pictured) told Legal Business: ‘It’s slightly disappointing but it’s good that we got income growth. Net profit down as revenue had not risen sharply enough to meet an increasing cost base and that’s a story you will hear across a lot of firms. We held costs quite tight in the previous year and it just built up the pressure.

He added: ‘At some point you’ve got to release the pressure, and it was necessary for the business, to increase salaries and make investments across our network, with expansion in Munich, Singapore and Bristol. It all comes as a cost. It was a declining picture, which is never good, but everybody understood in the partnership that investing in the business was the right thing to do and we all knew it would take a big rise in revenue to cover those.’

While the firm’s London office had a flat year, mainly due to less transactional activity and a ‘tailing off after Christmas’ due to market unease over the EU referendum that resulted in a Brexit result, Hoyland said that the firm had a ‘better performance in continental Europe and in Asia’. France was a standout performer, with the firm’s offices in the Netherlands and Luxembourg putting in strong revenue increases.

The firm was flat across its corporate and banking groups, with strong showings across its contentious practices, particularly in financial services litigation.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk