Legal Business

Ashurst corporate partner Clare quits for Stephenson Harwood

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Strategic recruitment AshurstStephenson Harwood
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Stephenson Harwood has hired Ashurst corporate partner and board member Anthony Clare who is leaving the firm after 14 years.

He joins Stephenson Harwood and will work with the firm’s corporate head Andrew Edge, who trained and qualified alongside Clare at Ashurst.

At Ashurst, Clare helped launch the firm’s New York office where he was resident from 1999-2000. He specialises in M&A and corporate finance and his experience in both public and private corporate finance includes IPOs, equity issues, acquisitions and disposals. His client base includes both corporates and investment banks. He was also a member of Ashurst’s healthcare practice.

Edge commented: ‘I worked alongside Anthony for 18 years and I have long admired and respected his approach to tackling often complex deals. His experience in M&A and corporate finance will be a real asset to the Stephenson Harwood team, and I am particularly looking forward to working with him again.’

For Stephenson Harwood, Clare’s recruitment follows the recent hire of two partners from Eversheds – King Tak Fung and Ivan Ng – along with along with five associates in Hong Kong.

Ashurst, which suffered a string of exits in recent years has also been hiring with the addition DLA Piper’s high-profile international arbitration head Matthew Saunders in January; and the hire of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom’s former global private equity co-head Shaun Lascelles in August last year.

The firm is in the process of appointing a new managing partner as current head James Collins is to stand down after completing his term at the end of May this year. The new leader will be Ashurst’s first board-selected head since its chairman Ben Tidswell was elected to the run the firm in 2013.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

 

Legal Business

Asia round-up: Stephenson Harwood formalises Guangzhou association as A&O makes FinReg play

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Asia Allen & OveryStephenson Harwood
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Stephenson Harwood has formalised its association with Chinese law firm Wei Tu, while Allen & Overy has made a key hire into its finance practice in Hong Kong.

Having first entered an association with local firm Wei Tu in December 2014, Stephenson Harwood made its relationship with Guangzhou-based Wei Tu official by establishing an association permitted under a free trade agreement, Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), between mainland China and Hong Kong. The association means Stephenson Harwood can practise Chinese law through Wei Tu.

Wei Tu is led by former Stephenson Harwood shipping lawyer in Guangzhou Xianming Lu. The association will be called ‘Stephenson Harwood – Wei Tu (China) Association’, and is formed under the CEPA arrangement which allows localised international firms in Hong Kong to gain a PRC law capacity through association.

Stephenson Harwood managing partner for Greater China Voon Keat Lai said the association was an important step forward.

Lai added: ‘In choosing the firm with which to partner, one of our fundamental priorities was to ensure that clients could confidently expect the same standards of advice and service as they would from Stephenson Harwood. Xianming Lu is in a strong position to do this, having worked for the firm for a number of years previously.’

Meanwhile, Allen & Overy has hired Charlotte Robins into its regulatory practice from Norton Rose. Robins is both Hong Kong and England & Wales qualified and departs Norton Rose after being a partner for five years.

The global head of the firm’s regulatory practice Bob Penn said knowledge of multi-jurisdictional regulatory matters is what wins the firm strategic roles on headline deals.

He added: ‘A&O is one of the few firms that offers top-tier expertise combined with local depth spanning the US, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. The addition of Charlotte further enhances our position as a leading adviser to global financial institutions on complex, multi-jurisdictional financial services matters.’

victoria.young@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving doors: team hires galore as Stephenson Harwood, Dentons and Clydes all add to their benches

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Strategic recruitment Clyde & CoDentonsStephenson Harwood
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In a busy week for international hires, several firms have made key team hires around the globe, with Stephenson Harwood, Clyde & Co and Milan all making appointments.

In Asia, Stephenson Harwood has appointed two partners from Eversheds, King Tak Fung and Ivan Ng. The duo join the firm’s Hong Kong office, along with five associates. Fung is a trade finance lawyer and Stephenson Harwood says combined with the practice of existing finance partner Mark Reed, the firm will have signifcantly expanded its trade finance capabilities. Ng is a commercial litigator with more than 20 years’ experience.

Meanwhile in Australia, Clyde & Co has hired two partners from Norton Rose Fulbright in a bid to build up its occupational health and safety team. Michael Tooma and Alena Titterton join the firm’s Sydney office along with eight other lawyers. Nooma will lead the firm’s occupational health and safety team across the Asia Pacific. He said in a statement: ‘We were attracted to Clyde & Co’s global platform, particularly in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East, and the strength and reputation of the firm in the aviation, construction and the oil and gas industries. These are industries that have been an area of focus of ours from a health and safety perspective for a number of years.’ The team hire follows Clyde & Co’s appointment of a 30-lawyer team late last year, also in the Sydney office. Before Christmas the firm announced it had picked up five partners in Sydney who joined the firm with another 25 lawyers, all from Lee & Lyons. David Lee and Lucinda Lyons, who founded Lee & Lyons in 2002, joined with partners David Amentas, Michelle Dunne and Christopher Smith.

In London Clyde & Co has made another key hire, employing Ralph Cox from Fasken Martineau where he was head of the London contentious IP group for the last ten years. Cox’s practice focuses on patent litigation, especially in the life sciences sector, and he has expertise in contentious trade mark, passing off and design work.

In the US, Paul Hastings has added international arbitration lawyer Camilo Cardozo as a partner in the firm’s New York office. Cardozo joins from DLA Piper where he was co-chair of the US International Arbitration practice group. Paul Hastings head of international arbitration Joe Profaizer said: ‘Our clients increasingly turn to international arbitration as a preferred means of resolving larger, more complex, multi-party international disputes.’

Dentons hired another 11 lawyers in Milan, following the opening of its office in October last year. The firm has appointed two new partners, Sara Biglieri and Andrea Fiorelli, who will head the firm’s litigation and arbitration group and tax practices respectively. Biglieri was a partner at Studio Rucellai & Raffaelli, where she acted for Italian companies in judicial and arbitration activities and business litigation. Fiorelli was head of the tax department at Norton Rose Fulbright and advises on financial market taxation and fiscal treatment of financial products and Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities. Denton’s Milan managing partner Federico Sutti said: ‘We are extremely pleased to welcome these two well respected partners on board. They will help us to quickly grow our tax and litigation and arbitration practices in Italy, which are integral to Dentons’ full service approach.’

victoria.young@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Quinn Emanuel and Simmons win for Blackstone fund and Barclays in first financial list decision

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Litigation Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & SullivanSimmons & SimmonsStephenson Harwood
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Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Simmons & Simmons have beat Stephenson Harwood in the first judgment delivered on the financial list since the specialist court opened late last year.

The three firms advised on the dispute between Blackstone fund GSO Credit, Barclays Bank and HCC International Insurance Company after the parties took different views on meaning of terms in documentation published by the Loan Market Association (LMA). While GSO had formally sued Barclays, the pair essentially agreed on the meaning and effect of the trades, and Barclays took action against insurer HCC.

Quinn represented GSO Credit, with London co-managing partner Richard East and Robert Hickmott leading, and instructed Tom Smith QC and Andrew Shaw of South Square.

Defendant Barclays turned to Simmons & Simmons partner Richard Bunce, and instructed Bankim Thanki QC and Rupert Allen of Fountain Court Chambers.

Stephenson Harwood litigator Stephen Roberts advised third party HCC International Insurance Company, alongside Guy Philipps QC, also of Fountain Court Chambers.

Until recently, English courts’ financial cases have been dealt with by both the Commercial Court and the Chancery Division. But in July 2014 the Lord Chief Justice announced that the judiciary would examine what more it could do to meet the needs of court users in financial cases.

The financial list was launched for claims linked to the financial markets, which were worth over £50m or which require particular expertise in financial markets or raise issues of general. These could include transactions in the fixed income, equity, derivatives, loan, FX and commodities markets, as well as complex banking transactions and sovereign debt. The judges are drawn from both the Commercial Court and the Chancery Division.

At the Institute of Commercial and Corporate Law Annual Lecture 2016 earlier this month Sir William Blair, the judge in charge of the Commercial Court, said: ‘So far, the list appears to be operating well, and by the end of 2015, as well as two existing cases which were transferred in, eight new claims had been commenced in the list.’

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

For more on this topic see: ‘The end of the tunnel – litigation and regulatory challenges in financial services.’

 



Legal Business

Stephenson Harwood pays 30% more to highest-earning member, latest accounts show

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Financial results 2014/15 Stephenson Harwood
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The highest-paid LLP member at Stephenson Harwood took home £1.3m during the last financial year compared to just over £1m the previous year – an increase of nearly 30% on what was paid in 2013/14.

Recent filings at Companies House for the 2014/15 financial year reveal the highest-earning member at the firm took home more than £300,000 given to the highest paid member in 2013/14.

This figure in LLP accounts does not necessarily equate to the highest paid equity partner and can relate to ‘golden handshakes’ to retiring members.

The firm’s latest accounts largely reflect what the firm reported in June last year, after posting a 20% rise in revenues to £145m for the 2014/15 financial year. At that time, the firm said turnover was boosted by receipts from several multi-year matters, and discounting these payments still saw the firm achieve an underlying growth rate of 16%.

Profits for the year shot up by 40.6% to £61.1m from £43.3m in 2013/14.

The number of lawyers at the firm rose slightly, from 338 in 2013/14 to 369 last year, while the number of support staff decreased by eight to 260. Overall employee headcount grew almost 4% to 629 from 606, while the number of equity members grew from 119 to 123.

Subsequently, employee costs also rose during the last financial year by 11% to £47m with staff salary costs increasing from £38.2m to £42.6m.

Earlier today, it was revealed the highest paid LLP member at Fieldfisher took home £1.24m last year, almost twice as much as last year. Meanwhile in the Magic Circle Linklaters’ highest earner took home £3.2m during the last financial year, a 33% increase on what was paid in in 2013/14.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Checking in: Freshfields and Stephenson Harwood advise on £1.3bn sale of the Priory

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Dealwatch Freshfields Bruckhaus DeringerStephenson Harwood
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Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Stephenson Harwood have led on the sale of the Priory, the rehab clinic known for its celebrity clients, having treated the likes of supermodel Kate Moss, pop star Robbie Williams and rocker Pete Doherty.

US private equity group Advent International sold the Priory to Acadia Healthcare for £1.3bn, after buying it in 2011 for £925m. Priory’s management was advised on the 2011 transaction by DLA Piper. 

The Priory, which has a hospital in Roehampton, London, operates more than 300 facilities with approximately 7,200 beds. The group is expected to produce around $865m in revenue in 2015 with profit of approximately $196m.

Freshfields advised Advent International, with rising private equity star Adrian Maguire leading on the deal alongside corporate partner Julian Pritchard.

The Magic Circle firm has previously advised Advent International on its 2012 acquisition of Cytec Industries Inc for $1.15bn, and its sale of Domestic & General to CVC back in 2013. 

Stephenson Harwood’s head of corporate Andrew Edge led for Acadia, with support from corporate partner Andrew McLean, corporate finance partner Karima Hudson, real estate partner Simon Brading and employment partner Anne Pritam. Nashville-headquartered law firm Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis acted for Acadia in relation to its financing of the transaction.

Acadia will pay cash consideration of approximately £1.3bn, including approximately £925m used to repay Priory’s outstanding debt.

Brent Turner, Acadia’s president, told Legal Business: ‘We’ve been in the UK for a year and a half and the Priory acquisition gives us expanded scale and service lines across the mental health spectrum in the UK. We’re very excited to help the Priory continue to grow. Given the continuing increase in demand for behavioural services, the market is expanding.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving doors: DLA and Stephenson Harwood make key hires as Gordons loses property litigation head

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Strategic recruitment DLA PiperStephenson Harwood
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After announcing two major City finance hires last week, DLA Piper has hired Paul Reeskamp as a partner in the firm’s IP and technology group. Reeskamp joins the Amsterdam office from top tier Dutch IP outfit Klos Morel Vos & Reeskamp, where he was partner and head of patent litigation, and brings with him associate Marijn van der Wal.

DLA international group head of IP & technology Stephane Lemarchand said: ‘As a firm, we are committed to offering a top-notch European patent practice when the Unified Patent court system comes into effect and Paul will be a significant addition to our team.’

Eversheds has also made a key IP hire, appointing Deon de Beer as a partner in the firm’s Johannesburg office. De Beer is a patent attorney who joins from Dessington de Beer attorneys and represents clients in a variety of technical fields including material science, mechanical and software.

Eversheds also announced last week the hire of Gordons head of property litigation Andrew Todd. The expansion of the firm’s property team follows the recent hire to the Eversheds property practice of Pinsent Masons head of real estate litigation Stuart Wortley in September. Eversheds head of real estate litigation Paul Moorcroft said the appointment means the firm has 13 real estate litigation partners in the UK alone. He added: ‘It is a busy time and we are keen to keep adding to our senior resource, as we win new mandates and are increasingly instructed on high profile disputes. Andrew is known to many of us and will be a real asset to the team.’

Going the other way, Eversheds partner Jane Marshall is departing for Weightmans. Pensions and employment partner Marshall has more than 14 years’ experience and advises clients in local and central government, education and health sectors.

Stephenson Harwood has hired Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co (WLG) corporate finance partner Karima Hudson. Hudson, who had led WLG’s healthcare practice, is well-known in the healthcare sector and recently advised Formation Capital LLC on its £477m acquisition of NHP.

Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) has boosted its tax practice in London with a new hire from Deloitte. Tom Jarvis will join as a tax partner, having been a director in the Big Four firm’s M&A and funds tax group. WFW managing partner Chris Lowe said: ‘As a firm our focus continues to be providing cross-border legal advice within our core sectors and, with the addition of Tom, WFW can continue to build on our ability to provide extensive tax services across the firm’s core sectors.’

Meanwhile EY has hired Matthew Whalley as a director to lead the its legal risk practice. Whalley joins from Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) where he started the firm’s risk practice. EY financial services UK law leader Matthew Kellett said: ‘At a time when the regulatory lens is so keenly focused on how financial services firms are managing their risk, Matthew’s expertise will be extremely welcome to our financial services clients.’

victoria.young@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

20% revenue growth at Stephenson Harwood sees turnover top £145m with PEP surging to £763,000

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Financial results 2014/15 Stephenson Harwood
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Stephenson Harwood has posted a 20% rise in revenues to £145m for the 2014/15 financial year, boosted by receipts from several multi-year matters the firm said that discounting those payments still saw it achieve an underlying growth rate of 16%.

The inclusion of matters which the firm says had substantial amounts of work done in previous years sees profits per equity partner (PEP) reach £763,000 for the financial year to 30 April – up 42% on last year’s £532,000. When stripping out the one-off mandates, the firm projects that PEP would have risen by 24% to £666,000 on turnover of around £140m.

The firm had been in good stead at the 2014/15 half year, at that point reporting revenues of £64m – a 12% increase in revenues compared with the same period last year. At the time, chief executive Sharon White put the turnover growth partly down to a strong performance in Dubai which was establishing in the region after its 2012 launch.

With turnover growth having accelerated from the half year, the firm said it had seen strong performances across its London, Greater China and Dubai offerings while its commercial litigation, corporate and real estate practices also saw particularly bouyant results.

Speaking to Legal Business, White put the growth down to a ‘combination of things, strengthening core areas of business like corporate and real estate, we had great people already but we have added there in size over the last five to six years and that’s played a part in the kind of mandates we are now winning. We have also had a lot of initiatives on client development, particularly a focus on more teamwork across the firm, across groups and across offices – that has played a large part in success. Working in teams and focusing on what clients want has helped us win work we weren’t in the past.’

White added: ‘Normally when you get a better economy you expect that a pick-up in transactional works and a slowdown on the contentious side but we haven’t seen that at all – our contentious practices have continued very strongly.’

The past 12 months saw the firm open an office in Seoul in a bid to boost its marine, international trade and ship-finance work. It hired DLA Piper’s local office head and litigation partner Michael Kim in February 2014 to oversee the management of the office. The firm also entered into an alliance in Guangzhou with local firm Wei Tu after having closed its office.

michael.west@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Stephenson Harwood’s Tony Woodcock: Policing the City – where do in-house lawyers fit in?

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In-house Stephenson Harwood
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Though one is always on dangerous ground in suggesting that anything was clear or uncomplicated in the Financial Services Authority’s Handbook and its successors, one could comfortably say that in-house lawyers were not regarded as significant influence function-holders requiring approval under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2000.

They were not specifically named as holders of a ‘controlled function’ and would not be regarded as holders of a ‘significant management function’, the characterisation of which required a person to be a ‘senior manager’ of a significant business unit reporting directly to the governing body or the chief executive or the equivalent. The in-house lawyer’s role was not managerial and supervisory, but advisory and privileged.

The thinking never developed much beyond this. Providing contractual advice in the context of a specific transaction could not, by any stretch of the imagination, be regarded as a managerial function. The issue could be muddied if the legal and the compliance function were joined. But most large organisations averted the problem by separating the two. But what of general counsel, reporting directly to the board? Or senior lawyers on governance committees? None were deemed to be included.

The extent to which the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 has changed matters is a moot point. The aim of the new regime has been to reduce in scope those covered by the senior managers regime. The venom visited upon the banking industry by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards did not spread to the in-house legal community. In the parliamentary consideration of the definition of ‘senior management’ function, the government responded that the regulator would be highly unlikely to designate legal advisers as senior managers ‘simply because giving legal advice does not constitute management as set out in the definition of senior management’.

But the words ‘highly unlikely’ and the circularity of the reasoning should send a little bit of a shiver down the spine of even the most robust senior lawyer. According to section 59ZA FSMA, the senior management function embraces those responsible for ‘managing one or more aspects of the authorised person’s affairs’ relating to its regulated activity and ‘managing’ includes ‘taking decisions, or participating in the taking of decisions, about how one or more aspects of those affairs should be carried on’.

In advising at, say, board level, is the lawyer participating in decisions as to how an aspect of the business should be carried on? Or is the lawyer the one person around the table immune from senior manager responsibility? Can you, in reality, isolate that which is legal advice from that which is commercial or managerial? And how will all that play out in the context of confidential privileged communications? Interesting questions – and no clear answers: not even from the lawyers.

Tony Woodcock heads the banking and financial services regulatory litigation group at Stephenson Harwood

Legal Business

Policing the City – where do in-house lawyers fit in?

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In-house Stephenson Harwood
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Stephenson Harwood’s Tony Woodcock argues that financial regulation has failed to clarify the status of in-house counsel

Though one is always on dangerous ground in suggesting that anything was clear or uncomplicated in the Financial Services Authority’s Handbook and its successors, one could comfortably say that in-house lawyers were not regarded as significant influence function-holders requiring approval under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2000. They were not specifically named as holders of a ‘controlled function’ and would not be regarded as holders of a ‘significant management function’, the characterisation of which required a person to be a ‘senior manager’ of a significant business unit reporting directly to the governing body or the chief executive or the equivalent. The in-house lawyer’s role was not managerial and supervisory, but advisory and privileged.