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Shoring up – the Offshore report

In what will undoubtedly be remembered as an unpredictable year in more ways than one, offshore firms across the globe leveraged their resilience and diverse practice offerings to weather the storm that 2020 brought. The US-China trade wars and the uncertainty around the EU/UK divorce gave way to the devastation of the global coronavirus pandemic, plummeting oil prices and markets in freefall, and the final throes of Brexit negotiations.

However, the offshore legal sector seemingly managed to duck every blow and avoid every collapse, with 2020 and early 2021 proving to be highly successful years across the offshore market. For Edward Mackereth, global managing partner of Ogier, ‘unprecedented was the word of 2020’, while Christian Luthi, chair of Conyers, states: ‘2020/21 has certainly tested the adaptability of the firm, and Conyers has come through extremely well’. Jonathan Green, global managing partner of Maples, adds: ‘2020 and early 2021 have been very active periods for us, setting new high-water marks in many of our practice areas. Our global teams have delivered without missing a beat, pandemic notwithstanding.’ Continue reading “Shoring up – the Offshore report”

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Life in a bubble – the Malta report

According to the European Commission’s winter forecast, despite a severe economic contraction of around 9% in 2020, Malta’s economy will grow by 4.5% in 2021. A recent proposal by the Commission to end quarantine and testing for vaccinated adults travelling from one EU country to another will be welcome news for the island nation, for which tourism is one of the top five contributors to the economy. The Maltese government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been robust and, at times, has been praised by the World Health Organisation. On 25 May, the minister for health Chris Fearne stated that 70% of the population had been vaccinated, making it the first country in the world to reach the estimated benchmark for herd immunity.

In June 2020, the Maltese government set out measures to alleviate the financial pressures brought on by the pandemic; these attempted to increase investment, incentivise domestic consumption and reduce the costs of operating a business. For workers, this meant the extension of the Covid-19 wage supplement with a particular focus on those who are dependent on the tourism industry for work. For businesses, a range of cost-cutting measures were introduced, including rent and electricity subsidies, refunds of trading licences, refunds on port charges and grants, among others. Employers were also offered cash to facilitate the costs of setting up workers to work remotely and a quarantine leave grant was offered for each worker who had to undertake mandatory quarantine. Also, at the start of the pandemic, €900m was provided in bank guarantees for businesses who required loans for operational matters, which was provided by the National Development and Social Fund, and a number of EU funds. Continue reading “Life in a bubble – the Malta report”

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We good corporate citizens – ESG report

‘There is such a sense that we need to walk the walk. More so than I’ve ever seen before. This has captured the attention of many senior management partners. People are now taking ESG and diversity and inclusion as seriously as anything else in the firm.’

The view of Doug Bryden, Travers Smith’s head of risk and operational regulatory, certainly chimes with attitudes to the environmental, social and governance (ESG) imperatives held by senior corporate lawyers interviewed for our inaugural ESG report. Continue reading “We good corporate citizens – ESG report”

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Legal 500 analysis – is the Magic Circle’s dominance in the UK M&A market under threat?

‘It’s a snowball effect. Look at private equity (PE) – that used to be dominated by Clifford Chance (CC), Freshfields and Ashurst but now it’s US firms,’ warns Weil London head Mike Francies. ‘The same hasn’t happened in M&A yet but nearly all of the top US firms here are now trying to build it. In my view, in the same way that a range of top UK firms have fallen behind the Magic Circle, it’s inevitable that the Magic Circle will end up falling behind the US firms for global M&A.’

On the face of it, there’s nothing new about the top US firms’ assault on the City legal market. Having pushed remuneration packages up to eye-watering seven or eight figure sums for the most coveted names, their extensive hiring sprees and growing dominance in areas such as PE and leverage finance have been well documented. Continue reading “Legal 500 analysis – is the Magic Circle’s dominance in the UK M&A market under threat?”

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Israel focus: Land of milk and honey

Few, if any, national economies escaped 2020 with a clean bill of health, and Israel was no exception. As per the Central Bureau of Statistics, the country’s economy contracted by 2.4% across the year, the most severe decline since the state was established in 1948. It is a testament to the unprecedented nature of the past year that Israel’s performance can be considered a relative success story – the average across the OECD countries was a 5.5% decline.

Though economically speaking Israel has fared comparatively well, more generally the region’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic is a mixed story. When the first wave of the pandemic hit, Israel was still being overseen by a caretaker government following the inconclusive result of the legislative election in March 2020. A state of emergency was declared and legally enforceable restrictions were introduced, preventing citizens from leaving their homes except for a short list of specified reasons. To ease the economic strain, the government introduced a $22bn economic rescue package to bolster the healthcare system, assist the unemployed and support struggling businesses. These restrictions proved largely effective and by the end of May most restrictions had been lifted, allowing most Israelis to enjoy a relatively free early summer. Continue reading “Israel focus: Land of milk and honey”

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This time, walk the talk behind the ESG bandwagon

Three letters seem to be everywhere you look these days: ESG. Law firm after law firm seems to be offering environmental, social and governance advice and even new practice teams to corporates on a weekly basis. Press releases talk about helping clients ‘navigate the regulatory requirements’ and ‘lead the way’. The fastest land animal is arguably not the cheetah, but instead a lawyer jumping on the ESG bandwagon.

Excuse me for sounding a little jaded. It’s just that we’ve been here before with three little letters: CSR. At first that was all about good intentions, firms demonstrating their commitment to corporate social responsibility. But it soon descended into a cynical PR exercise, with those that did a bit of pro bono, an occasional charity bake-off and remembered to turn their lights off once in a while touting themselves as the epitome of CSR best practice. This was before the global financial crisis came and took many of those good intentions away. Continue reading “This time, walk the talk behind the ESG bandwagon”

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Going viral – Risk management and professional indemnity survey 2021

Sponsored by

After a succession of years in the public eye and with no lack of controversy in 2020, it was going to take something seismic to prevent the perennially relevant slew of misconduct claims dominating the law firm risk agenda. Last year, that seismic event happened, with the world plunged into chaos as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Unsurprisingly, our annual risk and professional indemnity report with broker Marsh shows this has caused a serious shake-up of risk registers, with firms understandably more cautious about the potential data security pitfalls of enforced home working as well as reduced workforce availability.

Perhaps a less-predicted consequence of the pandemic, however, was the widespread rise to prominence that many law firm risk managers and general counsel (GCs) experienced last year. Suddenly, risk professionals became more integral to all aspects of the law firm business, making connections and having conversations in a way that did not take place before 2021. Continue reading “Going viral – Risk management and professional indemnity survey 2021”

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Sponsored briefing: Digital health in Israel – Opportunities and regulatory aspects

The global digital health market is expanding and is expected to reach revenues of $600bn by 2024 (McKinsey, The Economist, 2 December 2020).

In Israel, digital health is thriving and attracting international attention, and in particular increasingly substantial investments. This is due to Israel’s unique entrepreneurial ecosystem that includes: Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Digital health in Israel – Opportunities and regulatory aspects”

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Life During Law: Simon Beswick

I’m one of three brothers. My middle brother David has just retired as partner of Eversheds. Ever since we were young lads he wanted to be a lawyer, so I had that echo going on.

I chose economics, accountancy, politics and law at A-Level. I really enjoyed the politics but also found the law a lot more interesting than the accountancy. I decided off the back of that to do law at uni and that carried on into a career. I believed I’d be a lawyer for no more than two or three years, and use it as a stepping stone to go into business. Continue reading “Life During Law: Simon Beswick”

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Sponsored briefing: Q&A with managing partner Dr. Jean-Pie Gauci-Maistre

Dr Jean-Pie Gauci-Maistre is Gauci-Maistre Xynou’s managing partner, having co-founded the firm in 2015. Jean-Pie’s focus throughout his career has been in different areas in the maritime industry. Following stints with the EU Commission cabinet for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs and the internationally renowned ship management company, Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Ltd, he moved to Malta to head the legal department of GM International Services Ltd.

With GMX he specialises in ship and yacht registrations under the Malta Flag as well as ship and yacht finance. With the amendments to Maltese aviation law in recent years, he has also focused on the firm’s aviation practice. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Q&A with managing partner Dr. Jean-Pie Gauci-Maistre”

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Revolving doors: Americans are coming as Goodwin, Latham and White & Case make senior European hires

Latham & Watkins has taken a London-based partner from the magic circle again, and this time Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s experienced tax specialist Helen Lethaby has made the switch.

Lethaby has spent more than 25 years assisting clients with a variety of complex corporate tax matters, spanning capital markets and private equity deals, public and private M&A, joint ventures, demergers and restructurings. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Americans are coming as Goodwin, Latham and White & Case make senior European hires”

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Booth takes on new role at The Crown Estate as Cheffings named interim head of legal

Rob Booth

Rob Booth, one of the leading lights of the in-house legal community, will be stepping away from his position as general counsel (GC) and company secretary at The Crown Estate to become the company’s new head of assets.

As part of a leadership reshuffle, former Hogan Lovells chair and experienced adviser to The Crown Estate, Nicholas Cheffings, will assume the role of interim head of legal and company secretary. Continue reading “Booth takes on new role at The Crown Estate as Cheffings named interim head of legal”

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Revolving doors: All-London recruitment round as Proskauer and Trowers make corporate additions

GC Powerlist UK 2019

Proskauer has appointed M&A partner Rebecca Villarreal from Kirkland & Ellis to its London office to boost the firm’s corporate credentials.

Villarreal is an experienced adviser to private investment funds, portfolio companies and management teams on transactions spanning the financial services, real estate, industrials and chemicals, technology and consumer sectors across Europe. Continue reading “Revolving doors: All-London recruitment round as Proskauer and Trowers make corporate additions”

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Stevens & Bolton posts eleventh year of turnover growth in latest set of financials

Richard Baxter (left) and Richard King

LB100 firm Stevens & Bolton has unveiled solid financial results for 2020/2021, marking 11 consecutive years of revenue growth.

In spite of the pandemic, the South East heavyweight has posted turnover of £29.1m, which represents a 2% increase on last year, while profit per equity partner in its all-equity partnership increased by 10% to hit £267,000. Continue reading “Stevens & Bolton posts eleventh year of turnover growth in latest set of financials”

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Revolving doors: Squire Patton Boggs makes bold recruitment statement with team hires in London and Madrid

In a significant week of lateral partner recruitment for Squire Patton Boggs, the firm has added new teams in both London and Madrid.

In the City, the firm has hired partner Jonathan Lent from Gowling WLG. Previously co-head of Gowling’s real estate finance practice, Lent arrives at SPB alongside a director and two senior associates. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Squire Patton Boggs makes bold recruitment statement with team hires in London and Madrid”

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Sponsored briefing: Why are so many turning their back on a traditional career path?

I am often asked the reason for the success of the revenue share model. Simply put, it’s down to the demand. Attitudes have changed and people want more, that is why these models are seeing so much growth.

Since we started our fee share law firm 11 years ago, the demand for this type of model has significantly increased, not just from lawyers but with demand from clients too. And this has only accelerated with the pandemic when the whole nation began remote working and became aware of the benefits. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Why are so many turning their back on a traditional career path?”

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LExOpensource: practical solutions for GCs by GCs

It is no secret, this year has been particularly challenging for general counsel the world round. Economic instability coupled with lockdowns and movement restrictions have hampered businesses, slowed trade, impacted production, and disrupted supply chains.

The Legal 500 in partnership with LEx360, is proud to announce “LExOpensource: practical solutions for GCs by GCs”, a series of interactive workshops that will equip general counsel and the teams they manage with the skills to confidently take on challenges within a post-pandemic world.

During times of uncertainty, corporate boards and management teams rely on their legal departments for guidance. GCs are expected to not only be legal advisors but also strategic business partners to the companies they guide. Over six sessions we will focus on the business of law from a thought leadership perspective.

We will evaluate key topics such as:

  • strategic planning
  • financial management
  • vendor management
  • data analysis
  • technology procurement and implementation

No subject is out of bounds as all in attendance will adhere to Chatham House rules. Our first session will cover ‘The right people, doing the right work.’ GCs today bring more to the table than just their legal expertise and knowing how to delegate and manage a team is pivotal to meeting business goals.

If you are a GC or part of a corporate in-house team, you cannot afford not to be part of the discussion. “LExOpensource: practical solutions for GCs by GCs” provides the exclusive opportunity for you to connect with other leading in-house professionals in a safe and interactive environment.

Become part of the discussion, by registering to our workshop here.