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Dealwatch: Advisers get KKR infra play on the road as CC and MoFo energise $3.5bn renewables disposal

As market activity continues to branch out into diverse sectors, some of the biggest deals have had an energy and infrastructure flavour recently, with KKR’s £2bn takeover of John Laing Group and SoftBank’s disposal of its renewables venture SB Energy India proving standouts.

US private equity investor KKR agreed to acquire listed infrastructure group John Laing in a deal which will also see investor Equitix jointly own John Laing’s existing asset portfolio. Continue reading “Dealwatch: Advisers get KKR infra play on the road as CC and MoFo energise $3.5bn renewables disposal”

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Guest comment: time for law firms to play catch-up on parental leave

Nathan Peart, managing director at Major, Lindsey & Africa, says firms must move with the times when it comes to arrangements for prospective parents

Parental leave continues to be a conversation at the forefront of law firm policy development, but it still has a long way to go to reflect the modern norm. As firms examine the changes in the way we work and develop policy that reflects local customs but still aligns with a firm’s ethos, it is also important to remember the people at the centre of this policy – prospective parents. Continue reading “Guest comment: time for law firms to play catch-up on parental leave”

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Revolving doors: Further stateside expansion as Cooley opens in Chicago while Freshfields secures key hire in New York

Chicago

US partner acquisitions have dominated this week’s recruitment round-up, as Cooley launched a new Chicago office off the back of an emphatic nine-partner team hire.

Corporate partner Yvan-Claude Pierre, who will split his time between Chicago and New York, is the sole Cooley presence among the ten-strong launch team, with the other nine partners all arriving from DLA Piper, Latham & Watkins and Winston & Strawn. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Further stateside expansion as Cooley opens in Chicago while Freshfields secures key hire in New York”

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Revolving doors: Clyde opens three new US offices as Quinn Emanuel launches Miami branch

train track graphic

There was a significant American slant to the latest round of lateral partner recruitment, as disputes-heavy Clyde & Co and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan launched new offices.

Clyde is to establish new bases across the south west of the US in Phoenix, Denver and Las Vegas via the appointment of insurance partner Amy Samberg and her team from Foran Glennon Palandech Ponzi & Rudloff. Samberg arrives alongside six counsel, as well as several associates and staff. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Clyde opens three new US offices as Quinn Emanuel launches Miami branch”

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‘Confidence and distinction’ – M&A grandee Comiskey elected Linklaters senior partner

In a case of second time lucky for Aedamar Comiskey, Linklaters’ illustrious head of corporate, the M&A heavy-hitter has been elected senior partner to succeed Charlie Jacobs on 1 July.

Long considered one of the most influential corporate partners in the Square Mile, Comiskey had been particularly hotly-tipped among the candidates, which also included London corporate partner Sarah Wiggins and Milan-based Western Europe managing partner Claudia Parzani. London partner and global US practice head Tom Shropshire had also been in the running early on but in February left the firm to take over the GC and company secretary position at Diageo. Continue reading “‘Confidence and distinction’ – M&A grandee Comiskey elected Linklaters senior partner”

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Dealwatch: Elite firms drill into $7.1bn Valaris restructuring as eclectic deals epitomise market

In what has been called an ‘extraordinary case’, Valaris’ $7bn financial restructuring made sizeable waves this week, as firms including Kirkland & Ellis, Slaughter and May and Akin Gump steered it to a successful conclusion.

The transaction sees offshore drilling service provider Valaris emerge from Chapter 11 after the company filed in August 2020, eliminating $7.1bn of debt and securing a $520m capital injection through the issue of $550m of new secured notes. Continue reading “Dealwatch: Elite firms drill into $7.1bn Valaris restructuring as eclectic deals epitomise market”

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Revolving doors: Kennedys expands Down Under while WFW kickstarts Italian practice

Perth Nightime CityScape

In another hectic week of lateral partner recruitment, Kennedys has launched a new Perth office via a team hire while a host of other firms strengthened their global benches.

The firm has established its 43rd office globally by hiring a nine-lawyer Australian insurance team from rivals Clyde & Co. Jonathan Wyatt is the sole partner leading the team and specialises in marine, property, financial lines and liability insurance. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Kennedys expands Down Under while WFW kickstarts Italian practice”

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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 daily 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.

Continue reading “This time, walk the talk behind the ESG bandwagon”

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Nothing is certain

The ever-changing world of data protection has lost none of its pace. Exacerbated by the almost global transition to a life online, homes became offices, Zoom became the go-to meeting place and Teams became the world’s virtual water cooler. With this increased reliance on technology to support remote working and digital communications, the need to protect corporate data and confidential information while working from home has become vitally important. Continue reading “Nothing is certain”

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The Covid realignment

‘Insurance is in a perfect storm at the moment. After years and years of what we would call a soft market – characterised by overcapacity, with insurers competing on price and breadth of cover, leading to broad policy wordings and cheap product – a series of events, of which Covid is just one example, is now leading to a correction’, explains Herbert Smith Freehills partner Paul Lewis when discussing the wider effects of the Covid pandemic on the state of the insurance industry. Continue reading “The Covid realignment”

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Sponsored briefing: The difficulties of pursuing foreign insolvency-related claims in Norway

Simonsen Vogt Wiig analyse how foreign insolvency claims can be pursued in Norway and the implications of Brexit on the enforcement of judgments between Norway and the UK

Insolvency-related claims in Norway

Pursuing foreign insolvency-related claims in Norway can be somewhat challenging. Except for the Nordic countries, which will not be discussed in this article, there are currently no rules or treaties governing foreign insolvency-related claims. However, new rules have been adopted and will come into effect from 1 July 2021, that will make this much easier. For bankruptcies from before 1 July 2021 and/or that falls outside the scope of the new rules, insolvency-related claims cannot be pursued in Norway. Thus the question is, what can, or cannot, businesses or bankruptcy estates do if they want to pursue insolvency-related claims against Norwegian companies or in assets situated in Norway, that fall outside the scope of the new rules? The new rules will be discussed at the end of this chapter. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: The difficulties of pursuing foreign insolvency-related claims in Norway”

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Sponsored briefing: The effect of recent English Supreme Court judgments on GCC-based arbitration

Robert Sliwinski, of counsel at Al Suwaidi & Company, explains how common law principles are transforming international arbitration proceedings in the GCC region

Over the past six months there have been two important judgments in the Supreme Court of England and Wales which are likely to influence GCC-based arbitrations where they are based on common law procedures and rules. They may also impact arbitrations seated in the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC), the Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM) and the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) which are pockets of common law jurisdiction within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar Civil Law Structures. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: The effect of recent English Supreme Court judgments on GCC-based arbitration”

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Disputes perspectives: Claire Shaw

I was an incredibly good girl and my mother was incredibly opinionated: I basically did whatever she told me to do! For years I wanted to be a doctor but then I realised I absolutely hated chemistry and you couldn’t be one without chemistry. So I had a crisis after my O-Levels where I thought ‘Oh God what am I going to be then?’ So suddenly my mum said: ‘Right, that’s it then, you’re going to be a lawyer.’ She’s of that generation that absolutely idolised professions – she always called our family doctor by his first name. Continue reading “Disputes perspectives: Claire Shaw”

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Virtual reality

The health of the English and Welsh court system has long been a cause for genuine concern. Over the last decade, there have been anxieties over the diminishing desirability of a judicial role, not least due to a chronic lack of governmental funding that has resulted in salaries comparatively paltry to private practice positions.

This has been amplified by the introduction of the Judicial Attitudes Survey (JAS), which has given judges the platform to publicly lay out their grievances since 2014. It produced some shocking results. The 2016 edition revealed that nearly half (47%) of High Court judges were considering leaving the judiciary, alongside 41% of Court of Appeal judges and 40% of Circuit judges. A majority of judges (76%), felt they had experienced a deterioration in their working conditions since 2014, with 43% stating that the maintenance of their building was poor. Continue reading “Virtual reality”

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Disputes perspectives: Gaby Dosanjh-Pahil

I’ve always wanted to be a barrister, since before I can remember. There was no particular event or anything, I just always knew. I must have seen something on TV or the news perhaps. It was easy for me, because once you know what you want to do, it’s easy to follow that path.

I’ve never been an outgoing, loud person. Although I have married my complete opposite! I was the youngest of three children, and a girl with two older brothers, so I was always wrapped up in cotton wool. But I’m quietly confident. Continue reading “Disputes perspectives: Gaby Dosanjh-Pahil”

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Disputes perspectives: Tony Singla QC

I’m the youngest of three children. My brother and sister both read law at university, and have become lawyers themselves. My sister is a general counsel, and my brother is a silk. They’re both older than me, and when it came to applying to university, there wasn’t much choice on my part! I benefited a lot from their revision notes…

I briefly contemplated a career in the City, and I did an internship at Goldman Sachs in 2005. It was useful in the sense that it confirmed that I did want to pursue a career in the law. Continue reading “Disputes perspectives: Tony Singla QC”

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Disputes perspectives: Tracey Dovaston

I’d like to say becoming a lawyer was a very well-thought-out decision in my teenage years, but it wasn’t. I recall taking a career aptitude test at school, and it was one of the few professions I’d actually heard of. Law sounded interesting, and I’ve always enjoyed the legal wrangling in various TV shows. Showing my age, it included the less esoteric ones at the time, like LA Law in the late 80s and early 90s.

I picked Herbert Smith. I applied to a number of places, but I had heard partner Lawrence Collins, now Lord Collins of Mapesbury, speak at a careers event at university. Herbert Smith was well-known as a preeminent litigation firm and so I thought that was where I wanted to go. I wrote to him directly. I didn’t think it would make any difference, but it did. When I started, I was a trainee in his litigation department. I had an opportunity to work with him first hand, and he supported me in the early stages of my career. Continue reading “Disputes perspectives: Tracey Dovaston”

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Sponsored foreword: Litigation amid a pandemic – 2021 and beyond

Clive Zietman

One of the strangest features of Covid-19 is that it manifests itself in the human body in a random and unpredictable manner. The same can be said of its effect on the world of commercial disputes. My view is that nothing ever quite pans out in a way many commentators assume.

If one thinks back to the financial crisis of 2008, the only racing certainty was an economic downtown. To that extent, the same might be said of 2021. The prediction 13 years ago was that we would see the usual raft of fraud and insolvency work that typically accompanies a recession. It was anticipated that events would mirror those of the early 1990s, which gave rise to a boom in white collar crime cases and resultant professional negligence claims arising from corporate failures. It did not play out in that way. The scale of the frauds made them almost beyond the scope of litigation. The banks did not rush to insolvency proceedings since they themselves were on the brink of collapse and had no appetite for repossessing worthless assets. Continue reading “Sponsored foreword: Litigation amid a pandemic – 2021 and beyond”