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‘Crazy and hopeless’: Osborne Clarke and EIP dial in landmark patent victory against Chinese giants

Warrior on mobile phone

The Supreme Court has ruled against Chinese telecoms giants Huawei and ZTE today (26 August) in a landmark IP dispute, with Osborne Clarke and EIP Legal securing victory for clients Unwired Planet and Conversant.

The case concerns patent infringement and the manner in which corporates enter global licensing arrangements. Huawei had been appealing against previous decisions in favour of Conversant, with the companies battling on jurisdictional grounds over whether particular patents were essential to the implementation of international standards for mobile telephony. Continue reading “‘Crazy and hopeless’: Osborne Clarke and EIP dial in landmark patent victory against Chinese giants”

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Revolving Doors: Paul Hastings completes swift one-two to dominate last week’s City recruitment

Arun Birla

Paul Hastings was the only notable mover in the City lateral market over the past week, with the US firm securing a swift double hire to bolster its finance practice.

The firm announced today (24 August) that infrastructure partner Derwin Jenkinson would be joining the practice from Ashurst. Jenkinson leaves after a seven-year spell at Ashurst, where he advised on loan and capital markets across infrastructure M&A and project finance matters. Prior to Ashurst, Jenkinson cut his teeth as a senior associate in Clifford Chance’s capital markets practice.  Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Paul Hastings completes swift one-two to dominate last week’s City recruitment”

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‘Difficult circumstances’: Irwin Mitchell reports tenth consecutive year of growth albeit Covid-subdued

City of London

After last year’s show-stealing performance when Irwin Mitchell’s profit soared 76% and revenue grew 9%, the firm has reported a more sedate 2019/20 financial year as the coronavirus pandemic continues to take its toll.

The firm on Thursday (20 August) said turnover increased 2.4% to £269.3m from £263m the previous year, with profit before tax growing 11% to £23.7m from £21.4m. Continue reading “‘Difficult circumstances’: Irwin Mitchell reports tenth consecutive year of growth albeit Covid-subdued”

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Deal view: Linklaters rues loss of corporate golden generation but in Covid era inherent strengths remain

Thomas Alan finds resilience at the heart of Linklaters, but without meaningful change the firm risks breathing life into unfavourable clichés.

‘It could and should have been a golden generation,’ laments one former Linklaters corporate partner, now at a US firm. ‘But that generation has been decimated.’ Continue reading “Deal view: Linklaters rues loss of corporate golden generation but in Covid era inherent strengths remain”

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Revolving doors: DLA continues corporate march with trophy hire as Keystone makes Middle East move

DLA Piper made the most notable hire of the past week, announcing the addition of veteran Jonathan Earle to add further strength to its expanding London corporate practice.

Earle, who joined Gibson Dunn & Crutcher after 16 years at Ashurst in 2014, was part of a major push by the LA-based powerhouse into UK M&A that was fronted by Earle’s colleague Charlie Geffen. Continue reading “Revolving doors: DLA continues corporate march with trophy hire as Keystone makes Middle East move”

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Martyr bows out after two-decade reign as NRF chooses new chief executive

The reign of one of global law’s longest-serving leaders will come to an end shortly with Peter Martyr completing his final term for Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) at the end of this year, the firm announced today (17 August).

Replacing Martyr will be global head of disputes Gerry Pecht, meaning the firm will be led by a partner from its legacy Fulbright & Jaworski hub in Texas after almost two decades of leadership out of London. Pecht specialises in commercial litigation involving securities and investigations in the energy sector, and has headed up the practice since 2014.  Continue reading “Martyr bows out after two-decade reign as NRF chooses new chief executive”

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Freshfields refutes partner misconduct in handling alleged rape case as SRA confirms probe 

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Just when Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer probably thought its #MeToo woes were behind it, a fresh spotlight has been shone on a prominent partner over allegations of misconduct in handling an alleged rape case involving UBS and a Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) investigation underway.

The matter came to light on Thursday (13 August) when the The Financial Times reported that influential Freshfields employment partner Caroline Stroud was being investigated by the watchdog for her conduct in dealing with a review of the investment bank’s handling of a rape allegation.  Continue reading “Freshfields refutes partner misconduct in handling alleged rape case as SRA confirms probe “

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Dealwatch: US firms take lead in quartet of Covid-driven transactions as bounceback continues

Briefcase

Another prolific week in the deal world has seen US advisers dominate on an eclectic mix of transactions driven largely – and for different reasons – by the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Advent’s €1bn investment in the UK and German businesses of delivery company Hermes, Bayer’s acquisition of KaNDy Therapeutics, the restructuring of cash forex provider Travelex and Stormlight’s investment in Swansea City FC have all assuaged fears of a market slowdown. Continue reading “Dealwatch: US firms take lead in quartet of Covid-driven transactions as bounceback continues”

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Comment: City law shows remarkable crisis immunity (but managing partners aren’t ready to spread that message)

lawyer makes worried phonecall about brexit

Everybody likes to go along with the crowd, in business as much as life. So as the global economy is battered by the coronavirus fallout and many business sectors are on their knees, it’s inevitable that the legal industry has adopted a subdued tone focusing on the existential challenge it too faces. After all, official figures this week showed that the UK, home to probably still the world’s second largest legal market, saw its sharpest economic contraction since records began in the second quarter of 2020, falling 20.4%, one of the worst downturns in Europe.

The only issue with the profession’s stance is that the emerging facts are establishing this position as entirely unrepresentative of the outlook for major commercial law firms. Legal Business recently highlighted the robust showing in the face of Covid-19 judged from a dozen early results from top-50 UK law firms. The second-wave set of numbers from another group of firms in the same peer group doesn’t just support that picture of remarkable resilience, it materially strengthens it. These results are extraordinary! Continue reading “Comment: City law shows remarkable crisis immunity (but managing partners aren’t ready to spread that message)”

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Revenue growth stalls at Stephenson Harwood as firm remains quiet on profits

Eifion Morris

Stephenson Harwood saw revenue growth grind to a halt over the last financial year, the firm’s latest financial results show, while key profit figures are undisclosed.

Revenues remained at £213m over 2019/20, the figure hit last year after a pacey 12% growth. Meanwhile, the firm did not disclose its profit per equity partner figure, which rose 9% to £727,000 last year after two consecutive years of decline. The firm’s net profit figure – which last year stood at £68.2m – was also witheld.   Continue reading “Revenue growth stalls at Stephenson Harwood as firm remains quiet on profits”

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‘Continue to be bold’: resilient Mishcon ups revenue again as PEP rediscovers momentum

Mishcon de Reya has become the latest firm in the LB100 to resist the economic onslaught of Covid-19 in its financial year end, the firm’s figures show, with revenues up for another year while profits regained momentum.

Turnover increased a healthy 6% from £177.8m to £188.3m over 2019/20, while profit per equity partner was up 5% to £1,050,000. Though the revenue growth is a comparative slowdown on last year’s pacier 10% rise, the rise in profits will be welcome after falling flat in 2018/19, and dropping 9% the year prior to that. Continue reading “‘Continue to be bold’: resilient Mishcon ups revenue again as PEP rediscovers momentum”

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DLA shakes off coronavirus jitters to crack £2bn global revenue amid 7% profit hike 

Big Law giant

DLA Piper has pulled off a fifth consecutive year of profit growth for its International LLP while breaking the £2bn barrier for global turnover and exceeding £1m in profit per equity partner (PEP).

The eye-catching set of results will be a shot in the arm for the firm, even as the coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten international businesses, and builds on a similarly robust showing last year in spite of sustained investment in DLA’s infrastructure. Continue reading “DLA shakes off coronavirus jitters to crack £2bn global revenue amid 7% profit hike “

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Revolving doors: lateral hire season back with gusto as raft of senior moves announced

The first week of August saw the lateral recruitment market resume in earnest, with a bumper spate of partner hires unveiled.

Unsurprisingly the majority of acquisitions were made in corporate, with the deal market showing real signs of improvement . Herbert Smith Freehills led the way in the City with the addition of Kirkland & Ellis partner David D’Souza, a well-known private equity specialist who has regularly advised sponsors such as BC Partners, Blackstone and Permira. Continue reading “Revolving doors: lateral hire season back with gusto as raft of senior moves announced”

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Dealwatch: Sign of the times as elite firms tap into $6.8bn IP deal, beleaguered restaurants buyout and oligarch asset disposal

Briefcase

Difficult as it may be to imagine an upside amid a pandemic, clients have proved surprisingly resourceful in the face of adversity, handing corporate advisers on both sides of the pond opportune mandates in the past week.

CPA Global’s investment in New York-listed analytics business Clarivate was particularly notable, not least because of the $6.8bn enterprise value it gave the company.  Continue reading “Dealwatch: Sign of the times as elite firms tap into $6.8bn IP deal, beleaguered restaurants buyout and oligarch asset disposal”

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‘Only certainty is even more uncertainty’: Addleshaws shows endurance as firm steels itself for year ahead 

John Joyce

Addleshaw Goddard adhered to an increasingly familiar trend over the last financial year, the firm’s latest figures show, with revenues proving resilient in the last months of 2019/20 while partner profits took a minor dent.

Turnover was up 4% to £288m from £275m the previous financial year, when the firm exceeded all expectations as revenue soared 14%. However, profit per equity partner (PEP) endured a modest decline, falling 5% to £690,000 from £727,000 in 2018/19, when the figure jumped by 12%. Over 80% of revenue was generated through energy and utilities, financial services, health, real estate, retail and consumer, and transport.   Continue reading “‘Only certainty is even more uncertainty’: Addleshaws shows endurance as firm steels itself for year ahead “

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‘Year of two halves’: Coronavirus takes gloss off financials for OC as revenue lifts 5% and profit drops

Ray Berg

Osborne Clarke’s latest financial results have proven to be a mixed bag as it recorded a 5% uptick in international revenue to €318m even as profit fell amid a year of investment.

Nevertheless, the revenue uplift from last year’s €304m is a positive showing and stands out as a 63% increase over five years.  Continue reading “‘Year of two halves’: Coronavirus takes gloss off financials for OC as revenue lifts 5% and profit drops”

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Life During Law: Andrew Ballheimer

I’m the son of immigrants and they were intent that I had an education, so I had to become a professional. To be honest, I was only going to practise law for two years and then do something else.

The first thing I ever did as an associate was spend all night perfecting a document, checking every page. Two-months qualified at the signing, I handed over the execution page. I’d misspelt the client’s name. You spend all this time getting it right and everything’s perfect except for the most important word in the document. His bloody name! Continue reading “Life During Law: Andrew Ballheimer”

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‘Future-proofing’: DAC lifts profit and revenue for sixth consecutive year as Pollitt secures second leadership term

David Pollitt

DAC Beachcroft (DACB) has notched its sixth consecutive year of turnover and profit growth, the firm’s latest financial results show, while also announcing that managing partner David Pollitt has secured a second term at the helm following an uncontested leadership election.

Revenue at the firm grew 6% to £258m, up from £243m last year, while profit before tax increased 7% to £56m. Profit per equity partner also grew, up a modest 3% to £590,000. Meanwhile, the firm improved its net cash position to £8m, having put in place ‘significant liquidity retention measures in response to the Covid-19 crisis’. Continue reading “‘Future-proofing’: DAC lifts profit and revenue for sixth consecutive year as Pollitt secures second leadership term”

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Life During Law: Andrew Ballheimer

I’m the son of immigrants and they were intent that I had an education, so I had to become a professional. To be honest, I was only going to practise law for two years and then do something else.

The first thing I ever did as an associate was spend all night perfecting a document, checking every page. Two-months qualified at the signing, I handed over the execution page. I’d misspelt the client’s name. You spend all this time getting it right and everything’s perfect except for the most important word in the document. His bloody name! Continue reading “Life During Law: Andrew Ballheimer”

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‘A fair bit of progress’ – Brodies withstands year-end turbulence to increase revenue and operating profit

Scottish leader Brodies is the latest firm in the LB100 to display its fiscal resilience, growing revenue and operating profit despite a significant Covid-19-induced slowdown during the closing months of 2019/20. 

Revenue at the Scottish independent was up 7% to £82m from £76.9m last year, making it 10 years of consecutive growth at Brodies and a 20% increase over the last two years. Operating profits, meanwhile, underwent a more muted 3% rise to £38.5m while profit per equity partner (PEP) suffered a 4% drop to £680,000 amid headcount increases.  Continue reading “‘A fair bit of progress’ – Brodies withstands year-end turbulence to increase revenue and operating profit”