Two ear-piercing siren blasts ring out across the Canary Wharf HQ of fintech unicorn Revolut.
‘May I have your attention please! Fire has been reported in the building! Please listen for further instructions.’ Continue reading “Applying the brakes”
In a month of significant hires and departures, online money payment company TransferWise has snapped up rival Monzo Bank’s chief legal officer Dean Nash (pictured) as its new general counsel (GC) following the departure of Jenifer Swallow in July.
Nash, who featured in the GC Powerlist 2019, has left the company after nearly four years of rapid growth to become the UK’s most recognisable mobile-only bank. Continue reading “In-house: TransferWise cashes in on competitor’s legal head as mammoth US GC pay packets revealed”
DAC Beachcroft is looking for further opportunities in Europe and South America after doubling the size of its Madrid office by combining with a three-partner insurance boutique.
The firm today (21 January) took on 20-lawyer outfit Asjusa, which focuses on professional liability and insurance in the healthcare sector, led by partners Eduardo Asensi Pallarés and Iñigo Cid-Luna Clares. The third partner joining is Julio Albi. Continue reading “‘We’re taking proximate steps’: DAC doubles up in Madrid with 20-lawyer hire”
Firms got back into the swing of City hiring last week after an early January lull as RPC added DWF’s head of business restructuring, Linklaters hired a banking partner and Sidley Austin recruited to its antitrust and competition practice.
RPC has beefed up its restructuring and insolvency team in London with the hire of DWF’s head of business restructuring Finella Fogarty. Continue reading “Revolving doors: City laterals abound as RPC hires DWF restructuring head and Linklaters recruits White & Case banking partner”
Mishcon de Reya has called it quits in Manhattan after ten years as the firm’s three remaining partners jumped ship for the New York office of King & Wood Mallesons.
Dispute resolution partners Mark Raskin, Robert Whiteman and Vincent Filardo have joined the global disputes practice at KWM along with six senior counsel and one paralegal. Continue reading “Mishcon turns off the lights in New York as partners defect to KWM”
Reed Smith has opened its fifth European office in Brussels, following the hire of five partners to the firm’s corporate group.
The partners all come from different firms, and will be joined by two associates and one counsel. The partners focus on competition/antitrust, with Brussels long being a hub for international firms’ competition work. Continue reading “Late to the party: Reed Smith hires partners from five firms for Brussels launch”
The number of new Queen’s Counsel (QC) has rebounded after a 2018 dip, including a record 22 appointments from ethnic minority backgrounds.
The proportion of female appointments fell, however, two percentage points to 28% of successful candidates, making up 30 of the 114 to take up silk in total. A total of 108 QCs were appointed last year. Continue reading “A record year for ethnic minorities as Clydes, Freshfields, HSF and White & Case partners make 2019 silk round”
Axiom Managed Solutions (AMS) has abandoned efforts to sell to new investors following its split from Axiom, instead rebranding as Factor following further commitments from existing stakeholders.
The legal managed services business was put on the market in early 2019 when the wider Axiom group unveiled plans to pursue an initial public offering (IPO), although that was ultimately abandoned in favour of a sale to Permira. Continue reading “Axiom break-off rebrands after failing to find a buyer as LOD launches second German hub”
Shares in listed law firm Ince Group fell drastically today (15 January) after the company called for an additional £16m in finance to reload its balance sheet following Gordon Dadds’ acquisition of the firm in 2018.
The placing saw shares fall almost 50% to 45p from 89p, before rising slightly to 47p. Ince sought the accelerated book build to ‘continue with its programme of partner recruitment, especially in the overseas offices to bolster and enhance their existing practices.’ Continue reading “Ince stock plummets as firm seeks £16m from shareholders”
The City lateral recruitment market is struggling to return to pre-Christmas activity levels, with only two firms making notable partner hires. Crowell & Moring has revisited Squire Patton Boggs for another partner hire while Addleshaw Goodard has appointed Linklaters’ real estate disputes head as partner.
Crowell & Moring continues to make prominent hires to its London office, most recently recruiting partner Nicola Phillips to its international dispute resolution group. Phillips has experience in asset-based lending, trade finance, insurance, and employment-related disputes. She has also worked on cross-border investigations in Europe and the Middle East as well as complex civil fraud cases. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Crowell & Moring recruits seventh Squire partner in a year as Linklaters loses real estate disputes head”
City blueblood Slaughter and May has increased its salary for associates with 2.5 years post-qualified experience (PQE) or more, after putting newly-qualified (NQ) solicitors in line for a £100,000 pay package last summer.
The move means associates in the 2.5 PQE salary scale and above will now receive an increase of between 2.2% and 8.2%, effective this month. Last year’s pay hike only applied to those with up to 2.5 years PQE. Continue reading “Slaughters ups the ante on associate pay with PQE salary boost”
Dentons is to enter one of the few European jurisdictions missing from its sprawling international network by launching an outpost in Dublin.
Law firms’ strategies in the Middle East and Asia continue to diverge, meanwhile, with Winston & Strawn concluding its five-year spell in Dubai as Cooley confirmed its third office launch in less than a year by opening in Singapore. Continue reading “International roundup: Dentons enters Ireland and Cooley steps into Singapore as Winston leaves the Middle East”
City lateral recruitment regained momentum following a slow Christmas holiday break, with Milbank, Weightmans, and Lewis Silkin all making hires in London.
Milbank hired M&A partner Lisa O’Neill from McDermott Will & Emery in London. O’Neill has experience in corporate and energy transactions with clients including FTSE 250 companies, international and independent oil & gas companies, financial institutions, global investment firms and private equity funds. Continue reading “Revolving doors: City laterals bounce back with Milbank, Weightmans and Lewis Silkin”
After boosting its Asia Pacific turnover by more than 10% last year, Allen & Overy (A&O) has become the latest City giant to receive approval to practise law in China’s Free Trade Zone (FTZ).
The arrangement comes by way of a joint operation with local firm Shanghai Lang Yue Law Firm – called Allen & Overy Lang Yue (FTZ) Joint Operation Office – which received approval from the Shanghai Bureau of Justice, A&O said today (7 January). Continue reading “A&O gains Shanghai approval on the back of double-digit Asia-Pac growth”
Norton Rose Fulbright has promoted 48 lawyers to partner and five to the South African partner-equivalent role of director, increasing its intake on last year’s 46.
Promotions in its City base stayed the same as last year at eight, however, as the firm focused heavily on its American business, which accounted for more than half of the intake. The firm minted 13 lawyers in the US and 14 in Canada. Continue reading “NRF London partner promotions flat at eight in North America-focused round”
Hogan Lovells has increased partnership promotions in the City for the fourth successive year, minting eight in London amid a slightly scaled back round.
The firm announced today (6 January) it has promoted 29 of its lawyer to the partnership in the last round overseen by chief executive Steve Immelt (pictured), who will hand over to Miguel Zaldivar in June following a confirmatory vote by partnership in late December last year. The firm made 30 promotions last year. Continue reading “Hogan Lovells ramps up London partner promotions in 29-strong round”
Starting the New Year with a bang, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) has recruited a 21-strong team of lawyers in Paris, including seven partners.
The hires mark the largest addition to the firm since its transatlantic merger in 2018, with expansion on the continent high on the agenda for the firm’s leadership. Two partners have joined in the Paris offices’ real estate, taxation and financing teams respectively, while one partner was added in public law. Continue reading “Continental growth ‘high on the agenda’: BCLP bolsters Paris outpost with seven-partner splash”
Operating profit at Clifford Chance (CC) UK LLP fell 5% to £260m in the year to 30 April 2019 amid rising pension costs while management at City rival Allen & Overy (A&O) saw a 8% pay rise to £16m, the two firms’ recently published accounts have revealed.
The fall in profits at CC’s LLP – which includes its UK headquarters and eight of its overseas branches – came despite a 4% global revenue increase to £1.693bn as the firm added £70m to its top line. Continue reading “LLP accounts: Pension costs hurt CC profits as A&O leadership sees pay increases”
I’m going to resist the urge to bang on about the year in review, Brexit or even offer a 2010s retrospective. Not much changed in the profession during the decade – apart from the much-documented onslaught of US law firms – and one way or another we will still be facing another Brexit cliff edge next year.
So we turn instead to something that touches the industry where it lives and breathes: partnership. It defines those who hold it, elevating some while corrupting others, shapes a huge global industry and remains the dominant motivational tool for the profession. The second most-read commentary I ever wrote at Legal Business was a piece earlier this year noting that major law firms have broken their social contract by pushing partnership promotions ridiculously late (the most read was a 2016 piece saying Ashurst needed to pull itself together). Continue reading “Comment: 2020 forecast – City giants forced to offer flexible partnership”
I became a lawyer not at all on purpose. At university in the Netherlands, I studied law as a way to fulfill the general studies requirement before moving on to my intended focus of international organizations and politics. But I liked the law and decided to stay with it.
As a junior lawyer, the idea of approaching clients, even to make small talk, was intimidating. It helped me to start thinking of clients just as people. I started building relationships at a personal level first, which made it more comfortable to discuss business and generate work. I used to think that I had to impress the most senior person, but now I encourage my junior colleagues to make contacts among their peers; they will grow with you and become the important decision-makers in due time.
Gender equality issues are very important to me. One thing I would say to women in particular is to make sure your voice is heard. It’s stereotypical, but I struggled with this for years. During meetings, I would “wait my turn” and invariably regret it because someone else would speak up first and make my point. I learned strategies during leadership training, such as how to present myself effectively, and picked up some nice tips, such as agreeing with the partner in advance of a meeting that I would take a certain slot.
I love my work, but the absolute positive in my career is the combination of being a lawyer and being part of my firm. I joined in 2001, based partly on the recommendation of a friend who was already working here. I wasn’t out as an LGBT+ lawyer at the time, and I worried that it might become a problem if, as it happened, I decided to come out later on. Then I learned that there were a number of openly gay partners in our Amsterdam office. That’s honestly the reason I chose my firm.
I have gotten a lot of support from the senior partners in my group. As a counsel, I worked part-time for about five years. By then, my wife and I were sharing the responsibility of taking care of our young children. I had to be very strict about my arrangements with the firm, which wasn’t easy, but I was also very lucky to be working with a partner who really got it. He understood that Mondays were my day off and fully supported me in pushing assignments to Tuesdays, wherever possible.
Like so many women in our profession, I struggled with the decision to leave my comfort zone and take the next step to partnership. I also remember telling my daughter, who by then was six years old, that anything is possible if you want it – that you just need to grab opportunities because it’s not a problem if you fail. It was a real eye-opener to discover that I was not following my own advice!
So here’s my advice, nothing new but very important: dare to take risks.
