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More law firm insolvencies expected as funding options tighten for smaller firms

The number of law firm insolvencies is expected to increase after nearly doubling to 39 in 2018, as tightening margins, succession issues and more difficult access to funding put pressure on high street firms.

Statistics from the Insolvency Service show the number of solicitor firm insolvencies was up 70% in 2018, from 23 in 2017. The previous high was 34 in 2014, while as recently as 2010 there were no recorded law firm insolvencies. Continue reading “More law firm insolvencies expected as funding options tighten for smaller firms”

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SDT pushes for lower standard of proof in serious conduct cases but claims won’t lead to ‘easier’ prosecutions

Richard Moorhead

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has announced its intention to move from a criminal to a civil standard of proof but has ruled out the possibility of it leading to ‘easier prosecutions.’

Subject to approval from the Legal Services Board, which should be finalised in the next few weeks, the SDT wants the new rules to come into force on 25 November 2019, to coincide with the date the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) new guidelines come into play. Continue reading “SDT pushes for lower standard of proof in serious conduct cases but claims won’t lead to ‘easier’ prosecutions”

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Comment: ‘This ain’t stewardship’ – delaying partnership until mid-30s is unsustainable

Stressed office workers

Having recently shared a few drinks with one of the most talked-up youngish corporate lawyers in the City, the question came up about mid-way through as to what age they made partner. The answer: 36! And there lies much of what ails major law firms, though older partners continue to float around effecting increasingly unconvincing attitudes of surprise.

Consider a few issues for a moment. The haemorrhaging of female talent at mid-level from private practice. The disengagement of associates under 30 with major law firms. The loss of talented lawyers to US law firms. Client dissatisfaction with lack of partner time. Inter-generational tension in law firms. All of these issues have a common theme: the sustained yet unsustainable practice of major law firms pushing partnership decisions until far too late. And let’s be frank: routinely delaying partnership decisions until lawyers hit their mid-thirties is ludicrous. Continue reading “Comment: ‘This ain’t stewardship’ – delaying partnership until mid-30s is unsustainable”

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Deal watch: Linklaters lands roles on Debenhams administration and Carlyle oil deal

Linklaters has secured a role in the pre-pack administration of Debenhams, in which the struggling department store has been taken over by its lenders.

Meanwhile, Hogan Lovells and Shoosmiths have acted on M Restaurants’ merger with Gaucho, which was brought out of administration in a rescue deal last September, as multiple firms landed roles in The Carlyle Group’s agreement to buy a minority stake in a Madrid-based oil and gas company in a multibillion-dollar deal. Continue reading “Deal watch: Linklaters lands roles on Debenhams administration and Carlyle oil deal”

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Innovation needs champions as Axiom doubts emerge

Alex Novarese

We have at LB Towers something of a reputation for being sceptical of the claims to fresh thinking surrounding much of New Law Land. One exception, though, has been Axiom, the pioneering outfit that pushed lawyering into the mainstream.

Sure, Axiom’s message could be obscured by strangulated attempts to ape Silicon Valley speak, an odd trait given the straight-talking style of founder Mark Harris. But its growth rates and reputation for quality never made you doubt that the outfit was a cut well above most New Law lightweights. Continue reading “Innovation needs champions as Axiom doubts emerge”

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The big 30 – Make ‘em partner or you’ll lose ‘em

Stressed office workers

Having recently shared a few drinks with one of the most talked-up youngish corporate lawyers in the City, the question came up about mid-way through as to what age they made partner. The answer: 36! And there lies much of what ails major law firms, though older partners continue to float around effecting increasingly unconvincing attitudes of surprise.

Consider a few issues for a moment. The haemorrhaging of female talent at mid-level from private practice. The disengagement of associates under 30 with major law firms. The loss of talented lawyers to US law firms. Client dissatisfaction with lack of partner time. Inter-generational tension in law firms. All of these issues have a common theme: the sustained yet unsustainable practice of major law firms pushing partnership decisions until far too late. And let’s be frank: routinely delaying partnership decisions until lawyers hit their mid-thirties is ludicrous. Continue reading “The big 30 – Make ‘em partner or you’ll lose ‘em”

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US firms in London – the new apex predators are here

US-branded shark fin in a City sea

There was never any doubt that 2018 would prove another good year for US law firms in London coming off what has been a great decade for the breed. But it is only when you start to pull together the numbers that you realise how fast the City legal market is shifting in favour of American entrants. Legal Business has a reputation for being bullish on US firms in London. These numbers indicate that we haven’t been bullish enough. There are now more than 7,000 lawyers working in the London offices of the top 50 largest practices in London. Even stripping out the impact of including the legacy Berwin Leighton Paisner’s City practice, that’s an annual increase of 7%, a startling growth rate and one that is actually accelerating even as many expected investment in London to slow in the face of the UK’s looming exit from the EU.

Continue reading “US firms in London – the new apex predators are here”

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The head, the tail, the whole damn thing: UK firms suffer again as Global London sharks circle

Arun Birla

With recent financial results displaying the added bite of US firms in the City, it appears their approach to the lateral recruitment market will continue to be just as aggressive. Paul Hastings continued to signal its M&A ambitions with the hire of Steven Bryan from Hogan Lovells, while Latham & Watkins proved again it is one of the biggest predators of the City elite after hiring Linklaters insurance partner Victoria Sander.

For Paul Hastings, the hire of Bryan is of little surprise. The firm has made no secret of its ambition to strengthen in public M&A and private equity, as seen last spring with the hires of Roger Barron from Linklaters and private equity star Anu Balasubramanian from DLA Piper. The addition of Bryan, meanwhile, sees another highly-rated M&A practitioner leave for a US firm – an area widely considered the last bastion of the institutional City firms. Continue reading “The head, the tail, the whole damn thing: UK firms suffer again as Global London sharks circle”

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Moment of truth: New Law champion Axiom unveils float plans but break up of its business raises doubts

Axiom

Axiom making good on long-trailed plans to float will be a milestone for New Law. Thomas Alan assesses if the trailblazer can live up to its own rhetoric

When Axiom announced in February its intentions to float, it was a seminal moment for New Law, with the pioneering flexible lawyering company established as the most prominent global brand in the sector. Back in 2013 one excited commentator forecast 2018 as the year Axiom would become the world’s largest legal provider (spoiler alert, it still wouldn’t make the Global 100). Continue reading “Moment of truth: New Law champion Axiom unveils float plans but break up of its business raises doubts”

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Apathy and a multimillion-pound shortfall define beleaguered KWM Europe insolvency

King & Wood Mallesons Shattered

Thomas Alan finds reality setting in for creditors and former partners more than two years on

‘My immediate thought was: “Can’t we just move on?” I can’t be bothered with it,’ says one former King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) Europe and Middle East partner when asked for their thoughts on the firm’s latest administration report. Indeed, it is hard not to share some of the sentiment. Two years after the collapse of KWM EUME, the saga continues to limp forward in a fashion considered onerous even by law firm insolvency standards. Continue reading “Apathy and a multimillion-pound shortfall define beleaguered KWM Europe insolvency”

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‘A third way’: Taylor Wessing enters alliance with West Coast leader Wilson Sonsini

Apple

Marco Cillario assesses Taylor Wessing’s alliance with Silicon Valley royalty Wilson Sonsini as RPC forges US insurance partnership

While the issue of securing a meaningful US footprint for many UK-bred firms endures, Taylor Wessing UK managing partner Shane Gleghorn claims his firm has found the way to gain transatlantic coverage without a complicated merger. Continue reading “‘A third way’: Taylor Wessing enters alliance with West Coast leader Wilson Sonsini”

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International Arbitration Centre launches: the City finally gets the world-class disputes space it has been waiting for

International Arbitration Centre

For years, seasoned practitioners have bemoaned the lack of top-notch arbitration facilities in London, casting an envious eye at the polished offerings in rival hubs like Singapore, even as the City has boomed as a global centre for dispute resolution. Now advisers sick of arguing about venues and decamping to hotels for major disputes are about to have their wishes granted with the launch last month of a world-class arbitration centre from Legalease.

Following more than two years of development – including extensive consultation with senior arbitrators to refine its bespoke design – the new International Arbitration Centre (IAC) covers four floors at 190 Fleet Street, right in the heart of London’s legal community. Continue reading “International Arbitration Centre launches: the City finally gets the world-class disputes space it has been waiting for”

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Apollo hamstrung as Freshfields helps Berry complete eleventh-hour bid for UK plastics group

Piers Prichard Jones

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer successfully advised US manufacturing company Berry Global as it completed a late bid for UK-headquartered RPC Group, after private equity house Apollo Global Management cornered itself with a best and final offer.

The £3.43bn Berry bid only slightly surpassed the previous £3.3bn bid from Apollo, but was approved in early March by RPC’s board. Apollo made its final bid for RPC in a no-increase statement, leaving out the necessary caveats to return with an improved offer. Continue reading “Apollo hamstrung as Freshfields helps Berry complete eleventh-hour bid for UK plastics group”

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Dealwatch: Global 100 firms share spoils on flurry of private equity and public M&A mandates

Andy Ryde
  • Slaughter and May is acting on the £1.3bn unsolicited bid for doorstep lender Provident Financial. Corporate head Andy Ryde (pictured) is joined by Paul Mudie in advising the bid from Non-Standard Finance. Provident, meanwhile, has enlisted Clifford Chance corporate partners Lee Coney and Mark Poulton.
  • Eversheds Sutherland fielded a team led by partner Aleen Gulvanessian on Dairy Crest’s £975m sale to Canadian dairy company Saputo. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted for the buyer, with energy and natural resources head Laurie McFadden and corporate partner Stephen Hewes at the helm. Ashurst advised Lazard as buy-side financial adviser.

Continue reading “Dealwatch: Global 100 firms share spoils on flurry of private equity and public M&A mandates”

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Deal View: Goodwin’s City practice goes beyond the clichés with 58% revenue growth

Samantha Lake Coghlan

The cliché says that you have to start somewhere and so Goodwin Procter’s London branch did in 2011 with a solitary partner at a desk with a phone. While it arrived late to the City – fellow Boston outfit Ropes & Gray beat it by a couple of years and has enjoyed a very strong run since – now it is Goodwin’s turn.

City revenue grew 58% in 2018, more than three times the pace of the firm globally, hitting $66.8m in the same year it launched a European life sciences practice and amid a punchy 16% hike in global turnover to $1.2bn. Profit per equity partner saw a 14% spike to $2.46m and revenue per lawyer grew 10% to $1.25m, showing the firm has performed to every metric of success both in the City and in its other offices in Boston, New York and San Francisco. Continue reading “Deal View: Goodwin’s City practice goes beyond the clichés with 58% revenue growth”

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Letter from… Hong Kong: Asia’s most-desired village can be tough on the locals but the mood of confidence is back

Hong Kong illustration

Hong Kong, notes Mayer Brown Asia chair Duncan Abate, is like a village: ‘If you are good, you can do really well, if you are not, everyone knows it.’

A village – it is fair to add – that has had more than its share of reverses in recent years. Much lauded up until the early 2010s as the gateway to China and the effective legal and finance capital for the Asia region, in the second half of the decade it has been dogged by protectionism, cut-throat pricing and an excess of lawyers. Continue reading “Letter from… Hong Kong: Asia’s most-desired village can be tough on the locals but the mood of confidence is back”

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No more firsts – Reflections of the first female counsel to the White House

There can be few legal roles in the US of as much significance and substance as White House counsel. And when Beth Nolan jettisoned film school for law school, she had no idea her eventual career, including serving as White House counsel for President Bill Clinton – the first female to take on the role – would be almost the stuff films are made of.

But the path to what could be termed the ultimate general counsel (GC) role was not an obvious progression for Nolan. Eschewing private practice thanks to an interest in administrative law, she found herself as a junior attorney with the US Department of Justice (DoJ), tasked with working on government ethics. Continue reading “No more firsts – Reflections of the first female counsel to the White House”