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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”

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The Client Profile: Hugh Pugsley, HSBC

Hugh Pugsley

‘Before university I spent a year working in India in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, teaching English, maths and personal hygiene,’ Hugh Pugsley, general counsel (GC) for HSBC’s UK banking and insurance businesses, casually slips in at the end of the interview.

Although his days of reading the complete works of Hector Hugh Munro (‘Saki’) to indulge his love of travel books are behind him, he admits: ‘I still love being transported into another world’. Continue reading “The Client Profile: Hugh Pugsley, HSBC”

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The medium is the message – GC strategies for riding the media revolution

abstract waves

Since the advent of the printing press in 1440, when Johannes Gutenberg’s invention for the first time allowed information to be disseminated at scale, mass communication has been an instrumental tool for human progress. The printing press laid the foundations for the plethora of media we see today, but modern media and communications are in the midst of another seismic shift.

As printed materials give way to digital distribution, traditional forms of broadcast media are facing profound upheaval – with the dominance of ‘linear’ television and radio being challenged by new streaming services. Continue reading “The medium is the message – GC strategies for riding the media revolution”

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Global London overview – Sharks in the fish pond

flooded City with American shark swimming in

In last year’s Global London overview, attention focused on three non-UK firms with more than 400 lawyers in the City. Now, the 500-lawyer barrier has been broken by Baker McKenzie and two rivals are not far behind. Many US firms are achieving London headcount and revenue growth that is leaving worldwide performance for 2018 – which in itself has been strong overall – trailing in its wake.

Global London firms now have more than 7,000 lawyers in the City, 61% more than in 2008, the year Lehman collapsed. But the Global London top 50 in 2019 is again polarised by either dramatic expansion or significant decline – few firms have remained static. Continue reading “Global London overview – Sharks in the fish pond”

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Global London Focus: M&A – Hunting for whales

Pranav Trivedi

 

‘Initially the client was concerned, but the investment banks said: “A big tick for Gibson Dunn in public M&A in London.” Five years ago people would have said they don’t know us, now investment banks are pitching for us.’ Charlie Geffen, chair of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s London corporate practice, cites a mandate secured in early 2019 to answer the perennial question of whether US firms will ever directly challenge the Magic Circle in mainstream corporate work.

With his firm leaping up the M&A ranks by deal value – advising on $28.6bn UK deals in 2018, according to Mergermarket figures – the former Ashurst senior partner has some cause to be upbeat. Five years ago, when Geffen had only just walked through the door, the Los Angeles-born institution was nowhere to be seen among the top 20 law firms for substantive corporate work in the region, either in the UK or Europe. Continue reading “Global London Focus: M&A – Hunting for whales”

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Global London: The Big Long – Inside Sidley’s daring attempt to relaunch as a private equity leader

Sidley Austin team

Summer 2015. Four US lawyers meet at Nobu restaurant in London. Sidley Austin management committee chair Larry Barden and Europe head George Petrow have invited two City-based lifers from long-time Chicago rival Kirkland & Ellis: private equity (PE) partners Erik Dahl and Christian Iwasko. On the table is a plan to shake up Sidley’s loss-making London operation by building a PE practice from scratch. Dahl and Iwasko are sceptical, but their patience with Kirkland has been worn thin by its latest round of top-dollar hires.

A few weeks later, Dahl and Iwasko sneak out of a Kirkland partner conference in Chicago to meet Barden and Petrow again. Doubt is giving way to enthusiasm: Sidley is prepared to invest an eye-catching sum and give the duo free reign. Six months later, the deal is signed. Dahl, Iwasko and four other London partners join Sidley in February 2016. Continue reading “Global London: The Big Long – Inside Sidley’s daring attempt to relaunch as a private equity leader”

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Sponsored briefing: Tracing assets – what you need to know

Darren Matthews

K2 Intelligence’s Darren Matthews on what successful asset search and recovery looks like

Understanding the form, value and recoverability of an adversary’s assets is an essential part of legal strategy in any dispute. What may appear relatively simple – locating material assets and determining their value – invariably turns complex when assets are held through multi-level corporate structures layered over multiple jurisdictions. Methods used to hide assets are becoming more sophisticated and asset-recovery experts must keep up to date with the latest asset-searching techniques, practices and technologies. Understanding the form, value and recoverability of an adversary’s assets is an essential part of legal strategy in any dispute. What may appear relatively simple – locating material assets and determining their value – invariably turns complex when assets are held through multi-level corporate structures layered over multiple jurisdictions. Methods used to hide assets are becoming more sophisticated and asset-recovery experts must keep up to date with the latest asset-searching techniques, practices and technologies. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Tracing assets – what you need to know”

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Marching on – A Global London debate exploring the progress and prospects for US leaders

Fatema Orjela and Lorenzo Corte

Marco Cillario, Legal Business: Are US firms in London about to reach a maturity that means we will see less growth and movement of partners?

James Roome, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: If you look at the underlying business that came here from the States – for instance, growth of the high-yield bond market, which went from nil to $50bn in the late nineties – a lot of American firms had very strong business from the US, which gave lots of knock-on opportunities. Do I think the growth of the American finance and corporate base into Europe and the UK will continue? Yes. Most of the bigger US firms will benefit from that. Continue reading “Marching on – A Global London debate exploring the progress and prospects for US leaders”

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The risk report – Reputations tarnished as #MeToo fallout hits the legal profession

tarnished 2019 trophy

Last year’s risk management and professional indemnity report with broker Marsh told a story of progress; firms felt risk culture had significantly improved in the ten years since Lehman Brothers’ collapse. However, risk remains a moving target and there is a feeling recent unpleasant episodes at a number of City law firms means much-touted improvements in culture have yet to include progress in professional ethics.

‘I’m a great believer in the risk team playing a key part in defining a firm’s culture,’ says Walkers’ chief compliance officer Angela Robertson. ‘Fundamentally, risk teams enforce types of appropriate behaviour, whether dealing with clients or third parties. So it being involved in defining culture is no different really. Currently risk teams don’t have a specific remit to do so though.’ Continue reading “The risk report – Reputations tarnished as #MeToo fallout hits the legal profession”

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Watching the watchmen – inside the growing market for legal advisory work

Office meeting

It used to be that law firms were rather more comfortable doling out advice than receiving it, but in an increasingly complex and regulated environment, major law firms can no longer make do bluffing their way through. Given that corporate governance at law firms can often be much less virtuous than the example they preach to their clients, it takes a certain kind of tenacity for the growing band of advisers to the legal industry to influence their clients.

As Iain Miller, regulatory partner at law firm Kingsley Napley, puts it: the professionalisation of risk management over the last five to ten years has been ‘huge’, which has encouraged a fertile breeding ground for advisory firms offering services in the legal sector. Continue reading “Watching the watchmen – inside the growing market for legal advisory work”

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Switzerland – Between a rock and a hard place

Eu rock with Swiss flag in crevice

As the eurozone economy slows down after six years of uninterrupted growth, Switzerland is an anxious spectator. Amid increased concerns among the EU27 over the potential impact of a disorderly Brexit and the halt to quantitative easing from the European Central Bank’s asset-purchasing programme, Europe’s big three are bracing themselves while Switzerland sits in the middle, watching intently.

To the west, France endures its gilets jaunes; to the south, Italy faces a looming debt crisis with its banks. In the north, Germany has just avoided a technical recession and, like many of the other 18 eurozone countries, forecasters suggest that it will be fortunate to see 1% GDP growth this year. ‘What I see in Italy and France is scary, in particular the rise of populism,’ says Manuel Bianchi della Porta, managing partner of BianchiSchwald in Geneva. ‘A lot is going on in the eurozone: most Swiss trade depends upon Germany, France and Italy. But it seems that we are living on a small island unaffected by all the turmoil that is happening around us. It is like the political stability of our country is protecting us and the business community we are serving.’ Continue reading “Switzerland – Between a rock and a hard place”

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Sponsored briefing: The end of Libor in Switzerland

Frédéric Bétrisey

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced on 27 July 2017 it would no longer require that banks that are members of the Libor panel be obliged to communicate a daily rate after 2021.

2021 is perhaps not tomorrow, but it is definitely very soon after tomorrow. Financial institutions should now review their Libor-based contracts and products to quantify their exposure to the discontinuation of such a rate. While the effort is obviously larger for financial institutions, other enterprises, and even retail investors and borrowers, should assess their risk and determine what measures to take. We provide below an overview of the contracts that may be affected and possible remedies. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: The end of Libor in Switzerland”

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The Last Word – Global London perspectives from inside the shark tank

Julian Stait

To mark the launch of our 2019 Global London report, we ask senior management at the leading US firms in London for a progress update

Brexitproof

‘Milbank does not just have stellar transactional practices: a very significant component of the London office are countercyclical businesses such as restructuring and litigation. They are among the strongest performers. At some point the economy may deteriorate, but we have positioned ourselves to thrive in good and bad conditions.’

Julian Stait, London co-managing partner, Milbank Continue reading “The Last Word – Global London perspectives from inside the shark tank”