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Revolving Doors: DAC Beachcroft hires from Kirkland in the City while Morgan Lewis leads international team push

There was no love lost between firms in the lateral market last week, with DAC Beachcroft, Withers and Reed Smith being the primary movers in the City while Morgan Lewis led a trio of firms looking further afield to the Middle East and Asia Pacific to expand their international benches.

In the most significant City move of the week, DAC Beachcroft secured the hire of Chris Wall to head up its banking team. A rare partner departure for Kirkland in London, Wall will now be situated in London and Bristol for DAC Beachcroft, heading its banking team as well as leading members from its real estate finance and corporate practices. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: DAC Beachcroft hires from Kirkland in the City while Morgan Lewis leads international team push”

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King & Spalding posts stronger year globally with UK revenue up 12%

US outfit King & Spalding notched a 12% growth in its UK business for 2018, with London revenue rising to $48.3m, up from $43.1m last year.

Meanwhile, firmwide revenues rose 9% to $1.26bn from $1.14bn in 2017, while firmwide profit per equity partner rose 9% to $2.85m. The results in London in particular mark a stronger performance for the firm, after only managing to inch revenue forward 1% last year from $42.6m to $43.1m. Continue reading “King & Spalding posts stronger year globally with UK revenue up 12%”

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Linklaters ends culture row as wannabe whistleblower agrees to destroy confidential documents

Linklaters

Former Linklaters executive committee member Frank Mellish has agreed that he will not disclose information raising concerns over the firm’s culture after his former employer obtained an injunction against him.

Mr Justice Warby said in a judgment in the High Court today (18 February) that the firm’s former director of business development and marketing had signed an agreement with the firm to destroy copies of various ‘confidential documents’ he originally intended to share with the media, settling the dispute. Continue reading “Linklaters ends culture row as wannabe whistleblower agrees to destroy confidential documents”

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Taylor Wessing to enter alliance with West Coast leader Wilson Sonsini

Palo Alto, California

Taylor Wessing is entering into an alliance with Silicon Valley firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati.

The UK top 20 firm confirmed to Legal Business today (18 February) that its global partnership has approved proposals for the two firms to co-operate on transactional work in tech and life sciences. It will see its lawyers work together with the Palo Alto-bred firm on matters including transactions with a US and European element. Continue reading “Taylor Wessing to enter alliance with West Coast leader Wilson Sonsini”

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Goodwin London revenue surges 60% as European hiring spree pays off

City of London

Goodwin Procter’s City arm grew at more than three times the pace of the firm globally in 2018, hitting $66.8m in the year in which the firm launched a European life sciences practice.

The eye-catching 58% growth in London from $42.3m came as Goodwin’s global turnover rose 16% to $1.2bn, profit per equity partner was up by 14% to $2.46m and revenue per lawyer 10% to $1.25m. Continue reading “Goodwin London revenue surges 60% as European hiring spree pays off”

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Deal watch: Latham joins Freshfields and A&O on €5.7bn European buyout as Eversheds acts on €590m UK takeover

Frankfurt

Continental Europe provided rich pickings to the global legal elite this week, as Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman agreed to one of the largest ever takeovers of a German listed company by a private equity group.

It was a busy week for the UK market too, as Eversheds Sutherland joined Allen & Overy (A&O) on the €590m takeover of a British chemical business by a New York-listed company. Continue reading “Deal watch: Latham joins Freshfields and A&O on €5.7bn European buyout as Eversheds acts on €590m UK takeover”

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‘Not adequately protected’: Junior lawyers demand SRA response on concerns over toxic working conditions

Stressed lawyer illustration

Junior lawyers have penned a letter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) demanding clarification on the protection available to junior lawyers who are subject to ‘toxic’ work environments.

The letter, published yesterday (13 February) by the Law Society’s Junior Lawyers Division (JLD), cited concerns around rulings from the High Court and Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal that struck off junior solicitors who were subsequently found to be working under difficult conditions. Continue reading “‘Not adequately protected’: Junior lawyers demand SRA response on concerns over toxic working conditions”

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‘Another fantastic year’: Cooley City revenue surges 16% as global top line hits $1.23bn

starry sky over the City

Cooley’s London branch has recorded another year of double-digit revenue growth as its top line grew 16% to $66.7m, four years after its launch.

For the second year in a row, the City office outpaced the Palo Alto-bred firm’s global revenue growth, as the latter rose 14% from $1.07bn to $1.23bn. Global profit per equity partner also grew 14% to $2.4m, while revenue per lawyer was up 8% to $1.3m. Continue reading “‘Another fantastic year’: Cooley City revenue surges 16% as global top line hits $1.23bn”

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The future of law will need long-term investment

Simon Levine

A little over five years ago Legal Business produced a cover feature dubbed ‘How to improve a law firm in 17 easy steps’. The piece – intended as a series of practical proposals to improve the working of law firms – has aged as well as anything printed in these pages.

And while point one – on overhauling lockstep partnerships for the age of global law – has been borne out, it is the second proposal, to phase out full profit distribution models, that is more pressing to the profession. Problems with lockstep are a peculiar challenge for London’s elite. In contrast, the historic model that has prevailed in legal partnerships of distributing the near-entirety of profits to partners annually speaks to an entire industry in danger of tipping itself over a cliff. Continue reading “The future of law will need long-term investment”

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It’ll take more than a float to make DWF the new DLA

Hope floats

Regular readers will have to forgive two columns in one issue on capitalising law firms but the day I write this piece DWF has finally set out its stall for that much-touted public float. As can be gleaned from last autumn’s cover feature on law firm IPOs, there is a considerable scepticism regarding the rhetoric surrounding DWF’s planned float, which, if it goes ahead, would be on the main market.

Despite initial talk of £1bn valuations, even the more modest £400m-£600m range some were circulating is seen as a huge stretch by a number of the advisers that have worked in this area. Continue reading “It’ll take more than a float to make DWF the new DLA”

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Beyond barbarian: Kirkland signs PE’s most wanted

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

If the news in late 2017 that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer private equity veteran David Higgins was joining Kirkland & Ellis was an insult to his Magic Circle firm, the announcement barely into 2019 that Kirkland was following up with his colleague Adrian Maguire looks like grievous injury.

The record-breaking transfer of Higgins was a symbolic reverse and a significant demonstration of Kirkland’s determination to push into mainstream sponsor work in Europe. Yet it was not entirely unexpected – there had been indications that Higgins was becoming disenchanted due to issues with Freshfields’ finance practice and a lack of a more meaningful leadership role. Where he went was more surprising than the matter of his departure. Continue reading “Beyond barbarian: Kirkland signs PE’s most wanted”

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From pavements to sidewalks: PE star Mahon’s move to Simpson Thacher melts CC hearts to stone

Amy Mahon

The success of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett where others have failed in luring Clifford Chance (CC)’s Amy Mahon to the other side has dealt a blow to CC’s corporate practice and other US firms vying to hire her.

Mahon – who in Legal Business last year told of her long-standing grievance with popstar Adele after a row over a nanny – told CC words to the effect of ‘that’s it, I quit, I’m moving on’ and surfaced at Simpson Thacher in January. Continue reading “From pavements to sidewalks: PE star Mahon’s move to Simpson Thacher melts CC hearts to stone”

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Significant hires

Johanna Walsh
  • In its most significant hire since David Higgins’ move to Kirkland & Ellis in 2017, the US leader tapped Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer again by acquiring another of its private equity veterans, Adrian Maguire. The move for Kirkland further strengthens the firm’s ambitions to bulk up its European M&A practice, while for Freshfields the departure raises further concerns over its ability to retain top City talent (see comment).
  • Kirkland & Ellis also expanded in the City through the hire of tax partner David Irvine from US rival Weil, Gotshal & Manges. With particular experience of tax issues on a range of financing and restructuring transactions, Irvine now rejoins former Weil Gotshal partners Jonathan Kandel, Ian Ferreira and Frixos Hatjantonas.
    Continue reading “Significant hires”
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Defying gravity – Inside the improbable rise of Travers and Macfarlanes

Sebastian Prichard Jones

‘If you look at Wall Street, this model is replicated again and again. There is no reason it shouldn’t work in the UK.’ David Patient, now seven months into his second term as Travers Smith’s managing partner, responds philosophically to this Legal Business comment on the performance of his firm and Macfarlanes: ‘If two firms with once-derided models can so comprehensively outpace the wider industry, then even more of the profession’s battered received wisdom should be sceptically revisited.’

Criticism of Travers and Macfarlanes has largely focused on them being old-school, City-centric law firms, barring one tiny European outpost apiece. Yet the pair continue to defy expectations post-Lehman. For Travers, 2017/18 was its ninth consecutive year of growth, yielding an 18% uptick in turnover to £146.9m and a 24% surge in profit per equity partner (PEP) to £1.2m. Meanwhile, Macfarlanes’ reputation for striking profitability has yet to desert it in eight years of sustained revenue and PEP growth (marred only by a shaky 2015/16), with the firm upping revenue by 20% to £201.6m in the last financial year and posting an enviable 27% increase in PEP to £1.74m. Continue reading “Defying gravity – Inside the improbable rise of Travers and Macfarlanes”

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New Law meets Big Four – Has Deloitte got the conviction to match its free-thinking legal pitch?

Piet Hein Meeter

Thomas Alan asks if Deloitte can find a new angle on legal services

The often cited but seldom-seen legal arrival of the Big Four has long passed into a professional joke, though renewed investment from the major accountancy groups in the last three years has given the debate fresh urgency. But, truly, something must have changed in the wind, as even that traditional hold-out, Deloitte, has signalled its intention to build a significant law presence. Continue reading “New Law meets Big Four – Has Deloitte got the conviction to match its free-thinking legal pitch?”

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Blockchain: Piecing it together

The proliferation of blockchain technology has led many sectors to re-examine traditional ways of doing business, even if the platform remains shrouded in the fog of confusion and hype. Nowhere is the potential more apparent, or the sector more traditional, than in the negotiation, creation and execution of contracts. If the blockchain evangelists are to be believed, the manner in which parties contract will be changing radically in the not-too-distant future. But while a number of high-profile success stories illustrate the potential of the technology, it is clear that there is a long way to go if it is to ever live up to the rhetoric.

To understand blockchain and the value that it may bring to business, think of how an ordinary business transaction works: there is an agreement and exchange of goods or services between parties. Each party will have their own ledger, which records the transaction. But because the ledgers are held independently, there is scope for discrepancy between them – be it through error, disagreement or fraud. Traditionally, this was mitigated by introducing a third party to the transaction – usually a bank. Continue reading “Blockchain: Piecing it together”

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The Women in Law debate: The challenge of you

Sabine Chalmers and Georgina Stanley on the 2019 Women in Law debate panel

Building on last year’s cover feature on the City’s star female deal counsel, Legal Business teamed up with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for a reception celebrating the strides made… and steps still to be taken. The 80 senior lawyers across in-house and private practice that gathered at The Ned in late November heard from a panel of general counsel (GCs) and partners talking frankly about careers, life and changing aspirations.

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Natasha Good, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: I was going to ask our panellists to start by telling us about the challenges they have faced on their career journeys. Continue reading “The Women in Law debate: The challenge of you”

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Offshore leaders’ year in review: Under pressure

Donald Trump is still in office, Brexit is still about to happen, but the global economy in 2018 provided few of the seismic shocks that have reverberated offshore in recent years. Uncertainty remains a continuous theme, although there were none of the revelations like the Panama Papers of 2016 and the Paradise Papers in 2017, both of which generated big headlines but ultimately little impact.

The media attention has been underpinned by what Ingrid Pierce, global managing partner of Walkers, calls ‘a deliberate unwillingness to understand the benefits of international financial centres to the global economy’. Offshore reputation remains a concern for Michael O’Connell, Appleby’s group managing partner. ‘Considering the escalating media, political and regulatory scrutiny that the industry is under, combined with the pressures of an uncertain economic environment, there is a continued need to focus on perception and reputation,’ he says. ‘Any large mistakes are likely to be blown out of proportion in the current climate.’ Continue reading “Offshore leaders’ year in review: Under pressure”