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‘Ongoing struggle’: Linklaters shuts down former director going public with concerns over firm culture

Linklaters

Linklaters has been granted an interim injunction against a former director of business development and marketing seeking to raise his concerns over the firm’s ‘current culture’ in ‘interviews for publication’.

In a High Court ruling yesterday (5 February), Mr Justice Warby restrained the firm’s former executive committee member Frank Mellish from sharing information highlighting what the former employee described as ‘the ongoing struggle Linklaters has with women in the workplace’ until a further hearing on Monday (11 February). Continue reading “‘Ongoing struggle’: Linklaters shuts down former director going public with concerns over firm culture”

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Revolving Doors: Weil loses buyout rising star McGonigle to fund as Fried Frank taps Linklaters’ finance team and King & Spalding and Simmons & Simmons make European hires

Samantha McGonigle

The most significant moves are not always to rival law firms as the exit of Weil Gotshal & Manges’ City private equity partner Samantha McGonigle to co-found a growth fund goes to show.

Perpetuating the busy start to the lateral market, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson has added to its City finance practice as King & Spalding and Simmons & Simmons have hired in Europe at the expense of Ashurst and Allen & Overy respectively. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Weil loses buyout rising star McGonigle to fund as Fried Frank taps Linklaters’ finance team and King & Spalding and Simmons & Simmons make European hires”

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Cooley leverages Brexit uncertainty to launch in Brussels

Four years after launching in London, West Coast US firm Cooley is to launch its second European base in Brussels.

The firm announced today (4 February) it has hired experienced competition partner Alexander Israel from leading German independent Noerr to lead the opening of its fourteenth branch worldwide. ‘Expanding Cooley’s presence in the European Union has long been a key component of our growth strategy,’ said chief executive Joe Conroy, adding that opening in the Belgian capital would strengthen the firm’s ability to support clients ‘particularly with the uncertainty of the Brexit environment’. Continue reading “Cooley leverages Brexit uncertainty to launch in Brussels”

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City revenues shoot up 16% after another bumper year for Quinn Emanuel

Disputes heavyweight Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has continued its impressive run of form in London as City revenues for 2018 shot up 16% to £83.6m.

The US-bred firm also saw profits rise 13% to £59.3m. As a result, Quinn’s London profit margin is consistent with the business globally at 70%. Quinn London co-managing partner Richard East told Legal Business: ‘We had a strong year last year after we added lateral partners and launched some key new practice areas, such as contentious tax and construction arbitration. To be up 16% with the same number of people was very pleasing.’  Continue reading “City revenues shoot up 16% after another bumper year for Quinn Emanuel”

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Cyber-attack hacks at DLA profit as strong UK performance lifts revenue 5%

DLA Piper

Growth in DLA Piper’s UK business has pushed the firm’s international LLP top line to £919m, but 2017’s cyber-attack has weighed on profit.

The firm’s international (non-US) revenue for the year to 30 April 2018 grew £42.2m, or 5%, of which £29m related to the UK business. Stripping out the impact of foreign exchange, however, which the previous financial year added an enormous £75.5m to revenue, fee income was up £33.1m, or about 4%. Continue reading “Cyber-attack hacks at DLA profit as strong UK performance lifts revenue 5%”

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Double whammy for Ashurst as London head quits for BCLP and Macfarlanes hires former corporate head

Simon Beddow

Ashurst London managing partner Simon Beddow and former corporate head Robert Ogilvy Watson have quit the firm to join Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) and Macfarlanes respectively.

A partner at the firm for 21 years, Beddow had led the firm’s City base since 2016 and was previously the firm’s corporate co-head. He will become BCLP’s deputy head of corporate. Continue reading “Double whammy for Ashurst as London head quits for BCLP and Macfarlanes hires former corporate head”

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DWF equity partners stump up 60% profit share to fire up planned float

Hope floats

DWF’s equity partners will be paid 40% of what they used to earn in an anticipated stock exchange listing, although the resulting dividend yield on shares is expected to leave their total compensation not ‘a million miles apart’ from current remuneration.

DWF today (31 January) released further details ahead of an anticipated London Stock Exchange main board listing in the first quarter of this year. The firm’s full registration document is expected to be published later today, awaiting approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Continue reading “DWF equity partners stump up 60% profit share to fire up planned float”

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Bird & Bird reports 11% uptick in first-half revenue as LLPs reveal rich pickings for ExComm

David Kerr

Bird & Bird’s nine executive committee members took home €6.4m in the year to April 2018, its LLP accounts showed today (30 January), as the firm announced turnover of €197m in the first half of the current financial year.

The TMT-focused shop saw pre-tax profit up 14% to €119.8m in the 2017/18 financial year, a pacier run than the 9% rise to €103.5m in the previous year. Turnover rose 6% to €380.9m. Continue reading “Bird & Bird reports 11% uptick in first-half revenue as LLPs reveal rich pickings for ExComm”

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Dentons UK top earner reaped benefits of Maclays takeover with 27% pay rise

Dentons

Dentons’ highest paid UK partner took home £1.4m in the year to April 2018 compared to £1.1m the year before, the firm’s first accounts since the merger with Maclay Murray & Spens show.

Covering the firm’s 14 offices in the UK and Middle East, the accounts, published today (30 January), incorporate six months of trading as a combined firm since the tie-up with the Scottish shop went live on 28 October 2017. Continue reading “Dentons UK top earner reaped benefits of Maclays takeover with 27% pay rise”

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LLP accounts show BLP flagging ahead of Bryan Cave merger as profit fell 21%

Therese Pritchard

Legacy Berwin Leighton Paisner was hit by a 21% drop in profit and 3% dip in revenue in its last full financial year prior to its merger with Bryan Cave, LLP accounts reveal.

Last February, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP)’s quest for a US tie-up received a shot in the arm when its transatlantic merger with Bryan Cave was approved by partners, with the deal going live in April 2018. Continue reading “LLP accounts show BLP flagging ahead of Bryan Cave merger as profit fell 21%”

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Deal watch: City and US firms defy tough M&A market with deal duo as Gateley takes the cake on Patisserie Valerie collapse

Patisserie Valerie

Slaughter and May, Sullivan & Cromwell, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang and Ashurst have defied a challenging market to take key roles on a pair of UK mergers as listed Gateley leads on the collapse of Patisserie Valerie.

Last week saw the £3.3bn takeover of UK listed plastics manufacturer RPC Group by funds managed by Apollo Management IX, as well as Primary Health Properties’ £393m acquisition of MedicX Fund Limited in an otherwise sedate UK M&A market. Continue reading “Deal watch: City and US firms defy tough M&A market with deal duo as Gateley takes the cake on Patisserie Valerie collapse”

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City biz services staff under threat again as Taylor Wessing mulls 34 redundancies

Taylor Wessing

The transfer of business services roles into low-cost bases shows no sign of slowdown in 2019, with top 20 UK firm Taylor Wessing announcing it is considering making 13% of its 270-strong City team redundant by the end of 2020.

The move, announced today (25 January), potentially affects 34 London-based staff and comes as the firm looks to create 35 new business services roles in the Liverpool base it launched last October. Continue reading “City biz services staff under threat again as Taylor Wessing mulls 34 redundancies”

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Hogan Lovells partner leaves firm after watching pornography at work

hogan lovells office

A Hogan Lovells partner has agreed to leave the firm after being caught viewing pornographic images on a work computer.

The firm suspended the partner in November last year and launched an investigation after the partner in question was caught by a lawyer from a window in Irwin Mitchell’s offices, which are next to Hogan Lovells’ base on Holborn Viaduct. Continue reading “Hogan Lovells partner leaves firm after watching pornography at work”

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CMS 2017/18 accounts reveal profit rise despite £30m cost of merger

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang

The three way union of CMS, Nabarro and Olswang cost the partnership £28.9m in ‘reorganising, restructuring and integrating’ the merger in the year to April 2018 the combined firm’s first LLP accounts showed this week (24 January).

But operating profit at the post-merger firm rose to £160m, up 30% on the £122.5m combined profits of the three legacy firms. The last accounts published for the firms pre-merger showed profits had fallen at all three in 2016-17. Continue reading “CMS 2017/18 accounts reveal profit rise despite £30m cost of merger”

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MoJ faces parliamentary grilling over IT network meltdown

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has come under fire in parliament after widespread IT disruption wrought chaos on the functioning of the justice system.

The meltdown, which saw several IT systems repeatedly crash over the last few days, prompted difficult questions from Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi to under-secretary of state and conservative MP Lucy Frazer in parliament today. Continue reading “MoJ faces parliamentary grilling over IT network meltdown”

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In-house: Eversheds brokers Dyson sole adviser deal alongside fresh FSCS appointment

Eversheds Sutherland

Eversheds Sutherland has added to its suite of sole adviser relationships with a deal for Dyson’s global privacy mandate.

Eversheds has been a leader on sole adviser mandates since its first in 2006 with Tyco, a relationship which continued after the security provider merged with industrial company Johnson Controls in 2016. The firm’s sole adviser role for Dyson’s global privacy work will run for a three-year term. Continue reading “In-house: Eversheds brokers Dyson sole adviser deal alongside fresh FSCS appointment”

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The GC outlook: more for more and more to come

As a long-term observer of the legal profession, I view the development of GCs with an oxymoronic mix of admiration and cynicism. Admiration because common claims about the dramatic improvements in the calibre and size of the talent pool in the in-house profession are that rarest of beasts: a received wisdom that turns out on inspection to be largely true. Cynicism because those strides are often mixed with unwillingness to tackle the ethical and practical implications that come with increased clout. Continue reading “The GC outlook: more for more and more to come”

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The GC outlook: more for more and more to come

As a long-term observer of the legal profession, I view the development of GCs with an oxymoronic mix of admiration and cynicism. Admiration because common claims about the dramatic improvements in the calibre and size of the talent pool in the in-house profession are that rarest of beasts: a received wisdom that turns out on inspection to be largely true. Cynicism because those strides are often mixed with unwillingness to tackle the ethical and practical implications that come with increased clout. Continue reading “The GC outlook: more for more and more to come”

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Significant matters – Winter 2019

Lloyds primed for new year panel shake-up

Lloyds Banking Group is looking at slimming its UK roster with a number of firms set to jostle for places in 2019. Currently the core panel comprises CMS, Eversheds Sutherland, Herbert Smith Freehils, Hogan Lovells, Addleshaw Goddard and Magic Circle duo Linklaters and Allen & Overy. The bank’s last panel review was in 2016, when Norton Rose Fulbright and DLA Piper lost their places. Group GC Kate Cheetham is expected to lead the process, with a further reduction in size anticipated. Continue reading “Significant matters – Winter 2019”