Ever-expansive Clyde & Co has deepened its domestic footprint with the launch of an office in Bristol, south west England, and the arrival of three new partners to staff it.
The new office, which opened its doors today (1 May), is Clydes’ tenth in the UK and will be focused on professional and financial disputes in addition to infrastructure work. Continue reading “Clyde & Co launches new UK office in Bristol with three lateral disputes hires”
In a quieter week for City recruitment, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft made a key hire in London while a number of firms expanded their teams internationally.
Cadwalader reinvigorated its finance practice with the hire of partner Samantha Hutchinson from Dentons, after an exodus saw four partners leave its City restructuring practice at the start of this year. Hutchinson specialises in advising lenders on a range of financing products across all fund sectors. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Cadwalader, JHA and Memery Crystal make key City hires as international moves dominate”
Linklaters, Slaughter and May and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher have won key roles as Sainsbury’s agreed to merge with Asda in a landmark £3bn deal which will create Britain’s biggest supermarket chain.
The deal announced today (30 April) will establish one of the largest employers in the country, worth £51bn in revenue, operating around 2,800 stores and controlling 31% of the market, a larger share than current leader Tesco. Continue reading “‘Synergies and cost savings’: Links, Slaughters and Gibson Dunn advise as Sainsbury’s takes over Asda to create supermarket giant”
Simmons & Simmons has promoted four women to partner as part of a reduced round of just nine partner promotions globally, with London promotions also dropping this year.
The nine promotions announced today (30 April) is a dip from last year’s 12, but being 45% female exceeds the firm’s commitment to have women comprise 30% of all managing associate and partner promotions each year. The promotions span a variety of locations and practise areas, although with only four being made up in London, compared to seven last year. Continue reading “Partner promotions: women make up nearly half of reduced Simmons promotion round”
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Morrison & Foerster have taken the lead on T-Mobile’s takeover of fellow US telecoms operator Sprint, billed as an attempt to make the US a hotbed for innovation.
The proposed $146bn combination sees Washington-headquartered T-Mobile enter into an all-stock deal to merge with Sprint. The transaction gives the Kansas-based target an enterprise value of $59bn and paves the way for the companies’ dual ambition to build the world’s best 5G network. Continue reading “MoFo and Wachtell lead on T-Mobile’s $26bn ‘seismic shift’ buyout of Sprint”
EDF Energy, one of the UK’s big six energy suppliers, has nearly halved its UK legal panel and added two new faces as it looks for ‘deeper and broader’ relationships with a smaller number of firms.
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) were added to the new panel of eight firms, which has been cut from the previous panel’s 14. Continue reading “In-house: EDF Energy pulls plug on eight firms in reduced legal roster”
Newly merged Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) has signed a lease on a new City office in what it calls a ‘significant commitment’ to a modern working space.
The announcement today (26 April) will see the combined firm move a stone’s throw from legacy Berwin Leighton Paisner’s (BLP) London HQ at Adelaide House to the 125,000 sq ft Governor’s House office building at 5 Laurence Pountney Hill. Continue reading “Moving on up: BCLP heading for new post-merger London digs”
The lateral-phobic Slaughter and May has returned to the market barely a year after its first London foray with its third-ever partner hire, adding investigations and litigation lawyer Wynne Mok to its Hong Kong office.
Mok joins from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), where she has been a director of enforcement since 2016. Her experience there includes complex litigation, enforcing good governance and shaping regulatory policy. She was previously a disputes resolution partner at Norton Rose Fulbright from 2012. Continue reading “Slaughter and May return to Hong Kong for third-ever lateral hire”
In the same week banking giant Barclays joined the rising tide of law-tech innovation spaces, one of the earlier movers, Allen & Overy, is rewiring its Fuse hub.
The firm announced Wednesday (April 25) the second cohort of companies which will join its tech innovation space in London from May, bringing what Fuse chairman and A&O partner Jonathan Brayne describes as a ‘very different’ focus since the first round in September. Continue reading “Fuse breaker: A&O brings ‘very different’ focus to second tech lab”
As increasing numbers of derivatives players face a scramble to comply with Initial Market (IM) regulations, Linklaters has become the second Magic Circle firm in as many weeks to launch a service promising to take the pain and expense out of overhauling derivatives documents.
Linklaters has today [25 April] unveiled ISDA Create – IM at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) annual general meeting in Miami. The platform has been developed by Linklaters using its own Nakhoda AI data tool and is backed by global trade organisation ISDA. Continue reading “‘A walk in the park’: Linklaters and A&O launch tech solutions to traverse the margin minefield”
City heavyweight Allen & Overy (A&O) is under investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for its conduct in the Weinstein saga, the regulator’s chief executive has admitted to a Parliamentary committee.
The investigation into the firm’s handling of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA), drafted by A&O employment partner Mark Mansell for Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein, came to light today (25 April) as the Women and Equalities committee questioned SRA boss Paul Philip during an evidence session. Continue reading “SRA admits to A&O Weinstein probe as MPs turn up the heat on regulator for ‘cosy’ interview with City giant”
McDermott Will & Emery is darkening DLA Piper’s door once more, with the hiring of another three partners, shortly after bringing in 20 partners from the firm’s US offices.
London-based DLA real estate partners Laurence Rogers, Neville Wright and Tom Calnan are leaving the firm to join McDermott. Rogers specialises in real estate finance, Wright in corporate tax for the finance and real estate sectors, and Calnan in commercial real estate. A DLA spokesperson confirmed the departures but said the firm had no further comment to make. Continue reading “DLA loses three real estate partners to McDermott in wake of 50-lawyer exodus”
Four Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) partners have decamped to Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) – including aviation specialist Rex Rosales – while lateral hires in the City and abroad continue.
The four-partner hire for HSF sees two moves to London and Singapore respectively. WFW’s aviation sector head Rosales will be joined by asset finance group specialist Jahnavi Ramachandran in London, while finance expert Siva Subramaniam and aviation partner Samuel Kolehmainen leave WFW to join HSF’s Singapore office. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Herbert Smith Freehills raids Watson Farley as firms strengthen in the City and abroad”
Banking giant Barclays is joining the trio of law firms which have already introduced forms of legal technology incubators by launching its own space for the rapidly-growing UK legal start-up market, which received about £16m of investment in the 18 months from 2016.
The 100-person law-tech Eagle Lab in London’s Notting Hill is backed by 13 law firms and several other industry players including the Law Society, PwC, start-up community Legal Geek, as well as the University of Liverpool and University College London. Continue reading “Fly like an Eagle: Barclays joins raft of firms with City law-tech incubator launch”
Rosenblatt Solicitors will float on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) to support its growth ambitions and help it attract and retain talent.
The independent City firm, established in 1989, will become the fourth UK law firm to go public next month, following Gateley in 2015, and Gordon Dadds and Keystone Law last year. Continue reading “Rosenblatt takes ‘exciting step’ in UK’s fourth law firm listing”
This year we return to the team format of the GC Powerlist, our flagship annual report chronicling the elite of the UK’s buy-side legal community. This team perspective inevitably takes us closer to state-of-the-legal-industry ruminations than the editions focused on individual excellence.
Glancing at this year’s report, the second team-focused edition after the first in 2015, many long-term shifts in the profession have marched on regardless through the era of New Law and tech-fuelled disruption. Teams at leading companies are still accumulating more resources, skills and infrastructure to expand their empires. General counsel (GCs) at leading bluechips operating heavily in the UK are often fielding teams in the hundreds and have expanded substantially over the last three years, despite more pressure for efficiency. ‘More for less’ is a convenient fiction for GCs, but a ‘lot more work for a moderate increase in budget’ has less of a ring. Continue reading “It’s a team game at the legal elite but the mix of players is changing”
James Miller, RPC’s managing partner, highlights the common theme of diversity in this year’s GC Powerlist
The best teams are founded on diversity. And by diversity I mean diversity of thought, diversity of experience and diversity of leadership, as much as anything else.
If ever there was a time to reflect on the importance of diversity – in all its forms – in the era of #MeToo, #TimesUp and the gender pay gap, that time is now. Irrespective of whether studies show that greater diversity delivers greater performance – they do – ensuring we run balanced teams and organisations that offer equal access and equal opportunity is simply the right thing to do as human beings. Continue reading “Sponsor message – RPC: Diversity on the agenda”
Cornerstone Research supports the world’s leading law firms and corporations in their most complex matters. For more than 25 years, we have provided economic and financial analyses and expert testimony in thousands of disputes, arbitrations and regulatory proceedings.
Clients rely on us for clear and objective assessments. Our experts – both within the firm and externally – include leading academics, authorities on a range of industries and former senior government officials. Continue reading “Sponsor message – Cornerstone Research: A solid foundation for effective and compelling expert testimony”
The role of a general counsel (GC) has developed substantively over the last decade due to increasingly complex regulation, technological advancements and globalisation. GCs now bring more to the table than just their legal expertise and act as strategic legal and business advisers to the chief executive and executive leadership teams. Recruiting and developing the right talent has become harder and even more critical than ever before.
GCs are now viewed as the go-to advisers for chief executives and boards of directors on laws and regulations, as well as public policy, ethics and risk. In addition, GCs now possess broad financial acumen and commercial understanding, leading them to also participate in senior leadership discussions on complex business problems and to provide innovative solutions. The GC has become a principal member of senior management teams and offers advice not just on legal matters but in helping shape discussion and debate on broader business issues. Continue reading “Sponsor message – Fox Rodney Search: Understanding the developing role of the general counsel as a strategic business adviser”
