Page 243 – Legal Business

5 April 2018

Trio of top-30 firms unveil new partners with Taylor Wessing and HFW boosting promotions rounds

LB100 top-30 firms Taylor Wessing, Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) and Dentons have all announced their Spring partner promotions covering the UK and beyond.

For Taylor Wessing, it is an increased UK round compared to last year when just one lawyer was made up to its London partnership. This year, the firm has promoted three lawyers to its partnership, with a further five being made up to senior counsel. Continue reading “Trio of top-30 firms unveil new partners with Taylor Wessing and HFW boosting promotions rounds”

4 April 2018

Back on track: DLA Piper revenue rebounds past $2.6bn as 62 lawyers make partner

DLA Piper has bounced back from last year’s global turnover drop with double-digit percentage growth in net profit and promoted 62 lawyers to its partnership.

The firm’s global revenue rose to $2.63bn in 2017, up 7% on last year when turnover dipped below $2.5bn because of exchange rate fluctuations across its international business, which is divided between an international LLP and a US LLP. Continue reading “Back on track: DLA Piper revenue rebounds past $2.6bn as 62 lawyers make partner”

4 April 2018

Five get promoted: Freshfields makes up handful of partners in London amid slimmed down global round

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has elected five London-based lawyers to its partnership from its dispute resolution and corporate practices as part of a 12-strong promotions round spanning seven offices.

This was the smallest global promotions round by the firm for some years. Last year there was an 18-strong round, of which six were London-based, while five London lawyers were among the 17 promoted in 2016. Continue reading “Five get promoted: Freshfields makes up handful of partners in London amid slimmed down global round”

3 April 2018

Mass exodus as McDermott bags 50-lawyer team from DLA to add ‘$100m’ to revenues

McDermott Will & Emery has brought in a team – including more than 20 partners – from DLA Piper’s US offices, in a string of major moves touted as adding $100m in revenue to its top line.

The Chicago-based firm announced on 29 March that a four-partner real estate finance team, led by DLA’s New York-based global co-chair of finance, Jeffrey Steiner, would be arriving. Continue reading “Mass exodus as McDermott bags 50-lawyer team from DLA to add ‘$100m’ to revenues”

3 April 2018

Guest comment: NDAs and the profession’s cultural problem revealed before Parliament

Evidence before the Women and Equalities Committee last week (28 March) paints a worrying picture of ethics in the legal profession. And by ethics I do not mean some whispy, academic notion of doing the right thing. I mean professional ethics: understanding the Code of Conduct, and the law that governs lawyer behaviour. It was a lesson crystallised at the hearing by that well known purveyor of fey, leftist nostrums, Philip Davies MP. He distilled for the lawyers ranged before him a central question: why is it lawyers are very clear about their obligations to act in their clients best interests but so unclear about their other obligations?

Because though Allen & Overy (A&O) partner Mark Mansell did a decent job of balancing the need to engage with the new-fangled idea that all was not well with non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) without breaching that holy of holies, client confidences, he still dug himself a few holes in front of the assembled MPs. The veteran employment lawyer did so by talking in the abstract about an imagined, 20-year-old agreement that was negotiated over 24-hours-plus, with one 12-hour ‘all-nighter’ session, which prohibited one party from having a copy, which contained clauses designed to inhibit and limit disclosures to the police, medical practitioners, and others. Mansell said such an agreement could be described as unusual, or very unusual, or very, very unusual. But he wasn’t able to tell us, he said, about this agreement. Continue reading “Guest comment: NDAs and the profession’s cultural problem revealed before Parliament”

3 April 2018

‘No reservations’: Linklaters hires divisive director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders

As City firms continue to ramp up their efforts to snare former prosecutors, the UK’s director of public prosecutions (DPP), Alison Saunders, will join Linklaters shortly after she steps down in October.

Saunders, who became the first internal candidate to lead the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) when she replaced Keir Starmer in 2013, will join Linklaters as a partner in its business crime team. Continue reading “‘No reservations’: Linklaters hires divisive director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders”

29 March 2018

Different origins, same excuses: Kirkland, Bakers, Weil Gotshal and Mayer Brown reveal UK gender pay gap stats

US-based firms Kirkland & Ellis, Baker McKenzie, Weil Gotshal & Manges and Mayer Brown have revealed the gulf between male and female pay for their staff in the UK, with all four firms blaming fewer senior women employees for the significant disparity between genders.

As per previous disclosures from UK-based firms, all cite the preponderance of females in secretarial roles or fewer females in senior roles as the root cause of the disparity. But unlike some of the UK firms that have come under pressure for full disclosure lately, none of the firms disclosed gender pay gap for partner pay. Continue reading “Different origins, same excuses: Kirkland, Bakers, Weil Gotshal and Mayer Brown reveal UK gender pay gap stats”

29 March 2018

Preparing for Brexit – alternative provider Axiom launches new AI as deadline looms

Marking the 365-day countdown to Brexit, alternative legal services provider Axiom has today (29 March) launched a purpose-built service to aid companies revise millions of financial services contracts as the pressure to update paperwork increases with the UK’s exit from the EU looming.

Designed specifically for in-house legal teams, the service, named ‘BrexitBridge’, will incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) to help companies update and rewrite their contracts they begin one of the largest contract-renewal endeavours ever undertaken. Continue reading “Preparing for Brexit – alternative provider Axiom launches new AI as deadline looms”

29 March 2018

Comment: Why law firm ‘values’ ring hollow (a call for honesty)

Attending a conference recently for general counsel was a reminder that for all the chasm that remains between clients and law firms, they have both imbibed many of the same corporate fashions. A few years back it was all adding value and performance, now it is ‘values’, ‘authenticity’ and other forms of Diet Coke morality.

Talk to law firms, as with plcs, and without irony, you will hear much about ‘tone from the top’, ‘walking the talk’ and interchangeably using ‘piece’ when you mean ‘issue’. Which would all be fine if there was any indication this was leading to a more ethical or caring profession. It would also help if such talk resonated remotely beyond the upper echelons of the corporate and professional services worlds, and did not provoke huge cynicism in staff and clients. Continue reading “Comment: Why law firm ‘values’ ring hollow (a call for honesty)”

28 March 201823 July 2024

Switzerland – The rough and the smooth

Switzerland has not been in a foreign conflict since 1815 when its neutrality was first established by the Treaty of Paris. But, two centuries on, the peace-loving nation could be set to experience a discreet civil war – this time between its law firms.

Despite a cluster of top domestic players vying for the best work, Swiss lawyers have never experienced the level of international competition felt by France and Germany. The market has perhaps been too cosy, the work too plentiful and the outlook too certain. Yet there is something in the Alpine air that suggests this might change – and when it does, the battle for business will intensify. To be fought entirely by stealth rather than with steel, it may nevertheless reshape the domestic legal landscape. Continue reading “Switzerland – The rough and the smooth”

28 March 2018

Client profile: Sarah Nelson Smith, Yum! Brands

In many ways it was ideal preparation. Before embarking on a legal career, Sarah Nelson Smith took a post-law school gap year working as a holiday rep in the popular Greek retreat of Halkidiki. It was an eye-opening experience, figuratively and literally, welcoming holidaymakers at unholy hours and dealing with bizarre questions and gripes.

‘We had one guy who complained about the sea. There was a beautiful blue-flag beach but he said: “The hotel smells too salty in the morning.” He also complained about too many fish, while once a woman was crying during the welcome speech. When I asked her what was wrong, she said: “I can’t find my boyfriend.” I asked: “When was the last time you saw him?” and she said: “I haven’t seen him since we arrived at the airport, when the police took him.” He’d been smuggling drugs and got arrested. I had to go to the British consulate and fetch him.’ Continue reading “Client profile: Sarah Nelson Smith, Yum! Brands”

28 March 20186 February 2025

Life during law: Richard Youle, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

When I moved to Hull from Sheffield at five my next-door neighbour was a just-born, [Linklaters partner] Alex Woodward – Woodie. A very good friend. Our mums and dads are very good friends. Went to the same schools, drank in the same pubs.

Woodie is super-smart, so he got a training contract at Linklaters, whereas I trained at Stamp Jackson & Procter in Hull. Continue reading “Life during law: Richard Youle, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom”

28 March 201823 July 2024

‘Our values are imperatives’: Pinsents chief on diversity, success and being bolder

Legal Business (LB): How do you create a clearer picture of what Pinsents is doing on diversity?

Richard Foley (RF): You’ve got to be consistent in highlighting it as a priority. We’re clear about the programmes we have and we’re vocal about successes. We’ve just been ranked second of all UK corporates in this year’s Stonewall index for the second year running. Continue reading “‘Our values are imperatives’: Pinsents chief on diversity, success and being bolder”

28 March 201823 July 2024

Welcome to the hurricane – Latam GCs struggle with corruption clampdown

It has been a turbulent few years for many of those in the upper echelons of Brazilian politics and business. Around the world, headlines have been filled with salacious tales of corruption, perhaps most notably the bribery and kickback scandal emanating from state-backed oil giant Petrobras, embroiling many high-profile individuals and entities across the region.

Anti-corruption legislation and regulation enacted in the past five years – the so-called 2014 Clean Company Act, fully implemented in 2015 amid public unrest by the soon-to-be-impeached President Rousseff – has enabled Brazil to usher in a new era of compliance, the efficacy of which has left many in the business community reeling. The judge-led ‘Lava Jato’ (‘Carwash’) investigation, started in 2014, is perhaps the most recognisable herald of this new era. Continue reading “Welcome to the hurricane – Latam GCs struggle with corruption clampdown”

28 March 201823 July 2024

An ill wind… The LB100 leadership debate

Alex Novarese, Legal Business: How is the market generally?

Lee Ranson, Eversheds Sutherland: Most of the managing partners around this table will say it was a better 2017 than expected. We had some of our highest numbers against a budget where we were very, very wary with Brexit and uncertainty. Very strange. We are going into a new budget now and management is more cautious than the practitioners. Continue reading “An ill wind… The LB100 leadership debate”

28 March 201823 July 2024

Striking out… or how to lose a client in ten minutes

A 23-year-old became the most sought-after baseball player last year when he announced he would leave Japan to play in the US. Shohei Ohtani was already a phenomenon. Able to pitch and hit – a skillset as rare as hens’ teeth in the game and infinitely more prized – league rules limiting his initial pay guaranteed whichever team landed him an absolute bargain.

The intrigue intensified when Ohtani’s agent sent all 30 Major League teams a list of questions he wanted answered in English and Japanese, from which just seven were asked to deliver a two-hour presentation. At the end, Ohtani made the surprise decision to sign with the Los Angeles Angels. Continue reading “Striking out… or how to lose a client in ten minutes”

28 March 2018

Letter from… Latin America: Blood vs bureaucracy – market forces weigh on Latam counsel

‘In the blacksmith’s house, the knives are made of wood’ – a common saying in Central America, which encapsulates an enduring truth across legal markets in the region: for all the formal education, technical nous and practical experience that resides with their partners, firms often fail to apply the same focus they afford their clients to their own organisation.

The official reasons for this are as varied as they are hollow – volume of work, pace of development or the classic ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach. But with an eye to the Latin American market, organisational structure – particularly the prevalence of the family firm – is a far more pertinent consideration than given credit. Continue reading “Letter from… Latin America: Blood vs bureaucracy – market forces weigh on Latam counsel”

28 March 2018

The golden age of law firm leadership has passed… what now?

I used to say three things when asked for a view on the quality of leadership in the profession. Firstly, that it was pretty good (certainly better than commonly supposed). Secondly, the standard has generally improved (since the early 2000s). And, thirdly, the notion that law lags far behind most industries in management is nonsense (poor leadership being rife).

It was only when recently asked this by a new reporter – an experienced business correspondent but new to the profession – I realised that I could only now stand by the latter contention. After all, there is still much to be said for the disciplines of the owner-manager structure, even amid New Law disruption (and perhaps more than ever in an age that has revived the fashion for the cash-burn phase). But as someone who has met hundreds of managing and senior partners, my view is that this is a long way from the golden age of law firm leadership. Standards of operational polish have continued to improve – there is a reason that major law firms so rarely fail in the UK. That matters, but it is only part of the equation in an industry facing structural issues. Continue reading “The golden age of law firm leadership has passed… what now?”

28 March 2018

No-one cares about those corporate values

28 March 2018

Brexit looms yet City law tilts further towards US leaders

Striking numbers abound in this year’s Global London table, if you are into that kind of thing. The three pace-setting US brands in London – Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis and White & Case – are all generating in the $300m region in the Square Mile, last year saw the first $10m lateral and my back-of-the-envelope scribbling indicates that the top 50 US firms are comfortably pulling in over $5bn in the UK.

The market is increasingly now defined by this trio, predictably so in the case of Latham, though City lawyers are still trying to get their heads around the idea of Kirkland and White & Case as mounting a frontal challenge. A few years ago, I’d have been equally sceptical, particularly in the latter’s case, but if there is a glaring hole in the game plan of these two outfits, they are hiding it well. With all three making ground in mainstream transactional work through 2017 and securing significant hires – the idea that certain kinds of M&A will remain the preserve of City advisers over the next three years looks fanciful.

Continue reading “Brexit looms yet City law tilts further towards US leaders”