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Back to the drawing board

crayons

You wouldn’t mistake a lawyer for a designer. One is usually armed with a pen and a rulebook, the other with a Mac and a black turtleneck. Right? Wrong.

Design concepts have been around in business for decades. Global design consultancy IDEO, famous for creating the iconic first Apple mouse, is often credited as being the first to reposition design from a ‘beautiful wrapper’ around a previously developed concept, to a system for creating ideas that can be applied not just to processes, but systems and even organisations. Continue reading “Back to the drawing board”

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Waiting for Carney – hard times and hard choices for restructuring counsel

Monarch Airlines

‘Restructuring types will tell you the market’s just about to take off. It’s all going to hell in a handcart – catastrophe just around the corner,’ says Peter Baldwin, partner and co-head of Ropes & Gray’s special situations practice. Baldwin’s comments, of course, carry more than a hint of irony as hardened insolvency practitioners have been confidently – and wrongly – predicting an explosion of demand for their services since the banking crisis, only to be frustrated by the New Normal of permanently low interest rates.

But while restructuring counsel have cut increasingly forlorn figures in recent years, like Beckett characters forever hoping for the arrival of their Godot – or at least a decent rate rise from Mark Carney – nearly ten years on from the global financial crisis, they wait still. Continue reading “Waiting for Carney – hard times and hard choices for restructuring counsel”

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A dramatic break with lockstep for Freshfields but will it be enough to galvanise the City giant?

Nathalie Tidman assesses the Magic Circle firm’s high-stakes partnership shake-up

‘Freshfields has overhauled its partnership for two reasons – to mollify restive partners in leveraged finance and private equity – and to make it moderately easier to recruit in the US,’ notes one former partner. ‘It’s insufficient for both of these purposes.’ Continue reading “A dramatic break with lockstep for Freshfields but will it be enough to galvanise the City giant?”

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Mid-pack pacesetters go early with half-year financials as performance matches expectations

Two of this year’s best-performing mid-pack firms in the Legal Business 100 (LB100), Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) and Fieldfisher, have continued their run of impressive form with their half-year 2017/18 results.

After quietly establishing itself as one of the strongest firms in the last financial year, WFW recorded a 13% jump in its 2017/18 half-year revenues. Turnover for the first six months of the financial year to 31 October grew to £76.1m, up from £67.6m the previous year. WFW co-managing partner Chris Lowe argued that the strong result was ‘clear evidence of the success of our industry sector-focused model despite a challenging macro-economic environment’. Continue reading “Mid-pack pacesetters go early with half-year financials as performance matches expectations”

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DLA Piper chief Picón joins Latham in shock move as Ropes names first female chair

In a move that set tongues wagging on both sides of the pond, DLA Piper senior partner and global co-chair Juan Picón is to depart for Latham & Watkins, while Ropes & Gray has selected its first-ever female chair to replace the long-serving Bradford Malt.

Picón’s move to the highest-grossing firm in the world from the one that used to hold that position was fuelled by his desire to spend more time in his native Spain. As such, Picón will take over the role of Latham’s managing partner in the country following the retirement of predecessor José Luis Blanco. He joins at the end of the year from DLA’s Madrid office, bringing corporate partners Ignacio Gómez-Sancha and José Antonio Sánchez-Dafos with him. Continue reading “DLA Piper chief Picón joins Latham in shock move as Ropes names first female chair”

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Moves of the month

  • As the advance of US players in London continues, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton hired disputes partner James Norris-Jones (pictured) from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) to its office in the capital. Norris-Jones, who was made a partner at HSF in 2012, has a broad practice that encompasses High Court litigation as well as arbitration. His arrival will boost Cleary’s already well-established London disputes team, comprising partners Sunil Gadhia, Jonathan Kelly, Christopher Moore, David Sabel and Romano Subiotto QC.

    • Continue reading “Moves of the month”

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Education, education, education – the struggle to find quality GC training

graduating students

Speaking at the Westminster Legal Policy Forum recently, renowned industry futurologist Richard Susskind accused the UK’s law schools of being stuck in the 1970s, preparing graduates to undertake work that will become increasingly uncommon while failing to train aspiring solicitors in the new technologies that will replace much of the work lawyers now do.

He has a point. Dutch start-up Clocktimizer recently compiled a list of legal tech courses available in English – of the 37 courses currently being offered, just four are taught in the UK (one of which, the Legal Geek Hackathon, is delivered extramurally). Continue reading “Education, education, education – the struggle to find quality GC training”

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Essex Court forced to clarify position after local Bar outcry over its Singapore play

Allied branch will act independently to chambers

Essex Court Chambers strengthened its Singapore ties in November by bringing in four advocates to become overseas members, but was later asked by Singapore’s Ministry of Law to explain itself after initial media reports implied the set had formally opened a Singapore law branch. Continue reading “Essex Court forced to clarify position after local Bar outcry over its Singapore play”

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Locke Lord fined, Clydes ex-partner suspended, while Appleby hit by data breach

In a tough period for international firms at the hands of legal regulators, US firm Locke Lord received the largest-ever fine handed down by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) in November.

The £500,000 penalty handed to Locke Lord came after one of its former UK lawyers engaged in ‘dubious financial arrangements’ with a client’s bank account. The lawyer in question, Jonathan Denton, left the firm in October 2015. Continue reading “Locke Lord fined, Clydes ex-partner suspended, while Appleby hit by data breach”

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Clifford Chance partner Panayides to face SDT over Excalibur involvement

In another twist in the Excalibur professional negligence saga and a clear sign of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) clamping down on lawyers at the City’s top firms, a case management hearing over Clifford Chance (CC) disputes partner Alex Panayides (pictured) took place at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal at the end of November following an investigation by the SRA.

The prosecution relates to Panayides’ involvement in the notorious Excalibur litigation, in which CC represented Excalibur Ventures in an unsuccessful $1.6bn Kurdistan oil deal damages claim against Gulf Keystone Petroleum and Texas Keystone in 2013. Continue reading “Clifford Chance partner Panayides to face SDT over Excalibur involvement”

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Ditching lockstep – better too late than never?

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

‘Lockstep in its current form has to go. It’s just not working.’
Legal Business, June 2015

‘The current incarnation of lockstep is an overly restrictive model that was a child of its time…. The failure to substantively adapt the model… has increasingly threatened to shatter a system that still delivers considerable benefits.’
Legal Business, October 2013

*** Continue reading “Ditching lockstep – better too late than never?”

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Laying the foundations – lawyers scramble as demand for African infra booms

city railway illustration

As the world’s largest continent, Africa covers 20% of global land area and 16% of the global population – currently 1.27 billion people, according to the latest United Nations estimates. By 2050, the addition of a further 1.3 billion Africans will be greater than the population growth in the rest of the world combined, pushing the continent’s total numbers above 2.6 billion citizens. In what is termed the biggest human transformation of our age, that figure is projected to reach four billion by the end of the century.

Accordingly, the infrastructure challenge is immense and some law firms are more alert than others to the long-term growth opportunities. Those with a short-term perspective see only problems: weak commodity prices, underdeveloped legal systems, corruption, currency issues and unstable or unreliable political regimes. They also focus on Africa’s still-modest aggregate GDP of $2.19trn (2016) – less than France – and compared with $1.6trn (2010), a slight decline in percentage terms over six years from 3% to 2.9% of the global total. Continue reading “Laying the foundations – lawyers scramble as demand for African infra booms”

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Keystone becomes second UK law firm to float in 2017 while Gordon Dadds goes shopping

London Stock Exchange Finance

Recently listed Gordon Dadds acquires tax advisory business CW Energy

November saw New Law player Keystone Law become the third UK law firm to float on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), following the trail blazed by Gateley two years ago and Gordon Dadds earlier this year. The mid-market challenger firm, which was granted an alternative business structure (ABS) licence in 2013, saw shares priced at 160p and raised £15m from its initial public offering (IPO). It will be known as Keystone Law Group plc. Continue reading “Keystone becomes second UK law firm to float in 2017 while Gordon Dadds goes shopping”

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‘It’s no different to being a deal lawyer’ – Jacobs reflects on a year at Linklaters’ helm

Last October, Linklaters’ Charlie Jacobs took over as senior partner amid high hopes that the rainmaker would bring flair and dynamism to leadership at a City giant that looked in danger of losing its way. One year on, Legal Business sat down with Jacobs to discuss progress made.

On taking the senior partner role:

‘When I stood for senior partner, I had a lot of questions: “Why are you doing this? Why don’t you wait a few years?” I wanted to set the tone. There is a lot going on in our industry and we could do with someone dynamic and at a young age. Continue reading “‘It’s no different to being a deal lawyer’ – Jacobs reflects on a year at Linklaters’ helm”

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Bird & Bird eyes outbound China work as it seals co-operation deal with local leader AllBright

After 26 consecutive years of revenue increases Bird & Bird, which has grown its top line by 162% over the last decade – largely through international expansion – has moved its Asia ambitions further forward by teaming up with noted Chinese firm AllBright Law Offices.

Although the deal is no more than a non-exclusive co-operation agreement, it will see AllBright gain a base in London. The firm will open its operation within Bird & Bird’s Fetter Lane headquarters next year, staffed in the medium term by a permanent representative. Continue reading “Bird & Bird eyes outbound China work as it seals co-operation deal with local leader AllBright”

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Rousing the bear – Russian counsel force to hunt in new places

bear on russian flag illustration

Russia’s propensity for volatility is infamous. Since its revolution 100 years ago, it has lived through events that the Soviet Union’s founders would never have imagined. Today, amid heightened geopolitical tensions, it continues to face huge uncertainty. But its law firms are adamant that it will continue to provide solid revenues.

‘Reports of Russia’s decline are much exaggerated and most of the issues with the West are not business-driven,’ argues Dimitry Afanasiev, chair and co-founder of Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners (EPAP). ‘When oil prices head north of $60 and the cycle in hard assets turns, we will remain strategically-placed to capitalise on the opportunities.’ Continue reading “Rousing the bear – Russian counsel force to hunt in new places”

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Bristows points to Brexit as TMT specialist launches first-ever international office in Brussels

The impact of Britain’s exit from the EU on the international strategy of City firms is still largely obscure – those announcing Dublin launches since the referendum have sought to play down the role of Brexit in their decision.

But Bristowsʼ joint managing partner Marek Petecki is clear: the rationale for launching the firm’s first international office in its 180-year history ‘is about addressing the challenges of Brexit’. Continue reading “Bristows points to Brexit as TMT specialist launches first-ever international office in Brussels”

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Latham, Ropes and Travers get physical as US buyout house takes control of PureGym in the UK

Leonard Green acquires gym chain for £600m

2017 has continued to provide rich pickings for firms with marquee private equity practices on either side of the Atlantic, with Latham & Watkins, Ropes & Gray and Travers Smith leading as US private equity house Leonard Green & Partners announced its £600m acquisition of PureGym from buyout firm CCMP Capital Advisors in November. Continue reading “Latham, Ropes and Travers get physical as US buyout house takes control of PureGym in the UK”

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Dealwatch: 2017 closes out with slew of energy, tech and transport deals

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
    • Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May advised UK’s ‘big six’ energy providers Npower and SSE on the merger between their domestic retail operations. Freshfields corporate partners Simon Marchant, Julian Pritchard and Andrew Craig advised SSE, along with competition partners Deirdre Trapp and James Aitken. Slaughters corporate partners Richard Smith and Tim Boxell led the team advising Npower parent company Innogy, alongside competition partner Lisa Wright, financing partner Ed Fife, IP/IT partner Rob Sumroy, tax partner Gareth Miles, and pensions and employment partners Charles Cameron, Padraig Cronin and Daniel Schaffer. Best-friend firm Hengeler Mueller also advised Innogy, led by corporate partners Andreas Austmann and Thomas Meurer.

Continue reading “Dealwatch: 2017 closes out with slew of energy, tech and transport deals”