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The last word: Elite theory

‘I’m very optimistic about our model.’

Jason Mogg, Kinstellar

As part of our annual Euro Elite report, management at independent firms in Europe give their views on market challenges, Brexit and technology

ZERO SCHADENFREUDE

‘Brexit will probably have an impact on UK clients but there is no feeling here that Brexit will harm either the position of the German economy, or German independent firms. However, it is not the time for us to be looking at the UK and saying: “Poor UK firms, you will have a problem and Frankfurt is going to be even stronger.”‘

Alexander Schwarz, managing partner, Gleiss Lutz

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Whose dime? – GCs push back against paying for junior lawyers

As Deutsche Bank baulks at paying for junior lawyers, is a tough line on ‘paying for training’ making its way across the Atlantic?

Even for City lawyers used to increasingly heavy-handed tactics in panel reviews from banking groups, it proved something of a shock. News earlier this year that Deutsche Bank had notified pitching firms of its unwillingness to pay for trainees and newly-qualified lawyers during its last adviser review sent a jolt through the UK legal market.

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Dollars and sense – charting the GC response as sustainability hits the boardroom

A tougher risk environment is taking sustainability from PC fad to board-level concern… and onto the agendas of GCs. We teamed up with Linklaters to chart the client response in a world of ‘not quite legal’ risks

In his 1962 work Capitalism and Freedom, the economist Milton Friedman complained that ‘the view has been gaining widespread acceptance that corporate officials and labour leaders have a “social responsibility” that goes beyond serving the interest of their stockholders.’ This ‘fundamental misconception’ about how markets work, argued Friedman, ought to be replaced by the consensus that the only social responsibility of business was to increase profits ‘so long as it stays within the rules of the game’.

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Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Four? – Inside the accountants’ assault on law

The Big Four accountants are pushing once again into the legal services market as they hunt beyond their audit heartlands. Should you be worried?

‘It has happened to me where you serve a client, have a great book of business, and then Ernst & Young [EY] is lucky enough to win the audit work for that client,’ says EY global legal head Cornelius Grossmann, reflecting on the vagaries and rewards of providing legal services in a Big Four giant.

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Stronger together – amid turbulent times, Europe’s top indies remain in bullish mood

As Brexit, China and Trump take their toll, our second Euro Elite report finds the continent’s leading independents in bullish mode

For many, 2016 was a year that threatened to halt the forces of globalisation. Anxieties over the global economy, particularly in China, and falling energy prices gave way to political shocks delivered by voters in the shape of Brexit and President Trump. From this maelstrom, Europe emerged in relatively good shape. As did its independent law firms.

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The Euro Elite 2017

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Stronger together

The Euro Elite Top 25

Focus: Garrigues

Focus: Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners

Focus: Gide Loyrette Nouel

Focus: Hengeler Mueller

Focus: Wolf Theiss

The Euro Elite 100

The last word: Elite theory

The Euro Elite Methodology

Market report: Baltics – Still waters

Market report: Benelux – Neighbourhood watch

Market report: Central and Eastern Europe – Here to stay

Market report: France – En Marche!

Market report: Germany – Wennschon, dennschon

Market report: Iberia – Out of the storm

Market report: Ireland – Quiet tiger

Market report: Italy – Bravissimo

Market report: Nordics – Over a barrel

Market report: Russia and the CIS – The new silk road

Market report: Southern Europe – A long recovery

Market report: Switzerland – Feeling lucky

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Focus: Gide Loyrette Nouel

Lawyer headcount 503

Partners 104

Revenue €190m (-1%)

Offices Paris, Brussels, London, Warsaw, Moscow, Istanbul, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, New York, Algiers, Casablanca, and Tunis.

Key clients BNP Paribas, Eni, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale, LVMH

Managing partner Stéphane Puel (pictured)

Recent work highlights Advising DCNS on a €32bn programme for the design and construction of Australia’s future submarines; advising Veolia Environnement on the first issue of €2bn Panda bonds; and advising Agence des participations de l’État on the €2bn+ privatisation of Nice and Lyon airports. Continue reading “Focus: Gide Loyrette Nouel”

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Focus: Hengeler Mueller

Lawyer headcount 264

Partners 90

Revenue €257m (+6%)

Offices Berlin, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, London, Munich, Shanghai

Key clients General Electric, KKR, METRO, RWE, Siemens

Managing partners Dirk Bliesener, Georg Seyfarth

Recent work highlights Advising RWE on the €5bn IPO of innogy on the Frankfurt stock exchange – the largest IPO since 2000 and the fourth largest in German history; advising KKR on its acquisition of Airbus Defence Electronics Business Companies; Linde on its merger with Praxair.

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Focus: Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners

Lawyer headcount 425

Partners 87

Revenue €124m (+5%)

Offices Rome, Milan, Bologna, Padua, Turin, Abu Dhabi, Brussels, Hong Kong, London and New York

Key clients Hitachi, UniCredit, BNP Paribas, Gruppo COIMA, Leonardo

Managing partners Antonio Auricchio, Rosario Zaccà

Recent work highlights Advising the Italian state railway, Ferrovie dello Stato, in the privatisation of Grandi Stazioni – sold by auction for €953m; advising Leonardo-Finmeccanica in the agreement with Space2 in its acquisition of 81% in Avio – a space propulsion system provider – from Cinven.

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Focus: Wolf Theiss

Lawyer headcount 307

Partners 64

Revenue €70m (-10%)

Offices Belgrade, Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest, Kiev, Ljubljana, Prague, Sarajevo, Sofia, Tirana, Vienna, Warsaw, Zagreb

Key clients REWE Group, PORR, Erste Group Bank, FACC, Advent International

Managing partners Erik Steger, Richard Wolf, Nikolaus Paul

Recent work highlights Advising Allianz Capital Partners and several insurance companies of the Allianz Group on the acquisition of a 49% stake in Gas Connect Austria from OMV; representing Total on the €3.2bn sale of its speciality chemicals business Atotech to The Carlyle Group; advising South African-listed healthcare brands company Ascendis Health on its acquisition of a 100% stake in Hungary-headquartered Scitec Nutrition for €170m.

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Focus: Garrigues

Lawyer headcount 1,408

Partners 297

Revenue €349.4m (+3%)

Offices Spain: A Coruña, Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, Las Palmas, Madrid, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Palma de Mallorca, Pamplona, San Sebastián, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid, Vigo, Zaragoza. Portugal: Lisbon, Oporto. International: Beijing, Bogotá, Brussels, Casablanca, London, Lima, Mexico City, New York, Santiago de Chile, São Paulo, Shanghai, Warsaw

Key clients BBVA, Carrefour, Iberdrola, Santander, Telefónica

Managing partner Fernando Vives

Recent work highlights Advising Coca-Cola European Partners on its €16.9bn listing on multiple stock exchanges; advising Spanish hospital operator Quirónsalud during its €5.8bn takeover by German healthcare provider Fresenius; advising Global Infrastructure Partners on its €3.8bn purchase of 20% of Gas Natural from Repsol and Criteria Caixa.

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The Euro Elite Methodology

Legal Business‘ Euro Elite comprises independent law firms based in more than 40 European jurisdictions, rather than the local offices of international firms.

To compile the 100 firms featured in this report Legal Business analysed more than 150 of the largest law firms in Europe by the number of lawyers, as well as more than 150 of the top-ranking firms in the current edition of The Legal 500 EMEA. A combined score was given for the size of the firm and its The Legal 500 rankings, providing a qualitative as well as a quantitative analysis. The 100 firms with the highest combined score make The Euro Elite. Continue reading “The Euro Elite Methodology”

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Freshfields to deploy second-tier lockstep for more partners as profit drive continues

As Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer continues its profitability drive, almost a quarter of the global partnership is expected to be on the firm’s second-tier lockstep as early as 2020.

When the firm introduced the second-tier lockstep around three years ago, less than 10% of the then 400-strong partnership was on the separate track. However, from 2020, the proportion of the partnership on the second lockstep is expected to be a quarter.

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Market report: Germany – Wennschon, dennschon

With Brexit dominating the EU agenda and causing widespread paralysis in the continent, Germany’s law firms are simply going about their business

Turbulence and trauma may have been the global hallmarks of 2016 – at least according to the headline writers – but not so in Germany. For the third year in a row, the German government did not borrow any money, unemployment fell to a 26-year low of 5.8% while GDP grew by 1.9%, the highest rate in five years. Meanwhile, Germany’s trade surplus has hit another record high.

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Market report: Italy – Bravissimo

Despite a testing political backdrop to business, the Italian elite is still outperforming the domestic economy

‘Reforms are the major challenge for Italy. For many years, we didn’t have the political strength – Renzi had it,’ says Carlo Croff, senior partner at Chiomenti. Matteo Renzi was Italy’s prime minister until December 2016 when his constitutional reforms were rejected in a referendum. ‘Clients, particularly those with investments in Italy, have been disappointed,’ Croff observes.

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En Marche!

With France’s political landscape settled and its EU status reconfirmed, the country’s law firms are feeling confident

The French presidential election in May drew widespread attention, but now that Emmanuel Macron is safely installed in the Élysée Palace, will it make any difference to businesses and their law firms? ‘It’s a great relief for the whole business community,’ says Stéphane Puel, managing partner of Gide Loyrette Nouel, France’s largest independent full-service law firm with 503 lawyers. ‘It’s difficult to tell whether this will have a huge impact generally, but it will have a huge impact on the confidence of business players in France.’

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Market report: France – En Marche!

With France’s political landscape settled and its EU status reconfirmed, the country’s law firms are feeling confident

The French presidential election in May drew widespread attention, but now that Emmanuel Macron is safely installed in the Élysée Palace, will it make any difference to businesses and their law firms? ‘It’s a great relief for the whole business community,’ says Stéphane Puel, managing partner of Gide Loyrette Nouel, France’s largest independent full-service law firm with 503 lawyers. ‘It’s difficult to tell whether this will have a huge impact generally, but it will have a huge impact on the confidence of business players in France.’

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Simmons amends partnership deed following A&O departures

While Herbert Smith Freehills became embroiled in a very public court battle over a team defection to White & Case in Australia earlier this year, Simmons & Simmons has quietly amended its partnership deed following a group exit to Allen & Overy (A&O) in 2016.

In the space of four months from last summer, Simmons lost four intellectual property (IP) partners to A&O, including highly-regarded patent specialist Marjan Noor in June, followed by London IP head Marc Döring in August, and Mark Heaney and David Stone in September.

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