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Global London debate: The eagle has landed

Legal Business teamed up with Scottish Development International for a progress report on US law firms in the City. Has recent political and economic turbulence thwarted their advance at all?

While our 2016 Global London report – published before the Brexit vote on 23 June – identified the continuing rise of premium US advisers in the City, it also sounded a note of caution that 2016 – with Brexit and US presidential elections looming – could be a much bumpier ride for global legal services, conditions that not even the lean and slickly managed US outfits in the UK could avoid. With this in mind, we assembled a group of senior practitioners at some of the City’s most thrusting US firms for a progress report.

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Life during law: Jonny Earle, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

I don’t take anything for granted. I’ve been lucky, had some good breaks and people have invested time in me.

I can’t sing or dance. My partner thinks I’m like Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air when I dance. That’s one reason I went into law. I fancied doing something City-based. I didn’t know what. I came out with my degree and thought: what do I want to do? I applied for a law summer scheme to see what it was like and that was it.

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The right platform – trying to find a long-term approach for Africa

Africa city

‘There is no African law firm that does infrastructure the way we do; it’s front and centre of our strategy. There is a real gap in the market for a sector-based law firm.’

This bold statement comes from Richard Laudy, head of infrastructure at the latest foreign entrant into the increasingly popular South African market, Pinsent Masons. The national UK firm announced in July that it would be opening formally in Johannesburg in early 2017 with an office staffed by 20 lawyers and seven partners, including two partners taken from local heavyweight, Bowman Gilfillan, including head of construction Rob Morson and disputes partner Shane Voigt. Continue reading “The right platform – trying to find a long-term approach for Africa”

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Too big to fail? The battle to keep ring-fencing reforms on track

Envisaged in the wake of the financial crisis, ring-fencing reforms will tie up banks and legal advisers for years. Legal Business asks if the process is on track

Experienced financial regulation partner Bob Penn, who moved to Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton last year and advised HSBC on the controversial bank ring-fencing reforms while at Allen & Overy (A&O), is clear on whether those reforms are fit for purpose. ‘This is a hugely unwelcome and disruptive process, and frankly yet another distraction from running a profitable bank at a time when they are already facing a cascade of regulatory reform and the prospect of Brexit.’

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