I’m the fifth of six children. By child five, your parents are very relaxed. You can do what you want! I grew up in a small town in Ireland. I was trying to decide whether to do law or medicine and two sisters were junior doctors, working through the night. I thought: ‘That looks hard – I’ll become a lawyer!’ Some irony there.
Continue reading “Life during Law: Aedamar Comiskey, Linklaters”
The new group general counsel on handling a recently privatised 500-year-old institution.
Royal Mail’s group general counsel (GC) Maaike de Bie likes to do things a little differently. Originally from the Netherlands, de Bie was the first person to arrive at Canada’s McGill University having never studied in English before. She then relocated to New York, completed the New York Bar and joined White & Case in the early 1990s, and says she was the first foreigner working there as a US associate. In some ways it is unsurprising that the international lawyer has found herself at the helm of a British institution still in the throes of a transition from long-time government-owned entity to public limited company.
Continue reading “Client profile: Maaike de Bie, Royal Mail Group”
Over 100 lawyers involved as PE firm sells sport to Liberty Media
Just six months a partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Charles Hayes has led the firm’s team advising Formula One Group (F1) and CVC Capital Partners on the £6.4bn sale of F1 to Liberty Media Corporation, advised by Baker Botts.
Continue reading “Freshfields and Baker Botts take pole position on F1 sell off”
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CMS opened in Hong Kong in September through its German branch CMS Hasche Sigle, re-entering the city as part of an international arbitration push.
The initial focus of the office will see the development of a dispute resolution practice by arbitration partner Nicolas Wiegand (pictured) who relocates from Munich.
Continue reading “CMS returns to Hong Kong to enhance Asia disputes practice”
Travers Smith and Kirkland & Ellis last month teamed up to advise UK tech firm Micro Focus on its $8.8bn acquisition of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)’s software business.
In a deal primarily structured under Delaware law, Travers head of corporate Spencer Summerfield advised Micro Focus alongside corporate partner Jon Reddington on English law. Kirkland fielded a team led by New York corporate partners William Sorabella, David Feirstein and John Kupiec.
Moore pulls together proposals for flexible model as lockstep set to evolve
With Magic Circle rivals Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer having recently remodelled their remuneration structures following pay pressure from more profitable US firms, Linklaters has plans of its own.
Continue reading “What goes up: Linklaters to vote next month on new partner pay model”
More than 30 partners have left the firm in the last 18 months
Having emerged as one of the worst performers in the Legal Business 100 last month and strongly touted to be in the market for a merger, September saw further departures from Olswang, adding to a steady stream of exits in recent months.
Continue reading “Olswang exits continue as merger claims swirl around TMT player”
CC and Davis Polk On $8bn China IPO: Davis Polk & Wardwell advised Postal Savings Bank of China on its Hong Kong Stock Exchange float, with Clifford Chance leading for the underwriting banks, including JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. King & Wood Mallesons acted as Chinese counsel to the banks, while Haiwen & Partners was Chinese adviser to Postal Savings Bank.
Continue reading “Deal watch: Corporate activity in October 2016”
Simultaneous Melbourne and Sydney launches filled with former Freehills lawyers
White & Case is to open two offices in Australia with the hire of a ten-partner project finance team from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), and there are plans to continue growing in the country.
Partners asked for between €6m and €7m to cut debt.
The European arm of Dentons has made a capital call on partners to raise an additional €6m to €7m in a move to cut bank debt, described by European chief executive Tomasz Dabrowski as ‘good financial prudence’.
European partners – excluding the UK which operates as a separate legal entity – have each been asked to contribute up to €100,000 extra over a two-year period.
Continue reading “‘Good financial prudence’: Dentons’ European arm makes cash call”
Australia’s largest global insurer QBE is to launch a review of its UK claims panel, following the appointment of a new group general counsel (GC) earlier this year.
One partner, whose firm is tendering for the panel, told Legal Business that while the terms of engagement were not yet clear, the review was ‘imminent’. QBE refused to comment on the process.
Continue reading “QBE reviews UK panel following appointment of global GC”
Kathryn McCann and Victoria Young discuss Kennedys’ prospects with longstanding senior partner Nick Thomas
‘I’d like to tell you that Kennedys is a crap practice,’ one law firm leader tells Legal Business, ‘but it is reasonably good. The unfortunate thing is that it follows rather than leads in its market and that’s a strategic disadvantage.’
French energy management company Schneider Electric has been on a buying spree lately, most recently with its £3.4bn acquisition of Invensys, completed in 2014. These deals have seen the number of lawyers at the company rise to nearly 300, leading Peter Wexler, Schneider’s US-based group general counsel, to reflect on what it means to lead and train a legal function.
‘One of the key things about leadership is how you develop your talent,’ says Wexler. ‘I want to be around good people and smart people, so I personally interview most if not all who join this department. I tell them this: “If you make a decision and it’s wrong we’ll fix it, and if it’s well-reasoned and in the best interests of the company then I will support you even if it ends up being a catastrophe because I don’t want you to be afraid of making decisions.”‘ Continue reading “Perspectives: Peter Wexler, Schneider Electric”
Longstanding leader Crossley set to retire at year end
Frontrunners have emerged in the contest to become the new Europe and Middle East managing partner at Squire Patton Boggs, after longstanding leader Peter Crossley confirmed his retirement in September.
Two senior partners have been touted internally and externally as favourites for the role: London managing partner Robert Weekes and EMEA global corporate chair Jane Haxby.
Continue reading “Contenders step forward as race for Squires European head begins”
Firm prepares to sub-let up to 40% of new London headquarters
As Ashurst partners digest a year of tumbling profits and turnover, delayed profit distributions and a rising number of senior exits, the firm faces an estimated £55m cost to fit out its new Spitalfields office.
Continue reading “Ashurst braces for £55m fit-out hit as City office move looms”
Paul Hastings, A&O and PwC heap further woe on City stalwart
A beleaguered Ashurst has suffered another wave of partner exits, with ten partners leaving in September to join global competitors.
Continue reading “Pressure piles on Ashurst as ten partners quit last month”
Consumer goods giant Unilever is currently carrying out an ‘informal review’ of its current panel firms, after the roster expired in June 2016.
According to a partner at one of Unilever’s panel firms: ‘Instead of a full-blown formal process, it is a more informal thing.’
Continue reading “Unilever carries out informal review of panel arrangement”
Royal Mail’s group general counsel (GC) Maaike de Bie has led an overhaul of the postal service’s legal team after taking the top job in April.
De Bie, who previously served as deputy GC and acting group GC, has restructured the team of 30 lawyers into bigger groups, moving away from siloed specialisms such as property or pensions.
Continue reading “De Bie restructures Royal Mail legal team as she settles into group GC post”
As GC of Nokia during the complex carve-out and sale of its handsets division to Microsoft, Louise Pentland refined her leadership skills at the sharp end. An early exposure to a formal in-house training programme was, she says, vital preparation for a senior role. ‘I was lucky because I joined Nokia at a very early stage in my career and their internal training is all around being the best you can be, developing networks, and getting results without trampling on people.’
Since that time, says Pentland, a growing skills gap between in-house and private practice has made structured training even more necessary. ‘Companies are more flexible in their understanding of the role of corporate counsel and lawyers are more willing to step across boundaries. It’s a far better situation from a career development and employee retention point of view but it means in-house lawyers need leadership skills and GCs need to ensure staff have those skills.’ Continue reading “Perspectives: Louise Pentland, PayPal”
