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The In-House Lawyer Survey – Bang for your buck

Our fourth in-house survey shows a softening stance towards external advisers from general counsel, reflecting the need for high-quality consultative advice.

With more than 20 years spent in multiple in-house legal positions, BAE Systems’ group general counsel (GC) Philip Bramwell has been at the centre of the evolution of the in-house legal profession. But despite seeing the GC rise in prominence to trusted adviser status, he doesn’t believe the role will shift so fundamentally that it will lessen dependence on external counsel.

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The In-House Lawyer Survey – Buying IBM

Client rankings from our fourth annual in-house survey show that GCs continue to trust premium advice. Can non-law firm providers make headway?

During the 1990s, when ITV’s current group general counsel (GC) Andrew Garard was serving a stint as head of legal at Reuters, a deal landed on his desk that required external advice. A revolving credit facility which, he says, was the first-ever syndicated loan deal done via the internet.

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ABC – the brutally simple world of a private equity lawyer

As diversifying private equity houses continue to drive transactional activity in Europe, the battle to build high-end buyout teams intensifies. Who has made the right bets?

The philosophy of Richard Matthew Youle is simple: ‘If you’re moving firms then you’ve got to back yourself that you’ve got the charisma to bring in the clients and have chosen the right firm with a strong enough platform to service them. Then you better deliver the deal, because if you fuck it up, you’re toast.’

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GC Powerlist Ireland: Standing out

Our inaugural GC Powerlist: Ireland launch brought together Dublin’s legal elite to celebrate the achievements of 100 of the country’s finest in-house counsel.

The latest addition to our GC Powerlist series was launched on 7 October, highlighting the most influential in-house counsel in Ireland. The inaugural GC Powerlist: Ireland was released at a reception for those included in the publication, hosted at sponsor McCann FitzGerald’s Dublin office.

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The cyber security roundtable: Victims and visions

As cyber security issues continue to dominate the headlines amid a fractious European backdrop, we assembled a group of senior GCs to ask how to handle the inevitable attacks.

Even the cynics that see cyber security as the latest in a long line of corporate fads generating its own compliance circus and attending cottage industry have to concede that such threats – and the increasingly entwined issue of privacy – are becoming a more pressing matter.

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North Africa round table – Through the gate

With North Africa becoming a regional hub for international clients doing business on the continent, we teamed up with Bennani & Associés to debate the practicalities of servicing clients in Algeria and Morocco.

For the avoidance of doubt, Africa is not a single market for international firms to crack. Not only is it a continent comprising 54 distinct legal jurisdictions, but there are also numerous entry points for global legal service providers to service their clients.

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Life During Law – Edward Sparrow

The legal market has become more competitive. One way of measuring yourself is profit share. For some partners, the size of this share is very important. When I started getting offers, I realised money wasn’t something that motivated me. Other factors were much stronger.

I started out with a managing clerk – he was a bad influence in terms of litigation because he was at a stage where he couldn’t be bothered with the detail, but he was fantastic. He was the firm’s troubleshooter. Whenever the client had a problem – if there was fraud in the factory or somebody was stealing – he was the guy that got called in. He was like something out of a 1970s police programme. He was my first influence.

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Leader: A challenging time for disputes teams in a polarised market

The return of our Disputes Yearbook finds the wider outlook for contentious work considerably changed over the last 12 months. The flood of disputes that were not so long ago carrying along pretty much all vessels has receded on both sides of the Atlantic. Limitation periods have dramatically slowed the flow of litigation linked to the banking crisis, while rising business confidence has turned the mind of executives to deal-doing rather than cleaning up old messes. It is a more challenging time for the run-of-the-mill disputes team.

Nevertheless, it remains a more-than-respectable environment in which to ply the services of high-end disputes shops. Even if the march of more proactive enforcement and regulation across many sectors has paused for breath, the long-term trends show no suggestion of abandoning the global-wide push towards a more regulated business environment. The creeping extension of corporate liability and the vogue for developing economies to start clamping down on at least the most flagrant corruption look set to continue for years to come.

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The specialist court the City needs

Herbert Smith Freehills’ Tim Parkes welcomes the overdue launch of London’s financial court but warns of the dangers of test cases

Not before time, the English court system will soon add to its stable of specialist courts a Financial List, to deal with major banking and other financial disputes. This is a positive illustration of the English courts not resting on their laurels as a pre-eminent venue for commercial dispute resolution but taking active steps to ensure that they meet the needs of financial markets users and enhance London’s status as a global financial centre.

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Undisputed – the next generation of partners setting the disputes agenda

As contentious work increasingly drives revenues at major City firms, Legal Business canvasses the leading teams to find the new partners setting the disputes agenda.

Over the last decade, an undeniable emphasis on contentious skills has occurred among the elite City firms. While seasoned litigators and arbitration specialists still dominate the landscape, firms are working harder than ever to develop their younger generation of partners.

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Perspectives: Mark Howard QC

When I came to the Bar I didn’t know anybody, but fortunately got introduced to Tom Bingham and I was his marshal during my pupillage for about six weeks. He was a very inspiring figure. He was quite a junior judge then but he had tremendous insight. I was only with him for six weeks but he’s the person I’ve learnt the most from.

At that stage I liked the sound of my own voice too much. The problem at the Bar is that you’re always arguing a corner, it’s very difficult in your personal life. My wife always says ‘stop cross-examining me’.

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Perspectives: Emmanuel Gaillard

In a small resort called La Féclaz in the Alps, a lawyer was sitting next to me in the restaurant telling stories about criminal law. I said then: ‘That’s what I’m supposed to do.’ I was just going through the motions before that and being made miserable by studying maths.

I spent two summers at Rockefeller Plaza being a New York lawyer when I was 30 at a two-partner law firm called Layton & Sherman. They were typical New Yorkers… always in pinstripe suits! I had never been to Manhattan. I lived near the Upper West Side and I was going out in jazz bars and going downtown meeting artists.

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Perspectives: Sir Bernard Eder

I’ve had a happy time. My wife said at school I spent most of my time in the library. I came to 4 Essex Court in 1975. This is my home. In those days, 4 Essex Court was the number one set of chambers for commercial work and I met the head Bob MacCrindle. He was Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Obama, Putin… a mixture… it was like getting a part in a Hollywood film because no one got into 4 Essex Court in those days.

I remember Bob saying: ‘I’ll tell you three things. One, I’m leaving’. He went to Shearman & Sterling in Paris around the time tax rates were 98% or something like that. Second, he said, ‘you’re going to buy my chair and table’. I was 22, didn’t have any money and he said ‘that will be £100’. I said ‘okay’. I still have that furniture. Thirdly, he gave me some advice and said: ‘If you don’t have to say anything, don’t.’ That stayed with me. I’ve been incredibly short in my judgments.

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The fix – how to resolve the tensions at the heart of modern arbitration

With growing caseloads and global appeal, international arbitration is blossoming – as is criticism of rising costs and delays. As some practitioners develop tactics to ‘fix’ arbitration, will they do more harm than good?

It has taken 25 years since the end of the Cold War for states to fully embrace the notion of settling their disagreements through a third party, but as the recent and resolved case between Singapore and Malaysia shows, inter-state arbitration can be a powerful force in international relations. Similarly, large and sophisticated corporate consumers of dispute resolution services have developed a growing enthusiasm for arbitration when it comes to settling their disputes.

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The US disputes outlook – After the feast

US disputes lawyers are seeking their next hunting ground as the wave of financial crisis litigation nears its end. Legal Business asks what the next big prize will be.

‘I remember a science class in high school where I watched a snake swallow its prey. Its body became distended where the food was stuck, before moving slowly towards the end of the snake. That’s where we are with the financial crisis litigation. We are really getting towards the end of the snake with all these cases.’ So says Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s New York co-head and former global co-chair of litigation, Mark Kirsch, summing up the disputes market in Manhattan today.

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Eversheds inches closer to US tie-up as Foley & Lardner emerges as front runner

Eversheds is moving closer to its much sought-after US merger, with Foley & Lardner identified as the primary candidate for a deal.

After a vote last June in which the Eversheds partnership heavily backed a US tie-up the firm’s executive, which includes chair Paul Smith and chief executive Bryan Hughes, have narrowed discussions down to two law firms. Milwaukee-based Global 100 firm Foley & Lardner, with revenues this financial  year of $665m, has emerged as a leading candidate.

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More than half of GCs expect AI to reshape their teams within five years

In-house lawyers have been notoriously slow to embrace the tech-backed delivery of legal services, but our survey of more than 600 global legal spend decision makers shows many believe technology will transform the way they work.

More than half of those surveyed expect automated legal services to have a significant impact on the way corporate legal functions serve business within the next three years.

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Sharing the pie: DLA Piper launches meritocratic remuneration review

Sector activity to become core part of pay assessment

While other major firms break their locksteps to bring in high-profile recruits, DLA Piper is going the opposite way, launching a review of its remuneration structure to encourage greater cross-selling throughout the firm.

The review is being led by co-chief executive Simon Levine, who pledged to review the firm’s remuneration system as part of his successful bid to take over from Sir Nigel Knowles last year.

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