Firm eyes IBM Watson partnership and new software products
Six months into the role, Clifford Chance (CC)’s head of innovation and business change, Bas Boris Visser, has moved to re-establish the firm’s reputation as a pioneering business, partnering with IBM Watson, and forming innovation committees.
Continue reading “CC innovation chief creates taskforces to drive change”
Baker Tilly’s George Bull analyses the changing market.
The recent initial public offering (IPO) of full-service English law firm Gateley and its admission to AIM mark another significant step in the evolution of alternative business structures (ABSs) in England and Wales. While Gateley is the first UK law firm to achieve a public listing, it is not the world’s first listed law firm. That accolade belongs to Slater and Gordon, the Australian consumer law firm, which listed on the Australian stock exchange in May 2007. Continue reading “The ABS triangle – regulators, consumers and investors”
Cogence Search’s Mark Husband on the fallacy of cheap legal services
The respected legal commentator (and fan of mammals) Bruce MacEwen recently commented: ‘Of course, while hedgehogs know one big thing – that BigLaw hasn’t changed and hasn’t needed to so far – foxes know many things.
For example: a) 95% of the work on that indispensable “international M&A” deal consists of due diligence scutwork suitable for the skills of any conscientious team of $25/hour freelancers; b) IBM’s Watson is fast approaching the ability to understand language in context, and did we mention it has Moore’s Law on its side?; and c) pricing and efficiency pressure is actually not coming from the GCs [general counsel] and law departments of clients but from the CFOs [chief financial officers] and finance departments, who don’t give a fig about our noble profession and don’t consider it their problem to ensure the profitability, or even the existence, of the Global 50.’ Continue reading “Cost reduction = quality reduction”
Slaughters’ senior partner race also underway
‘There’s no-one else,’ mused one ex-Linklaters partner. ‘If Charlie Jacobs isn’t the next senior partner at Linklaters, it would be a bigger upset than UKIP winning the next general election. If I was Ladbrokes, I’d give better odds for Farage for PM than any of Charlie’s rivals at Linklaters.’
Continue reading “Jacobs frontrunner for next Linklaters senior partner”
White & Case announced last month the re-election of executive chair Hugh Verrier, who takes on the role for a third time at the US firm.
First elected in 2007, Verrier will start another four-year term on 1 September. Having won re-election, the project finance partner also made appointments to the firm’s executive committee, gifting places to London managing partner Oliver Brettle, São Paulo-based Donald Baker, and banking partner David Koschik in New York. The body is responsible for decision making for the 38-office firm and will see the trio also take up their positions on 1 September 2015.
Continue reading “Re-elected Verrier shuffles the White & Case pack”
Post-Cardigan analysis by 5 Stone Buildings’ Hugh Cumber
The recent decision of the English Court of Appeal in the Cardigan litigation illustrates the importance of applications by the trustees for the approval of ‘momentous’ decisions, as set out in the case of Public Trustee v Cooper [2001].
Such applications are widely used in offshore jurisdictions and have a number of advantages for trustees, who may prospectively insure that their decisions are insulated from challenge by dissatisfied beneficiaries. However, if this exercise is to be successful, the trustees will be required to give full evidence of their reasons. Continue reading “Momentous decisions: seeking the court’s blessing”
Withers’ Steven Kempster and Sarah Aughwane on the doctrine of mistake.
Withers’ contentious trust and succession group is unrivalled in its size and the scope of its experience. Our team, based across Europe, Asia and the US, and consisting of 40 fee-earners, acts on the leading domestic and multi-jurisdictional trust disputes, as well as representing individuals, families and charities in every aspect of contentious trust and succession work. Continue reading “Could trustee protection return post-Pitt and Futter?”
Tom Moore looks at the US-EU free trade pact’s potential for arbitration
The rise of international arbitration has gone unhindered and under the radar, despite the proliferation of investor-state disputes that has seen investors sue governments for changing tax regimes, introducing austerity measures and implementing plain packaging for cigarettes. But negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – a free-trade deal between the EU and US that will cover half of world trade – has changed that, throwing attention on a shift away from national courts and raising the potential for a boom in arbitration.
Continue reading “TTIP: Arbitration moves into the limelight”
M&A work in the pharmaceutical industry continued apace last month, with White & Case’s London office winning its first mandate from CVC Capital Partners, as the private equity firm led a club of investors in buying a controlling stake in Simpson Thacher & Bartlett-client Alvogen.
Although White & Case has a historic relationship with CVC stateside, the deal for the $2bn pharma company is the first to be led out of London for the European private equity fund, which has previously turned to a raft of firms for its corporate work, including Clifford Chance and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Private equity heavyweight Ian Bagshaw in London, alongside Oliver Brahmst from New York, led the firm’s team, which included New York partner Brian Smarsh and London partners Justin Wagstaff and Marcus Booth.
Continue reading “Booming pharma sector delivers work to US firms’ City offices”
The recent appetite of Canadian pension funds for high-quality assets was demonstrated again in June as Allen & Overy (A&O), Ashurst, Proskauer Rose and Dickson Minto all won roles on the off-market, bilateral sale of Environmental Resources Management (ERM) to OMERS Private Equity and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo).
The sale saw Charterhouse Capital Partners sell its stake in the $1.7bn business, turning to longstanding adviser Alastair Dickson from Dickson Minto, whose previous mandates for the private equity investment firm include acting on the company’s £1.35bn acquisition of Saga in 2004.
Freshfields among firms in talks to take over the office
The last 12 months have been quite a whirlwind at Olswang. Following the surprise exit of chief executive David Stewart last autumn, the firm had only just appointed intellectual property (IP) partner Paul Stevens as its new chief executive in May, when last month its entire Berlin outpost announced it was splitting off.
Continue reading “Olswang to lose Berlin team in strategy reversal”
Withers makes further Asia push with Japanese opening
King & Spalding chose Tokyo last month as its second base in Asia, hiring a team of Ashurst partners led by Tokyo managing partner John McClenahan to spearhead its launch, while private client specialist Withers also made moves in the region by establishing a Japanese tax practice.
Continue reading “King & Spalding secures four-partner Ashurst team for Tokyo launch”
US CITY TEAMS TAKE LEAD ROLES ON GHG’S £1.5BN DEBT RESTRUCTURING
General Healthcare Group (GHG)’s £1.5bn debt restructuring, involving two commercial mortgage-backed securitisations (CMBSs), saw Paul Hastings’ London office win a role advising Capita Asset Services, which acted on behalf of the senior lenders. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy represented the junior lenders, while Weil, Gotshal & Manges acted for Barclays, which had roles both in the CMBSs and as counter-party to an interest rate swap. Sidley Austin and Clifford Chance acted for other swap counter-parties, while Simmons & Simmons acted for GHG.
Continue reading “Deal watch: Corporate activity in June 2015”
Simmons senior partner Colin Passmore argues a new breed of collaborators are the rainmakers of tomorrow
When I qualified (was it really 30 years ago?) I had this impression about how law firms worked. The partnership was made up of different people. There were the technical geniuses – the lawyers who were the equivalent of the rocket scientists at the investment banks. There were the managers who made things work, like meeting the deadlines. Then there were the rainmakers.
Continue reading “Taking the firm to the client – traditional rainmakers are gone”
Reed Smith’s Tamara Box argues the profession needs to fight the gender stereotypes that stop women advancing
Imagine, in sequence, a football player, a surveyor, a figure skater and a managing partner of a law firm – all without gender association. Were you able to do that? Now imagine a carpenter. When you have that image settled in your mind, tell me the colour of her hair.
Continue reading “Getting a grip on the ‘slippery ladder’ – women and law”
As part of our Global 100 report, law firm leaders give their assessment on how their firms are performing.
‘For us, the last year has been a continuation of a strategy we launched five or six years ago and was refreshed two years ago to provide some differentiation. There’s no doubt the market is better now than then and we’ve had the two mergers during that time. The intense pressure of cost efficiency on the industry has really benefited the firm generally by forcing us to look at the impact revisiting infrastructure can have on a law firm. During the last five years, the firm has saved €100m through its efficiency drive.’
Duncan Weston, managing partner, CMS Cameron McKenna
There has been plenty of speculation about US and UK firms moving into Canada, but until now UK stalwart Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co (WLG) had not been high up the list of suitors in the profession’s mind. Nevertheless, WLG this week made the surprise announcement that it is to combine with the sizeable Canadian practice Gowlings in a move that will create a 622-partner law firm across 18 cities. Continue reading “Wragges in surprise union with mid-pack Canada firm to create 600-partner global player”
With its fortunes tied to its large financial services client base, Simmons & Simmons has brought to an end a period slow growth to post a record-breaking year, with revenues up by 8% to £290.1m, while profits per equity partner soared by nearly £100,000 to hit a new high of £649,000.
Continue reading “Financials 2014/15: Simmons returns to form with strongest-ever results”
With inevitable consequences for City Law, UK Chancellor George Osborne yesterday (8 July) pushed back the date the country will rebalance its books, ditched the bank levy and tinkered with the fiercely-criticised non-dom status.
Continue reading “Budget 2015: Banks off the leash as Osborne clamps down on non-doms”
