Watson Farley & Williams, TLT and Scottish firm Brodies are the most recent firms to announce their partner promotions with both Brodies and TLT expanding their rounds while Watson Farley nearly halved the number of lawyers it made up.
News in brief – May 2015
WHITTAKER STEPS DOWN AS LLOYDS GC
Group general counsel (GC) Andrew Whittaker is stepping down from his role at Lloyds Banking Group with deputy GC Kate Cheetham set to replace him. Whittaker joined the bank in May 2013 after having served as the legal head of the Financial Services Authority. The bank also saw the departure of disputes chief Philippa Simmons last month and began a redundancy consultation looking at cutting up to 25 mid-level positions.
The Middle East: After the gold rush
Latham & Watkins doesn’t make strategic missteps. Or at least that appeared to be the case until March, when the firm announced that it will close both its Abu Dhabi and Qatar offices later this year, relocating staff to its Dubai operation. Bill Voge, chair and managing partner of the firm that has been by most yardsticks the standout success story of the last 20 years, said the firm had been wrong in assuming there were four distinct hubs that the firm needed to service clients in the Middle East – Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar and Saudi Arabia – and so after seven years in the region, the firm was consolidating its Middle East presence into Dubai and Riyadh.
For international firms, finding the appropriate business model and strategy for the Middle East has been a puzzle. The region was never more alluring than at the height of the pre-financial crisis period of 2007 and 2008. Intoxicated by crude oil prices at nearly $150 a barrel in the summer of 2008, the Middle East could hardly have felt more prosperous. As ostentation gripped the region, Dubai powered ahead with ambitious projects such as the man-made archipelago Palm Jumeirah and the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. Naturally, the legal profession sought to capitalise.
‘Phase two’: AIG reviews UK panel and establishes 64-strong European roster
American insurance giant AIG has carried out a review of its UK-based legal panel and established a new 64-member roster to cover the company’s European operations across 12 countries.
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Hunting Dragons – Anti-corruption in Asia
Once a byword for bribery, the Asia region has toughened anti-corruption measures in recent years, but enforcement remains hard to predict. We team up with Simmons & Simmons to assess the client response.
Any multinational worthy of the label has to be in east and south-east Asia. The scale of the market, its manufacturing base, and its growing consumer population make it impossible to ignore.
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Revolving Doors: CMS hires from Freshfields, Mishcon from McDermott while King & Spalding and Ropes continue their City push
While last week saw a switch around among the City’s competition practices with Greenberg Traurig Maher, Kirkland & Ellis and Mayer Brown all making senior hires in the field, there were several other prominent moves as CMS Hasche Sigle hired a Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner, Mishcon de Reya built up its employment team in London and King & Spalding continued its City push.
Partner promotions: Simmons makes up 13 partners in bumper round as Charles Russell Speechlys promotes five
Continuing the trend of increased partner promotions this year, Simmons & Simmons has promoted 13 lawyers to partner in its biggest round since 2011. Meanwhile Charles Russell Speechlys made up five in its first round since its merger.
Guest post: Why ‘Big Ideas’ are often wrong and the fallacies of legal myths
Why do ‘big ideas’ or ‘monolithic ideas’ become so accepted when under analysis and the test of time they so often prove to be wrong? It has always seemed especially strange for monolithic thinking to have caught on in the legal sector, an industry whose lifeblood is enthused with the need for careful checking of details and not taking statements at face value.
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Hitting your targets: A&O launches return to work pilot to meet 20:20 gender diversity goal
Allen & Overy (A&O) has launched a back-to-work initiative for women, using its contract lawyer business Peerpoint in a bid to hit its 20:20 gender diversity target.
Partner promotions: DLA Piper promotes 44 to partner in corporate heavy round
Nearly 23% of the 44 lawyers making partner at DLA Piper in its 2015 round have been promoted in its corporate practice as the firm seeks to create a stronger M&A base and boost cross-border work.
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Kirkland returns to Linklaters to hire UK competition head Riedel
Kirkland & Ellis has turned to Linklaters for the second time this year and taken another leading partner with the hire of UK competition chief Paula Riedel.
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Those who can: Travers Smith’s former head Andrew Lilley resigns to become teacher
Travers Smith’s former managing partner Andrew Lilley (pictured) has resigned from the firm after nearly 20 years, and is set to explore a career in teaching.
International ambitions: City firm Lewis Silkin launches first overseas office in Hong Kong
City firm Lewis Silkin has this morning (30 April) announced the opening of an office in Hong Kong in a bid to ‘support the rapidly expanding employment and global mobility needs’ of its clients in the Asia-Pacific region.
Partner promotions: Eversheds makes 22 up to partner with nine overseas
As LB100 firms continue to make efforts to improve the gender diversity of their partnerships, Eversheds has made up 22 lawyers across the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa, with 45% of these women.
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Reshuffles: Hogan Lovells reshapes board as Norton Rose Fulbright elects new chair
Hogan Lovells has elected three partners to its 12-strong global board while Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has announced the appointment of its US non-executive chair, Ken Stewart, as global chair of the firm.
Going mainstream: Barclays breaks ground to forge first contract lawyer panel
After establishing a global two-tier panel last year, Barclays has launched a procurement process to formalise its flexible resourcing usage and establish its first contract-lawyer only panel.
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Competing moves: Mayer Brown hires BLP’s competition head as CMA recruits from Freshfields
Mayer Brown has hired Berwin Leighton Paisner’s (BLP) head of EU and competition, David Harrison, ten years after he joined the firm from Allen & Overy (A&O) to help start the stand-alone group. Meanwhile, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer City antitrust partner Andrea Gomes da Silva is leaving the firm after 14 years to join the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Slaughter and May raises associate pay with NQs getting £5,000 boost
Traditionally a bellwether of trainee and associate salaries among the Magic Circle, Slaughter and May has made significant hikes to the salaries it pays junior lawyers.
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Q&A: Pinsents new managing partner Cleland on priorities, understanding the numbers and what he will miss most
Pinsent Masons‘ John Cleland (pictured) takes up the reins as the firm’s new managing partner today (Friday 1 May). He talks to Legal Business about his three priorities for the business, his preparations for taking on the role and whether he will miss fee earning.
Guest post: Why the right is losing the argument on tax – and why it matters to all of us
Two weeks ago, Labour pledged to tax as income the performance fees (known as the ‘carried interest’) paid to certain investment managers. This rather than the much lower capital gains tax rate enjoyed hitherto. The pledge followed Labour’s promise, earlier in the week, to remove the centuries old non-dom tax break and, last month, to restrict pension tax relief for high earners.