I’m always in the present and think of the now.
You make your own luck. You have to put yourself in harm’s way. You have to be standing by the street when the ambulance goes by or you’re not going to be able to chase it. There’s a degree of intelligent positioning.
I come from a generation who have been very lucky. The role of law firms and lawyers went through a dramatic transformation in the 1980s with the Big Bang, and my generation rode that wave.
The internet and the emergence of a global market for high-end series has ushered in a golden age of TV production and seismic changes to the media environment. Legal Business reports on the lawyers working in one of the fastest-changing industries.
These days, the small screen is big business. Popular television programmes, like period drama Downton Abbey, cost an average of around £1m to produce per hour of screen time, whereas fantasy epic Game of Thrones has reached new financial heights, with a budget of up to $8m (£5.3m) per episode.
Continue reading “The court of King Content – the lawyers making their mark in the high end TV”
After a relatively stable coalition government, Britain goes to the polls amid huge uncertainty, with the main parties far apart on key policies. Legal Business assesses the manifestos to identify the issues impacting the City and the profession.
‘You can follow all the polls but the money is a much more reliable guide,’ observes one Magic Circle partner. ‘At Ladbrokes you can get the odds on who’s going to be prime minister after the election, but this is not on 8 May but August. They think it will take that long to sort it all out.’
Continue reading “Fault lines – tax, Brexit and what the general election means to City lawyers”
City lawyers are risking mega salaries to strike out on their own. Legal Business explores what is driving the current wave of boutiques and asks how these start-ups have fared.
Six-figure salaries, plush City offices, institutional clients throwing work your way – what’s not to love? Quite a lot, it seems. The post-Lehman environment has seen uncharacteristic enthusiasm from City lawyers to strike out on their own and create their own boutiques, recapturing the independence lost within increasingly regimented global outfits.
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.
Continue reading “Hunting Dragons – Anti-corruption in Asia”
Richard McLerie of JLegal outlines the picture across the region.
When trying to predict what the legal recruitment market will look like in the Gulf region it is easy to be seen as sitting on the fence. There are conflicting signs at every turn and until every scenario plays out, it is impossible to tell how it will affect the region.
As the UK heads to the polls for the general election, senior legal figures provide their views on the current mood in the City.
TAXING ISSUE
‘There is an undercurrent of disenchantment. People have gone through a period when living standards have been static or have even fallen in real terms. They are upset and worried about the future. They are worried about the future of the economy, the health service and what’s going to happen with education, and why their children can’t afford a house. But saying we will introduce a mansion tax is not the answer.’
David Ereira, finance partner, Linklaters
FTSE 100 company Land Securities has appointed Mothercare’s group general counsel (GC) and company secretary Tim Ashby as its group GC, following the resignation of Adrian de Souza (pictured) in October.
The legal team at ITV, led by general counsel (GC) and company secretary Andrew Garard (pictured), has launched a panel review with plans to extend its current roster of eight law firms by up to four more.
Continue reading “In-house: ITV launches panel review with plans to extend roster by 50%”
On 7 May the nation faces one of the most unpredictable elections in recent history and one with high stakes given the issues on the table, including a potential EU exit, the break-up of the UK, big decisions on austerity and public finances and fundamental electoral reform.
White & Case has hired Clifford Chance’s (CC) Middle East head of capital markets and structured finance, Debashis Dey, as a partner in its Dubai office.
Following some speculation as to who would become Kirkland & Ellis‘ de facto head in London, finance partner Stephen Lucas has taken up the role and has been appointed to the firm’s executive committee, just one year after joining the firm.
In the wake of HMRC’s tax changes which have seen fixed-share partners (FSP) contribute capital at a slew of LB100 firms and many reassess their partnership model, Eversheds has reformed its fixed share scheme by allowing some FSPs to vote in firm elections and take home an increased profit share.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Continue reading “‘Phase two’: AIG reviews UK panel and establishes 64-strong European roster”
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.
Continue reading “Hunting Dragons – Anti-corruption in Asia”
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.
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.
