Cahill Gordon & Reindel has launched an English-law City-based litigation practice after hiring litigator Richard Kelly from US rival Shearman & Sterling and gaining an alternative business structure (ABS) licence.
News in brief – April 2015
SLATER & GORDON SPENDS £637M ON QUINDELL’S PROFESSIONAL SERVICES DIVISION
Australian law firm Slater & Gordon signed a £637m deal, plus a sum contingent on client settlements, for Quindell’s professional services division. The firm expects the purchase to boost its share of the £2.5bn UK personal injury market from 5% to 12%.
Game Over – Global London firms make winning moves as US players secure their breakthrough
2014 found US firms in London gaining even more ground. Legal Business’ 13th annual Global London survey charts the key players and winning moves as leading firms make their breakthrough.
A line of taxis wait patiently along Old Broad Street as White & Case’s partners exit the office one after the other apologising for the delay. In January 2015, the firm ran up a £12,000 waiting charge from Addison Lee because partners failed to come out on time as they were overrun with work, mainly M&A deals. There’s no doubt it has been a dynamic start to the year for many global firms in London. And following a strong 2014, many firms expect this level of activity to continue.
The Third Wave – high stakes City deals for Akin and Cooley highlight changing tactics
With Akin Gump and Cooley securing multimillion-pound teams, a wave of new entrants to the City are re-writing the playbook for expansion in London. What is driving the new breed?
Sitting in the airport lounge at Fort Worth, Texas, flicking through magazines and eating stale sandwiches, 25 maintenance staff waited to board flights to London, Frankfurt and Hong Kong. While they were less than thrilled to be spending their weekends rewiring computers, moving desks and changing security codes for a bunch of lawyers thousands of miles from home, the woman who sent them was jubilant, having just pulled off the deal that would reposition her law firm as a genuine international player.
Trading Places – Israel’s tech-heavy legal market widens its global reach
Shimon Peres, the 91-year-old former Israeli president, may not be the most obvious social media fanatic. Yet in 2014 he opened an account on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Facebook, expressing his desire to interact directly with the Chinese people, including its younger generation. The nonagenarian quickly received over 50 million ‘likes’ on his Weibo page.
This symbolises a wider cultural and economic shift. For decades, Israel’s political elite has made much of the nation’s natural affinity with the US and the influential Jewish community there. That umbilical cord to the world’s most powerful nation that has fertilised Israel’s tech and start-up community remains intact. But in recent years, as western pressure and sanctions have been exerted on Israel over its conflict with Palestine, it has turned its sights to the East, where Asian jurisdictions have taken a less judgemental line on its political and military stance.
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Return of the black dog – Hard times return for Cyprus’ legal community
Wind back 12 months and the mood from the Cypriot legal community was undeniably improving. The island was meeting the terms of its €10bn bailout from Europe, following near economic collapse in 2013; the discovery of gas reserves offshore looked particularly favourable; and even the Turkish and Cypriot halves of the country had begun reviving stalled peace talks with the aim of once and for all reuniting the island.
Once again, though less happily this time, what a difference a year makes. Twenty four months on from the EU-imposed haircut, a feeling of pessimism has returned to Cyprus – certainly among its legal elite.
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Global London 2015
Guest blog: Human Rights and the Battlefield
Policy Exchange has produced an interesting report – Clearing the fog of war: saving our armed forces from defeat by judicial diktat.
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Significant hires: KWM lands JP Morgan’s Asia-Pacific vice chairman
Eager to convince Western investment banks, hedge funds and private equity houses that it has the lawyers to handle the most complex mandates in Asia, Hong Kong-headquartered King & Wood Mallesons has hired JP Morgan’s Zili Shao as co-chairman of its China management committee.
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US expansion: Dentons and McKenna Long set to combine
Having just announced its combination with Chinese firm Dacheng in January, a deal which will establish a 6,600 lawyer giant operating under a Swiss verein structure, Dentons has moved to bolster its US capabilities with a combination with Atlanta-based McKenna Long & Aldridge.
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A 30% drop: Co-op Legal Services sees revenue slide by £10m
Co-operative Group Legal Services (CLS) has seen its revenue decline by almost a third to £23m in 2014 from £33m in 2013 due to a drop in ‘personal injury income following regulatory changes to referral fees’.
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Winning work: TLT picks up Halliwells dispute as Irwin Mitchell loses out
TLT has been gifted with a key mandate to defend a group of 26 former Halliwells partners in a dispute with the firm’s liquidator, as well as the appeal of a further case involving nine other former partners, after Irwin Mitchell was dropped from both cases.
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Partner promotions: Ashurst 20-strong round includes 45% females while Macfarlanes reduces round to five
Ashurst has this morning (8 April) announced its 20-strong partner promotion round, which will take effect from 1 May 2015, with 45% of the new partners female while Macfarlanes reduced round of five comprises 40% women.
A £47bn deal: Slaughters and Freshfields win key roles on Shell’s acquisition of BG Group
Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have both won key roles advising on Royal Dutch Shell’s £47bn acquisition of BG Group – likely to be one of the biggest M&A deals this year.
In-house: Graham Vinter set to retire as BG Group appoints a new GC
In-house heavyweight Graham Vinter is set to retire as the general counsel (GC) of BG Group later this year, with Norwegian aluminium manufacturer Sapa’s GC, Tom Melbye Eide, lined up to take on the role from 1 September.
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No judicial experience required: Judiciary rolls out diversity initiative for deputy High Court judge roles
In a move to boost diversity within judicial ranks, the judiciary has begun piloting a new initiative to allow candidates from ‘non-traditional backgrounds’ to apply for positions as deputy High Court judges without gaining judicial experience first.
‘Committed to the Russian market’: Chadbourne & Parke hires BLP energy partner to manage Moscow office
After shutting down its Kiev operations last summer, Chadbourne & Parke has boosted its presence in Russia with the hire of energy partner Andrei Baev from Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) as Moscow managing partner.
Dealwatch: Bakers and A&O deliver as FedEx looks to buy TNT for €4.4bn
Baker & McKenzie and Allen & Overy (A&O) have both won places advising on US delivery service FedEx’s €4.4bn agreement to buy Dutch rival TNT Express as the company looks to boost its European capabilities and global footprint.
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Seeking £3.4bn in damages: Clifford Chance and Travers Smith lead on HP High Court contest with Autonomy founders
Clifford Chance and Travers Smith have taken lead roles advising on the £3.4bn dispute between Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Autonomy founder Michael Lynch and its former chief financial officer Sushovan Hussain regarding allegations of fraudulent accounting.
Partner promotions: Trowers promotes nine as Debevoise makes up third of six-strong round in the City
Continuing the trend of bumper partner promotions by law firms this year, Trowers & Hamlins has made up more than double the number of lawyers it did in 2014 with nine joining the partnership, while Debevoise & Plimpton, which has missed London out in recent years, made up a third of its round in the City.