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Ireland: Tracking Dublin’s Young Tigers

Man walking upstairs with Irish flag printed on

Ireland is breathing a little easier again. With more than five years of economic turbulence battering both businesses and reputations, the nation has finally managed to hoist itself out of recession. Having officially exited its €67.5bn bailout programme in December 2013 – a move described by finance minister Michael Noonan as Ireland being ‘handed back her purse’ – this summer also saw the Central Statistics Office announce economic growth of 2.7% for the first quarter of 2014.

While the situation is still deemed perilous in many parts, with a mammoth public deficit, a woeful property market and high unemployment, a sense of confidence is returning to Ireland’s legal elite. And such is the battle-hardened resilience of the young lawyers that made partner around the time the economy crumbled – including those at Arthur Cox, McCann FitzGerald, A&L Goodbody, William Fry, Matheson and others – that a crop of up-and-coming individuals are emerging as the next generation of stars to define Ireland’s legal market in the years ahead. Continue reading “Ireland: Tracking Dublin’s Young Tigers”

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After a patchy 2013 and a high-profile finance departure, can Weil sustain its City momentum?

Tom Moore assesses the recent upheaval at Weil and talks to City head Francies about its ambitions

Life has never been dull at the City arm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, but even those familiar with the firm’s eventful run since its launch in the mid-1990s turned their heads at the departure this summer of Stephen Lucas for Kirkland & Ellis. The former Linklaters partner, whose exit came shortly before his three-year guaranteed pay package expired, had been regarded as highly successful at building a deal finance team at Weil.

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Protection rackets – behind the controversy of looming reforms on insuring law firms

The insurance regime for law firms faces more upheaval amid reforms to rules on minimum cover. Legal Business assesses the latest controversy

In July, following a short consultation earlier this summer, the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) announced a number of reforms, including proposals to reduce the minimum compulsory cover levels for professional indemnity insurance (PII) from £2m to £500,000 and the requirement that law firms assess the PII cover level appropriate for their work themselves.

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A&O joins US firms on Walgreens’ acquisition of Alliance Boots

US advisers take the lead on £5.6bn takeover of UK institution

The Walgreen Company has instructed New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Allen & Overy (A&O) to handle its acquisition of the remaining 55% of Nottingham-based chemist Alliance Boots in a £5.6bn deal.

The pharmacy giant already has a 45% stake in the group, which owns UK high-street favourite Boots, which it acquired in August 2012. This new deal will create the combined entity of Walgreens Boots Alliance, with more than 11,000 stores in ten countries and a portfolio of retail and business brands.

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Dechert gains Singapore licence after eight-month wait as PwC completes local tie-up

Dechert and PwC step into Singapore as global players sustain push into key Asian hub

This summer saw continued interest by advisers in the Asian legal market, as top-50 US firm Dechert finally received the green light to open an office in Singapore eight months after applying for a Foreign Legal Practice licence. Meanwhile, Big Four accountancy giant PwC made a move to enhance its legal offering in the Asia-Pacific region, having entered into a tie-up in Singapore with local firm Camford Law.

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Chadbourne closes Kiev arm as Freshfields duo set up in Barcelona

Political tension and economic turbulence have seen more law firms retrench in the wider European region, with Chadbourne & Parke and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer both confirming office closures. US firm Chadbourne last month confirmed that it was closing its Kiev office, a move which saw Dentons benefit as it snapped up Kiev-based corporate partner Adam Mycyk. Meanwhile, a pair of Freshfields lawyers have established an IP/IT specialist boutique following the closure of the Magic Circle firm’s Barcelona office in April this year.

Mycyk, who is also the former managing partner for CMS Cameron McKenna’s Kiev office, will join Dentons as a partner in its corporate practice just 18 months after moving to Chadbourne.

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A chance to turn the corner for the SFO but a high-stakes test on ‘blockbuster’ cases could define its fate

Michael West assesses the prospects for the agency after settlement of the Tchenguiz claims

He was always going to have a painfully full in-tray on taking over as head of the troubled Serious Fraud Office (SFO) a little over two years ago, but even against that context, the previous 12 months must have looked something like an annus horribilis to David Green QC. Lows during this period saw the Public Accounts Committee issue trenchant criticism of the body, important investigation documents misplaced and the chaotic collapse of the trial against Victor Dahdaleh.

Continue reading “A chance to turn the corner for the SFO but a high-stakes test on ‘blockbuster’ cases could define its fate”

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The Target – will tougher measures finally boost gender diversity in the City?

Faced with dire rates of female retention, law firms have abandoned previous resistance to public gender targets for their partnerships. Will it work?

It had been a fairly dry debate at the 2013 Georgetown Law panel discussion in London, covering a number of worthy issues facing the profession. Dry at least until near the end, when a Legal Business journalist on the panel told the sizeable audience of lawyers that law firms were perfectly able to function commercially while haemorrhaging female lawyers, the caveat being that if the profession was waiting for economic drivers to solve the gender diversity dilemma, it would be a long wait. The journalist then mentioned that the profession may want to consider more drastic measures.

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LB100: The Second 50 – Ports and Storms

As some seasoned campaigners of the second half of the LB100 prepare to move up a class through mergers, a few City-based specialists continue to defy the tide of consolidation.

Of the merger activity that has swept through the Legal Business 100 (LB100) this year, it is the mid-market City players and national heavyweights that occupy the second 50 of the LB100 that have been most affected.

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Life During Law: Neel Sachdev, Kirkland & Ellis

I had training offers from a couple of Magic Circle firms, but I chose SJ Berwin because at that time they were at the forefront of private equity – it was a dynamic firm then. On qualification I wanted to be a finance lawyer and felt I would have got strong technical training in a firm like Freshfields.

I moved to Kirkland as a fourth year to develop business. I felt there would be more freedom to develop client-winning skills as well as doing deals. I am happy with my choices. It wasn’t a conscious decision that private equity would be such a prominent area – I’ve enjoyed a lot of luck.

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Dissent: Platitudes and a missed debate – how GCs are pushed off their ethical course

Paul Gilbert argues that lazy thinking and perverse incentives are dulling the ethical and intellectual edge of in-house counsel

It’s stated so often but never questioned: everywhere you turn, in-house lawyers pay tribute to the holy grail of ‘being commercial’. But, as I will argue, such an approach raises substantive and troubling questions regarding the influence on the ethical compass that is supposed to be an in-house lawyer’s most important tool.

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LB100: The Last Word – Market Comment

From collaboration to rough quarters to restoring market confidence, leaders at Legal Business 100 firms give us their views on the last financial year and the next 12-18 months.

Persistent challenges

‘I feel very optimistic about the economy and therefore the opportunities. Any firm would be foolish in thinking the challenges have gone and those challenges continue to be how we deliver immaculate service and efficiencies to our clients. The market as a whole is still over-lawyered and that challenge remains. It’s still fiercely competitive.’

Monica Burch, senior partner, Addleshaw Goddard

 

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Efficiency as a driver of legal innovation

Thomson Reuters looks at the exciting future of legal services in the wake of a rapidly changing legal market.

If the changes that have taken place in the legal market over the past two years are any indication of what lies ahead, the future of legal services is set to be an exciting one. Mergers and acquisitions, new entrants to the market, economic pressures and evolving client demands have combined to create an environment in which innovative organisations can thrive.

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Achieving financial independence is so much easier if you create a plan

Towry’s Chris Cole explains how they help legal partners achieve lifetime financial goals

Over the many years we have been working with law firms, we have found that partners typically have common aspirations from a financial point of view. Chief among these is usually the desire to become ‘financially independent’ – in other words, working out when enough is really enough to achieve the future they want for themselves and their families. However, legal partners are incredibly busy people and so they invariably do not have the time to personally put together a plan to help them achieve this goal.

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Professional indemnity: PI insurance – dos and don’ts

Marsh’s Sandra Neilson-Moore reflects on the process of applying for professional indemnity insurance, with some added thoughts on cyber liability

Professional indemnity (PI) insurance is a crucial component of the business risk management ‘toolkit’ of any law firm. In this country of course it is compulsory that a minimum amount of such insurance is purchased. This minimum amount is quite small (and may yet become smaller still), but the fact of the matter is that any sensible law firm/practising solicitor will want to purchase as much coverage, with as broad a scope of protection, as they can reasonably afford, and which they believe will meet their needs, and the needs and expectations of their clients.

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