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The end of the pipeline: Herbert Smith Freehills and Simmons advise AO on float to attain $1bn market cap

A healthy pipeline of London Stock Exchange listings has seen Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) advise online appliances website AO on its proposed initial public offering (IPO), with the small-beginnings Bolton white goods company reportedly expected to attain a market capitalisation of around £1bn upon listing.

The HSF team is being led by equity capital markets (ECM) partner Chris Haynes and includes US-qualified global head of capital markets Steve Thierbach and corporate partner Mike Flockhart. AO, which sells items from fridges to coffee machines through its website, said in a statement last Friday that it plans to raise £60m from the IPO.

Continue reading “The end of the pipeline: Herbert Smith Freehills and Simmons advise AO on float to attain $1bn market cap”

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Comment: the rising stars in-house – bluechip legal teams are bursting with talent

The first Legal Business edition of the year coincides with a major project for us: the second edition of our popular GC Power List, which launched last year. The idea is straightforward: we research in-house and private practice to identify a list of outstanding individuals who demonstrate the influence and rising clout that has come to define the modern in-house profession.

While the first report focused on senior GCs, for the second edition we have taken on the challenge of addressing the best performers coming into their own during their 30s and early 40s – the GCs of tomorrow. Continue reading “Comment: the rising stars in-house – bluechip legal teams are bursting with talent”

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Investment funds: Schulte Roth to grow London practice with move to bigger City premises

Schulte Roth & Zabel’s (SRZ’s) 80-strong top-tier transatlantic funds practice is set to grow after the US firm announced this week it is to move to bigger premises in the City on the back of increasing demand from its European clients.

The firm aims to grow its international practice focusing on cross-border insolvencies, restructurings, distressed mergers and acquisitions, distressed investing and debt trading. Continue reading “Investment funds: Schulte Roth to grow London practice with move to bigger City premises”

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In-house: face of BT Law to change after Miles Jobling steps aside

The face of BT Law, having last year secured a licence from the Solicitors Regulation Authority to hive off BT’s successful motor claims business into an alternative business structure (ABS), Miles Jobling has now handed over his lead role to Sheffield-based co-founder Archana Makol.

Makol has become the Compliance Officer of the Legal Practice (COLP) for BT Law, as most of the division’s contracts are processed out of Sheffield and a spokesperson for the telecoms giant explained: ‘The COLP role is very important and needs the person to be very close to the day-to-day operation.’ Continue reading “In-house: face of BT Law to change after Miles Jobling steps aside”

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LLP latest: Speechly points to owed client fees for fall in profits as Ashurst and Hill Dicks also post profit drop

Private-client focused Speechly Bircham has become one of the latest LB100 firm to post its limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts at Companies House, blaming its near-double digit drop in profits on fees due from one client despite overall cash collection having improved.

The top 60 firm, which revealed a broadly flat revenue, down 0.9% to £57m from £57.6m for the 2012/13 financial year, saw a 9% pre-tax profit slide to £18.4m from £20.1m. Continue reading “LLP latest: Speechly points to owed client fees for fall in profits as Ashurst and Hill Dicks also post profit drop”

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Skadden’s London head Buck steps down as the City claims global management positions in energy and litigation

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom’s longstanding European head Bruce Buck has stepped down from his role as London head as the leading Wall Street firm also makes a series of senior appointments that have seen a shift in power to the City.

After 25 years as Skadden’s City head, London-office founder Buck (pictured) has been replaced by corporate partner Pranav Trivedi. Buck will continue to serve as the firm’s European head. Continue reading “Skadden’s London head Buck steps down as the City claims global management positions in energy and litigation”

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NRF unveils rise in bank loans to £55m but drop in net debt as South African partner appointed as global chair

Norton Rose’s last pre-Fulbright & Jaworski merger limited liability partnership accounts reveal that the top 10 LB100 firm’s bank loans rose from £47m to £55m during 2013, with the amount repayable within one year up from £3.3m to £16m, although its net debt has been cut by over two thirds.

The firm, which this week named South African chairman Sbu Gule as its new global chairman, was in 2013 due to repay £34m of bank loans in between two and five years, up on a figure of £4,830 in 2012. Continue reading “NRF unveils rise in bank loans to £55m but drop in net debt as South African partner appointed as global chair”

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Three’s company: BLP’s former head of restructuring Ben Larkin joins Jones Day

The third partner to leave Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) for Jones Day in under six months, former head of restructuring and insolvency Ben Larkin has joined the top 10 Global100 law firm’s 100 lawyer-strong global restructuring practice.

Described as ‘an excellent operator’ by the Legal 500, during his time at BLP Larkin advised on stand out mandates such as the restructuring of companies in the TXU Group and acted for RBS in the restructuring of Le Méridien hotel group. Continue reading “Three’s company: BLP’s former head of restructuring Ben Larkin joins Jones Day”

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In-house: Shell finds internal replacement for Rees as it picks Ching as legal head

Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell has this time found an in-house replacement legal director Peter Rees QC, today (10 February) announcing former Singapore legal head Donny Ching as its new legal director with immediate effect.

UK-qualified Ching, whose most recent role was general counsel for Shell’s project and technology business replaces litigator Rees, who surprised many when he announced his departure last month – three years after joining Shell from Debevoise & Plimpton.

Continue reading “In-house: Shell finds internal replacement for Rees as it picks Ching as legal head”

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O Canada! DLA Piper in talks with Heenan Blaikie partners to set up in Toronto and Calgary

Long having eyed a Canadian presence, DLA Piper confirmed today (7 February) that it is in talks with a group of partners from the Toronto and Calgary offices of top-tier local firm Heenan Blaikie, which announced earlier this week that it is to wind down its operations following a wave of partner departures.

The discussions, which come as a management re-shuffle at the top 10 LB100 firm announced this week will see current co-chief executive and managing partner Sir Nigel Knowles take over from Tony Angel as co-chair, could provide a long sought after entry to a market that has in recent years seen the arrival of firms such as Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) and Clyde & Co. Continue reading “O Canada! DLA Piper in talks with Heenan Blaikie partners to set up in Toronto and Calgary”

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Comment: Magna Carta, bribery and a bit of confusion – Global Law Summit starts the countdown

It turns out that hundreds of years of legal history waits not even for Bob Crow so Thursday evening (6 February) saw an opening countdown to the planned Global Law Summit, the sort of Government-backed venture to celebrate the Magna Carta, English traditions of rule of law and the UK’s role as a legal services leader.

As such, a sizeable group of senior figures from across the profession braved a grid-locked London and variable security arrangements at Mansion House to hear a debate on bribery law and flag up the Global Law Summit planned for next year to mark 800 years of the drafting of Magna Carta. Continue reading “Comment: Magna Carta, bribery and a bit of confusion – Global Law Summit starts the countdown”

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Cost cutting and near-shoring – Field Fisher Waterhouse ties up with Manchester’s Heatons

Following last year’s announcement from Field Fisher Waterhouse that it was looking to move a number of its London support functions to Manchester in a bid to cut costs, the top 40 LB100 has merged with local boutique Heatons.

Field Fisher’s partnership voted last week to merge with Heatons, which specialises in real estate, corporate and intellectual property. In 2006 the now single-site Manchester firm lost its Birmingham office to Clarke Willmott, leaving it with just 12 fee earners at the time including three partners, which has subsequently dropped to eight fee earners, led by managing partner Matthew Fleetwood. Continue reading “Cost cutting and near-shoring – Field Fisher Waterhouse ties up with Manchester’s Heatons”

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Seoul searching: Stephenson Harwood hires DLA Piper’s South Korea head Michael Kim

With five of its nine overseas offices in South and East Asia, it is perhaps unsurprising that Stephenson Harwood has become the latest UK firm to make plans to open in the burgeoning Seoul market, with the hire of DLA Piper’s local office head and litigation partner Michael Kim.

Kim brings with him a developed reputation in South Korea and experience in shipping, ship finance, shipbuilding and offshore and general commercial litigation and arbitration matters.

However, the top 35 UK firm today (7 February) announced that it has yet to apply for a license to set up in Seoul and Kim will be based in London initially, in the anticipation of relocating to its latest Asian outpost when permission is granted. Continue reading “Seoul searching: Stephenson Harwood hires DLA Piper’s South Korea head Michael Kim”

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LLP latest: Mayer Brown sees revenue dip by 9.5% as Pinsents gains £20m from McGrigors merger

Mayer Brown has released its LLP results for the year ending 2012/13 for the UK business, reporting a 9.5% loss in revenues while profits are down by 5.5%.

The top 30 Global100 firm’s UK results filed with Companies House on 3 February show its turnover dropped from £105.9m in 2012 to £95.8m last year. Profits also dropped from £22m to £20.8m over the same period, while its operating profits fell from just under £31m in 2012 to £29.1m in 2013.

The firm’s net debt however, also fell to £25.6m in 2013 from nearly £34m in the previous year. Continue reading “LLP latest: Mayer Brown sees revenue dip by 9.5% as Pinsents gains £20m from McGrigors merger”

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Remaking legal education – after 18 years at Europe’s largest law school, Savage confirms retirement

In a career spanning dead-end jobs and the upper echelons of the global legal market, Nigel Savage, the man who almost certainly did more than any other individual to shake up legal education in the UK, has announced his retirement.

In a statement issued today (6 February), Savage confirmed his retirement as the president and provost of the University of Law after 18 years heading the institution. He stands down from 1 April 2014 to be succeeded by chief executive John Latham. Continue reading “Remaking legal education – after 18 years at Europe’s largest law school, Savage confirms retirement”

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In-house: BT selects Axiom to replace UnitedLex as new LPO provider

An innovator long at the vanguard of transforming the traditional in-house legal function, BT has just entered into a three-year contract with Axiom to provide legal support services across the UK, US, Africa, Middle East and Asia, replacing a contract formerly held by legal process outsourcing (LPO) provider UnitedLex.

All work previously undertaken by UnitedLex, which includes 30% of BT’s global services division’s legal work in the UK, transferred to Axiom on 1 February after a successful tender process that concluded towards the end of last year. Continue reading “In-house: BT selects Axiom to replace UnitedLex as new LPO provider”

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Revolving Doors: Key transactional and antitrust hires for Bakers, Bird & Bird, K&L Gates, Trowers, Reed Smith and Mayer Brown

With transactional activity on the rise international firms including Bird & Bird, K&L Gates, Trowers & Hamlins and Reed Smith have bolstered their European corporate and banking capability, while Baker & McKenzie and Mayer Brown have made appointments in the buoyant pharmaceutical and antitrust sectors respectively.

In London, Bakers on Monday (3 February) announced the hire of highly rated pharmaceutical lawyer Julian Thurston, a former partner and consultant at Morrison & Foerster, who joins the firm’s 450-lawyer global pharmaceutical and healthcare industry group as a consultant. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Key transactional and antitrust hires for Bakers, Bird & Bird, K&L Gates, Trowers, Reed Smith and Mayer Brown”

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USP: PwC to expand legal services with ‘under one roof’ pitch as LLP results show legal revenue up

PwC has plans to grow its legal services capability and promote to clients the obvious advantages of providing business and legal advice under one roof, after the Big Four accounting giant last week became the first of its direct competitors to secure alternative business structure (ABS) status from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

The firm announced on 31 January that it had received authorisation from the SRA to convert to an ABS, enabling it to own PwC Legal and consolidate its global network of over 2,000 lawyers, working in a far more joined up fashion with its legal arm. Continue reading “USP: PwC to expand legal services with ‘under one roof’ pitch as LLP results show legal revenue up”

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‘Go on, have a go’ – TLT partner joins DWF drawn by ‘huge number of opportunities’

The momentum and energy surrounding DWF’s rapid growth has been credited for its latest hire, TLT corporate partner Richard Tall, who arrived in the London office this month with two associates, bringing the top 30 firm’s national corporate practice to 31 partners.

Acting for bidders, targets and financial advisers including major listed companies, Tall (pictured), who joins with solicitors Joe Cobley and Caroline Urban, has experience in schemes of arrangement and rule 9 dispensations under the Takeover Code, as well as securities offers from unlisted bond issues to the Official List. Continue reading “‘Go on, have a go’ – TLT partner joins DWF drawn by ‘huge number of opportunities’”

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Guest post: The New World of Legal Work vs Global Behemoths

There’s an interesting tension between Sir Nigel Knowles prediction of legal behemoths straddling the globe with investment bankers outriders (or is it the other way round) whilst the remainder squabble over the scraps, downsize or fail (I may have sexed it up a bit, which it does not need; it’s a very interesting piece) and Jordan Furlong’s New World of Legal Work (a supercharged, short Susskind-esque parlez with the world of legal work in 2020 where firms are expected to be smaller). It too is an excellent read.

Let me pick up some of Jordan’s key points: Continue reading “Guest post: The New World of Legal Work vs Global Behemoths”