Page 571 – Legal Business

Continue reading “H1 2013/14: Nabarro points to pick up in corporate and real estate amid flat half year results”

H1 2013/14: Nabarro points to pick up in corporate and real estate amid flat half year results

Nabarro has posted flat half year (H1) revenues for the 2013/14 year, with figures rising by a marginal 0.3% from £52.3m to £52.5m, the firm announced yesterday (4 December).

Speaking to Legal Business, senior partner Graham Stedman (pictured) attributed the static results to a ‘quiet August and September’ but noted the firm has experienced a ‘pickup in real estate and corporate.’

He added: ‘As you come out of recession, although the market is still challenging, you would expect the non-contentious parts of the firm to pick up and that’s what we’re seeing now.

Continue reading “In-house: Transocean finds replacement general counsel after year-long search”

In-house: Transocean finds replacement general counsel after year-long search

Swiss-based offshore drilling contractor Transocean has appointed a new general counsel (GC) and senior vice president over a year after former legal chief Nick Deeming left the role.

Former GC, vice president legal affairs and secretary of Swedish-American automotive safety systems manufacturer Autoliv, Lars Sjöbring, will join Transocean next year when his current notice period expires.

Prior to joining Autoliv in 2007, Sjöbring – who has master of law degrees in Sweden, the Netherlands and the US – held the role of senior legal counsel and subsequently director legal, M&A at Nokia since joining the telecoms group in 2003.

Continue reading “Revolving doors: KWM disputes head joins Quinn Emanuel start-up in Sydney”

Revolving doors: KWM disputes head joins Quinn Emanuel start-up in Sydney

The fallout from upheaval within firms in the upper echelons of the Australian legal market continues with news today (5 December) that King & Wood Mallesons‘ (KWM) global head of disputes Beau Deleuil has quit to join Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan in Sydney.

The exit follows KWM merging with SJ Berwin, which went live on 1 November and after Deleuil was appointed to the newly created role of global practice co-ordinator of disputes.

The recruit is the third significant hire for US litigation boutique Quinn, which launched in Sydney in May this year after picking up two partners from another Anglo-Australian hybrid – Herbert Smith Freehills duo Michael Mills and Michelle Fox.

Continue reading “More for most or less for some? Links is latest top firm to sidle towards merit pay”

More for most or less for some? Links is latest top firm to sidle towards merit pay

Even at the top of the market, the slow march towards performance-driven pay for associates continues with Linklaters this week becoming the second top City player to unveil changes to its associate remuneration.

Linklaters is to introduce a performance-based element to salaries for its London-based associates with two years or more post-qualification experience (PQE) as part of what it dubs its ‘Our Deal’ strategy.

The City firm issued a somewhat obtuse statement over the move but the new model, which kicks in from 1 May 2014, is expected to see roughly 10% of pay handed out on the basis of individual merit past the two-year PQE point. An existing bonus scheme remains unchanged.

Continue reading “Supply and demands – will the cheap talent run out for GCs in 2014?”

Supply and demands – will the cheap talent run out for GCs in 2014?

With rising demand for in-house counsel, bluechip legal teams are hunting for talented lawyers. Legal Business surveys the recruitment outlook.

‘I do get asked “Why are you outsourcing work when you’ve got such a large team?”,’ says David Symonds, general counsel (GC) for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Tyco International.‘Of course, the reality is, when you look at benchmarking data, my team is actually two thirds of the size that it should be.’

Continue reading “After Charlie’s War – can Ashurst achieve post-merger prosperity under a new leader?”

After Charlie’s War – can Ashurst achieve post-merger prosperity under a new leader?

A recession-weary Ashurst has finalised a long-planned but high-stakes global merger – only to eject the leader synonymous with its brand and strategy. Is Ashurst heading for peace-time prosperity or factional warfare?

The former Ashurst partner sits back in his chair and reads the text message. Having asked a friend about the mood at Appold Street in the wake of Ashurst’s expected vote for integration with its Australian ally and unexpected vote that unseated its high-profile head Charlie Geffen, the text response is succinct: ‘It’s a mess!’ The ex-partner smiles. ‘Well, it’s hardly surprising.’

Continue reading “The New New Normal – a changing market beckons for 2014”

The New New Normal – a changing market beckons for 2014

The last three years have drawn to a close heralding another 12 months much like those that went before: depressing. The eurozone flirting with break-up, fiscal woes holding back Western economies and a subdued legal market. Check, check and check.

But drawing to the end of 2013, commercial lawyers are facing an outlook that is, in highly relative terms, not half bad. The word from senior City partners has been generally upbeat since the summer. The first half financial results have, if anything, exceeded those raised expectations. We are looking at the best set of like-for-like financial results seen for five years from major UK law firms. Even allowing for the weak comparison point of H1 2012/13, early numbers are robust across a wide range of firms.

Continue reading “‘Mishcon’ no more but a City player at last? Wragges needs a big deal and the old magic”

‘Mishcon’ no more but a City player at last? Wragges needs a big deal and the old magic

‘Wragge & Co was the Mishcon of its day.’ That statement from a former veteran of the Midlands giant sums it up in many ways.

In the late 1990s Wragges wasn’t just the best law firm the English regions had bred, it was a firm that broke the rules. The mix of flair, quality lawyering and an ability to astutely break away from the herd had few if any direct comparisons at the time. Wragges had a recognition and respect in the City absent from most national and regional competitors. More than that, Wragges stood out from rivals and could quicken the professional pulse in a way that Mishcon de Reya does today.

That’s not to say that the intervening years have been a disaster. The 119-partner firm remains a perfectly respectable performer. But along the way too many strategic shuffles and an uncertain crack at the City has stolen Wragges’ mystique. The firm also arguably allowed its practice to become too diffuse and lacked clarity over which section of the market it was focusing on, to the detriment of its corporate practice. Wragges’ famed morale is now, well, just like the rest.

Continue reading “How to win cases and influence people – litigation funding strives to go mainstream”

How to win cases and influence people – litigation funding strives to go mainstream

As third-party funders enjoy robust growth within a buoyant disputes climate, Legal Business assesses current attitudes towards litigation’s controversial bankrollers.

Third-party litigation funders have suffered bad PR for more than 40 years. Often depicted as lurking in the shadows of the courtroom, waiting to collect their share of damages, lawyers have historically been curiously wary of funders since their inception.

Continue reading “Profile: Chris Newby, AIG”

Profile: Chris Newby, AIG

As AIG’s general counsel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Chris Newby appears extraordinarily calm for a man in charge of a burgeoning portion of a $65.7bn business, that was described as on the brink of failure a couple of years ago.

Now, happily labelled as the ‘largest turnaround in corporate history’, things could easily have turned out very differently at New York-headquartered AIG. Newby’s apparent poise masks the prolonged period of extreme uncertainty and hard work that it took to get there. It’s unsurprising that he is still cautious, commenting: ‘There is no doubt there are signs of economic recovery, but we inevitably still face challenges.’

Continue reading “Punch above weight – the finance teams aiming to take on the City’s heavyweights”

Punch above weight – the finance teams aiming to take on the City’s heavyweights

As confidence begins to re-emerge at City finance teams, Legal Business profiles the mid-market players intent on challenging the Square Mile’s banking heavyweights

Bernard Sharp, global chair of the banking and finance group at Baker & McKenzie, may be tempting fate when he says: ‘The market has a lot in common now with the market in 2007.’ Still, his comment certainly reflects a more bullish mood among a cadre of players operating just below the largest six or seven banking practices in the City.

Continue reading “Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi launches first EMEA panel”

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi launches first EMEA panel

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) has announced its first-ever panel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), with eight leading City firms appointed after a process described as ‘extremely competitive’.

Allen & Overy (A&O), Linklaters and Ashurst won places, alongside Berwin Leighton Paisner, Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose Fulbright, Slaughter and May, and White & Case.

BTMU has also created a separate, confidential transactional panel on which the preferred firms have won a place, alongside ‘other market-leading firms in a range of different practice areas’, which the bank would not disclose.

Born of a merger between the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and UFJ Bank in 2006, BTMU approached a number of firms to apply for the panel, with an initial deadline of September.

Continue reading “How the dust settles – Germany’s profession is forever changed but singular still”

How the dust settles – Germany’s profession is forever changed but singular still

More than a decade after international law firms reshaped the market, Germany’s singular economy and culture is still refusing to simply conform to foreign notions. Legal Business reports.

Over the last 15 years, the German legal profession has obtained the dubious honour of being one of the most fractious major markets in the world. Today, both domestic and international law firms are still trying to come to terms with the inimitable characteristics of the economy and legal market. For many, the correct strategy is still a mystery.

Continue reading “BG Group slims down legal roster to three”

BG Group slims down legal roster to three

For a FTSE 100 company operating in 20 countries, BG Group’s panel of four law firms was already slim, but it just got slimmer, with news last month that Allen & Overy (A&O) and Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) have been dropped in favour of Clifford Chance (CC), which wins a place alongside incumbents CMS Cameron McKenna and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

The appointment of the firms – which will offer full-service advice to the energy giant – came into effect on 1 November and follows a relatively short pitch process, which began in September.

Continue reading “Reed Smith set for record year in London thanks to lateral push and sector focus”

Reed Smith set for record year in London thanks to lateral push and sector focus

David Stevenson reports on Reed Smith’s evolution into credible global contender

For a 1,500-lawyer, top-30 Global 100 firm, Reed Smith has a habit of quietly getting on with its business. This is despite having conducted three mergers since 2001; grown by around one jurisdiction a year; and made a series of high-profile City hires as it builds out from its core shipping and litigation foundations in the UK – in so doing significantly boosting its 2013 London revenues.

The resignation in October of global managing partner Greg Jordan was a rare senior departure for the nearly 700-partner law firm, which in London this year hired Clifford Chance (CC) structured finance and derivatives partner Claude Brown (after hiring his former colleague Peter Zaman in 2012); McDermott Will & Emery City energy partner Rashpaul Bahia; and DLA Piper media partner Askandar Samad.

Continue reading “The City elite is ready to try something new – are clients keeping up?”

The City elite is ready to try something new – are clients keeping up?

Eighteen months ago I met the general counsel (GC) of a FTSE 250 company to listen to his plans to parcel up parts of his deals, based on complexity, and hand each chunk to a different panel adviser based on skillset, capability and cost.

Until very recently, this level of micro-management – and the prospect that law firms would no longer be handed a deal lock, stock and barrel – was not going down well. Not long after meeting this GC, I sat between two well-known managing partners at a dinner and listened to them assert matter-of-factly that this sort of tinkering round the edges would never become mainstream.

Continue reading “Clifford Chance in line for windfall payment after PwC reaches European Lehman settlement”

Clifford Chance in line for windfall payment after PwC reaches European Lehman settlement

As latest payout confirmed to Lehman’s creditors, total US and UK costs soar to $2bn

Clifford Chance is among the creditors of the European operations of Lehman Brothers set to receive a windfall after administrator PwC announced a total payout of $7.8bn, the latest in a series of payments made to creditors of the former US investment bank as it nears the end of its mammoth winding-up process.

According to one partner at the Magic Circle firm, the payment could be as much as £10m and a spokesperson for PwC said creditors are likely to receive payment before the end of the calendar year.

Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2008, listing $639bn of assets against $613bn of outstanding debt but within days creditors filed claims of $1.2trn, double its assets.