Page 574 – Legal Business

PwC boosts energy capability with hire of NRF head of nuclear Fiona Reilly

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has boosted its nuclear energy capability with the hire of longstanding Norton Rose Fulbright energy partner and head of nuclear services Fiona Reilly, the third departure from the top 10 LB100 firm’s London office this month.

Reilly joined the now 2647-lawyer firm in January 1999, having previously worked in-house as commercial counsel at UK nuclear steam turbine producer Alstom.

During her time at Norton Rose Reilly, who became a partner in 2011, was seconded to Star Energy as its general counsel, advising on corporate and commercial issues. Continue reading “PwC boosts energy capability with hire of NRF head of nuclear Fiona Reilly”

UK IPO uptick forecast for 2014 as Freshfields secures Poundland float

Partners are forecasting a further uptick in UK initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2014 with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer emerging as the latest major firm to win a role on a company looking for a London listing, as discount retailer Poundland puts together a team to advise it on the company’s next steps.

Poundland’s private equity owner Warburg Pincus – Freshfields’ client – has lined up financial advisers JP Morgan and Credit Suisse to look for a route to market. The deal is understood to be being led by Freshfields corporate partner Adrian Maguire, with the company currently valued at between £400-£500m and expected to float early next year. It is thought that Allen & Overy is advising the underwriters on the deal. Continue reading “UK IPO uptick forecast for 2014 as Freshfields secures Poundland float”

Redundancy watch: Norton Rose Fulbright reveals 30 job cuts in Australia

Norton Rose Fulbright has made 30 staff redundant throughout its Australian offices, including 12 fee-earners and 18 support staff. The firm stated this was ‘not a change that is happening in any other region than Australia – it is a local response to a local market.’

A spokesperson for the firm added: ‘This was a difficult decision and we are doing all that we can to support those affected. Like other professional services firms in Australia, we have responded to changes in the local market. We will continue to concentrate on our primary areas of growth: financial institutions; energy; infrastructure, mining and commodities; transport; technology and innovation; and life sciences and healthcare.’ Continue reading “Redundancy watch: Norton Rose Fulbright reveals 30 job cuts in Australia”

Continue reading “Nabarro to launch Middle East ‘hub’ in Dubai”

Nabarro to launch Middle East ‘hub’ in Dubai

Nabarro is to open an office in Dubai early next year following the Dubai government’s granting of a licence to the firm, in what will become its third international office.

Announced today (21 November), the new office will be led by construction and engineering head Terry Fleet, a former in-house lawyer at Costain, Babcock International and Trafalgar House (Cementation International). Further team members at partner and associate level will be added around the time of the launch.

Continue reading “HSF fallout continues as two Freehills partners quit firm in Singapore”

HSF fallout continues as two Freehills partners quit firm in Singapore

The fallout from last year’s combination of Herbert Smith and Australia’s Freehills continues to rumble on, with news that HSF‘s Singapore office has been weakened by two senior departures.

Former Freehills Singapore managing partner John Dick has left the firm following corporate partner Geoffrey Grice’s move to Duane Morris & Selvan in Singapore.

Dick is named in The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific as a leading individual for projects and energy, while Brice joined Freehills in 2009 from the state solicitor’s office of Western Australia and has over 20 years’ experience advising on major projects and cross-border transactions in Europe and Asia Pacific.

H1 2013/14: A&O discloses revenue rise of 7.5%

The first of the Magic Circle firms to disclose its 2013/14 half year (H1) results, Allen & Overy (A&O) has done so in reasonable style, starting the year with a 7.5% rise in revenues thanks in large part to strong performances in its litigation and finance practices.

H1 turnover at the 2,700-lawyer firm increased to £608m, marking a significant improvement on this time last year, when its 2012/13 H1 revenues dipped by 2.7% on the previous year from £582m to £566m.

While A&O, in keeping with the majority of City firms does not disclose its mid-term profits, managing partner Wim Dejonghe (pictured) told Legal Business that the results were ‘encouraging’. Continue reading “H1 2013/14: A&O discloses revenue rise of 7.5%”

Continue reading “Enhancing the brand: US IP specialist launches in London”

Enhancing the brand: US IP specialist launches in London

One of the strongest intellectual property firms in the US, Washington DC-based Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner, has launched an office in the highly competitive London market in a bid to strengthen its European patent practice.

The launch follows the closure of the firm’s Brussels practice announced in August, which will officially shut down early next year once the logistics of transferring to London have been finalised.

Two partners have relocated from Brussels to London to set up shop at 16 Old Bailey – previously home to litigation shop Quinn Emanuel, while a further lateral hire is set to join in January 2014.

Continue reading “In-house: former Thomson Reuters group GC resurfaces at Rentokil”

In-house: former Thomson Reuters group GC resurfaces at Rentokil

The former Europe & Asia general counsel (GC) of global multimedia giant Thomson Reuters, Daragh Fagan, has resurfaced at UK-based support services company Rentokil Initial as group GC.

Following the merger of Thomson and Reuters in 2007, an $8.7bn deal that created the world’s largest provider of financial news and information, Fagan was appointed from legacy Reuters as GC for the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions, after joining from Italian energy group ENI in the summer of 2007.

Having been further appointed as GC for the Europe and Asia regions in January Fagan, a former Herbert Smith lawyer, departed the media giant in the summer and took up his new position at Rentokil, which offers a mix of services including pest control and workwear, in September.

Continue reading “Team work in the public sector as Bevan Brittan joins forces with Harrow and Barnet councils”

Team work in the public sector as Bevan Brittan joins forces with Harrow and Barnet councils

The dividing line between private practice and public legal services providers is blurring again with Harrow and Barnet councils unveiling a new partnership with Bevan Brittan as the two local authorities become the first to apply for an alternative business structure (ABS) licence.

Harrow and Barnet councils, which came together in September last year to create HB Public Law (HBPL) and already provide services a small number of other local authorities, will work in a joint venture with Bevan Brittan to offer combined legal services to both existing and new public services clients, drawing on complementary resources from both sides.

Positive financials continue as Simmons & Simmons posts an 8% increase in H1 revenues

Top-20 Legal Business 100 firm Simmons & Simmons has reported an 8% increase in revenues for the half year (H1) 2013/14, rising from £121m at this point last year to £130.7m.

The firm has reported improved performance across all practice groups. This represents a reversal in fortunes for the firm, who last year reported a 3% dip in revenues at the half-year stage, attributed at the time to problems in the Eurozone.

The revenues posted are also much stronger than the firm’s full 2012-13 results, which were broadly flat with a 1% dip to £250.3m, with profit per equity partner also staying more or less flat at £525,000. Continue reading “Positive financials continue as Simmons & Simmons posts an 8% increase in H1 revenues”

Some eye watering growth statistics later and its goodbye from Latham’s Bob Dell

When the ordinarily press-shy chair and managing partner of Latham & Watkins, Robert Dell, gave Legal Business his first-ever in depth interview in 2005, the interview began by reminding the reader that ‘Latham & Watkins used to be little more than a Los Angeles-based tax firm with ideas above its station.’

At the time of that interview Dell, who is widely recognised as one of the greatest law firm leaders of his time, had already been at the helm for ten years, since when revenues had grown an eye watering billion dollars, from $260m to $1.2bn in 2004, with profits per equity partner (PEP) having doubled from $550,000 to $1.4m.

Scroll forward almost another decade to last week’s announcement that Dell is retiring, and the most up to date comparative data again serves as a stark reminder of just how far the firm has come. Continue reading “Some eye watering growth statistics later and its goodbye from Latham’s Bob Dell”

Continue reading “Hill Dickinson sees H1 revenues up 6% following summer cash call”

Hill Dickinson sees H1 revenues up 6% following summer cash call

Top-40 LB100 firm Hill Dickinson has posted a half year increase in revenues from £54.9m from £51.9m this time last year, after asking members to increase their capital contributions during the summer.

The 520-lawyer firm issued a £2.8m cash call in August after a year of heavy investment, including opening an office in Monte Carlo and Hong Kong. The firm then underwent a strategic review earlier this year which included the sale of its Chester office in July to Knights Solicitors and announcing 83 redundancies.

On your merit: RPC abolishes flat rate salary for NQs

City law firm RPC has taken the final steps to adopting an entirely merit driven pay model as it today (19 November) announced that from September 2014 it will abolish the traditional flat rate salary for newly-qualified solicitors (NQs) in the UK, and subsequently move to a system linked to merit and market rates.

In a move said to take into account what is happening in other sectors and the pressures that clients are under to achieve value, the firm will operate a variable pay scale where the strongest NQs entering their careers ‘in the most competitive areas of the profession,’ will be eligible to earn salaries above those currently offered by major City firms, a firm statement said today. Continue reading “On your merit: RPC abolishes flat rate salary for NQs”

NRF loses second competition veteran as Mark Jones joins Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells has confirmed its latest lateral hire is Norton Rose Fulbright longstanding antitrust partner Mark Jones, who is to join the antitrust, competition and economic regulation (ACER) practice at the transatlantic firm in the New Year.

Jones is experienced in various aspects of competition law including behavioural and market investigations, merger control and compliance and utilities regulation, across the energy, infrastructure, insurance, and retail sectors. Continue reading “NRF loses second competition veteran as Mark Jones joins Hogan Lovells”

Panel win: Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ announces first-ever EMEA line-up

One of Japan’s largest banks, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) today announced its first-ever panel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with eight leading City firms appointed as preferred advisers after a process described by the bank as ‘extremely competitive.’

Allen & Overy (A&O), Linklaters and Ashurst won places on BTMU’s preferred panel alongside Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose Fulbright, Slaughter and May and White & Case. Continue reading “Panel win: Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ announces first-ever EMEA line-up”