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Guest post: My thoughts (as a citizen) on Lord Sumption’s Azlan Shah lecture

On 20 November, Lord Sumption (Justice of the Supreme Court) delivered the 27th Sultan Azlan Shah Lecture in Kuala Lumpur – The Limits of Law. This was followed by Lord Justice Laws on 27th November in the Hamlyn Lectures 2013 – see Lecture 3 Common Law and Europe. A further lecture on human rights was delivered in Warwick by Lady Hale (Deputy President of the Supreme Court) on 28th November – Lady Hale at the Warwick Law Lecture 2013 – What’s the point of human rights?

These speeches / lectures are not only legally informative but they reveal something of the personalities of the speakers and their attitudes to the vastly important topic of human rights protection as it applies both in Europe and in the UK. Continue reading “Guest post: My thoughts (as a citizen) on Lord Sumption’s Azlan Shah lecture”

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Moscow team hire: Goltsblat BLP take on real estate trio from Akin Gump

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has bolstered its global real estate capability with the hire of a rated three partner team from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s Moscow office.

The team, which is set to join Goltsblat BLP in mid-January 2014, includes the current head of Akin Gump’s real estate practice in Russia, Vladislav Sourkov, who will be joined by his colleagues Rustam Aliev and Dmitry Maltsev. Sourkov is described by The Legal 500 as ‘dedicated, experienced, and very driven on client service’. Continue reading “Moscow team hire: Goltsblat BLP take on real estate trio from Akin Gump”

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LSB recommends patent and trademark firm regulator become ABS licensing authority

Increasing numbers of patent and trademark firms can be expected to join the swathes of legal entities becoming alternative business structures (ABS) after their regulatory body won the support of the Legal Services Board (LSB) to become an ABS licensing authority.

In one of three significant recommendations made this week by the LSB to the Lord Chancellor, the regulatory body recommended that the Intellectual Property Regulation Board (IPReg) – the joint regulatory body for the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys and Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys – be awarded ABS licensing authority status, meaning patent and trade mark firms will be able to operate as ABSs under IPReg’s governance. Continue reading “LSB recommends patent and trademark firm regulator become ABS licensing authority”

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Updated deal watch: Hogan Lovells wins £40bn Student Loans Company debt sell off

Following a six-month tender process the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) has appointed Hogan Lovells to advise on the sale of the £40bn Student Loans Company (SLC) debt portfolio.

In July BIS invited tenders for legal advice on the monetisation of the SLC’s loans portfolio, which is likely to take place either through a sale to the private sector or securitisation. Invited firms had until 23 August to submit their bids and BIS confirmed to Legal Business late on Friday 6 December that Hogan Lovells was ‘recently’ notified that it is the successful bidder. Continue reading “Updated deal watch: Hogan Lovells wins £40bn Student Loans Company debt sell off”

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Comment: Victories, defeats and growing up – Ashurst faces up to life after Charlie

Here’s one anecdote that didn’t make it into this month’s extended focus on Ashurst. Sometime soon after the firm had pulled back from its late-1990s dalliance with Clifford Chance (CC), the first of three public failed merger bids for the firm, at least one partner had second thoughts. An overture was made to the Magic Circle firm to enquire if the discussions were worth re-kindling. The response from CC: ‘The window of opportunity opens… and then it closes’.

And there you have it. Flatfooted and left behind by a thrusting Magic Circle firm.

Continue reading “Comment: Victories, defeats and growing up – Ashurst faces up to life after Charlie”

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Team hire: Pinsents boosts Paris practice with TMT hires from local boutique

Pinsent Masons has launched a Paris TMT practice with a six-strong team from Paris-based boutique technology firm Ichay & Mullenex Avocats (IMA).

Led by partners Diane Mullenex and Frédéric Ichay, along with Annabelle Richards who joins as a legal director, the team will bolster Pinsents’ around 25-strong French base, which opened in September 2012 and includes 10 partners.

Since forming in 2004, IMA has focused on technology, telecoms, e-commerce transactions and in regulated online businesses, including gaming and gambling and is recommended in The Legal 500.

Continue reading “Team hire: Pinsents boosts Paris practice with TMT hires from local boutique”

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A carve-out before Christmas – HSF agrees compromise to (largely) unite post-merger partner pay

It was a long time coming but Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has finally agreed a compromise to unite equity partner pay just over a year after the union of Herbert Smith and Australian leader Freehills.

The deal will see the two firms combine their partnerships under a ‘global managed lockstep’, a break from previous attempts to usher in more radical performance-based rewards for the combined partnership.

As Legal Business reported three weeks ago, the firm has decided to allow legacy Freehills some latitude when it comes to how they pay their partners.

Continue reading “A carve-out before Christmas – HSF agrees compromise to (largely) unite post-merger partner pay”

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Redundancy watch: Pannone to make job cuts following Slater & Gordon takeover

Manchester’s Pannone is offering voluntary redundancies to around 100 staff as a result of its recently announced takeover by Slater & Gordon (S&G).

As reported by RollOnFriday today (9 December), there will be no compulsory redundancies but Pannone has informed around 100 individuals that it is unlikely that there will be positions waiting for them at S&G. Neither Pannone nor S&G would comment when contacted by Legal Business.

Continue reading “Redundancy watch: Pannone to make job cuts following Slater & Gordon takeover”

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Ashurst delves into Magic Circle for Linklaters DCM partner as Beddow named corporate co-head

Ashurst has tapped into the magic circle in a bid to strengthen its finance practice, hiring Linklaters debt capital markets (DCM) partner Francis Kucera to its City-based securities and derivatives practice.

In his new role, Kucera will strengthen Ashurst’s DCM offering in the emerging markets. He joins a two-partner team – including former Linklaters’ colleague Stephen Edlmann who joined in 2010 and Clifford Chance senior associate Derwin Jenkinson, who joined as a partner in January this year. The team is led by Anna Delgado, who joined from Allen & Overy ten years ago.

Continue reading “Ashurst delves into Magic Circle for Linklaters DCM partner as Beddow named corporate co-head”

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

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Former Times head of legal Alastair Brett suspended for six months for misleading court

The former head of legal for The Times newspaper, Alastair Brett, has been suspended from practising for six months by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) for misleading a court and ‘failing to act with integrity’ in litigation over the naming of anonymous Nightjack police blogger Detective Richard Horton in 2009, an SRA statement confirmed this morning (6 December).

Brett was suspended yesterday (to take effect from 16 December) after the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) told the tribunal that in June 2009, while conducting litigation in the High Court on behalf of The Times, Brett ‘knowingly or recklessly allowed a witness statement to be served in support of its defence which created a misleading impression’.

Continue reading “Former Times head of legal Alastair Brett suspended for six months for misleading court”

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Germany: McDermott hires Ashurst Munich partner to head private equity

Ashurst has lost a second senior partner in Germany as Nikolaus von Jacobs leaves to head up McDermott Will & Emery’s Munich private equity practice, citing a growing interest among US private equity funds in European investment opportunities.

Von Jacobs, who previously headed Ashurst’s local private equity team, specialises in venture capital, public and private M&A as well as private equity. One of his main clients is  independent Luxembourg-based fund Palero Capital. Continue reading “Germany: McDermott hires Ashurst Munich partner to head private equity”

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Bond Dickinson wins AIG tender for volume contract work

 

Following a competitive tender process between five of its panel law firms, AIG has awarded its bulk contract work to Bond Dickinson, as the insurance giant’s general counsel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Chris Newby focuses his team on more strategic, higher level legal work.

AIG concluded its main panel review in September, appointing a 25-strong list of advisers, including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Berwin Leighton Paisner and DLA Piper.

A secondary tendering process was conducted among five panel firms for the job of updating and modernising hundreds of medium risk, high-volume but low-value contracts with AIG’s providers.

Continue reading “Bond Dickinson wins AIG tender for volume contract work”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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