The lateral hire market has been particularly active in Asia this week, with some of the most established international players in the region losing experienced partners.
The most notable move came in Japan, where US firm Bingham McCutchen has added seven White & Case lawyers to its investment funds team in Tokyo. Continue reading “Asia round-up: Bingham makes funds push in Tokyo while Eversheds launches in Beijing”
A handful of major corporate mandates were unveiled this week as private equity house Cinven kicked off its £1.4bn proposed initial public offering (IPO) of annuity provider Partnership Assurance Group and Severn Trent rejected a preliminary takeover offer by an international consortium.
Amidst signs of renewed confidence in the IPO market, Cinven has instructed Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer – led by corporate partners Mark Austin and Adrian Maguire – to advise on the float of Partnership Assurance, which Cinven acquired for €200m in 2008. Continue reading “Corporate stirrings: Cinven gifts Freshfields with IPO while HSF defends Severn Trent”
It’s been a busy week at Bar but not necessarily for the right reasons. While the Bar Council has appointed its first chief executive in two years, 39 Essex Street has announced it is to take a year out from recruiting pupils for following its merger with 4-5 Gray’s Inn last year. Meanwhile, controversial comments from Hardwicke Chambers’ Barbara Hewson have forced it to distance itself publicly from its own member. Continue reading “Bar round-up: Bar Council appoints chief executive while 39 Essex Street to suspend pupillages”
The increased importance of Turkey as strategic hub for international firms has been underlined with news that US firm Edwards Wildman Palmer is to open an office in Istanbul in association with local M&A and private equity boutique Ismen Law Firm.
The date of the opening will depend on regulatory approval by the Istanbul Bar Association but it will become the 600-lawyer firm’s the first office in the Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Northern Africa (CEEMENA) region. Continue reading “Edwards Wildman joins the ranks of international firms in Istanbul”
The appetite of Texan firms for the UK energy market shows no sign of abating with news that Houston-based Andrews Kurth is to follow neighbours Bracewell & Giuliani and Locke Lord into the City.
The Andrews Kurth launch is spearheaded by UK energy specialist Peter Roberts, who is leaving Ashurst two years after becoming partner. Continue reading “Global London: Andrews Kurth becomes latest Texan in City gold rush”
The lateral hires market has over the past week continued to defy an overall drop in activity as Bird & Bird, DWF, Dentons, Sidley Austin and Baker & McKenzie all made strategic hires.
Late last week 234-partner Bird & Bird was joined by Field Fisher Waterhouse (FFW) franchising partners Graeme Payne and Victoria Hobbs – a not unexpected move after the recent hire of high profile FFW IP and IT head Mark Abell, with whom the duo worked on a number of mandates and were widely tipped to follow. Last year the pair advised luxury shirt brand Thomas Pink on a franchise deal leading to the opening of stores across India. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Clutch of firms including Bird & Bird, Dentons and Sidley make key hires”
The brisk trade in private equity partners continues in the City with news today (15 March) that Shearman & Sterling has hired Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ experienced corporate partner Mark Soundy.
Soundy is joined by fellow Weil Gotshal partner Sarah Priestley, a corporate tax specialist focusing on private equity and hedge funds. Associate Simon Burrows will also move over from Weil to Shearman as partner. Continue reading “Shearman bolsters London private equity team with double Weil Gotshal partner hire”
Having only launched its first foreign office in 2008, US disputes leader Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan clearly now has the taste for foreign expansion. The latest stop on its global tour is Hong Kong, with the ultra-profitable litigation shop today (15 May) unveiling details of its long-awaited local launch, coming only days after it sealed a deal to enter the Australian legal market. Continue reading “Quinn’s global master plan – elite disputes shop hits HK for third foreign launch of the year”
Osborne Clarke (OC) is to make up to 13 fee-earners redundant as it begins a two-week consultation, the top 50 UK law firm announced today (15 May).
Managing partner Simon Beswick said that the 400-lawyer firm would be informing associates affected by the consultation today in response to what he said was ‘over-capacity’ in the business. Continue reading “A gloomy week for legal job prospects as OC follows BLP to announce likely job cuts”
The formal establishment of the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) has had a domino effect on senior counsel moves as the government funded initiative’s hunt for a general counsel (GC) comes to a successful close with the hire of rated Pinsents Masons energy partner Euan McVicar.
McVicar, who specialises in the financing and development of energy projects, will join the sustainable project investment bank in late summer 2013, although no specific date has yet been given.
Continue reading “UK Green Investment Bank welcomes Pinsents McVicar as MacRitchie moves on”
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has become the latest major UK law firm to announce job cuts as firms increasingly examine their business models in light of a sustained slump in market activity.
The top-20 City firm announced today that is has entered a redundancy consultation affecting around 58 legal staff, 44 secretarial staff and some business services staff, with a target reduction in salary of 15% in the latter group. Continue reading “Redundancy round continues as BLP latest to announce fee-earner cuts”
The worlds of business, politics and sport have since the 1970s fallen increasingly under the spell of the star individual and law has been anything but an exception. As partnership mitigates the heaviest excesses of the winner-takes-all compensation cultures seen in banking, sports and plc management, in law the star culture has manifested to a considerable extent via the partner recruitment market.
The emergence and massive expansion of this international bazaar for senior legal talent over the last 25 years has had a profound impact on the profession – often unhappily so. Continue reading “Comment: A star signing is one thing but who needs a lateral?”
While the trend of in-house departments bolstering their internal capability and cutting reliance on external counsel is well established, Royal Dutch Shell’s legal head Peter Rees QC has taken the logic to the extreme.
Since replacing Beat Hess as the global energy group’s legal director in January 2011 Rees has pushed through major changes, restructuring Shell’s around 750-lawyer department and kicking off a far-reaching global panel review. Continue reading “All change at Shell – legal head pushes through shake-up and puts final touches to global panel review”
Riverview Law will have addressed some of the criticisms of its fixed-fee legal services model with news today (13 May) that it has signed a strategic alliance with established south east law firm DMH Stallard.
A statement by Riverview Law – one of the touted and aggressively marketed of the ‘Tesco law’ challengers – said the alliance would cover a number of areas, including disputes, M&A and real estate. The alliance will see Riverview Law refer its customers to the 48-partner, 100-lawyer Brighton-based firm while allowing DMH Stallard to offer it clients the access to Riverview’s service lines. In the coming months, the two will combines to launch a range of fixed-fee services and products to the market.
Legacy Herbert Smith has become the latest UK firm to ask partners to bolster its capital levels, issuing a multi-million pound cash call in preparation for financial integration with Australia’s Freehills.
The call – thought to be worth up to around £20m – was issued in a memo sent weeks ago to all 170 equity partners. It is thought that the equity partners have been asked to contribute £2000 per equity point. Herbert Smith’s lockstep ladder runs from 43 to 100, meaning those at the top of equity, around 65, are liable to pay around £200,000 each.
Continue reading “Legacy Herbert Smith equity partners on hook for capital boost”
The profile of the judiciary was significantly raised this week as the search to fill the most senior judicial role in the country began and arguably now the most well-known civil barrister in the country was appointed as a High Court judge.
Continue reading “Judicial moves: Search for new LCJ begins and Jay QC appointed to High Court”
When a top US disputes firm with only six offices outside its home territory has launched two of those in under half a year, it’s probably one to watch.
Expansive Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan is continuing to widen its international footprint with a launch in Sydney via the hires of two Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) rated litigators.
Continue reading “Quinn Emanuel goes down under with HSF team”
It’s become a familiar fixture in the annual reporting season to see Mishcon de Reya announce annual growth rates that are the envy of its peers and the London law firm hasn’t disappointed.
This week, Mishcons confirmed a turnover increase of 14% to £83.5m for 2012/13 – an increase of £10m on last year’s £73.1m. Profits per equity partner at the 300-lawyer firm are expected to top £700,000, making it one of the most profitable firms outside the City top 10. Mishcons has now grown revenues by nearly 200% since 2006/07, a performance vastly ahead of the LB100 average.
Since the rise of social media gave professional lawyers a fast-expanding number of outlets in which to publish their views, there has been a protracted (and often turgid) debate on the liabilities and brand risk for law firms and chambers regarding the statements made by their lawyers.
But this has appeared to be largely about lawyers being lawyers – hunting for the potential pitfalls and liability in any situation – rather than there being much of a problem.
As Europe shows little sign of clawing its way out of the economic doldrums high growth markets continue to dominate the agenda with the announcement that firms including Linklaters, Baker & McKenzie, Simmons & Simmons and Clyde & Co are to launch new offices in the Asia Pacific region.
Over the past week Simmons announced that it is opening its fifth Asian office in Singapore, while Clyde & Co totted up its eighth presence in the region by securing a licence in Beijing. Both Linklaters and Baker & McKenzie won approval to launch in Seoul, with the latter’s claim to ‘unrivalled breadth’ in the Asia Pacific region borne out by its now 15 offices. Continue reading “Asia round-up: Simmons, Linklaters and Clyde launch new outposts”
