Posted on

LLP filings show increase in net debt at leading UK firms

Debt levels at the top UK firms by revenue have increased to £185m compared to £138m last year.

Data taken from top UK firms’ annual LLP filings at Companies House reveals that Simmons & Simmons, Addleshaw Goddard, Bird & Bird and Herbert Smith are the most indebted of the leading firms.

Herbert Smith saw its debt level rise by £17m to just over £41m worth of net debt in 2010/11. It increased its overdraft facility by £11m to £18.6m with part of the new loan going to fund the fit out of the firm’s new Belfast office. The firm saw its turnover rise by 3% last year to £465.1m.

Continue reading “LLP filings show increase in net debt at leading UK firms”

Posted on

Addressing partner underperformance

James Tsolakis of The Royal Bank of Scotland published his annual report, A perspective on the legal market, in March. In it, he says UK firms have 5% overcapacity in fee-earner resources and has told LB that firms need to address this issue at partner level. The report also says that the success of new partner compensation models that align compensation with performance depends on ‘effective partner appraisal systems’.

Continue reading “Addressing partner underperformance”

Posted on

Eversheds boosts construction practice with McGrigors team

Eversheds has bolstered its Manchester offering with the hire of an eight-lawyer contentious construction team from McGrigors just months before the Scottish firm is due to tie the knot with Pinsent Masons.

McGrigors’ Manchester chief David Moss and construction disputes partner Paul Giles joined Eversheds in March, along with six additional lawyers. The team provides combined expertise in the energy and utilities sectors.

Continue reading “Eversheds boosts construction practice with McGrigors team”

Posted on

Cleary hires former Stephenson Harwood chief executive

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has hired former Stephenson Harwood chief executive and litigation heavyweight Sunil Gadhia in its London office, marking a growing trend of US firms bulking up City disputes practices.

Gadhia is set to join Cleary’s London outpost this year after 15 years as a partner at Stephenson Harwood, of which he spent six as chief executive.

Continue reading “Cleary hires former Stephenson Harwood chief executive”

Posted on

Taylor Wessing eyes Hong Kong deal after Singapore launch

Taylor Wessing is more likely to merge with a local practice in Hong Kong than to set up in the region organically, the firm indicated last month, as it continues to expand its Asian footprint after taking over Singapore alliance firm RHT Law in March.

Tim Eyles, the firm’s London-based managing partner, told LB that the firm would not go into Hong Kong on its own; rather, it would look for a local practice to tie-up with.

Continue reading “Taylor Wessing eyes Hong Kong deal after Singapore launch”

Posted on

Leeds market set to change markedly as top tier loses talent

Firms operating in the Leeds market have been in a state of flux recently, with the region’s mid-tier firms taking advantage of the shrinking headcount at the larger players.

Despite troubling economic conditions in the Leeds market, Gateley was not deterred, and opened its Leeds office in January, marking the firm’s eighth office in the UK.

The move saw Gateley hire restructuring partner William Ballmann and finance litigator Rob Payne from Cobbetts to launch the office. Ballmann is set to run Gateley’s Leeds outpost. Continue reading “Leeds market set to change markedly as top tier loses talent”

Posted on

FSA’s Cole holds all the cards in choosing her next move

After two years of speculation in the financial services sector, it has finally happened. Margaret Cole, Financial Services Authority (FSA) managing director and all-round tough lady, is leaving the regulator after seven years.

Dubbed in 2011 by a finance partner as the ‘most hated woman in the City’, Cole’s legacy at the UK watchdog will forever be entrenched in her recent uncompromising stance against the country’s banking industry. The past five years have seen the FSA hand out a number of jaw-dropping fines and crack a series of insider trading rings.

Continue reading “FSA’s Cole holds all the cards in choosing her next move”

Posted on

Pinsents and McGrigors tie-up gets rubber-stamped

Pinsent Masons and McGrigors confirmed in early February that partners had voted in favour of the two firms merging. The new firm will operate from 1 May as one unified partnership under the Pinsent Masons brand.

Management says that the combination will likely see the creation of a near £300m, 1,500 lawyer business spanning 15 offices, seven of which are outside of the UK.

Continue reading “Pinsents and McGrigors tie-up gets rubber-stamped”

Posted on

UK listing for Russell Jones & Walker not immediate priority

Neil Kinsella, Russell Jones & Walker (RJW)’s chief executive, is non-committal on the possibility of a UK listing for his firm, should its recently announced acquisition by listed Australian firm Slater & Gordon (S&G) complete.

S&G, the world’s first listed law firm, is set to buy UK personal injury firm RJW for £53.8m later this year. The publicly listed Melbourne-based practice will become the first Australian firm to take over a UK firm.

Continue reading “UK listing for Russell Jones & Walker not immediate priority”

Posted on

DLA Piper plans ‘relationship building’ technology push in London

DLA Piper has revealed plans to open a second London office this year, concentrating on the burgeoning technology startup community.

Simon Levine, the firm’s IP and technology global co-chair, said plans were to open ‘before the summer’, with the office likely to be located in the Tech City area of East London, near the Old Street roundabout.

Continue reading “DLA Piper plans ‘relationship building’ technology push in London”

Posted on

Weightmans – Feet on the ground

After four years of consecutive revenue growth and two transformative mergers in 2011, Weightmans is our National/Regional Firm of the Year. However, there’s no chance of any of it going to the managing partner’s head.

Weightmans’ Patrick Gaul (pictured) is as laid back and straightforward as managing partners come. In an unmistakable scouse accent reminiscent of Ringo Starr, his answers are economical and precise. He doesn’t take himself too seriously and, in a trait quite rare among managing partners, is very low on hyperbole.

Continue reading “Weightmans – Feet on the ground”

Posted on

Sole adviser – Having it all

Baker & McKenzie, Eversheds and Berwin Leighton Paisner are just a few firms synonymous with adopting the one-client-one-law-firm model, but just who benefits from these deals in the long run?

Robin Saphra’s life got a little easier at the start of the year. The Colt Group’s general counsel (GC), like many of his peers, was juggling a legal spend, that he had to stretch across more than a hundred European law firms.

Continue reading “Sole adviser – Having it all”

Posted on

Global London – No stone unturned

LB ventures beyond the established elite to highlight five practices blazing a trail in the City.

The need to differentiate in the market is paramount. Some firms have always been good at it, while others have struggled and floundered.

There is a group of US firms in the City that has now established its strengths. Using the benefit of large US platforms, these firms have, over time, built impressive offerings in the City, be it in IP, energy, regulation or litigation.

Continue reading “Global London – No stone unturned”

Posted on

CEE – Generating Growth

pipes

Oil and gas? Renewables? Nuclear? Whichever energy source you’re selling, there’s no doubt that the appetite for power in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) seems almost insatiable. That demand, coupled with the urgent need for infrastructure, is ensuring that even those CEE economies facing the imminent threat of recession are viewing the fulfilment of their relevant construction programmes as a number one priority.

‘National authorities are seeking to improve capacities in conventional energy sources, increasing energy independence and phasing out or upgrading older polluting generation capacities,’ says Bryan Jardine, partner in the Bucharest office of Austrian-headquartered Wolf Theiss. ‘The CEE is a region that has tremendous need. Growing energy demands, coupled with ageing, inadequate and inefficient energy supply infrastructure (a legacy inherited from 45 years of Soviet-era planning and investment) is driving the need for this increased sector work and investment in the CEE.’ Continue reading “CEE – Generating Growth”