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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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CEE – Generating Growth

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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”

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Magic Circle reigns but cracks are there

In the same way the sports media has speculated long and hard these past couple of years on the ‘demise’ of Tiger Woods, much has also been said about the Magic Circle also losing its aura of invincibility since the global financial crisis.

The Magic Circle’s relentless pursuit of domination has inspired awe over the last two decades but at the same time has drawn brickbats when things have gone awry. It is all too easy to build something up only to knock it down.

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The right chemistry

Forget the egos, conflicts and pay packets. Here’s our winning formula for creating a dream team outside of the established elite.

In July 2002, we carried a feature bringing together a group of partners that would create a genuine competitor for the Magic Circle, a true fantasy law firm (‘Futures, options and swaps’, LB126, page 36). A decade on, it’s time to have another look at where the true talent outside of the elite group of law firms can be found.

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Battle Royale

Two oligarchs; $6.5bn; and enough lawyers to form an entirely new firm. This is Berezovsky v Abramovich, the largest litigation in the world

In Hermès on Sloane Street on Friday 5 October 2007 Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea Football Club, is enjoying a quiet afternoon shopping. Two doors down in Dolce & Gabbana, his former business partner is also indulging in a little retail therapy. In better days the two would visit each other’s superyachts and holiday together. But by 2007 the relationship had soured, and Berezovsky was itching to issue a writ suing his former friend for $6.5bn.

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Risk Management and Professional Indemnity Survey 2012 – Treading Carefully

In our fifth annual risk management and professional indemnity survey in association with Marsh, the world’s leading insurance broker and risk adviser, we analyse the latest trends in risk management, reveal the results of our far reaching survey and talk to the leading names in risk management at the City’s largest firms.

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Capital connections

London firms have traditionally focused their US strategy on New York but a presence in Washington DC has become increasingly popular. Can the growing band of UK firms thrive in the US capital?

At times it can be fashionable to bash Washington DC. For most US senators or congressmen, berating the lobbyist-fuelled, back-scratching political climate in the US capital can do wonders for their re-election prospects. In his State of the Union speech in January, President Obama summed up the popular sentiment. ‘I bet most Americans are thinking the same thing right about now: nothing will get done in Washington this year, next year or maybe even the year after that because Washington is broken,’ he declared.

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SNR Denton – Strained Relations

It is no secret that legacy firm Denton Wilde Sapte (DWS) has had a rough ride. During the 2010/11 financial year, the firm’s UK LLP (including the Middle East and Europe) posted an 8% decrease in revenue to £154.4m, while profits per equity partner (PEP) fell to an unimpressive £233,000. This represented a 34% drop (the second in a five-year period) on the previous year and saw the bottom of the equity take home just £156,000.

The EMEA side to the business sits at number 89 in LB’s profitability table, having performed better than just six firms in the entire top 100. But with profit per lawyer (PPL) at an all time low of £29,000 and a margin of just 13%, this firm has almost been run into the ground.

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