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’.
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”
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”
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.
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Travers Smith launches review of US best friends network
Travers Smith has always been one to plough its own furrow and last month the firm confirmed it was reviewing its roster of US best friend firms.
The corporate powerhouse is reviewing its line-up in the wake of a raft of US firms strengthening their own London offerings.
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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”
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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Shearman’s rainmaker leaves for Skadden
Shearman & Sterling’s loss is Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom’s gain after Stephan Hutter, Germany’s pre-eminent capital markets specialist, swapped one US firm for another in February.
Hutter joined Skadden’s Frankfurt office along with fellow partner Katja Kaulamo, gifting the firm the German capital markets capability it has sought for so long.
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”
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”
FSA to lose top level enforcer and board member
Margaret Cole, managing director and board member of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), tendered her resignation from the top post in February, with fresh speculation that she could return to private practice. Cole has already been linked to a Magic Circle firm and a US firm.
Continue reading “FSA to lose top level enforcer and board member”
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.
Michael Napier CBE QC – Man for all seasons
Michael Napier CBE QC steps down as chairman of Irwin Mitchell this month after 40 years at the firm.
It’s the end of one long chapter in a career packed with more events than an army of lawyers combined. LB celebrates the career of our 2012 Lawyer of the Year.
Continue reading “Michael Napier CBE QC – Man for all seasons”
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.
Global London – Top 50
The firms that appear in Global London are the 50 largest non-UK originated firms in London, ranked by headcount.
Total lawyer numbers include partners, associates, assistants and trainees but not paralegals. Partner and lawyer numbers were all requested as full-time equivalent averages for 2011 and all partner hires are up to and including February 2012.
Global London – Major Feast
With a flurry of US firms luring funds partners from UK rivals, LB finds out why lawyers in this area are hot property.
Periodically the City goes through a feeding frenzy of lateral hires. In the past, firms have gobbled up partners in structured finance, restructuring and litigation. The current plat du jour though, is funds.
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.
CEE – Generating Growth
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”
Global London – Situations vacant
Immigration laws are forcing international law firms to advertise jobs alongside retail and fast food companies.
Despite this, the number of international lawyers in London is falling. Where have all the US-qualified lawyers gone?