While Legal Business is not the type of publication to force a tenuous link in order to make a feature topical, isn’t it timely that our Global 100 analysis on law firms structured as Swiss Vereins – ‘Capture the flag’ – coincides with the football World Cup of FIFA (also a Verein)? Continue reading “Much snootiness still remains, but the Vereins are actually fine”
It is a treacherous business, making market predictions for the year ahead. Too conservative and the pundit is guilty of clinging to the ‘cautiously optimistic’ soundbite, which is the ultimate in fence-sitting and has become one of the most banal phrases in legal industry history. Too adventurous and you run the risk of being over-zealous in predicting market-altering developments.
Of course, it is better to take a stab rather than be accused of being non-committal. Continue reading “A bonanza year for the Global 100 – is the table about to turn?”
The Legal 500’s Ben Wheway takes a look at the rationale behind the proposed merger and what a combined firm could look like
The latest merger news to hit the headlines involves two firms which have been down this road before – Womble Bond Dickinson and BDB Pitmans.
On the Womble Bond side, the 2013 union of Newcastle’s Dickinson Dees and Bristol’s Bond Pearce created Bond Dickinson, which then combined with US firm Womble Carlyle in 2016. Meanwhile, BDB Pitmans was formed by the 2018 merger of London’s Bircham Dyson Bell and South-East firm Pitmans. Continue reading “Womble Bond-BDB Pitmans: The data driving the national tie-up talks”
The largest six Swiss verein firms have pursued varying expansion strategies over the past decade – Ben Wheway looks at what The Legal 500 data reveals
The six biggest international verein firms have transformed their global footprint over the past decade, stepping into new markets around the world via mergers, alliances and targeted expansion. Rankings data drawn from The Legal 500’s global guides provides useful insight into the scale of this change, as well as the relative rates of growth among the group. Continue reading “Verein check: how the big six global players have grown over ten years”
Ask any City partner about the current state of the market, and they will point to a softening in the M&A market in line with the clouds gathering over the economy. It seems no one told Tesla and SpaceX owner Elon Musk, who recently completed a highly-publicised acquisition of social media giant Twitter. The initially hostile takeover pulled in some of the US’ premier law firms, but events since suggest that the legal proceedings may be only just beginning.
Musk’s headline-grabbing acquisition was completed in October. According to filings, the total payment was $44bn (£38.1bn), making the transaction one of the largest M&A deals of 2022. It also saw the company taken private, having previously been listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Continue reading “Musk’s Twitter takeover sparks legal feeding frenzy, but leaves more questions than answers”
Legal 500 data highlights the contrast between the laser-focused firms cleaning up in core markets and the wide footprint of the global giants
While the upper echelons of the Global 100 are inevitably dominated by US heritage firms with a global footprint, a re-ordering of the group by Legal 500 rankings presents a notably different hierarchy. Continue reading “Size matters: which Global 100 firms have the most Legal 500 rankings?”
Latham & Watkins has had a busy November, picking up several multi-billion-dollar instructions across the sports, retail and telecoms sectors. Among the other firms securing lead roles are US peers Skadden, Paul Weiss and Orrick and Magic Circle competitors Linklaters and Allen & Overy (A&O).
Following Latham’s lead role in the £4.25bn acquisition of Chelsea FC earlier this year, the firm has been instructed by Manchester United as it pursues a potential sale.
Continue reading “Latham scores lead role in Man Utd’s potential sale as US outfits advise on Tom Ford deal”
Partners from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), Davis Polk and Eversheds Sutherland have secured advisory roles on the administration and £3.4m sale of online furniture retailer Made.com to Next.
In early November, Made.com filed notice of its intention to appoint administrators, advised by a HSF team led by London restructuring partner John Chetwood and including City corporate partners Ben Ward and Caroline Rae. Since the administration, 320 Made.com jobs have been axed as the company collapsed.
Continue reading “HSF, Davis Polk and Eversheds act on Made.com collapse as market expects FTX fallout”
The contrast between the Global 100 reports in 2012 and 2022 is startling: in 2012 the global elite was feeling the pinch with transactional markets stagnant in the wake of the global financial crisis a few years before. For the 63 firms that appeared in both years’ reports – unchanged by significant merger activity between those dates – 2012 was marked by single-digit rises in revenue, profits and lawyer numbers at the top 100 firms. With inflation running at around 3% in the UK and US then, performance in real terms was even more muted than the top-line figures suggested – it was essentially a flat year for many, set against the backdrop of shock and awe that came from Dewey & LeBoeuf filing for bankruptcy in May 2012 that gave many law firm leaders pause. Just five firms had gross revenues of $2bn or more, while only the top 23 firms in the table turned over more than $1bn. Five-year growth for Global 100 firms following the boom of 2007, was pedestrian – at best.
Continue reading “Global 100: Ten-year view – Playing the long game”
For many law firms, the end of the year marks elections for various leadership positions. This year has been no exception, with DLA Piper, Osborne Clarke, TLT and Goodwin all voting in new management.
DLA has turned to IP litigator Ruth Hoy as its new office managing partner in London, taking over from London leadership stalwart Tom Heylen, who will move into the new role of UK client and sectors partner.
Continue reading “In with the new: Big Law rings in the changes amid City leadership shake-up”
As the European Union has made a commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2050, member states are having to accelerate plans to modify the way people, goods and services are sourced, produced, transported and consumed, to significantly reduce the greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. Portugal has already made public its road map for net zero in 2050, and the bulk of the efforts are front loaded in the few years remaining to 2030. A significant part of the effort has to be made in transportation, which accounted for about 28% of emissions in 2019, of which 95% are caused by road transportation. In order to achieve the target for the sector of 40% emissions reduction by 2030, significant action will have to be taken on several fronts, and the country is already acting.
The first major component of the change is the increase in investment in public transportation in metropolitan areas. New metro lines in Lisbon and Porto are under construction or already have funds appropriated in the national Resilience and Recovery Plan (RRP), which has been approved under the Next Generation EU programme. Investment in the bus fleets is also under way in the metropolitan areas, both to increase the frequency and coverage of public transportation services and to acquire electrical or low emissions vehicles. Soft mobility investments in bike lanes and shared bikes schemes are also being undertaken. Portugal is the largest producer of bicycles in Europe and has recently grown the manufacture of e-bikes, so the investments are also favouring local industry. The same is actually happening in respect of the manufacturing of electrical vehicles (EV) and fuel cell buses.
Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Portugal – Towards a carbon neutral transportation system”
VdA’s Ana Luís de Sousa and Hugo Moredo Santos on the importance of capital markets to sustainable financing
The capital market plays a very prominent role in sustainable financing. The issue of instruments such as green bonds or sustainability-linked bonds still represents, in absolute and relative terms, a small portion of total bond issues. However, the interest of issuers and investors for sustainable bonds has grown very significantly. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Portugal: Sustainable finance”
In 2022 Portugal climbed to eighth place in the ranking of ‘top ten’ of European economies that most attract foreign direct investment projects, following a couple of decades in which investing in Portugal has been a common topic in different worldwide forums.
During that period Portugal managed to attract to its territory projects of the greatest importance, such as the Volkswagen’s vehicle-production unit in Portugal, a joint venture established in 1991 initially between Volkswagen and Ford, which constitutes the largest foreign investment in the country, contributing to more than 1.5% of its GDP (pre-pandemic data) and creating a high number of direct and indirect jobs in a region in the south outskirts of Lisbon.
Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Portugal as a magnet of foreign direct investment”
In October 2022, the Privy Council finally handed down judgment in the Z Trust (II) appeals (ETJL v Halabi; ITGL v Fort Trustees [2022] UKPC 36). This decision concerns the under examined (and hitherto rather dull) topic of the nature and scope of the right of a trustee to recover liabilities and expenses from the trust assets. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Landmark Privy Council decision on the scope and ranking of trustees’ indemnity”
State court litigation and private arbitration proceedings require practitioners to combine legal thoroughness and the management of evidence with strategic ingenuity. Understanding court processes, legal practice and tactical procedural advantages all add up to sound advice in contentious legal matters.
Dispute resolution in all its appearances enjoys a longstanding tradition at PRAGER DREIFUSS. Our attorneys represent parties before local state courts as well as administrative authorities. Debt collection and bankruptcy matters are strong areas of our practice, in particular in disputes involving foreign parties. International arbitration has special significance in our firm and a number of our attorneys are regularly appointed as arbitrators in institutional and ad-hoc arbitration tribunals. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Dispute Resolution: Strategic case management with legal acumen”
While she is loath to admit it, Sharon Blackman, managing director and general counsel in Citi’s global legal affairs and compliance division, ‘hated’ her law degree. Clearly this has not held her back though, as her GC of the Year gong at the Legal Business Awards in September testifies.
Despite not falling in love with the law at an academic level, during her degree, Blackman took on pro bono work at her local Citizens Advice Bureau, and it was there that her passion was first ignited. She recalls: ‘It was really useful for developing the practical piece and I found that much more engaging than just the theoretical piece.’ Continue reading “The Client profile: Sharon Blackman, Citi”
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One of 2022’s hottest merger rumours came to fruition today (13 December), as Milbank confirmed it was acquiring the London office of Anglo-Scottish firm Dickson Minto.
Legal Business first reported murmurings of a merger in the summer, when concerns were raised about matching Dickson Minto’s private equity specialism with Milbank’s bank-side lender practice. At the time, Dickson Minto had also being linked with Fried Frank, although sources claiming familiarity with the deal said those talks had collapsed.
Less than two months after handing over the UK managing partner reins, Osborne Clarke’s (OC) Ray Berg is set for America to boost the firm’s stateside expansion strategy.
The clubbable Berg (pictured) is to take up a ‘senior business development role’ in San Francisco in January, and will work closely with the team, led by US managing partner Steve Wilson.
Continue reading “OC’s departing UK leader Berg seeks westward expansion in American voyage”
