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Lead sponsor message: Pinsent Masons

As we seemingly head from one global crisis to another, the pressure being shouldered by business leaders is relentless. We’re operating in a period where economic uncertainty and the geopolitical environment has left markets unsettled, inflation and interest rates are rising, and where multimedia platforms mean that the scrutiny upon us is not limited to the Board and shareholders. It can come from anyone: our people, our customers, our supply chains, political leaders and parliamentary committees, pressure groups and the world at large. It is a challenging time to lead a business. Continue reading “Lead sponsor message: Pinsent Masons”

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Editor’s note

Heading up the GC Powerlist team at The Legal 500 for the past year has been a pleasure and a privilege, and, as it is the jewel-in-the-crown and home edition of our esteemed publication, it is my extreme honour to be able to introduce this latest instalment of the UK Powerlist, the GC Powerlist: UK Teams 2022. Continue reading “Editor’s note”

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GC Powerlist UK 2022: Inclusions list

Please see below for a link to an online pdf of GC Powerlist United Kingdom Teams 2022:

GC Powerlist United Kingdom Teams 2022 complete pdf link

abrdn

Accenture

Adobe

AIG
Amazon

American Express

Anglo American

Aon

ASOS

Associated British Foods Global

AstraZeneca

Aviva

Balfour Beatty

BAML

Bank of England

Barclays

BBC

Bestway Retail

bp Trading and Shipping Legal

British Airways

British American Tobacco

British Land

Britvic

BT

Bupa

Capita

CBRE Group

Citi

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners

Compass Group

Currys

Daily Mail

Deliveroo

Deutsche Post DHL

Diageo

Dyson

easyJet

EDF

EG Group

E.ON UK

FSCS Legal and Recoveries Team

Fujitsu UK

Funding Circle

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

GSK

Haleon

HarperCollins

Harrods Group

Heathrow Airport

Hexcel

HSBC

Informa

Insight Investments

John Lewis

Kingfisher

Laing O’Rourke

Legal & General

Lloyds Banking Group

Lombard International Group

London Stock Exchange Group

Lush

MADE.COM

Marks and Spencer

Marsh McLennan

Meta

Micro Focus International

Miniclip

National Grid

Nationwide Building Society

NatWest Group

Nestlé Group

Network Rail

News UK

Paysafe

PwC

Reckitt

Rio Tinto

Rolls-Royce

Royal Mail

RSA Insurance Group

Serco

Shell International Upstream Legal

Siemens

Sky

Smiths Group

SSE

Standard Chartered

Tesco

The Carlyle Group

The Crown Estate

The Financial Times

The Phoenix Group

Trainline

UBS

Unilever

Via Transportation

Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Media O2

Visa

Vodafone

Wise

WPP

To view the full profiles for our nominated teams, please visit:
GC Powerlist United Kingdom 2022

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‘A responsibility I take very seriously’: London litigator Dunne elected to new-look Ashurst board

Lynn Dunne, disputes partner and co-head of Ashurst’s London office, has been elected to the firm’s board for a three-year term.  

Dunne, a new addition to the now ten-person board, was voted in alongside London real estate partner David Jones, who was re-elected to the body having been originally nominated in 2019.

Continue reading “‘A responsibility I take very seriously’: London litigator Dunne elected to new-look Ashurst board”

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Revolving doors: Kirkland adds A&O infrastructure head as LB100 players make major moves

It’s been another hectic period on the lateral hiring front, as global juggernauts and national firms made significant moves in the infrastructure, M&A, financial services and disputes spaces.

The week’s biggest move came at Kirkland & Ellis, which recruited Allen & Overy’s global co-head of infrastructure Sara Pickersgill. Ranked in The Legal 500’s hall of fame, Pickersgill has a longstanding reputation as a market leader in infrastructure, energy and renewables corporate transactions. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Kirkland adds A&O infrastructure head as LB100 players make major moves”

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Sponsored briefing: Sustainable finance instruments: green bonds

Over the last decade, considering global warming and climate change issues, one of the most significant financial innovations in the sustainable finance area has been the development of green bonds. The demand for green bonds, to a large extent, is attributable to the growing prominence of climate issues. As public and private institutions around the world are necessarily more attentive in terms of adoption of sustainable and socially responsible policies, the investors and shareholders are now more aware of the risks of climate change. Likewise, corporates are considering alternatives to create economic value while also contributing to safeguard of the future. Therefore, although sustainable financing methods were already on the rise prior to the pandemic, they are now even more significant instruments for raising funds for green and sustainable recovery projects.

European Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank pioneered the first green bonds, with EIB issuing its Climate Awareness Bond in 2007, as a structured bond with proceeds dedicated to renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and the World Bank issuing its first green bond in 2008 to raise funds from fixed-income investors to support lending for eligible climate-focused projects. Since then, the market for green bonds has grown considerably. According to a report by Climate Bonds Initiative, annual green bond issuance topped half a trillion in 2021 for the first time, which represented a 75% increase on prior year volumes. Recently, green bonds have been issued by issuers in more than 50 countries and the United States of America has the largest source of green bonds. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Sustainable finance instruments: green bonds”

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In-house news: Sullivan closes the book as Waterstones GC

Waterstones general counsel Elisabeth Sullivan has left her position after less than a year, today (22 September) announcing she has taken the inaugural GC role at Efficio Consulting.

Efficio Consulting is a global management consultancy with offices across Europe, America and the Middle East. In a LinkedIn post today, Sullivan said she would assume her new position next week, and quipped: ‘So long, Waterstones: thanks for all the books!’ Continue reading “In-house news: Sullivan closes the book as Waterstones GC”

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‘A significant loss’: Litigation leaders convene as Google fails in critical €4.1bn antitrust appeal

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, suffered a serious setback this week as the European Union General Court upheld a European Commission antitrust ruling against the company worth €4.125bn.

The case centred on whether Google has used its Android operating system to effectively bar competition. According to the original decision, in 2018 the Android operating system was installed on 80% of all mobile devices in Europe. It stated that Google required developers of mobile devices to pre-install its search engine and browser (Chrome) apps as a pre-condition of receiving a license to use its app store, Play.

Continue reading “‘A significant loss’: Litigation leaders convene as Google fails in critical €4.1bn antitrust appeal”

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‘Business as usual’: Keystone’s revenue up but profits fall as Covid cost-savings end

Keystone Law has announced its financial results for the first half of 22/23, which show a solid 9% increase on the same period last year as the top line reached £36.8m.

Cash generated from operations was also up to £4.9m, a 17% increase. Collectively the results enabled Keystone to pay an interim dividend of 5.2p per share in line with its listed status.

Continue reading “‘Business as usual’: Keystone’s revenue up but profits fall as Covid cost-savings end”

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Revolving doors: More movement at Mishcon while Latham hires magic circle M&A star

Circling candidate

Recruitment continued at pace in London and on the continent this week, with laterals spread across finance, tech and disputes. Among the high-profile moves, Latham & Watkins lured a Legal 500-ranked hall of fame corporate partner from Linklaters in Madrid while Wiggin and Hogan Lovells targeted tech.

Hogan Lovells hired finance and fintech partner Bryony Widdup from DLA Piper. Her broad practice includes advising on transaction structuring in finance for funds, broader lending platforms (including blockchain-based offerings) and digital assets. Continue reading “Revolving doors: More movement at Mishcon while Latham hires magic circle M&A star”

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Deal Watch: activity powers on as Latham and A&O lead on $19bn energy joint venture

Despite the inevitable slowdown in the spring following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, deal activity rebounded over the summer with an unusually busy August. Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis and the magic circle were among the firms taking the lead on billion-pound private equity, energy and tech deals.

Latham advised EIG on its $4.8bn acquisition of a 25% stake in Repsol Upstream, a newly formed global exploration and production company comprising the entire global upstream oil and gas business of Spanish energy company Repsol. Continue reading “Deal Watch: activity powers on as Latham and A&O lead on $19bn energy joint venture”

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Revolving Doors: Akin Gump recruits project finance pair amid busy week for City players

After the summer lull, the City lateral hiring scene has come roaring back with a flood of arrivals across a number of practice areas including banking and finance, insurance, disputes and restructuring.

Akin Gump has recruited former Norton Rose Fulbright partners Matthew Hardwick and Daniel Giemajner as project finance partners in its London office. Focusing on energy and infrastructure projects, their expertise spans renewable power, mining, gigafactories, battery and energy storage, electric vehicles, carbon capture and clean hydrogen. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Akin Gump recruits project finance pair amid busy week for City players”

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Slower growth at Signature Litigation but staff see increased profit share

Disputes-only outfit Signature Litigation has marked its tenth year since inception with a marginal rise in revenues, inching upwards 1.5% from £27.4m to £27.8m.

Staff had cause for cheer, however, as they were paid an increased annual profit share of 18.7% in line with Signature’s co-operative model. Last year, when revenues grew by 22%, the profit share payout amounted to 17.6%. Continue reading “Slower growth at Signature Litigation but staff see increased profit share”

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‘Dynamic and different’: King & Spalding zeroes in on Europe with three more partner hires

King & Spalding has significantly bolstered its European presence, bringing in a further three partners to its transactional group in the last week, as the firm seeks to develop its offering across the continent.

Corporate and private equity partner Peter Memminger joining the Frankfurt office on Thursday (1 September). Previously a partner at Milbank, Memminger joined from his own boutique firm, Bub Memminger & Partner, alongside a four other lawyers. He is experienced in distressed M&A, restructuring, insolvency and disputes in addition to corporate work. Continue reading “‘Dynamic and different’: King & Spalding zeroes in on Europe with three more partner hires”