‘I’ll do it my way’: OC elects Davies as UK leader, replacing much-admired Berg

Mere weeks after being declared Management Partner of the Year at the Legal Business Awards, Osborne Clarke (OC) has today (19 October) announced that longstanding UK leader Ray Berg is being replaced by corporate partner Conrad Davies.

Davies, who is also international head of OC’s urban dynamics group, will assume the position of UK managing partner on 1st January 2023 after being elected by the firm’s partnership.

Continue reading “‘I’ll do it my way’: OC elects Davies as UK leader, replacing much-admired Berg”

Revolving Doors: Proskauer brings in Kirkland tax partner as Dentons secures India tie-up

There is a globetrotting feel to this week’s lateral hires roundup, as global moves in India, US and Canada offset a more muted London market.

The headline City arrival came at Proskauer Rose, where Frazer Money joined the tax department. A partner for five years at Kirkland & Ellis, Money adds to the firm’s expertise in tax issues relating to private investment funds. In particular, his focus is advising asset managers on tax and structuring issues. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Proskauer brings in Kirkland tax partner as Dentons secures India tie-up”

New brooms for DLA as Hoy named London managing partner and Bishop replaced as corporate co-chair

DLA Piper has appointed IP litigation partner Ruth Hoy as its next London managing partner, succeeding the longstanding Tom Heylen.

The move came during a considerable time of change for DLA after the firm last week announced that German partner Benjamin Parameswaran would be replacing the respected London partner Bob Bishop as global co-chair of its corporate practice. Continue reading “New brooms for DLA as Hoy named London managing partner and Bishop replaced as corporate co-chair”

NRF called to Qualcomm’s £480m class action defence as Quinn’s London team drops out

Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has been called up to a new-look legal team for Qualcomm as it defends itself from a class action brought by UK consumer charity Which?.

The dispute hinges on a Which? claim that wireless technology company Qualcomm breached competition law, and in doing so inflated the royalties paid by smartphone manufacturers for Qualcomm’s technology, which in turn led to increased prices for customers. Continue reading “NRF called to Qualcomm’s £480m class action defence as Quinn’s London team drops out”

Revolving doors: King & Spalding adds two in London as City firms bolster financial regulatory expertise

starry sky over the City

It’s been a busy week for London laterals, as firms have bolstered their transactional and regulatory teams.

King & Spalding has strengthened its London corporate, finance and investments practice with the additions of Amit Kataria from Morrison & Foerster and private equity partner Paul Barron, a rare departure from Scottish corporate firm Dickson Minto. This continued the firm’s push to boost its City transactional practice following the hires of energy sector partner Nina Howell and finance partners Richard Kitchen and Amin Doulai from Paul Hastings in August. Continue reading “Revolving doors: King & Spalding adds two in London as City firms bolster financial regulatory expertise”

Ince to divest Gibraltar business, Germany and Singapore arms up for restructure

Ince & Co Office Photo

In its latest attempt to stave off financial turmoil, Ince Gordon Dadds has agreed to sell its Gibraltar business to two employees for £700,000.

The firm has conditionally agreed to sell Ince Gibraltar Limited and Ince Consultancy Gibraltar to Peter Howitt, director of Ince Gibraltar, and Heather Adamson, head of fiduciary for Ince Gibraltar. The pair have already paid £300,000 upfront as a deposit, with the rest to follow in four equal quarterly payments, providing the sale is finalised. Continue reading “Ince to divest Gibraltar business, Germany and Singapore arms up for restructure”

Clifford Chance, HSF and A&O score most individual lawyer rankings in London as Legal 500 2023 Solicitors Guide launches

reaching the top of the stairs

More than 1,100 law firms have secured spots in the latest UK Legal 500 rankings, which rank the best law firms and lawyers across the nation.

The Legal 500 UK Solicitors 2023 rankings, which launched yesterday (28 September) after months of extensive analysis of the UK legal market involving thousands of interviews, show 1,119 firms have achieved rankings, 550 of which are ranked in London. Continue reading “Clifford Chance, HSF and A&O score most individual lawyer rankings in London as Legal 500 2023 Solicitors Guide launches”

Vodafone legal chief Martin hangs up in-house career as easyJet replacement inbound

Rosemary Martin

In-house luminary and Vodafone group general counsel Rosemary Martin is set to retire after more than a decade at the helm, to be replaced by well-respected easyJet GC, Maaike De Bie.

Martin, who joined Vodafone in 2010 after stints as Reuters’ GC and a partner at Rowe & Maw, will retire on 31 March 2023. The move will bring to an end a glittering career which saw her become synonymous with the development and the increasing influence of the GC role, as well as for championing diversity and ESG initiatives.

Continue reading “Vodafone legal chief Martin hangs up in-house career as easyJet replacement inbound”

Revolving doors: Kirkland adds more magic circle partners as Akin Gump strengthens restructuring team

US-branded shark fin in a City sea

This week, as the pound reached a record low against the dollar, US firms have continued to wield their hiring power in the City, adding several high-profile laterals to their ranks.

Kirkland & Ellis bolstered its infrastructure funds practice with two magic circle hires. It recruited the Legal 500-ranked leading individual James Boswell from Clifford Chance and Paul Sampson (who was described by Jon Ballis, chairman of Kirkland’s executive committee, as a ‘a rising star in the European funds world’) from Allen & Overy. These hires follow the arrival of A&O’s global co-head of infrastructure Sara Pickersgill last week.

 

Meanwhile, Akin Gump welcomed restructuring partner Sam Brodie back to the firm after 18 months at Shearman & Sterling. Brodie first joined Akin Gump as counsel as part of a team from Bingham McCutchen led by James Roome and was promoted to the partnership in 2018. He re-joins as Roome readies to retire, marking an end of an era for the City restructuring practice.

 

Of his return, Brodie told Legal Business: ‘It was a really compelling opportunity for me to rejoin Akin Gump not only to help manage the ever-increasing client demand, but also to help develop the restructuring and special situations practices, as well as to help bring on the next generation of talent within the team.’

Elsewhere, CMS’s co-head of construction has joined Clyde & Co after more than 28 years at the firm. Victoria Peckett, who was promoted to partner in 2002, has a breadth of contentious and non-contentious experience, including in projects in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Clyde & Co’s chief executive officer Matthew Kelsall said: ‘Construction is one of our core sectors and we have ambitious plans to continue to grow the practice globally in both depth and breadth, as contractors face both huge opportunities and significant risks as they continue to navigate today’s challenging business environment.  Attracting a lawyer of Victoria’s calibre is clearly aligned with that focus on growth.’

Osborne Clarke added corporate energy partner Matt Lewy from Womble Bond Dickinson.  He has more than a decade of experience in renewable energy and infrastructure M&A having previously worked at CMS and Baker Botts. Lewy is the fifth partner to join the firm’s renewable energy sector group this year following the arrivals of projects partners Hugo Lidbetter (who joined in January from Fieldfisher) and John Deacon, Hannah Roscoe and Dominic O’Brien, who all joined from Orrick in March.

Finally, in Madrid, Pinsent Masons strengthened its European finance capabilities with the addition of José Millán from Penningtons Manches Cooper, where he headed the banking and finance team. This follows the launch of the firm’s financial services-focused Luxembourg office in July.

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Shoosmiths, Travers and Coca-Cola among the big winners at 25th Legal Business Awards

Shoosmiths, Travers Smith and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners were among the major winners at the 2022 Legal Business Awards, which welcomed more than 800 guests to the Grosvenor House hotel last night (27 September).

Hosted by distinguished BBC presenter, news anchor and journalist Louise Minchin, the evening saw Shoosmiths crowned Law Firm of the Year, with judges particularly impressed by its stellar performance over the past couple of years, with a strong financial performance underpinned by key client wins. Continue reading “Shoosmiths, Travers and Coca-Cola among the big winners at 25th Legal Business Awards”

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”

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”

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

‘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”

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”

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”

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”