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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”

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Advising and acting for clients on ESG-related risks

ESG imperatives have never been more at the fore for partners, GCs, or indeed any professional with exposure to related reputational risk. A webinar, hosted by The In-House Lawyer and sponsored by Travers Smith brought together partners, experts from in-house, the Bar and a crisis-management guru for a diverse and challenging debate on the ESG-related risks – and rewards – at the top of the agenda. Continue reading “Advising and acting for clients on ESG-related risks”

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Walking the talk

Clare Francis, Pinsent Masons: We want to look at the change agenda and what that means for GCs, especially given the unprecedented events that have hit us over the last two or three years which have really disrupted business. Given that our clients are looking at things differently, having different priorities in the boardroom, and seeking to make progress in areas such as ESG and D&I [diversity and inclusion], it will be interesting in our debate to look at how that flows through into what you expect from law firms. To kick off, we thought it would be good to start by asking, what is high up on your priority list today and how have you seen that evolve over the last few years? Continue reading “Walking the talk”

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On your toes

Tumultuous is possibly an understatement when describing the past few years, not least the global Covid-19 pandemic proving a major game-changer socially, culturally, economically and politically. Significant shifts in all these categories of life have had profound employment law implications, pushing it ever higher up the corporate agenda. Continue reading “On your toes”

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The harder line

Andrea Coscelli’s leadership of the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) has been highly consequential. Since his appointment in 2016, the agency has become one of the most interventionist competition agencies in the world, challenging more than 30 transactions, including transactions that had little nexus to the UK and, in some cases, had been approved by other agencies. Continue reading “The harder line”

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The pandemic has transformed legal work… to an extent. But the journey must continue

I was interviewed last year about how our legal department coped with the pandemic hit. I talked about how we adapted to remote work far better than expected, and the big role that tech played in making it all pretty seamless. That type of story is well told now. But, let’s be honest, there are a few more chapters on hybrid working to be written yet. Continue reading “The pandemic has transformed legal work… to an extent. But the journey must continue”

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Revolving Doors: King & Spalding expands City private credit group as Kirkland recruits two from Latham in Chicago

There is an international flavour to this week’s round-up, as a muted City market was offset by a flurry of movement on the global stage.

The headline London arrivals came at King & Spalding, which has welcomed partners Richard Kitchen and Amin Doulai into its corporate, finance and investments group. Both arrive from Paul Hastings and have significant experience in the private credit field, having advised on leveraged acquisition and corporate finance transactions. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: King & Spalding expands City private credit group as Kirkland recruits two from Latham in Chicago”

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Witness training: Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

Everything started off so friendly – in the weeks leading up to our visit, Assurety Training had kindly sent Legal Business some branded chocolate. And on the morning of our visit, my fellow reporter Megan Mayers and I were welcomed with coffee and snacks. I naively assumed our visit would be a largely academic affair, where we would be calmly taken through the typical day’s training for a future witness. I was wrong.

Pleasantries were quickly dispensed with, and resident cross-examiner (and co-founder of Assurety) Ed Williams QC sat ominously opposite. In front of him were various documents I had been asked to provide in the days before: my latest CV, a document outlining my interests and a psychological profile based on a questionnaire. Continue reading “Witness training: Fail to prepare, prepare to fail”

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Ports in a storm – the offshore leaders thriving in turbulent times

If market commentators thought the world was ready to get back on an even keel after two years of global pandemic, events of recent months have very much put paid to that notion. But while law firms and their clients still have much volatility to contend with, the 2022 financial results season has once again underlined the resilience of the global legal market, with a steady stream of firms posting more than healthy revenue and profit hikes.

And the leading offshore law firms are no exception, with booming deal markets, post-pandemic restructuring work and emerging trends such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) contributing to a landmark year for many. Continue reading “Ports in a storm – the offshore leaders thriving in turbulent times”

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Face value – mentoring in the hybrid work era

‘Sitting on your computer in your bedroom all day isn’t culturally enriching. When we see how our junior lawyers operate now, you can tell they’ve been trained during the pandemic. They’ve missed out on the day-to-day, hearing the titbits of conversations, the lift discussions, the conversations on the way to and from meetings,’ laments Slaughter and May M&A partner Sally Wokes.

Wokes is far from alone in her assessment of the challenges firms currently face getting both trainees and junior associates up to speed. Continue reading “Face value – mentoring in the hybrid work era”