Upcoming: GC Powerlist UK 2022
Game on: HSF eclipses A&O with bumper £120k NQ salary
Just a day after Allen & Overy (A&O) revealed it was standing firm with its £107,500 newly-qualified (NQ) salary, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has announced an eye-catching 14% uptick in NQ pay from £105,000 to £120,000.
The remuneration jump became effective today (Friday 1 July), with scope for further payouts as it does not include bonuses. While this spike in NQ pay has attracted immediate attention, the firm has also vowed to make ‘significant investment’ throughout its associate salary bands. Continue reading “Game on: HSF eclipses A&O with bumper £120k NQ salary”
A line in the sand: A&O bucks Magic Circle pay increase trend with salary freeze
In a surprise twist in the Magic Circle pay war saga, Allen & Overy (A&O) has frozen its associate salaries citing a ‘more challenging business environment.’
The firm typically reviews pay in the summer, but A&O has decided this year to pre-empt any salary-increasing brinksmanship and freeze its rates.
Continue reading “A line in the sand: A&O bucks Magic Circle pay increase trend with salary freeze”
Revolving doors: Linklaters loses three while Goodwin makes global gains
The international recruitment market remains buoyant with transactional hires dominating.
US giant Goodwin has continued its bullish growth strategy into 2022, following its dramatic expansion in 2021 that saw nine lateral hires in London alone. This week, the firm bolstered its financial regulatory expertise with the addition in London of Andrew Henderson from Macfarlanes and private equity partner Daniel Dusek in Hong Kong from Kirkland & Ellis. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Linklaters loses three while Goodwin makes global gains”
Life During Law: Jeff Twentyman
I acquired through reading an interest in justice and the role law could play. One book I read in my late teens was influential. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by American journalist and author Peter Matthiessen. Written in 1983 about an individual who was part of the American Indian Movement called Leonard Peltier. He happens to still be in jail 45 years later, in what this book would tell you was a major miscarriage of justice. It profoundly affected me. The idea that law could be a force for good attracted me to the legal system.
I was predisposed to arguing. I found it interesting to pursue the right answer through discussing it with people. Constructive arguing rather than arguing in a teenager-y sort of way. I made the connection that actually the two things played into each other. I was possibly a little bit idealistic. Continue reading “Life During Law: Jeff Twentyman”
Latin America focus: Brave new world
The ferocity of competition in Latin America’s legal sector over the last decade has reshaped the region’s key markets. A genuine onslaught of factors – ranging from the challenges of institutionalisation and the arrival of international players to populist politics and the pandemic – has led to powerful change, eroding the former ‘magic circle’ groups that previously dominated most key jurisdictions and, in general, reducing them to just a couple of leading players.
Beyond the upper echelons, the region’s markets have grown in terms of depth, professionalism and specialisation. Certain markets, most notably Chile, but also – increasingly – Colombia, are demonstrating a tendency towards an increasing proliferation of boutiques, which in turn bring their own challenges to more established market players. Below is an analysis of the region’s key Pacific Rim jurisdictions, working from north to south – and also a brief look at Argentina and Brazil. Continue reading “Latin America focus: Brave new world”
Sponsored briefing: Panama: The multinational hub
Panama is known for smart corporate structures that function harmoniously with a top-of-the-world financial sector, creating business opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors worldwide.
One of Panama’s most successful and developed strategies to attract foreign investment has been the establishment of special economic zones with investment regimes that offer a broad range of tax, labour, migratory and legal stability incentives. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Panama: The multinational hub”
Middle East and North Africa focus: The competitive edge
As the world moves on from the pandemic and growth is firmly back on the agenda at law firms, the impact of the global geopolitical uncertainty triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and soaring energy prices is shifting firms’ focus when it comes to international expansion.
The Middle East, where rapid vaccine rollouts mean economies bounced back earlier than Europe and where construction is booming under ambitious state-backed investment plans, is inevitably a focus for many. Continue reading “Middle East and North Africa focus: The competitive edge”
The ESG report
The ESG report – Overview: Turning on a greenback
‘Two years ago, if you asked top firms about their ESG credentials they would tell you about the beach clean-up they organised or how they don’t use plastic bags. Now everyone’s got an ESG website and I’m sure many have made statements they wish they hadn’t.’
The words of Ben McQuhae, founder of specialist sustainability law firm Ben McQuhae & Co, speak of the conundrum facing pundits attempting to scrutinise the environmental, social and governance (ESG) bona fides of the top 25 Legal Business 100 and top 25 Global London firms. Continue reading “The ESG report – Overview: Turning on a greenback”
The ESG report – Russia: All bite, no bark
It was uncharacteristically decisive. Rapidly after Russia did the unthinkable and invaded Ukraine on 24 February, many international law firms with Moscow operations hurried out strongly-worded statements at the behest of a hysterical legal press. Linklaters was the first of the major players to react, announcing on 4 March that it would ‘wind down’ its Moscow office, and vowed not to represent any clients connected to the Russian regime. Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) promised the same, even swearing to withdraw ‘as quickly as we can’, while a host of firms ominously, and vaguely, pledged to ‘review the situation’.
The next few months saw many firms ostensibly live up to promises, albeit at varying speeds. Some favoured a hard and fast exit, and some went as far as to cease acting for any Russian nationals, irrespective of perceived guilt or innocence connected with the war. Fewer took more time to gently spin out their Moscow hubs to become new separate entities, with an optimistic view to reconnecting if the global situation ever makes that politically viable again. Continue reading “The ESG report – Russia: All bite, no bark”
The ESG report – Diversity and inclusion: A false start?
‘I haven’t seen progress like I’ve seen it in the last 18 months or so at any point in my career,’ proclaims Harold Brako, head of Addleshaw Goddard’s Manchester office. ‘It’s been fuelled by a number of reasons, not least the Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd.’
In June 2019, when Legal Business last wrote about ethnic diversity in the legal profession, the world was a very different place. Theresa May was still prime minister, and most people would have guessed that Covid was some new media-sharing platform. Continue reading “The ESG report – Diversity and inclusion: A false start?”
‘I’ve acted for every villain you can name’: Lessons in ESG from its trailblazers – and how to dodge the greenwashing bullet
Big Law came late to the ESG party compared to regulated financial services industries, with many law firms only getting the memo as recently as the pandemic.
At the forefront of this movement for approaching 20 years are professor Paul Watchman, senior UN legal adviser and former Freshfields partner, and Paul Clements-Hunt, founder of The Blended Capital Group, a former adviser to the UN on sustainable finance and the person who coined the term ESG. Legal Business sat down with these trailblazers to discuss why lawyers must embrace good corporate citizenship. Continue reading “‘I’ve acted for every villain you can name’: Lessons in ESG from its trailblazers – and how to dodge the greenwashing bullet”
The ESG report – Event: Advising and acting for clients on ESG-related risks
ESG imperatives have never been more at the fore for partners, general counsel (GCs), or indeed any professional with exposure to related reputational risk. A webinar, hosted by Legal Business 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.
*****
Nathalie Tidman, Legal Business: What are the main ESG risks that corporates are facing right now? Continue reading “The ESG report – Event: Advising and acting for clients on ESG-related risks”
The Last Word: Best foot forward
‘As custodians of the rule of law, we have to question whether we are undermining it in anyway? It’s in the mix for sure. I would expect that it plays on everyone’s minds.’ Sophia Adams Bhatti, Simmons & Simmons
On the back of our second annual ESG report, key decision makers share their views on how well law firms are stepping up to the mark
Malta focus: Grey skies turn to blue – the Malta report
‘There was a significant and much welcome upward trend in dealmaking from June 2020 up to the end of last year,’ reflects James Scicluna, co-founder of WH Partners. ‘On the M&A side of things, there’s just been one thing after another.’
Data from the European Commission (EC) would suggest that Malta enjoyed a 2021 characterised by rejuvenation. Having sustained a Covid-induced reduction of 8.3% in 2020, GDP jumped by 9.4% last year, well ahead of the global growth of 5.7% recorded by the World Bank. Continue reading “Malta focus: Grey skies turn to blue – the Malta report”
GC Powerlist Türkiye 2022
Due to the favourable geopolitical location of Türkiye, it is a renowned hotspot for local and foreign investors. Its regulatory and political landscape has also seen recent, rapid evolution and change. Frequent developments are underway to laws regarding real estate, data privacy, citizenship, among others. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic presented a distinctive set of challenges for the country and for companies in Türkiye. General counsel (GCs), throughout this period, guided their respective companies with consistent and practical support.
The Legal 500 GC Powerlist: Türkiye 2022 demonstrates an astounding level of legal ability against an arduous, transforming economic background. Driven by resilience, GCs in Türkiye have assumed a leading role in their companies and navigated unparalleled challenges. It does not come as a surprise that the in-house legal profession is burgeoning in Türkiye, attributable to the taxing undertakings they typically face in their organisations. Continue reading “GC Powerlist Türkiye 2022”
The profession must not let yesterday’s ESG news turn into today’s chip paper
As we publish Legal Business’ second ESG report, the words years ago of a male partner at a Magic Circle firm suddenly returned in a flash. To paraphrase: ‘The problem with City law firms is that they do a big push to keep women, they have a couple of female partners rising through the ranks, they think they have the gender diversity issue fixed. They tick it off the list and move onto the next thing.’
While acknowledging the manifold nuances and difficulties in diversity and inclusion of all kinds, it is disappointing to see how predictable this faddy approach to social progress continues to be. Continue reading “The profession must not let yesterday’s ESG news turn into today’s chip paper”
Target on your back – the rise and fall of the ESG lawyer?
A lot can happen in a year, and never more so it appears than in the constantly evolving world of the ESG lawyer. Pretty much a year ago to the day, we launched our inaugural ESG report, firms and lawyers having had the bandwidth afforded by the pandemic to get their heads around what they wanted their ESG image to be. In many ways, 2021 felt like a less cynical time. The industry at large was emerging from a health crisis, and we were conditioned to be kind, good corporate citizens because, let’s face it, who knew what personal and professional hell Covid might have wrought on the people we were dealing with?
Last year – the tricky task of getting firms to name mandates they’d rejected on ESG grounds notwithstanding – most firms we canvassed with our ESG questionnaire were tripping over themselves to show off their credentials. In 2021, 77% of firms questioned responded to our survey. With such an encouraging response, this year we went out to more firms, again approaching the top 25 Legal Business 100 firms, but also the top 25 Global London firms, not just the top ten. Only 52% responded. Continue reading “Target on your back – the rise and fall of the ESG lawyer?”
The big stories of the past two months
Robust revenue and profit growth for UK and US firms
First to report on a 2021 calendar-year basis, US firms set a high bar for impressive gains as robust financial results were released. Another bumper year for private equity saw Kirkland & Ellis retain its title as the world’s highest-grossing law firm with revenue exceeding $6bn for the first time following a 25% increase, while profit per equity partner (PEP) spiked by more than 19%, reaching $7.38m. Continue reading “The big stories of the past two months”