Tchenguiz swaps Stephenson Harwood for Debevoise after failed €2bn claim

Posted on |
Tchenguiz swaps Stephenson Harwood for Debevoise after failed €2bn claim

Embattled property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz (pictured) has replaced long-time legal advisers Stephenson Harwood with Debevoise & Plimpton after his €2bn claim against an Abu Dhabi investment company was thrown out.

A Debevoise team led by dispute resolution partner Kevin Lloyd will take over future Tchenguiz mandates, including a key Commercial Court case later this year. Tchenquiz had only drafted in Stephenson Harwood in 2014 to replace Shearman & Sterling in his later-settled case against the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Continue reading “Tchenguiz swaps Stephenson Harwood for Debevoise after failed €2bn claim”

The Silk Round: One fine day

Posted on |
The Silk Round: One fine day

Legal Business writes many high-minded pieces focused on the finer analytical points of the legal industry. This is not one of those pieces.

In an intensively people-driven business like the law, there cannot be many more resonant and personal experiences than becoming a Queen’s Counsel (QC). Firstly, there is the trial of the arduous application process and the agonising wait to find if you have secured the favour of peers and the selection panel. Continue reading “The Silk Round: One fine day”

International Arbitration Insight: Bigger, longer, more complicated

Posted on |
International Arbitration Insight: Bigger, longer, more complicated

‘Arbitration has gone from being the exotic bird of dispute resolution to become almost the norm,’ argues Constantine Partasides of Three Crowns (3C).

The appearance of boutiques such as 3C and Hanotiau & van den Berg is itself a sign of arbitration’s entry into the mainstream. It is tempting to consider parallels with the US-based litigation firms that emerged in the late 1980s and ’90s, when Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Boies Schiller Flexner broke away from the full-service model to focus on disputes work. Continue reading “International Arbitration Insight: Bigger, longer, more complicated”

Q&A: Sir Frank Berman KCMG QC on the Bar, the challenges of nature and London’s status as a disputes hub

Posted on |

Having attended Legal Business’s first International Arbitration Summit in September to debate issues on investor-state disputes, Sir Frank Berman KCMG QC (pictured) of Essex Court Chambers talks to Sarah Downey about the highlights of his 50-year career, London’s status as a disputes hub, and the future of the Bar.

Continue reading “Q&A: Sir Frank Berman KCMG QC on the Bar, the challenges of nature and London’s status as a disputes hub”

Headlines and hype but less substance despite foreign firms’ push into Asia disputes market

Posted on |

Tony Lin argues that Asia’s small and politicised litigation market won’t deliver on the hopes many international law firms are pinning on it

Asia dispute resolution is happening. At least that’s what one might surmise from recent moves in the market out here in Hong Kong. In the past few months, New York’s Debevoise & Plimpton recruited litigation heavyweight Mark Johnson from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), while O’Melveny & Myers hired Denis Brock from King & Wood Mallesons. Several other UK and American law firms have relocated experienced disputes partners to the region.

Continue reading “Headlines and hype but less substance despite foreign firms’ push into Asia disputes market”

The Movie Business

Posted on |

 MARKET VIEW – ARBITRATION 

Freshfields’ head of international arbitration, Lucy Reed, talks to Singapore International Arbitration Centre chief executive, Lim Seok Hui, about the institution’s recent rise to prominence

Lucy Reed, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC)’s reputation in the market has skyrocketed in the last five years. What are some of the factors which have led to that growth?

Lim Seok Hui, SIAC: It was certainly no coincidence that the spike in new case numbers we have seen since 2008 corresponded with the entry onto the world stage of the Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean economies. That is of course a key factor in the growth of the institution. Underpinning and assisting that development is the fact that the government of Singapore was very quick to lay the infrastructure needed for the advancement of international commercial arbitration in our jurisdiction, and to adopt the necessary legislation to allow us to keep up to speed with global best practices. We also have a very supportive judiciary which built upon Singapore’s reputation for neutrality, integrity and quality more generally as regards our legal sector.

Continue reading “The Movie Business”

Global 100 Arbitration Focus – Battle for the City

Posted on |

London has established an increasingly powerful position as a global arbitration hub. But does it have the facilities to drive forward its growth?

While Russian oligarchs flocking to London’s courts attracted much publicity – and its share of controversy regarding ‘renting’ of British justice – another little-noted boom bringing rich foreign parties to the City to settle disputes is arguably far more significant: the rise of London as an arbitration hub.

Continue reading “Global 100 Arbitration Focus – Battle for the City”

Revolution on a shoe string

Posted on |

Quinn Emanuel’s no-frills, high-end approach to law has re-written the rules on what US advisers can achieve in London after a startling run of growth. Legal Business asks how the iconoclastic disputes shop does it.

It’s the day after Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has moved into its new London office at Fleet Place and boxes bursting with paperwork still occupy the small reception hall. There is no fancy artwork on these walls, nor much in the way of hi-tech gadgets; everything is basic, minimal, functional. On entering the interview room, tap water is offered and greetings take place with London co-managing partner Richard East and former Allen & Overy (A&O) arbitration partner Stephen Jagusch – last year’s star UK signing – the latter dressed in jeans.

Continue reading “Revolution on a shoe string”