Global 100 – Stories of the year

Despite the Russia/Ukraine war fuelling concerns, firms still found time to make strategic hires, open new offices and become embroiled in the odd scandal. Here are the headline stories of the last 12 months.

2021

December

• Kirkland & Ellis shortened its path to equity partnership by a year, meaning lawyers are now being considered for admittance to the equity nine years out of law school, rather than ten. At the time, an internal firm memo stated: ‘Given the talent of our partnership and the increased responsibilities and experience gained in today’s environment, we believe that consideration for equity a year sooner is appropriate.’
• White & Case turned to the Magic Circle to bolster its corporate practice, recruiting Clifford Chance (CC) co-head of mining and metals, David Lewis.
• It was all change in big law’s C-suites, as CC, Mayer Brown and Watson Farley & Williams named new leaders. Financial markets partner and regional managing partner in continental Europe Charles Adams was named CC’s new global managing partner, succeeding the much-admired and charismatic Matthew Layton. In winning the support of the CC partnership, Adams fought off challenges from London structured finance partner Jessica Littlewood and Singapore-based project finance partner Nick Wong. Mayer Brown announced that banking and finance partner Dominic Griffiths would succeed Sally Davies as London managing partner. Davies, who had held the position since 2017, stepped down at the end of last year to focus on her responsibilities as part of the firm’s eight-lawyer global management committee. For his part, Griffiths joined Mayer Brown in 2005 and had served as co-leader of the firm’s global banking and finance practice since 2014. It was the end of an era at Watson Farley, with long-time leadership pair Chris Lowe and Lothar Wegener stepping down as co-managing partners. The firm opted to shuffle its management structure by appointing George Paleokrassas and Lindsey Keeble as its new senior partner and managing partner respectively for a five-year term starting in February 2022.
• Linklaters unveiled its response to the talent wars, overhauling its lockstep model in order to attract and fast-track high performers. Partners backed a wave of measures to bring Linklaters’ remuneration policy in line with the majority of the Magic Circle, after Allen & Overy (A&O), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and CC all made moves away from pure lockstep in recent years. The three main changes were: an extension at the top of its lockstep for partners who make ‘an exceptional contribution’, the ability to accelerate partners up the ladder who also make outstanding contributions and more flexibility to elect ‘top talent’ to the partnership earlier. The changes were seen as a statement of intent from Linklaters’ new-look leadership team. Earlier in 2021, the firm appointed global finance head Paul Lewis as managing partner, with M&A heavyweight Aedamar Comiskey elected as senior partner.

2022

January

• Sidley Austin lost its co-head of global antitrust as Kristina Nordlander departed for A&O. The move went some way to replenishing A&O’s competition stocks, following the exit of Antonio Bavasso, its co-head of global antitrust and co-head of telecoms, media and technology to Simpson Thacher’s London antitrust and trade regulation practice in early 2021.
• It was an unhappy new year for Mishcon de Reya, which received a record £232,500 penalty by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) following a string of failures related to money laundering rules, which included failing to provide adequate due diligence on four client matters and misplacing hard copy evidence.
• Disputes doyenne Natasha Harrison led a six-lawyer exodus from US litigation giant Boies Schiller Flexner, setting up a rival firm. The new outfit, named Pallas Partners, focuses on high-end litigation and arbitration. The move was seen as a massive blow for the US litigation giant’s City ambitions, given Harrison’s reputation as one of the most influential and outspoken law firm leaders as well as a respected litigator. Partners Tracey Dovaston, Fiona Huntriss, Will Hooker, Neil Pigott and Matt Getz also followed Harrison, who had been touted as chair elect to succeed David Boies when he retires.
• HFW elected a new senior partner in global aviation head Giles Kavanagh, ending stalwart Richard Crump’s 15-year tenure. Kavanagh has significant pedigree at the firm, joining in 2011 when HFW hired the entire aviation practice of Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (now Clyde & Co), a practice he led. He then headed HFW’s aerospace practice, which since 2011 has increased revenues by 250% and grown from 27 lawyers in four countries to 80 lawyers in ten countries.

February

• Former Serious Fraud Office director David Green KC left his position as a senior consultant at Slaughter and May to join Cohen & Gresser as a partner. Green outlined some of the pull factors: ‘Cohen & Gresser brings a fresh and energetic approach to international investigations. They are a highly-specialised and close-knit team of former prosecutors and leading lawyers that can work across borders and seamlessly advise clients across jurisdictions.’
• The SRA closed its investigation into the conduct of former Freshfields partner Caroline Stroud in her handling of an internal inquiry into a rape allegation at UBS. This was a welcome development for Freshfields after an investigation was launched back in August 2020 into whether Stroud misled the alleged victim, referred to as ‘Ms A’, during an internal review by not making it clear that she had been drafted in by UBS.
• Mayer Brown bolstered its London corporate and securities team with the addition of White & Case’s head of funds and investment management, Matthew Griffin.

March

• It was new brooms from the Magic Circle as former Freshfields senior partner Edward Braham bowed out of private practice, taking up a new role as chair of investment manager M&G. Former Linklaters managing partner Gideon Moore also moved into new territory by becoming a non-executive director at new law scale-up nexa.
• UK firms were in a globetrotting mood, as A&O opened in Boston following the arrival of five IP litigation partners from Goodwin. It was the latest move in the firm’s new US strategy following the collapse of the planned merger with O’Melveny & Myers.
• Meanwhile, Simmons & Simmons opened its inaugural US office in Silicon Valley, led by tech and data partner Emily Jones, a new recruit from Osborne Clarke.
• As the news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent shockwaves around the globe, firms began to assess the status of their Moscow offices. Linklaters was the first among big law to close its Russian outpost, followed by a similar move from Norton Rose Fulbright. This prompted a slew of firms to follow suit, including Akin Gump, Freshfields, Latham & Watkins, A&O and CC. Others, such as Baker McKenzie, DLA Piper and Dentons, opted to separate from their Russia practices, leaving independent firms behind.
• Yet more unwelcome news for Mishcon, as former partner Michael Nouril was hit with a £17,500 SRA fine after admitting to serious breaches of money laundering regulations relating to work for two individual clients.
• Latham & Watkins became the first law firm to break the $5bn revenue barrier as turnover spiked 26.7% to $5.489bn. Profit per equity partner also saw a comparable 26% surge to $5.71m from $4.52m last year. The firm does not release regional profit breakdowns, but the London office was understood to have posted a 30% jump in revenue, which would take the office’s top line to around $700m, further enhancing its reputation as one of the most potent foreign practices in the high-end UK legal market.
• Clyde & Co and BLM announced their merger, following discussions that started in 2019 and stalled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The tie-up was to create a firm with a combined headcount of over 2,500 lawyers and in excess of 450 equity partners.

April

• April proved a fruitful month for White & Case, as the firm added banking and finance expertise on both sides of the Atlantic. Paul Yin arrived as a partner from Skadden in London, while White & Case’s Boston office welcomed partners Jessica Ball and Jessica Shearer from Proskauer Rose.
• Kirkland raided the Magic Circle yet again, bolstering its London antitrust and competition practice with the hire of partner Alasdair Balfour from A&O.
• A flurry of landmark deals were completed, chief among them being Ithaca Energy’s $1.5bn purchase of Siccar Point Energy. Freshfields advised Siccar Point as the seller, while Pinsent Masons was instructed by Ithaca.
• Boies Schiller kicked off the rebuild of its heavily-depleted London office following the exit of a team led by Natasha Harrison with the hire of arbitration specialist Timothy Foden. Foden, who joined from Lalive, became the office’s third partner.
• CC made up 17 City partners in its largest promotion round since 2007, with 37 lawyers being elevated globally.
• CC and Eversheds Sutherland announced that their respective Moscow operations had spun out as independent firms following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Kirkland trumped rival Latham by becoming the first firm to pass $6bn in annual revenue. The Chicago-bred powerhouse added $1.2bn to its top line to remain the world’s highest grossing law firm, as turnover surged 25% from $4.83bn to $6.042bn.

May

• A group of Ince lawyers was accused of acting inappropriately in a Cardiff eatery. Cora restaurant owner Lee Skeet alleged in an email that the group had ‘talked down to, disrespected, and touched unwantedly’ a 22-year-old waitress named Lily.
• The SFO, Dechert and its former white-collar partner Neil Gerrard were blasted in a High Court judgment which determined he and the firm breached their duty of care to mining giant and client ENRC.
• Ashurst, Travers Smith and Hogan Lovells won advisory mandates on the insolvency of supermarket chain McColl’s and its pre-pack acquisition by Morrisons.
• Quinn Emanuel expanded its European footprint with the addition of a fifth German office, this time in Berlin, building on its outposts in Hamburg, Mannheim, Munich and Stuttgart. The new office is headed by Germany managing partner Marcus Grosch, who splits his time between Berlin, Mannheim and Munich.
• Winston & Strawn and Kirkland boosted their profiles on the east coast of the US by opening offices in Miami.
• CC upped the stakes in the Magic Circle talent war, raising its NQ rates to £125,000 to match its rival Freshfields.
• Following the merger of Clyde & Co and BLM, it was revealed that salaried partners at BLM would have to re-apply for their positions once the merger went live in July. Subject to a consultation, the salaried partners at BLM were to be automatically transferred to Clyde with the title of legal director, and then given three options. Aside from remaining a director, they could apply to become a salaried partner (this option was only open to the casualty insurance practice) or a full equity partner at the merged firm.

June

• In London, Latham lost energy and infrastructure partner Matthew Brown to rival Global 100 firm Milbank.
• Cravath, Swaine & Moore announced plans to open a three-partner office in Washington DC, in a significant break from tradition for the conservative firm. The office is just the third in the firm’s global network, adding to the New York headquarters established in 1819, and the London outpost added in 1973. A triumvirate of lateral recruits spearheaded the new practice. Jelena McWilliams, former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Elad Roisman, former commissioner and acting chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Jennifer Leete, former associate director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement all joined the firm in the capital.
• Kirkland, Travers, Shearman & Sterling, Latham and Linklaters landed roles advising on the refinancing of The Access Group. Speculated to be worth £3.2bn, it was the largest European private debt financing to date.
• Squire Patton Boggs unveiled an ESG strategy for the UK, which included a pledge to hit net zero carbon emissions by 2035.
• Mishcon’s annus horribilis continued as it was forced to shelve plans for a London IPO, even as the proposed transaction had already racked up costs of £11.7m.
• In the space of one globetrotting week, Ashurst opened a new office in Texas while Eversheds launched in Bulgaria by formalising a relationship with longstanding partner firm Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners.
• A surprise twist in the Magic Circle NQ pay war, A&O announced it would be freezing its rate at £107,500 citing a ‘more challenging business environment’.

July

• One day after A&O announced it was freezing its NQ pay, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) unveiled an eye-catching 14% uptick in NQ remuneration to hit £120,000.
• In a significant coup for Paul Hastings, the firm hired Latham & Watkins’ banking vice-chair Ross Anderson and fellow partners Mo Nurmohamed, Karan Chopra and Rob Davidson.
• Cripps and Gowling WLG were new additions to FTSE 100 real estate company Landsec’s latest advisory panel, while Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, CMS, DAC Beachcroft, Eversheds, HSF, Hogan Lovells and Pinsent Masons were all reappointed for a five-year term.
• Six months after launching in London, newly-formed Pallas Partners announced it was opening in New York via the hire of restructuring and bankruptcy disputes partner Duane Loft from Boies Schiller.

August

• Former Jones Day partner Raymond McKeeve was found in contempt of court after ordering the destruction of a client’s messaging app to dodge a search order in a claim brought by Ocado against McKeeve’s client Project Today Holdings.
• King & Spalding appointed banking heavyweight Andrew Brereton as its new managing partner of the Singapore office. He succeeded project finance partner Kelly Malone.
• Arnold & Porter leveraged its hires of Carla Schoonderbeek and Bart Jong from IP boutique Hoyng Rokh Monegier to launch in Amsterdam.
• Freshfields hired Kirkland’s Lisa Stevens as its new head of European special situations.
• Kirkland bolstered its funds practice with the addition of two The Legal 500 ranked Next Generation partners in London. Catherine Gokah joined from Ashurst and real estate funds partner Louisa Cobbe arrived from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.
• Slaughter and May suffered a rare departure as corporate insurance sector partner Robert Chaplin left for Skadden’s financial institutions group after 25 years at the Magic Circle firm. He was the second high-profile corporate departure from the firm’s London office in as many years, following Murray Cox’s defection to Weil in February 2021.

September

• Baker McKenzie announced that it is ‘parting ways’ with Dr Habib Al Mulla, name partner of member firm Habib Al Mulla & Partners, following a series of anti-gay Twitter comments.
• Kirkland continued its assault on the Magic Circle adding four infrastructure partners to its ranks. It hired A&O and CC’s respective co-heads of infrastructure, Sara Pickersgill and Toby Parkinson, as well as infrastructure funds partners Paul Sampson from A&O and James Boswell from CC.
• The partnership of LB100 firm Ashurst elected Lynn Dunne, disputes partner and co-head of Ashurst’s London office, to the firm’s board for a three-year term. She was voted in alongside London real estate partner David Jones, who was re-elected to the board having been originally nominated in 2019.
• Vodafone announced the retirement of long-term group general counsel Rosemary Martin after more than a decade at the helm and her replacement by well-respected easyJet GC Maaike de Bie.

October

• The Ince saga continued as the firm agreed to sell its Gibraltar business to two employees for £700,000.
• King & Spalding bolstered 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.
• DLA Piper appointed IP litigation partner Ruth Hoy as its next London managing partner, succeeding Tom Heylen, who had held a six-year term.
• Goodwin became the latest US firm to launch in Singapore with the relocation of a team from Hong Kong. The team, which includes funds partner Greg Barclay, private equity partner Abhishek Krishnan and counsel Ananth Lakshman, would initially focus on private equity, technology and M&A.
• Dentons became the first global law firm to combine with a law firm in India, as it finalised its combination with full-service firm Link Legal.
• Osborne Clarke announced the replacement of longstanding UK managing partner Ray Berg with corporate partner Conrad Davies, the firm’s international head of urban dynamics.
• Womble Bond Dickinson and BDB Pitmans confirmed they are in talks over a potential merger.

November

• CC’s senior partner elections began as two stepped forward to challenge incumbent Jeroen Ouwehand three years into his four-year term. Dubai-based structured finance partner Edmund Boyo and London partner Adrian Cartwright, who heads the European equity capital markets group, both put themselves forward for the role.
• HSF, Davis Polk and Eversheds secured advisory roles on the administration and £3.4m sale of online retailer Made.com to Next.
• Vinson & Elkins hired Hogan Lovells’ London M&A partner Ben Higson as its new London head of corporate.
• Kathleen Russ was re-elected as Travers’ senior partner for a second term of up to two years starting 1 July 2023. She first took on the role in July 2019 when she succeeded long-term leader Chris Hale.
• Cleary bolstered its London public M&A practice with the addition of Linklaters deals star Nick Rumsby. This rare City hire marked a shift in the market towards public M&A, said Cleary M&A partner Tihir Sarkar: ‘The current economic situation means there are businesses on the FTSE which are primed for takeover as their valuation has gone down, although the underlying businesses are quite good global businesses not overly exposed to the headwinds specific to the UK.’
• Pensions partner Faye Jarvis joined Macfarlanes after 15 years at Hogan Lovells.
• TLT’s head of pensions Sasha Butterworth was elected as the firm’s new senior partner. She will assume the role at the beginning of 2023, taking over from Andrew Glynn, who held the position for seven years.
• A&O recruited US-qualified leveraged finance partner Marwa Elborai from Shearman & Sterling. She joined following a 16-year stint at the US firm.
• Goodwin named funds partner Ajay Pathak as its new London co-chair, replacing Paul Lyons after five years. Pathak will lead the office alongside existing co-chair Gemma Roberts, who succeeded Samantha Lake Coghlan in 2021.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk
megan.mayers@legalease.co.uk
charles.avery@legalease.co.uk

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