Simon says – DLA Piper gears up for a life after Nigel

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DLA Piper pushed its regional brands to unprecedented heights under a trailblazing leader only to hit the inevitable grind of global integration. Legal Business meets the man charged with finishing what Sir Nigel started.

‘I had to ask Nigel to stop referring to his standing down as the firm’s Sir Alex Ferguson moment,’ laughs Simon Levine, the man tasked with replacing one Sir Nigel Knowles. ‘I didn’t want to go the way of Moysey.’

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Human nature – cutting edge legal work looms for the drugs revolutionising healthcare

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As patents for pioneering biotech drugs near expiry, life sciences companies are hunting new and controversial products. Can law firms help clients win the race?

For those close to the biotech industry, the events of a 2006 clinical trial at Northwick Park Hospital in London are etched firmly in the memory. In what was later dubbed the ‘Elephant Man’ trial, six healthy young men suffered catastrophic multiple organ failures within hours of testing a biologic – a drug created by a biological process – intended to treat leukaemia and rheumatoid arthritis. The volunteers became critically ill, including the loss of fingers and toes, after the monoclonal antibody TGN1412 caused near-fatal side effects. The drug was immediately withdrawn from development and its German-based creator TeGenero filed for insolvency four months later.

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The 2015 Risk Report – What lies beneath

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Law firms have benefited from a relatively settled risk environment, despite a run of crisis-linked claims. But Legal Business’ annual risk survey finds dangers new and old lurking beneath the surface.

On the face of it, news in December 2014 that the number of professional negligence claims against solicitors had tripled in a year, based on research from RPC, was enough to give law firm risk managers and professional indemnity insurance (PII) specialists pause. RPC reported that High Court cases against law firms for professional negligence had increased by 192% from 143 in 2013 to 418.

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The firm most likely – can anything halt Latham’s global rise?

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The most upwardly mobile member of the international elite has handed its leadership to a ‘global hawk’. Can anything halt the rise of Latham & Watkins?

At the end of a lengthy call mulling the prospects of Latham & Watkins amid a once-in-a-generation change of leadership, one Allen & Overy partner summarises: ‘They’re still doing better than we are though! Can you hand Bill [Voge] my CV when you see him!’

Indeed. To many neutral observers, Latham has been the most upwardly mobile firm in the upper echelons of the global legal market in the last 20 years, having transformed itself into an international force after deciding to go international in 2000. This rise was overseen by long-term head Bob Dell, one of the most forward thinking and admired leaders in the US legal market. Having led the firm for 20 years, Dell in January handed over as chair and managing partner to fellow Latham veteran Bill Voge (pictured).

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The blessed – unheralded, Wall Street’s elite comes roaring back

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New York’s legal elite re-asserted themselves through 2014, reaping the benefits of a bountiful market for high-end work. Have they done enough to preserve their legacies?

On a crisp September morning, the sun shines brightly from the newly refurbished rooftop offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, 55 floors up on Park Avenue. There is no hustle on this terrace and time for a few photos of the stunning view. Even with the long trail of cars far below dividing the city, it is a calm place. The calm, of course, is utterly deceptive. 2014 was a breakthrough year for top Wall Street law firms. In the streets and offices in Midtown and Wall Street, the market is buzzing and no-one is benefiting more than the traditional legal lords of New York.

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How was it for you? – the people and events that defined the profession over 25 years of Legal Business

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25 years ago Legal Business was launched to chronicle a rapidly changing profession in the wake of Big Bang. We look back to identify 25 defining figures, events and trends that shaped a world-beating profession.

The curious nature of the legal industry means that as radically as things seem to change, they stay the same. In January 1990 the City was still being defined by the Big Bang de-regulation of London’s financial services market, even though boom was rapidly turning to bust. Leading City law firms were still basically domestic practices built around English practices with limited branch networks. An elite City law firm would not have generated much more than £100m in a good year. That scale and internationalisation would change in the coming decade – for all the talk of supposedly radical upheaval in the modern legal industry – the shake-up in the profession seen in the 1990s at the very least matches and probably outdoes anything that has happened since the turn of the millennium.

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Shaping the industry – the veterans’ view on what mattered in the last 25 years

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Legal Business asked more than 20 legal heavyweights to name the defining moments that shaped the profession since the launch of Legal Business.

Wim Dejonghe, managing partner, Allen & Overy

On globalisation in law:

‘Domestic firms going global – this has been the main event of the last 25 years. That started in the mid-1990s and there has been no way back. Baker & McKenzie was a pioneer of the globalisation trend. It has done extremely well in its market. Two firms that have come from a regional base and developed well include DLA Piper – coming from [the English regions] is impressive – and Latham & Watkins from LA. Given their position 25 years ago and where they are now, these three firms come to mind.’
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Evasive Action – Can Olswang live up to its own ambitions?

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TMT leader Olswang is hard to pin down these days as profits ebb, reports of discord emerge and a leader suddenly departs. Can the firm push on with its ambitions to take brand Olswang global?

‘David is in back to back meetings every day for the next four weeks,’ says the Olswang staffer. ‘It would be just impossible to set up a call.’

The Legal Business correspondent listens to another evasive response after again asking to speak to Olswang’s then chief executive David Stewart. It’s not very convincing.

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The king is dead – hunting out the new breed of dealmakers in banking lawyers sights

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The veteran deal bankers have moved on and there’s a new pecking order with US banks and credit funds staking their position in Europe’s leveraged finance market. Legal Business assesses the debt professionals that lawyers want on their speed dial.

‘The crisis hit and Paul de Rome, who was then head of leveraged finance at Citibank, said: “You’ve got to shoot someone – I’ll fall on my sword – take me down.” It was a pure sign of class I thought. He was 50. He’d made his money, and was letting the young ones keep their jobs. Looking back I realise the reason Paul was such a successful old dog was because he knew it was just the first stage of the crisis. When he got shot, all his shares vested and he’s currently a partner in private equity firm EQT, which is THE place to move to.’

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Double-edged – cutting both ways with third party funding

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It’s been a turbulent year for third-party funders, from court battles shining a spotlight on risky investments to new entrants and exits. Legal Business scopes the changing landscape for litigation’s bankrollers.

In early autumn, high-flying disputes lawyer Harvey Rands was taking a vacation in upstate New York. While many spend breaks catching up on books and perfecting golf swings, Rands, one of Memery Crystal’s highest billers, held in his possession an embargoed draft of the Excalibur costs judgment, a Commercial Court ruling on one of the most controversial pieces of litigation in recent years. Crucially the ruling, made public on 23 October, found third-party funders liable for indemnity costs in what became a precedent for an industry historically dogged with a controversial reputation.

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