Sanctions: an unprecedented moment for doing business in Russia

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YUST’s Evgeny Zhilin outlines the benefits.

2014 has brought many challenges to the Russian economy. The already modest growth rates that were demonstrated in the previous year were targeted even more by various sanctions imposed against Russia by the US, EU and some other jurisdictions. As a reaction to these, Russia has installed counter-sanctions in the food sector, hitting some of the European food producers hard. Continue reading “Sanctions: an unprecedented moment for doing business in Russia”

Lateral hiring in the Caribbean and the Channel Islands

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Philip Jennings of JLegal discusses these key jurisdictions and the opportunities (and challenges) of moving offshore.

The first thing to state is that the sub-heading above defines the importance of Cayman, Bermuda, BVI, Jersey and Guernsey. These are key jurisdictions in the global legal market and the original locations for the major offshore law firms which now have offices in myriad other locations, including in Asia and the Middle East. They are still where those firms have most of their lawyers and where most of their work originates from. The transactional and contentious work carried out under, and sometimes because of,  the laws and regulations of these countries is always high value and cross-border, involving the Magic  and Silver Circle firms on a regular basis. Sometimes the premier City or US firms will instruct the offshore firms on part of a deal or case but also some of the most prestigious clients directly instruct the offshore firms, including global banks and  financial institutions, ultra high-net worth individuals, trust companies and funds.  

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Achieving financial independence is so much easier if you create a plan

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Towry’s Chris Cole explains how they help legal partners achieve lifetime financial goals

Over the many years we have been working with law firms, we have found that partners typically have common aspirations from a financial point of view. Chief among these is usually the desire to become ‘financially independent’ – in other words, working out when enough is really enough to achieve the future they want for themselves and their families. However, legal partners are incredibly busy people and so they invariably do not have the time to personally put together a plan to help them achieve this goal.

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Efficiency as a driver of legal innovation

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Thomson Reuters looks at the exciting future of legal services in the wake of a rapidly changing legal market.

If the changes that have taken place in the legal market over the past two years are any indication of what lies ahead, the future of legal services is set to be an exciting one. Mergers and acquisitions, new entrants to the market, economic pressures and evolving client demands have combined to create an environment in which innovative organisations can thrive.

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Professional indemnity: PI insurance – dos and don’ts

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Marsh’s Sandra Neilson-Moore reflects on the process of applying for professional indemnity insurance, with some added thoughts on cyber liability

Professional indemnity (PI) insurance is a crucial component of the business risk management ‘toolkit’ of any law firm. In this country of course it is compulsory that a minimum amount of such insurance is purchased. This minimum amount is quite small (and may yet become smaller still), but the fact of the matter is that any sensible law firm/practising solicitor will want to purchase as much coverage, with as broad a scope of protection, as they can reasonably afford, and which they believe will meet their needs, and the needs and expectations of their clients.

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Beddoe applications – still fit for purpose?

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Ten Old Square’s Eason Rajah QC examines whether Beddoe applications are still relevant or whether they should be brought in line with other applications for directions

Since the case of Re Beddoe [1893] 1 Ch 547 it has become accepted that costs incurred by trustees who bring or defend hostile litigation unsuccessfully are costs which are prima facie not properly incurred and therefore cannot be recouped from the trust fund pursuant to their indemnity. A trustee is not protected merely because he acts on legal advice. It has been said fairly recently that a trustee who has pursued or defended an action unsuccessfully is likely only in exceptional circumstances to be able to show that his costs were properly and reasonably incurred (see Bonham v Blake Lapthorn Linell [2007] EWHC 2513 (Ch) at para 123). Consequently, trustees are usually advised to obtain the consent of their beneficiaries, or an indemnity from one or more of them. In the last resort, trustees are usually advised to obtain prospective costs protection by bringing an application for directions as to whether or not the claim should be litigated – a Beddoe application.

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Litigation finance for trustees

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Nick Rowles-Davies of Burford Capital talks facilitating recovery while mitigating risk

Litigation is an ever-present issue to trustees, whether bringing claims or defending cases. Now more than ever there is a need for trustees to be aware of the options available for funding this litigation.

There has been a significant increase in certain types of litigation in the last few years, for example, fraud cases such as the Stanford and Madoff matters, media litigation caused by events at News Corp and the largest area of litigation in recent times – banking and finance litigation. Continue reading “Litigation finance for trustees”