Eastern Rivals

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The financial crisis has done more than stall investment in Central and Eastern Europe. It has caused a remarkable sea change in the respective legal markets, where the international elite have their work cut out

The crystal balls of Romania’s gypsies would be a valuable tool for many a law firm partner operating in Central and Eastern Europe. Almost precisely to the day of Lehman Brothers’ collapse, the investment appeal of these emerging markets all but extinguished. Continue reading “Eastern Rivals”

Middle East – New ball game

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On 2 December 2010 FIFA, the international governing body of football, officially announced that a desert state would be hosting the 2022 World Cup. Qatar, a country with a population of only 1.6 million people, endures average daytime temperatures in excess of 40°C in June and July. How will the players cope?

The bid chairman, and sixth son of the current Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani was unruffled: ‘We will have to take the help of technology to counter the harsh weather. We have already set in motion the process.’

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Middle East – Still standing

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As the Arab Spring spreads across the Middle East, investors are flocking to safe ground. LB discovers which states will prosper and which have the most to lose.

It is late April and tanks are being deployed by security forces in Syria following the government’s inability to quell civil resistance protests. Of the long list of countries affected by political unrest recently, those that have hit the headlines most emphatically include Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen. But does this turmoil have the lawyers in the region’s main financial centres worried?

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Portugal – Shifting sands

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With Portugal’s recession expected to continue for at least another two years, the country’s law firms have no option but to go abroad. LB assesses whether their international strategies are paying dividends

As any schoolboy will tell you, Portugal has a proud tradition as one of Europe’s foremost explorers. The era of Henry the Navigator and Vasco da Gama was a golden age of European discovery, in which a tiny nation spread its tentacles throughout the world and, for a period, became one of its greatest powers. Continue reading “Portugal – Shifting sands”

Portugal – Out of the ruins

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As Portugal considers the implications of its recent €78bn bailout, LB assesses the impact it will have on the legal market and how Portuguese law firms can survive in an economy stuck in limbo

By the time that this issue of Legal Business hits desks, Portugal will be on the brink of electing its new government. What form that government takes remains to be seen, although a majority coalition involving one of the two largest parties (the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party) looks almost certain. Continue reading “Portugal – Out of the ruins”

Brazil – Carnival time

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Brazil’s economic growth and status in the global economy has helped create one of the most sophisticated legal communities among the emerging markets

The legality of foreign law firms having local associated practices may grab some of the headlines, but Brazil’s relentless economic expansion and the growth of international deals in the market has been getting the top billing. The boom has not only attracted a slew of foreign firms but also driven the development of an increasingly sophisticated domestic legal market.

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Brazil – A different beat

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The Brazilian Bar is taking a stand against foreign firms that work alongside local associated practices. Few in the market are now prepared to bang the drum for local alliances

Hostility within the Brazilian legal market, especially São Paulo, could hardly be more intense. The Brazilian Bar Association, Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil (OAB), recently reiterated its opposition to local lawyers forming alliances with the local offices of foreign law firms. It puts Linklaters, Mayer Brown, DLA Piper, Uría Menéndez and their local associated practices – Lefosse Advogados, Tauil & Chequer, Campos Mello Advogados and Dias Carneiro Advogados respectively – very much in the firing line.

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Cyprus – Notes From A Small Island

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Improved relations with Russia and accession to the European Union are helping to transform Cyprus as a financial hub. LB looks at the impact on the local legal community.

Cyprus is fast approaching a tipping point in its international development. It may be an island of less than one million people, with a total of 2,000 lawyers, but its strengthening trade ties with Russia and the emerging markets, not to mention its accession to the European Union and some shrewd domestic legislative developments, have helped the country grow its profile in the international financial arena.

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Switzerland – On The Rise

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While several leading Swiss law firms contemplate their new lives as corporations, LB finds out what a series of high-profile partner exits means for Switzerland’s famously conservative legal market

This year, Zürich-based law firm Pestalozzi celebrates its 100th birthday. Just ten years ago, it joined forces with Geneva practice Lachenal Brechbuhl Cottier & Roguet to become Pestalozzi Lachenal Patry. But in late 2010, the two factions parted company, shutting down the Brussels office along the way.

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Turkey – Bridging the Gap

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As its economy booms Turkey has attracted the attention of the world’s legal market. Will Clifford Chance and DLA Piper’s arrival mark a new chapter for the country’s local firm?

Clifford Chance’s move into Istanbul didn’t exactly take the market by surprise. The announcement that the Magic Circle firm is to open an outpost in the Turkish city followed its 2009 hire of Mete Yegin from local heavyweight Pekin & Pekin. Required by local Bar rules to ally with a local firm, CC will now officially launch in conjunction with Yegin’s firm, Yegin Legal Consultancy.

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