LB306 – issue menu
Access your print copy online – LB306
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LB305 – issue menu
Access your print copy online – LB305
While much of the country works from home we are providing more options for you to access your copy of Legal Business. Please see below for links to a limited version followed by a complete version. The complete version is only accessible to subscribers. Please make sure you are logged into the site to see the link.
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Global 100 2021 – contents
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Global 100 overview: Beasts of burden
In Legal Business’ last Global 100 issue, as firms enjoyed financial years almost entirely untainted by the economic chaos wrought by Covid-19, we said the strain would start to show in this year’s report. It meant last year’s results were all the more important, as they would be the platform upon which Global 100 firms would face their worst economic crisis in over a decade.
We added that across key metrics, the global elite had reason to be optimistic – gross revenue was up 5% to $119.72bn – but the dent many saw to their profitability was only anticipated to get worse, as average profit per equity partner (PEP) at a Global 100 firm shrank 4% to $1.8m across 2019/20. Continue reading “Global 100 overview: Beasts of burden”
Global 100: Hogan Lovells – Winning Hartson minds
The champagne corks had long-since popped when the great and the good of legacy British firm Lovells and Washington DC powerhouse Hogan & Hartson met at a practice area retreat in Barcelona in 2013. While there was cause for cheer at the bedding in of their union, there was also business to attend to.
Adrian Walker, now a global board member and head of Hogan Lovells’ ESG practice, was then a couple of years into his role as global co-head of infrastructure, energy, resources and projects, a role he shared with Hogan Lovells’ current chief executive, Miguel Zaldivar. He recalls the odd mix of levity and gravity: ‘I interviewed a load of people at the firm for a video we did at the retreat for a bit of fun. I spoke to Miguel about values, and how the world will look in 50 years. He mentioned green energy and autonomous cars but noted that core values will always remain the same. We learn them from our predecessors and pass them on to the next generation. Continue reading “Global 100: Hogan Lovells – Winning Hartson minds”
Global 100: Goodwin – No guts, no glory
The Zoom call with Gemma Roberts, private equity partner and recently-appointed co-chair of Goodwin’s London office, has not got off to the most auspicious of starts. First Roberts has a tech malfunction and then the interview is disrupted by the world’s loudest weekly fire alarm test. ‘Learning points for our next call will be to make a computer work and to not have it at 11am on a Wednesday,’ Roberts quips. The irony of the situation is not lost, given the firm’s reputation for advising on matters with a strong technology bent.
Looking at Goodwin both internationally and in London, there appears little cause for alarm. Globally, the firm has increased revenue 12% since 2020 to $1.49bn and a striking 72% over the last five years, making it the third-fastest growing global firm by revenue after Kirkland & Ellis and Covington, which have bolstered turnover 110% and 78% respectively since 2016. In that context, the London office comfortably eclipses the firm at large, bringing in $99.1m, marking a 33% surge since 2020. The London office now generates nearly 7% of firm-wide revenue, no mean feat given this office is just 11 years old. Continue reading “Global 100: Goodwin – No guts, no glory”
The ESG debate: Balancing growth and risk
As part of an ongoing series of thought leadership roundtables and webinars we have been hosting with Paul Hastings before, during and after lockdown, we were delighted to finally have an in-person debate at Paul Hastings’ London office in November. We gathered together leading general counsel (GCs) and Paul Hastings partners to discuss the role the legal team within corporates plays in advising the board on major risks – particularly environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns – without stifling healthy growth.
The session examined how businesses are facing a significant number of challenges and opportunities, and the senior in-house counsel present discussed some of the specific challenges they are facing, including re-aligning to e-commerce, re-establishing supply chains, taking advantage of excess liquidity to drive strategic M&A, responding to new ESG demands from investors and stakeholders and responding to an evolving legal and regulatory landscape. Continue reading “The ESG debate: Balancing growth and risk”