Donald Trump is still in office, Brexit is still about to happen, but the global economy in 2018 provided few of the seismic shocks that have reverberated offshore in recent years. Uncertainty remains a continuous theme, although there were none of the revelations like the Panama Papers of 2016 and the Paradise Papers in 2017, both of which generated big headlines but ultimately little impact.
The media attention has been underpinned by what Ingrid Pierce, global managing partner of Walkers, calls ‘a deliberate unwillingness to understand the benefits of international financial centres to the global economy’. Offshore reputation remains a concern for Michael O’Connell, Appleby’s group managing partner. ‘Considering the escalating media, political and regulatory scrutiny that the industry is under, combined with the pressures of an uncertain economic environment, there is a continued need to focus on perception and reputation,’ he says. ‘Any large mistakes are likely to be blown out of proportion in the current climate.’
But in 2018, significant growth was how most big offshore law firms made headlines. Despite the unpredictable events, GDPR and advice on other compliance work combined with buoyant corporate, funds and finance practices kept them busy. ‘Activity has increased on all fronts,’ says Peter Tarn, global managing partner at Harneys. ‘The biggest impact on our corporate, finance and capital markets work arose out of the various events worldwide, which caused huge peaks and troughs in legal activity during the course of 2018, in which the political machinations over Brexit also had a major part to play,’ says Alex Ohlsson, group managing partner at Carey Olsen.
At Mourant, global managing partner Jonathan Rigby adds: ‘The trading environment has been extraordinary, with regional and international politics causing exceptionally high levels of volatility, complexity and uncertainty.’ Notwithstanding these challenges, 2018 was ‘a record year’ for the firm, he says.
‘There is a continued need to focus on perception and reputation. Any large mistakes are likely to be blown out of proportion in the current climate.’ Michael O’Connell, Appleby
The big offshore firms do not publish financials, unlike their onshore LLP counterparts. But strong revenue growth – confirmed as double-digit by some managing partners – is reflected by the fee-earner headcount, which swelled in several firms and particularly in the growth of partners. Among the top ten firms the year-on-year increase in partner numbers is self-evident: Appleby (up from 57 to 69); Harneys (47 to 57); Maples and Calder (119 to 132); Ogier (54 to 61); and Walkers (94 to 99).
Much of this increase was caused by lateral hiring. ‘We operate in a very competitive marketplace for talent,’ says Edward Mackereth, global managing partner at Ogier. Partner moves between offshore firms reached a record level in 2018, reflecting that increased competition: Harneys hired seven partners in its transactional and dispute resolution teams; Appleby, Carey Olsen and Ogier hired five partners each across several offices; while partner hires at Maples (nine) and Walkers (ten) occurred across multiple practice groups.
Growth has manifested itself in other ways. In terms of geography, the Cayman Islands and Jersey now tie for the first time with 473 lawyers each among the top ten firms, while Guernsey (298) and Hong Kong (294) are some way ahead of Bermuda (170), Dublin (169), and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) (143).
Although there were no mergers between the offshore elite – still mooted by some as an imminent possibility – Bedell Cristin did take on leading Cayman independent firm, Solomon Harris, in October. Maples, meanwhile, opened in Jersey and Luxembourg. ‘The decision to open these offices was driven primarily by client demand,’ says Alasdair Robertson, the firm’s global managing partner. As a result, Maples remains the largest offshore firm with 341 lawyers (132 partners), just ahead of the fast-growing firm, Walkers, which has 332 lawyers and is set to appoint its hundredth partner.
Notwithstanding their success in 2018, trepidation exists about the year ahead:
‘2019 looks set to be another period of high volatility and uncertainty,’ says Rigby. ‘Brexit will continue to affect all offshore firms,’ adds O’Connell. ‘We have seen the uncertainty affect fund structuring and fund financing in particular, and it looks like the disruption for offshore firms is likely to continue.’ Managing partner at Bedell, David Cadin, agrees: ‘Brexit is a real concern, not so much because of the decision to leave, but rather the never-ending political uncertainty surrounding it.’
‘The decision to open the Jersey and Luxembourg offices was driven primarily by client demand.’ Alasdair Robertson, Maples and Calder
Meanwhile, Tarn is concerned about the EU’s position on economic substance initiatives as applied to British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories. ‘This will prove to be a fundamental change to how international finance is conducted, not only in BVI and Cayman, but on a global level,’ he says. Robertson is more stoic: ‘We tend to focus on our clients and our ability to advise and service those clients, rather than on our ability to forecast markets and political events that impact legal services,’ he says.
Below are snapshots of the ten largest offshore firms from 2018, focusing on their recent performance and practice growth.
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Appleby
Lawyers: 195, including 69 partners
Offices: Ten (Bermuda, BVI, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Jersey, Mauritius, Seychelles, Shanghai)
Group managing partner: Michael O’Connell
Focus: Corporate, dispute resolution, private client/trusts, property and regulatory
Recent standout deals/litigation: Acting on behalf of the former employee of a Russian fertiliser company in JSC MCC Eurochem v Livingston Properties – the litigation raised complex jurisdictional issues, twice reaching the Court of Appeal; in M v St Anne’s Trustees, Appleby acted on behalf of M, a beneficiary of a Guernsey law trust – the Court of Appeal judgment has become the leading authority on the Hastings-Bass rule in Guernsey.
After a challenging 2017, Appleby reinvigorated its partnership by making a record number of lateral hires in 2018, recruiting five new partners into the firm: corporate partners Robert Varley in the BVI (from Babbé), Garry Manley in the Isle of Man (from Cains) and James Fox in Jersey.
In dispute resolution, the firm hired Richard Field in Guernsey (from Carey Olsen) and David Lee in Cayman (from Norton Rose Fulbright).
‘Merger disputes have been a growth area, particularly in Cayman, and this has yet to hit its peak.’ Michael O’Connell, Appleby
A merger no longer appears to be key to Appleby’s strategy moving forward. Following the fallout from the unauthorised release of the Paradise Papers by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in 2017, Michael O’Connell points to preparation for ISO 27001 certification as the most significant internal event for Appleby last year. ‘Led by our head of information security, this has involved the implementation of mandatory security training, a range of security enhancements, and a library of security policies and procedures,’ he says.
The firm’s biggest growth practice areas last year included banking reorganisation work – ‘We have dominated the market in this area, particularly in the Crown Dependencies,’ says O’Connell – fintech and regulatory.
‘The lower value of the pound and euro has driven an increase in M&A,’ he notes. ‘Merger disputes have also been a growth area, particularly in Cayman, and this has yet to hit its peak. The significant rise in disputed statutory mergers has been driven, principally, by the dramatic increase in take-private transactions by company founders and management of Cayman companies operating businesses in the Far East, and increasingly common shareholder dissent from such mergers.’
Bedell Cristin
Lawyers: 88, including 25 partners
Offices: Six (BVI, Cayman, Guernsey, Jersey, London, Singapore)
Global managing partner: David Cadin (Jersey)
Focus: Banking, capital markets, property, corporate and commercial, insolvency and restructuring, insurance and reinsurance, investment funds, litigation, private client, probate, regulatory and compliance
Recent standout deals: Acting for WisdomTree Investments on its agreement to acquire ETF Securities’ European exchange-traded commodity, currency and short-and-leveraged business.
Recent standout disputes work: Following the Crociani case, in which Bedell secured $200m of trust assets for the plaintiffs, the firm has been involved in five inquiries to calculate remaining damages due from BNP Paribas and Appleby’s Mauritius Trust.
After the sale of Bedell Trust (now Ocorian) in 2017, Bedell followed up by expanding its international footprint last year. In the most significant move of any offshore firm for some time, its merger with one of the largest independent Cayman law firms, Solomon Harris, completed in October, adding 16 lawyers to its overall headcount. Solomon Harris retains its name for now but intends to rebrand as Bedell Cristin at some point.
‘The Cayman merger has increased our jurisdictional reach and opened up new markets and areas of law for us.’ David Cadin, Bedell
‘The fact that we made a strategic decision in 2017 to expand our jurisdictional spread, and delivered within 12 months of that decision, is a great boost for the firm and a real statement of intent,’ says Cadin. ‘This merger has increased our jurisdictional reach, our headcount, and opened up new markets and new areas of law for us.’
In addition to the Cayman merger, which brought six new partners to the firm, Bedell promoted Guy Westmacott as a corporate partner, taking the overall total to 25 across six offices. ‘Our business is growing, which means we will look to bring in more new partners,’ adds Cadin.
He points to the financial services team as having had ‘the biggest growth across all of our jurisdictions over the last year, particularly for our multi-jurisdictional work – this has been with a wide variety of matters.’ Like many firms, GDPR has also driven a significant amount of business and ‘is likely to continue to do so as clients move ever closer to data management programmes and truly skinny data’, he says.
Carey Olsen
Lawyers: 216, including 53 partners
Offices: Nine (Bermuda, BVI, Cape Town, Cayman, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, London, Singapore)
Group managing partner: Alex Ohlsson
Chair: John Kelleher (Jersey)
Focus: Banking and finance, corporate and commercial, investment funds and private equity, dispute resolution, trusts/private wealth, property, employment and insurance
Recent standout deals: Advising Butterfield on its acquisition of Deutsche Bank’s banking and custody business in Guernsey, Jersey and Cayman; advising Strategic Value Partners on its acquisition of Vita Group from TPG; assisting NYX Gaming Group with its C$775m takeover by Scientific Games.
Carey Olsen’s lawyer headcount grew by 8% in 2018, including the hire of trusts partner and former Appleby lawyer Keith Robinson, and corporate partner Mary Ward who joined the Bermuda office from Conyers Dill & Pearman. Meanwhile, corporate and finance partner Richard Munden joined the Cayman office, having spent ten years at Walkers, while private client partner Bernadette Carey joined from Conyers.
‘Our Bermuda office’s first year of trading has significantly exceeded expectations with early-market success that is unprecedented on the island.’
Alex Ohlsson, Carey Olsen
The firm’s Bermuda office opened last February. ‘Its first year of trading has significantly exceeded expectations with growth and early-market success that is unprecedented in Bermuda,’ says Alex Ohlsson. ‘The office has a team of 13 fee-earners with four more coming on board in early 2019.’
Pointing to the firm’s investment funds teams in the Channel Islands, he adds: ‘We were instructed on 70% of all new investment funds business for Guernsey law firms between July 2017 and June 2018.’ In total, Carey Olsen advises more than 1,400 funds across Guernsey and Jersey, nearly 50% more than the nearest competitor, according to Monterey Insight.
There has been a glut of other work: the Jersey office advised Nordic Capital on the €4.3bn closing of Nordic Capital Fund IX; the Guernsey corporate team advised Inflexion on two new funds – Inflexion Buyout Fund V and Inflexion Partnership Capital Fund II, securing £1.25bn and £1bn respectively; while the Singapore corporate team advised The Carlyle Group and affiliates of Värde Partners on the A$1.2bn restructure and recapitalisation of Bis Industries.
A similar story emerges in dispute resolution and restructuring: Carey Olsen Jersey acted for the joint liquidators of four BVI companies in the Tchenguiz case; the firm successfully applied to the Cayman court to have PwC appointed as joint provisional liquidators over Abraaj Holdings; and in Eurochem, it acted for successful appellants in the BVI Court of Appeal.
Collas Crill
Lawyers: 121, including 33 partners
Offices: Seven (BVI, Cayman, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, London, Singapore)
Group managing partner: Jason Romer (Guernsey)
Chair: Nigel Vooght (London)
Focus: Banking and finance, capital markets, corporate and commercial, dispute resolution and insolvency, investment funds/private equity, trusts/fiduciary/private client services, property, risk and regulatory, and UK real estate
Recent standout deals: Advising Three on its £300m acquisition of Transvision Investments; advising FastForward Innovations on investing in a Canadian company aiming to grow and supply marijuana under licence from the Canadian government.
Recent standout disputes work: Acting for the liquidators of Platinum Partners Value Arbitrage Fund; advising the liquidators of Caledonian Bank; representing the former founder/chief executive of The Abraaj Group in the liquidations of its Cayman-based companies; and for Highland Capital Management in the proposed restructuring of Ocean Rig.
After launching in the BVI and opening a representative office in Hong Kong in 2017, Collas Crill did more than just consolidate its position last year, according to Jason Romer. ‘The firm’s rapidly growing global footprint and profile has meant that we are seeing growth across the board. Dispute resolution, in particular, continues to show strong growth across all jurisdictions, especially in Cayman.’ The firm’s standout hire in 2018 was Gerard Clarke, who joined as a partner in the BVI office from Walkers and was previously a member of Blackstone Chambers for over 30 years.
‘The firm’s rapidly growing global footprint and profile has meant that we are seeing growth across the board and in dispute resolution in particular.’
Jason Romer, Collas Crill
Collas Crill’s disputes teams have also been busy elsewhere: in Jersey, on the long-running Crociani case; in Guernsey, acting for Vladimir Chernukhin over the urgent taking of evidence in Guernsey and Jersey; advising Andrew Tinkler, former chief executive of Stobart Group; and being instructed by HMRC to intervene in an application brought by the trustee in the bankruptcy of Simon Halabi, a former billionaire made bankrupt in England.
Romer says the BVI office has experienced significant growth in corporate, funds and finance work, particularly initial coin offerings and initial token offerings. He also identifies increasing work in ‘the Jersey legal tech space, including blockchain, digital assets, AI, fintech/insure-tech/regtech, social media and online business’. This includes the launch of ‘innovative new products: crowdfunding platforms, debt issuance vehicles, and products involving virtual currencies and tokens’.
Conyers Dill & Pearman
Lawyers: 166, including 59 partners
Offices: Eight (Bermuda, BVI, Cayman Islands, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Mauritius, Singapore)
Chair: Christian Luthi
Focus: Corporate (including aviation, banking and financing, capital markets, hedge funds, insurance, M&A, private equity/venture capital and shipping), dispute resolution, private client/trust, IP and real estate
Recent standout deals: In Cayman, advising PagSeguro on its $2.3bn IPO; in Bermuda, advising Hudson Group on its $749m IPO on the NYSE; advising AXA on its $15.2bn bid to acquire XL Group; advising LVMH on its $2.6bn acquisition of the Belmond hotel group; and advising Validus Holdings on its acquisition by American International Group for $5.6bn.
Recent standout disputes work: In Bermuda, the conclusion of Seadrill’s $10bn restructuring following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Celebrating its 90th year of operation in 2018, Conyers had ‘an exceedingly busy and productive year’, according to chair Christian Luthi. Among the most significant developments, he points to the implementation of a new global compliance structure ‘to ensure we meet the highest standards and are fully compliant with increasingly onerous regulatory requirements’. To this end, three new senior managers were hired for regulatory compliance, anti-money laundering (AML) and enterprise risk. The firm also made one lateral hire, Derek Stenson, who joined as a corporate partner in Cayman from Walkers.
‘The strength of the US economy in the first half of 2018 and healthy capital markets drove global deal-making, keeping our corporate practices busy.’
Christian Luthi, Conyers Dill & Pearman
‘The strength of the US economy in the first half of 2018 and healthy capital markets drove active global deal-making, keeping our corporate practices busy,’ says Luthi. In its Bermuda base, the firm advised on a spread of IPOs, M&A, insurance, securitisation, shipping and aircraft finance, corporate restructurings and trust-related disputes. ‘The major US exchanges continue to see demand for Bermuda issuers, while the value of Bermuda public companies listed on the NYSE and Nasdaq exceeds $230bn,’ he adds. ‘The trend towards larger transactions continued with growth in IPO proceeds.’
Luthi says that Conyers’ BVI corporate and finance practice had an ‘exceptionally busy’ year, while asset tracing and recovery work is very active for its BVI litigation practice, involving Russia, CIS states and the PRC. In Cayman, fair-value appraisals under section 238 continues to be a driver while increased regulation has boosted activity in AML, insurance, funds, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and Common Reporting Standard filings. Recent changes to the Hong Kong listing rules have also seen an upsurge in applications from technology, medical and biotech companies looking to list in Hong Kong.
Harneys
Lawyers: 186, including 57 partners
Offices: Eight (Bermuda, BVI, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore)
Executive committee chair: Peter Tarn (London)
Focus: Litigation, restructuring and insolvency, commercial and corporate, private wealth/trusts, investment funds, tax and regulatory, IP, banking and finance, shipping/aircraft, insurance and real estate
Recent standout disputes work: The Shanda Games judgment, delivered by the Cayman Court of Appeal in March 2018, is being appealed to the Privy Council – the merger that triggered the action valued the company at $1.9bn; the Saad Group judgment, delivered in May 2018 by the Cayman Chief Justice relating to a $9.2bn loss claimed – listed for appeal in May 2019.
‘2018 was a relatively quiet year in comparison to the literal storms of 2017 and the upcoming changes we will see in 2019 due to the new global standard on economic substance coming into force,’ says Peter Tarn.
‘The sanctioning of oligarchs like Oleg Deripaska in the US has triggered lots of restructurings involving BVI, Cayman and Cyprus-based companies.’ Peter Tarn, Harneys
By far the biggest firm in the BVI, Harneys recovered well last year from the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, exemplified by the hiring of seven partners across its transactional and dispute resolution practice groups: Nicole Pineda (from Travers Thorp Alberga) to become head of banking and finance in Cayman and disputes partner Paul Smith (from DLA Piper), also in Cayman; funds partner Maggie Kwok (from Appleby), disputes partner Andrew Johnstone (from Holman Fenwick Willan), and disputes partner Julie Engwirda (also from Travers Thorp) in Hong Kong; David Meredith as joint managing partner in Shanghai; and George Apostolou in Cyprus.
In terms of growth in practice areas, Tarn says: ‘We saw particular strength across our Cayman funds practice and our global transaction team. Litigation, insolvency and restructuring has seen large growth across the board; we have had to increase the number of litigators in both the BVI and Cayman in particular because of workload demands. Activity has increased on all fronts, but with a marked boost in Latin America and Far East-derived work.’
He adds that for BVI, Bermuda, Cayman and Cyprus, ‘the sanctioning of various oligarchs like [Victor] Vekselberg, [Oleg] Deripaska, Igor Rotenberg in the US last April under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act has triggered lots of restructurings involving companies based in those jurisdictions’.
Maples and Calder
Lawyers: 341, including 132 partners
Offices: Nine (BVI, Cayman Islands, Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Singapore)
Global managing partner: Alasdair Robertson (Cayman Islands)
Focus: Disputes, corporate, finance, funds, insolvency and corporate restructuring, insurance, IP/technology/telecoms, private equity, property/construction, regulatory/financial services, sports/media/entertainment, tax and trusts
Recent standout deals: Acting for Xiaomi in its $4.7bn IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange – the largest tech IPO since 2014; assisting TPG in the launch of its $932.4m commercial real estate collateralised loan obligation through a public mortgage real estate investment trust
Recent standout disputes work: Acting for Nord Anglia Education in a dissent action relating to the fair value of more than $800m-worth of Nord shares
The largest offshore firm got even bigger in 2018, increasing its total headcount by 13% to 341 lawyers with a net gain of 13 partners. In addition to making up seven new partners, Maples hired the following: Alex Hall Taylor (litigation, from 4 New Square) in the BVI; Alan O’Sullivan (litigation, from Hayes Solicitors) in Dublin; Chris Byrne (corporate, ex-Ogier), Simon Hopwood (funds, from Bedell) and Paul Burton (corporate, from Carey Olsen) in Jersey; Johan Terblanche (funds, from Dechert), as well as Marjorie Allo (corporate), Arnaud Arrecgros (finance) and Baptiste Aubry (corporate) – all from AMMC Law in Luxembourg.
‘As clients examine how best to maintain and enhance their European presence, many are including Ireland, Jersey or Luxembourg as jurisdictions in which they now operate.’ Alasdair Robertson, Maples and Calder
‘It has been an exciting and busy year, with the addition of Jersey and Luxembourg legal services to our offering,’ says Alasdair Robertson. Maples opened a Jersey office in September followed by Luxembourg in October. He outlines the rationale: ‘As clients examine how best to maintain and enhance their European presence and access to markets in light of continuing developments with Brexit, base erosion and profit shifting, and third-country passporting, many are including Ireland, Jersey or Luxembourg as jurisdictions in which they now operate.’
The new offices ‘will build on the firm’s highly successful Irish law practice and allow it to offer legal, regulatory and tax services across these three leading European financial services centres,’ says Robertson. The Jersey office will focus on corporate, finance and investment funds, as well as listing agent services for the listing of securities on The International Stock Exchange in the Channel Islands, while Luxembourg will offer advice on fund formation, finance, corporate, tax and regulatory. Elsewhere, Robertson identifies new beneficial ownership regimes in Cayman and the BVI as another key driver of work, as well as revisions to the anti-money laundering regime in Cayman.
Mourant
Lawyers: 311, including 61 partners
Offices: Six (BVI, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, London)
Global managing partner: Jonathan Rigby (Jersey)
Senior partner: Robert Shepherd (Guernsey)
Focus: Finance and corporate, funds, international trusts/private client and litigation
Recent standout deals: Advising BGH Capital on Guernsey law aspects of its A$2.6bn ($2bn) debut fund; advising BeiGene on its $903m dual primary listing on the HKSE – Hong Kong’s biggest biotech IPO to date.
Recent standout disputes work: Continued advice in Cayman to the joint official liquidators of the Primeo Fund on the liquidation and ongoing litigation; acting for a key creditor in the long-running Z Trusts litigation in Jersey.
‘In the last few years, we have transformed our business – 2018 is set to be a record year for Mourant in terms of revenue and profit,’ says Jonathan Rigby. ‘We’ve seen the most significant growth in our fund formation and fund finance practices, running concurrently with an increased demand generally for Cayman structuring in that sector, both in private equity and hedge funds. This has positively impacted revenues and activity across our EMEA, Asia and Americas regions combined.’
‘Jersey and Guernsey continue to be jurisdictions of choice when it comes to both structuring and downstream activity.’ Jonathan Rigby, Mourant
He points to regulatory advisory/compliance work as ‘a significant factor in our growth – Cayman has been particularly active on this front in 2018 with, for example, the introduction of new anti-money laundering regulations. We are acting on numerous matters relating to the appointment of AML officers to regulated and unregulated Cayman investment funds.’
Rigby also sees sustained growth in private equity. ‘Jersey and Guernsey continue to be jurisdictions of choice when it comes to both structuring and downstream activity. Jersey notably broke through the £300bn milestone for regulated funds under administration in 2018.’
In addition to making up several new partners, Mourant hired Justine Lau in Hong Kong – ‘a growth hire to support the further development of our litigation practice in Asia, helping us to drive our expansion into China specifically. Justine, who joined Mourant from Mayer Brown, has more than ten years’ experience advising on a broad range of insolvency-related issues’.
Ogier
Lawyers: 268, including 61 partners
Offices: Eight (BVI, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, Luxembourg, plus presences in Shanghai and Tokyo)
Global managing partner: Edward Mackereth (Jersey)
Global senior partner: Steve Meiklejohn (Jersey)
Focus: Banking and finance, corporate and commercial, dispute resolution, environment, investment funds, listings, private client/trusts, real estate, regulatory, restructuring/insolvency and tax
Recent standout deals: Advising Bletchley Park Asset Management on Jersey and Cayman law on the launch of a (Cayman Islands Monetary Authority) registered cryptocurrency fund.
Recent standout disputes work: Representing the APEF IV Fund on the $1.1bn Abraaj Group insolvency in Cayman.
‘We have seen big increases in our Cayman investment funds team, driven by the buoyant US economy, as well as in our Cayman and Asia dispute resolution teams and Asian finance teams,’ says Edward Mackereth. ‘Our Cayman disputes team has doubled in size in the last 12 months because we have seen an increase in complex, high-value, cross-border instructions, particularly with an Asian element.’
‘Our Cayman disputes team has doubled in size in the last 12 months because we have seen an increase in complex, high-value, cross-border instructions.’
Edward Mackereth, Ogier
Across the Caribbean, Ogier continues to win major restructuring mandates, he adds, while in the Channel Islands: ‘We are seeing substantial trust and corporate disputes, generally involving a regulatory element. We have recruited in our Luxembourg office, which is now in its sixth year – that team has seen a significant increase in work, because it is seen as a more stable and certain structuring option in view of Brexit.’
In common with many law firms, onshore and offshore, GDPR has generated significant work. ‘It has touched clients in all sectors and of all sizes,’ says Mackereth. ‘That work hasn’t stopped and we expect to see data disputes turning into a fresh work stream in the coming years.’ He points to the new Cayman anti-money laundering regulations creating a lot of advisory work and ‘it will create new regulatory demands in the years to come’, he adds.
Ogier continues to make what Mackereth calls ‘targeted lateral partner hires’. In the past year this included partners from onshore as well as offshore firms: David McIntyre joined the Cayman team from Norton Rose Fulbright and William Jean-Baptiste joined the Luxembourg team from CMS. Other hires include Mourant partner Helen Ruelle who joined in the role of director of local legal services, Tim Clipstone (Guernsey, investment funds) from Maples and Calder and David Nelson (Hong Kong, banking) from Walkers.
Walkers
Lawyers: 332, including 99 partners
Offices: Ten (Bermuda*, BVI, Cayman Islands, Dubai, Hong Kong, Guernsey, Ireland, Jersey, London, Singapore)
Global managing partner: Ingrid Pierce (Cayman)
Focus: Banking and finance, corporate, funds, insolvency and dispute resolution, insurance, listing services, private equity, real estate, regulatory and compliance, structured products/capital markets, taxation (Ireland) and wealth structuring
Recent standout deals: Walkers’ BVI and Cayman offices advised Didi Chuxing, the ride-sharing giant of China, on its $1bn acquisition of 99Taxis in Brazil.
Recent standout disputes work: AHAB v Saad litigation, in which Walkers helped the defendants win at trial: the longest-running and highest-value fraud case ever to have been tried in Cayman.
With the firm’s hundredth partner set to be announced, Walkers’ lawyer headcount continued to rise dramatically last year (by 18% to 332), keeping it just behind Maples and Calder in terms of total fee-earners although it has some way to go to catch them up in Cayman. This figure has doubled in five years, while more than a quarter of the firm is comprised of contentious lawyers, making it the largest such offshore team.
‘Our regulatory team has seen the biggest demand, driven by the global focus on beneficial ownership, data protection, country-by-country reporting and anti-money laundering.’
Ingrid Pierce, Walkers
Partners hires in 2018 were prolific with ten laterals joining across the firm: Oliver Bell (Cayman, investment funds) from Harneys; Peter Dunlop (Bermuda, dispute resolution) from ASW Law; Jennifer Fox (Ireland, investment funds) from Dillon Eustace; James Gaden (Hong Kong, investment funds) from Maples and Calder; Callum McNeil (Hong Kong, dispute resolution) from Campbells; Natalie Neto (Bermuda, finance and corporate) from Cox Hallett Wilkinson; David Pytches (Cayman, private capital and trusts) from Appleby; Rachel Rodgers (Ireland, real estate) from Hayes Solicitors; Kate Storey (Guernsey, finance and corporate) from Appleby; and Iain Tucker (BVI, dispute resolution) from Hogan Lovells.
So where is the extra work coming from to keep them all busy? ‘Our regulatory team has seen the biggest increase across most markets, driven largely by the global focus on beneficial ownership, data protection, country-by-country reporting and anti-money laundering, as well as political events such as Brexit,’ says Ingrid Pierce. ‘All other core non-contentious practice areas have grown at more or less the same rate. We have continued to be extremely busy in investment funds and the M&A activity arising from them, as well as fund finance, asset finance and corporate deals.’ LB
Offshore leaders – Caribbean
After Bedell Cristin finally merged with Solomon Harris in October 2018, every one of the top ten offshore firms now has an office in the Cayman Islands – the only offshore centre where that applies. It exemplifies Cayman’s increasing ascendancy as a jurisdiction over the past decade. Including support staff, the top ten firms now employ nearly 1,000 people between them in Cayman – reflecting the islands’ 53% population growth since 2000.
As drivers of work, Maples and Calder’s managing partner Alasdair Robertson points to ‘new beneficial ownership regimes coming into effect in Cayman (and the British Virgin Islands (BVI)) and revisions to the Cayman anti-money laundering regime’. At Mourant, Jonathan Rigby sees ‘increased demand for Cayman funds structuring, both in private equity and hedge funds, while at Walkers, Ingrid Pierce identifies data protection and country-by-country reporting as further additional factors. Meanwhile Ogier’s Edward Mackereth points to Cayman work ‘right across service lines, particularly in investment funds and private equity’.
Peter Tarn also highlights Harneys’ funds practice, transactions, litigation, insolvency and restructuring as being especially strong. ‘We have had to increase our litigator numbers in BVI and Cayman,’ he says. The firm’s BVI office was hit hardest by Hurricane Irma in 2017, but nevertheless recovered strongly to have a busy year. Despite the post-Irma difficulties with many firms having to relocate elsewhere, seven of the nine largest firms with local offices even managed to increase BVI lawyer headcount, including several notable partner hires. Collas Crill, which only opened a BVI office in 2017, saw ‘significant growth’ last year in corporate, funds, finance and dispute resolution, according to the firm’s managing partner, Jason Romer.
Bermuda’s minister of finance, Curtis Dickinson, recently announced his government’s intention to allow international law firms to have a local presence. Five of the top ten offshore firms already have a local office, up from only two (Appleby and Conyers) back in 2015. Following Walkers and Harneys, the most recent entrant is Carey Olsen. In an upbeat assessment, group managing partner Alex Ohlsson says: ‘Launched by managing partner and highly-regarded Bermudian attorney Michael Hanson in February 2018, Carey Olsen Bermuda has quickly and firmly established itself as a leading player in the jurisdiction.’
At Bermuda’s largest firm, Conyers Dill & Pearman, chair Christian Luthi says that ‘new incorporations in Cayman, the BVI and Bermuda are continuing to rise’. He adds: ‘We have been advising on significant IPOs, M&A, insurance, securitisation, shipping and aircraft finance, and corporate restructuring transactions.’ Conyers’ Bermuda office is also working on ‘fairly significant energy restructuring matters’ and trust-related disputes.
Local leaders – UK Crown Dependencies
Maples and Calder’s decision to open an office in Guernsey last autumn was a vote of confidence in the Crown Dependencies. The world’s largest offshore firm may be regarded as a latecomer, but it sees opportunities. In addition to its corporate, finance and investment funds offering, Maples provides ‘listing agent services for the listing of securities on The International Stock Exchange in the Channel Islands (CI),’ says global managing partner Alasdair Robertson.
‘It’s been a positive year, especially in private equity and real estate,’ says Mark Hucker, managing director of VG. ‘Jersey is well established as an alternative funds location – that is pretty much what there is in the island in terms of fund-sector growth.’
According to managing partner Jonathan Rigby, fund formation, fund finance and private equity have been the standouts for Mourant, which has grown to 204 fee-earners across Guernsey (14 partners, 62 other fee-earners) and Jersey (25/103). Carey Olsen, the closest rival in size, rose to the 150 mark: 20 partners and 67 other fee-earners in Jersey, and 18 partners and 45 other lawyers in Guernsey. Its managing partner Alex Ohlsson says: ‘Our investment funds teams continue to dominate. We provided advice to 750 Guernsey-regulated investment funds last year.’ The firm is also legal adviser to 100+ London Stock Exchange-listed clients.
Some CI-based firms talk more about their offerings elsewhere than on their home patch – Ogier among them. Although the firm advised on a raft of corporate, funds and GDPR work across the CI last year, global managing partner Edward Mackereth emphasises ‘big increases in our Cayman investment funds team’ and having ‘formalised our Cayman in Europe service, led by a partner in our Jersey office: a successful way of broadening our offering in the European timezone’.
Two local powerhouses – Bedell Cristin and Collas Crill – highlight their part in the long-running Crociani litigation in Jersey. It was one of the disputes in which ‘the Channel Islands disputes teams were kept busy’, says Jason Romer, Collas Crill’s managing partner. David Cadin, his counterpart at Bedell, adds: ‘We acted for the plaintiffs throughout the six-year duration of this landmark case, which is just reaching its conclusion.’
Litigation specialist firm, Baker & Partners, represented the trustee in Crociani. Last year, the firm hired James Corbett QC from Kobre & Kim. ‘We are delighted to recruit a lawyer of his experience – he is steeped in cross-border litigation and international disputes,’ says senior partner Stephen Baker.
Romer notes that ‘there is significant pressure on international financial centres and offshore jurisdictions, but of a competitive nature, not only between each jurisdiction but from mid-shore jurisdictions which are increasingly encroaching into the space the offshore jurisdictions have filled for many decades’. Cadin adds: ‘From an offshore perspective, the flight to quality jurisdictions will continue.’
From his Jersey base, Rigby summarises developments at Mourant: ‘We have extended our jurisdictional coverage, built a market-leading practice in Asia, substantially grown our market share in North America and expanded our service range beyond law.’
Offshore headcount – Partners/other fee-earners
| Appleby | Bedell Cristin | Carey Olsen | Conyers Dill & Pearman | Collas Crill | Harneys | Maples and Calder | Mourant | Ogier | Walkers | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bermuda | 14/24 | 3/7 | 27/80 | 3/1 | 5/6 | 52/118 (170) | |||||
| BVI | 5/7 | 2/7 | 5/17 | 3/6 | 13/28 | 5/6 | 2/5 | 4/9 | 4/15 | 43/100 (143) | |
| Cayman | 14/22 | 6/10 | 7/15 | 10/18 | 5/15 | 11/22 | 52/67 | 11/45 | 13/33 | 34/63 | 163/310 (473) |
| Cyprus | 7/19 | 7/19 (26) | |||||||||
| Dubai | 3/3 | 3/9 | 6/12 (18) | ||||||||
| Dublin | 36/77 | 16/40 | 52/117 (169) | ||||||||
| Guernsey | 6/6 | 4/10 | 18/45 | 14/60 | 14/62 | 9/32 | 7/11 | 72/226 (298) | |||
| Hong Kong | 7/15 | 1/3 | 14/42 | 12/39 | 17/23 | 6/22 | 7/32 | 12/42 | 76/218 (294) | ||
| Isle of Man | 10/24 | 10/24 (34) | |||||||||
| Jersey | 9/17 | 12/38 | 20/67 | 10/38 | 3/2 | 25/103 | 22/82 | 8/17 | 109/364 (473) | ||
| London | 2/4 | 0/15 | 1/3 | 7/7 | 9/16 | 3/13 | 4/15 | 26/73 (99) | |||
| Luxembourg | 5/11 | 6/17 | 11/28 (39) | ||||||||
| Mauritius | 4/11 | 4/11 (15) | |||||||||
| Shanghai | 1/5 | 1/5 (6) | |||||||||
| Singapore | 1/1 | 2/4 | 2/6 | 1/2 | 2/8 | 2/4 | 6/15 | 16/40 (56) | |||
| Tokyo | -/2 | -/2 (2) | |||||||||
| Vancouver | 1/0 | 1/0 (1) | |||||||||
| TOTAL | 69/126 | 25/63 | 53/163 | 59/166 | 33/121 | 57/129 | 132/209 | 61/250 | 61/207 | 99/233 |