Legal Business

Expanding the board: BLP adds two to its board including first overseas member

Posted on |
Leadership Berwin Leighton Paisner
legal-business-default

With the leadership of Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) set to change on 1 May, the firm’s new managing partner Lisa Mayhew will have an expanded board to work with after the partnership voted German managing partner Roland Fabian and asset finance head Russell Clifford on to the body.

Frankfurt-based Fabian becomes the first international member of the BLP board. He joined from Linklaters in 2011 to spearhead BLP’s German capability, opening offices in Berlin and Frankfurt in the same year. As a real estate and infrastructure partner, he specialises in advising on cross-border real estate transactions with a focus on tax and restructuring.

In March, Mayhew saw off corporate chief David Collins to replace long serving managing partner Neville Eisenberg. Her battle with Collins was pitched as a battle of new BLP versus old BLP, and it’s notable that the two new board members are recruits from the Magic Circle and who joined the firm after the global financial crisis.

Clifford joined BLP in 2009 from Allen & Overy and has led the asset finance team since November 2010. Since then he has built an international team who advise clients on big ticket transactions from the financing and operation of shipping and other maritime assets to aviation and railway rolling stock.

BLP chairman Robert MacGregor said: ‘Russell and Roland will bring valuable skills and experience to the board and will play hugely positive roles in the continued development of our international firm. They have both built successful international businesses and I look forward to working with them on the board.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘Committed to the Russian market’: Chadbourne & Parke hires BLP energy partner to manage Moscow office

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment Berwin Leighton PaisnerChadbourne & Parke
legal-business-default

After shutting down its Kiev operations last summer, Chadbourne & Parke has boosted its presence in Russia with the hire of energy partner Andrei Baev from Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) as Moscow managing partner.

Previously a partner at Allen & Overy (A&O) for over ten years before joining Goltsblat BLP in 2011 as a senior equity partner, Baev will now reside both in Chadbourne’s London and Moscow offices. A specialist in project finance, he advises across oil and gas, power, mining, telecoms and infrastructure, with a focus on Russia and Eastern Europe. Past clients include Gazprom, IFC, Lukoil, RusHydro and TNK-BP.

It follows Chadbourne’s decision to close its office in Kiev, affecting ten fee-earners and three partners, due to ongoing political unrest that caused a problematic outlook for the firm’s long-term business in the region.

Contrary to Chadbourne’s decision to scale up in Moscow, many firms, especially those with a capital markets focus, have reduced their offerings in Russia as US-led economic sanctions have heavily affected the debt financing capabilities of some of Russia’s largest banks. Firms known to be affected by the sanctions includes A&O, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, White & Case and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

On Baev’s hire, Chadbourne managing partner Andy Giaccia said: ‘We have grown strategically by focusing on our firm’s strengths in the energy sector and in emerging markets, and we are committed to the Russian market, notwithstanding some of the recent economic challenges, and continue to see great opportunities there.

Ayşe Yüksel, Chadbourne’s EMEA liaison partner, added: ‘Andrei is a talented business developer who has grown strong relationships with senior management at some of the largest Russian companies, and his work and experience maps well with our geographic footprint as well as our practice strengths in energy and international projects. Not only will Andrei help grow our Russian practice, but he will also drive growth across the entire EMEA region.’

Also in hiring mode in Moscow is Freshfields which today (7 April) announced the hire of disputes duo Alexey Yadykin and Fedor Belykh who join as senior associates from Debevoise & Plimpton and A&O respectively.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

275,000 sqft: Clifford Chance and BLP advise on Deloitte lease with Land Securities

Posted on |
Property Berwin Leighton PaisnerClifford Chance
legal-business-default

Clifford Chance (CC) and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) have both landed a significant instruction on accountancy giant Deloitte’s major pre-let of the entire building of 1 New Street Square, in a deal that will see Deloitte acquire 275,000 square foot of space on a 20-year lease at the site.

With construction due to complete in June 2016, Deloitte is adding to the 256,000 square foot of space it already has at the adjacent 2 and 3 New Street Square.

CC advised Deloitte with a team led by real estate partner Mark Payne, head of planning & environment Nigel Howorth, director of construction Marianne Toghill, and head of real estate tax David Saleh.

BLP advised its longstanding client Land Securities, which is acting as the landlord, with partners Robert MacGregor and Juliet Thomas. Other work picked up by the firm for Land Securities includes the £2bn Victoria redevelopment project to provide new luxury homes, shops, offices and improved transport facilities alongside Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Nabarro, CMS Cameron McKenna, Hogan Lovells and Eversheds.

CC partner Payne said: ‘I was personally delighted to work with Deloitte once again. This is a significant pre let in the City of London and will enable Deloitte to conclude the next phase of consolidating its London campus which first started in 2009. Working closely with Deloitte’s property and legal teams led by William Esplen, director of property and Caryl Longley, general counsel, our team was able to provide Deloitte with a one-stop-shop for its requirements and this is exactly the sort of transaction where Clifford Chance can really add value to our clients.’

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

For more on real estate activity, see Back in the game – revival at last for real estate but the players have changed

Legal Business

Dealwatch: Clifford Chance, Travers Smith, Debevoise and BLP advise on £1.2bn BCA sale

Posted on |
Corporate Berwin Leighton PaisnerClifford ChanceTravers Smith
legal-business-default

A quartet law firms including Clifford Chance (CC), Travers Smith, Debevoise & Plimpton and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) have all secured instructions on the £1.2bn sale of BCA (formerly British Car Auction) to publicly listed investment vehicle, Haversham Holdings.

Travers Smith senior partner Chris Hale led a team advising management on the proposed sale of BCA, which is owned by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). Other Travers team members included tax partner Russell Warren and corporate finance partner Adrian West.

CC corporate partner Simon Tinkler served as legal adviser to CD&R, while BLP partner Benjamin Lee acted as adviser for Haversham, alongside Debevoise & Plimpton, leading a team including corporate finance partner Julian Stanier and finance Partner Derek Hrydziuszko.  Debevoise’s team was led by London-based partner Alan Daviesand included Frankfurt-based international counsel Philipp von Holst.

The deal will see shareholders receive £701m in cash and £104m in stock in what constitutes Europe’s largest used-vehicle marketplace. BCA operates in 13 countries, and in 2014 remarketed an estimated 1m vehicles and bought more than 140,000.

Last October saw the high-profile initial public offering of BCA Marketplace, which also owns webuyanycar.com, with hopes to raise £200m in proceeds but the deal was scrapped due to volatile markets. On that deal, Magic Circle pair Linklaters and CC advised with the former’s senior corporate partner trio John Lane, Charlie Jacobs, and Jason Manketo advising BCA Marketplace, while the latter’s finance partners Simon Thomas and Chris Walton advised the bookrunners JP Morgan and UBS.

The latest transaction is conditional on, amongst other things, Haversham’s share placing becoming unconditional and is expected to close in early April.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Succeeding Paisner: Eisenberg to become senior partner at BLP when managing partner term ends

Posted on |
Leadership Berwin Leighton Paisner
legal-business-default

Berwin Leighton Paisner’s Neville Eisenberg, set to be replaced by employment head Lisa Mayhew as managing partner on 1 May, has been elected senior partner for a four-year term starting that same day.

After 16 years as managing partner and following an uncontested election, Eisenberg will succeed Harold Paisner, who has been in the senior partner role since the merger that formed Berwin Leighton Paisner in 2001. Paisner is understood to not be retiring from the firm and will take up a new role.

Eisenberg led BLP’s transformation into a global law firm with 12 offices in 10 countries, though his reputation was knocked by the firm’s poor financial performance in 2012/13 which saw profits per partner (PEP) nosedive nearly 40% to £401,000. He has since led the firm’s recovery, with the firm’s financial performance in 2013/14 much improved, as revenues rose helping to drag PEP up to £542,000.

However, he announced his decision to step down from the managing partner role at the end of last year, though with the intention of seeking Paisner’s position. His tenure at BLP saw the firm invest in innovation and saw the development of the firm’s integrated client service model to dissect complex from commoditised work, a nearsourcing hub in Manchester and rent-a-lawyer service Lawyers On Demand.

Eisenberg commented: ‘In my new role I am looking forward to concentrating on the firm’s international business, client development and separately managed businesses and I am delighted to have this opportunity to continue to be part of BLP’s amazing success story’.

Chairman Robert MacGregor added: ‘I am delighted BLP will have the benefit of Neville’s vast experience in his new role as senior partner. He has proven his leadership qualities during a turbulent time in the industry and played a pivotal role in BLP’s success. Committed to both clients and innovation, he has challenged us to deliver legal services in ways which better suit the needs of our clients. My thanks go to Harold for his dedicated service to the firm over 14 years as Senior Partner.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Asia: BLP launches international arbitration practice in Hong Kong with local team hire

Posted on |
Asia Berwin Leighton Paisner
legal-business-default

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has launched an arbitration practice in Hong Kong with the hire of a nine-strong team from local boutique Haley & Co, in a bid to ‘create a powerful international arbitration and real estate offering in the region’.

Announced today (20 March) the firm has recruited partner trio Glenn Haley, Ilan Freiman and Geoff Shaw, as well as four associates, plus a trainee and paralegal, and up to five business services staff.

Haley, who founded the eponymous boutique, will operate within BLP’s international disputes group led by Jonathan Sacher, and work closely with recently appointed Asia head Bob Charlton who joined from DLA Piper last year. Shaw is also a litigator specialising in construction and commercial disputes, while Freiman will work within the real estate group headed by partner Chris de Pury.

Launched in October 2011 along with its Beijing office, the firm will now have 31 lawyers, including 11 partners, in China. Charlton commented: ‘Haley & Co has a great heritage in both arbitration and real estate and infrastructure work and the lateral hire of the team helps us develop a key part of our strategy in Asia. Firstly, we want to build a sizeable international arbitration practice in Hong Kong and the wider region. Secondly, we want to grow our international real estate and infrastructure capabilities. We welcome all of our new team into BLP as we look to create a powerful international arbitration and real estate offering in the region.’

BLP’s Asia strategy has included alliances in Indonesia with Mataram Partners and Legal Network Consultants in Myanmar while the firm also has an ongoing relationship with South East Asian firm DFDL.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

A new generation and challenges ahead as BLP leader takes helm

Posted on |
Leadership Berwin Leighton Paisner
legal-business-default

Tom Moore on the challenges faced by BLP’s new leader

While Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) staged something of a recovery in 2013/14, longstanding managing partner Neville Eisenberg – who had attracted some internal criticism following a punishing 2012/13 trading period – announced just before Christmas that he would not seek another term. Will Lisa Mayhew, who in February was elected to succeed Eisenberg on 1 May after an intense election campaign, be able to refocus a firm that has faced some internal discord and a listing international strategy?

Legal Business

Damned statistics: BLP found massaging trainee retention figures

Posted on |
Trainee retention Berwin Leighton Paisner
legal-business-default

Berwin Leighton Paisner has been caught manipulating its trainee retention figures for this spring’s intake, with its actual figure dropping from 70% to 61%.

Having been widely reported in the legal press, the firm announced last week how many of their spring 2015 qualifiers they would retain, saying offers were made to 15 in its intake of ’20 final-seat trainees’, of which 14 accepted, giving the firm a retention rate of 70%.

However, RollonFriday reported today that BLP had in fact 23 final seat trainees, three of whom decided to leave on qualification, meaning the true figure of this year’s spring retention rate is a much-lower 61%, constituting a stark drop from the 89% it recorded in spring 2014.

When asked to confirm the stats, a spokesperson said: ‘Three trainees dropped out from the process therefore we could not offer them contracts.’

A round-up of the 2015 retention rates revealed thus far:

  • Addleshaw Goddard: 2 out of 4 (50%)
  • Allen & Overy: 43 out of 46 (93%)
  • BLP: 14 out of 23 (61%)
  • Clifford Chance: 41 out of 45 (91%)
  • Freshfields: 41 out of 48 (85%)
  • Herbert Smith Freehills: 39 out of 42 (93%)
  • Linklaters: 49 out of 54 (91%)
  • Mayer Brown: 3 out of 5 (60%)
  • Orrick: 4 out of 4 (100%)
  • Osborne Clarke: 8 out of 9 (89%)
  • Reed Smith: 12 out of 13 (92%)
  • Slaughter and May: 37 out of 42 (88%)
  • Trowers & Hamlins: 9 out of 11 (82%)
  • White & Case: 13 out of 13 (100%)

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Trainee retention: BLP’s rate slips to 70% while Orrick keeps on all four of its cohort

Posted on |
Trainee retention Berwin Leighton PaisnerOrrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
legal-business-default

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe have become the latest firms to announce how many of their spring 2015 qualifiers they are set to retain, with BLP seeing its rate slip from 89% in 2014 to 70% this year.

BLP made offers to 15 trainees in its intake of 20, of those 14 accepted, giving the firm a retention rate of 70%. This was a significant drop from the 89% it recorded in spring 2014 – though the firm saw a similar number qualify, 16, with the higher retention rate partially generated by a smaller initial cohort of 18 trainees.

In March 2013, BLP also kept on 14 trainees but due to a larger intake had a retention rate of just 64%.

Those looking to qualify at Orrick had different fortunes with 100% being retained of its small spring cohort. All four of its trainees are accepting newly qualified (NQ) positions at the US-headquartered firm.

A round-up of the 2015 retention rates revealed thus far:

Addleshaw Goddard: 2 out of 4 (50%)

Allen & Overy: 43 out of 46 (93%)

BLP: 14 out of 20 (70%)

Clifford Chance: 41 out of 45 (91%)

Freshfields: 41 out of 48 (85%)

Herbert Smith Freehills: 39 out of 42 (93%)

Linklaters: 49 out of 54 (91%)

Mayer Brown: 3 out of 5 (60%)

Orrick: 4 out of 4 (100%)

Osborne Clarke: 8 out of 9 (89%)

Reed Smith: 12 out of 13 (92%)

Slaughter and May: 37 out of 42 (88%)

Trowers & Hamlins: 9 out of 11 (82%)

White & Case: 13 out of 13 (100%)

This article first appeared on Legal Business’ sister publication The Lex 100

Daniel.coyne@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Succeeding Eisenberg: Mayhew wins BLP managing partner role

Posted on |
Leadership Berwin Leighton Paisner
legal-business-default

Lisa Mayhew, Berwin Leighton Paisner’s (BLP’s) head of employment, pensions and incentives, has beaten the firm’s corporate chief David Collins to become the firm’s next managing partner.

Mayhew will replace current managing partner Neville Eisenberg, who is seeking support to become the firm’s next senior partner, as he steps down after 16 years at the helm. The vote concluded earlier this morning, with Mayhew confirmed this afternoon as one of the few female managing partners in any of the UK’s top 20 law firms alongside Herbert Smith Freehills’ co-chief executive Sonya Leydecker.

Elected head of the firm’s employment, pensions and incentives practice in late 2013, Mayhew has been a board member for the past two years and was the driving force behind the firm’s commitment to make 30% of the partnership female by the end of 2018. She will take up her new position on 1 May 2015.

Prior to her arrival at BLP, Mayhew was co-head of employment at Jones Day and has also been a partner at Hogan Lovells. Lisa Mayhew said: ‘BLP has come a really long way in a relatively short space of time. We’re a progressive and ambitious firm and everyone recognises that a change in leadership creates opportunity to drive positive change. When I take up the role in May, I want to build on the innovative, high performing and inclusive culture that we already have to help ensure that our great people work collaboratively across the globe to provide a first-class service to our clients.’

One partner described the two-person shortlist as a ‘battle of old BLP versus new BLP’, with Collins putting forward a vision to return the former glories of the firm’s finance and corporate groups, while Mayhew pushed for the expansion of the firm’s successful real estate team.

Eisenberg added: ‘The election process was positive and constructive. Since joining the firm, Lisa has demonstrated her leadership qualities as an elected board member and in leading a number of firmwide initiatives such as our inclusivity Programme. Lisa’s vision for the firm clearly resonated with partners and I very much look forward to working with Lisa during the handover period.’

Her opponent in the election, Collins, has a longer history at the firm having been a partner at BLP since 1996 and has been involved in the firm’s forward planning since he gained a seat on the strategy group when he became head of corporate finance in 2001. Alongside Mayhew, he has also been on the board for the last two years, gaining a seat when he was appointed head of corporate in April 2013.

However, during the election campaign, Mayhew gained the support of real estate head Chris de Pury, who backed her gender diversity target in 2014 amid criticism from other parts of the firm, and chairman Robert MacGregor.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk