Legal Business

Partner promotions: Bird & Bird maintains a steady 11

Posted on |
Partnership promotions Bird & Bird
legal-business-default

Bird & Bird has maintained steady partnership promotion levels for a third consecutive year with 11 associates made up to partner, a figure that represents just over 4% of the top 20 firm’s current partnership numbers.

Announced today (14 April), the promotions will bring the total partnership up to 270 across 26 offices. Four of the promotions are in London, with the remainder spread across the firm’s international network including one in Shanghai.

Last year also saw the 966-lawyer firm promote 11, while in 2012 that figure was 12, a significant increase on 2011 numbers, when just two were promoted.

Bird & Bird chief executive David Kerr said: ‘As we continue to grow as a firm, it’s fantastic to be able to welcome more talented lawyers into our partnership. Each of these individuals has demonstrated exceptional commitment to our strategic priorities and we look forward to seeing them further develop Bird & Bird’s client offering.’

Promotion numbers at other leading UK firms have largely been down this year, as Trowers & Hamlins, Nabarro, Berwin Leighton Paisner, and Olswang all promoted fewer senior associates than last year, while Addleshaw Goddard maintained the same promotion level of eight associates.

Macfarlanes more recently defied the downward trend by making up nine lawyers, its highest number since 2005, while Wragge & Co more than doubled the number of partner promotions to five, as DAC Beachcroft appointed 16 to partnership. That figure was more than three times the five associates promoted in each of the last two years.

Bird & Bird has felt the cost of its strategic investment in 2012/13 as indicated in its most recent limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts published in January, which showed that its overdraft facility rose 55% to €21m from €13.6m in 2011/12, while net debt was up 20% from €22.6m to €27.1m during that period. Turnover, however, was up 8% to €293,248 from €270,745 the previous year.

Bird & Bird 2014 partner promotions in full:

Elizabeth Belsey, London, PPP projects and infrastructure

Guido Bormann, Dusseldorf, commercial, public and procurement law

Ted Chwu, Hong Kong, IP

Alexander Csaki, Dusseldorf, public procurement

James Froud, London, employment

Thomas Larsen, Copenhagen, procurement and disputes

Melissa Murray, United Arab Emirates: disputes

Tom Snaith, London, IP

Garreth Wong, London, disputes

Coral Yáñez, Madrid, disputes

Guohua Zhang, Shanghai, Guohua, corporate

Legal Business

TMT exits continue at Field Fisher as two more partners sign off

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment Bird & BirdFieldfisher
legal-business-default

Field Fisher Waterhouse‘s TMT practice has taken another hit as technology and outsourcing specialist Stewart Room is leaving for PwC, while head of trade marks Mark Holah is set to join Bird & Bird.

Room, who is to lead PwC’s cross-service offering on cyber and data security, is the latest in a series of hires for the accounting giant’s legal services capability.

A dual-qualified barrister and solicitor, Room’s departure date is unknown. He specialises in privacy, data protection and data security law, having joined Field Fisher as a partner in 2007 from Manchester-based Rowe Cohen.

In a statement, Field Fisher said: ‘We confirm that Stewart Room has resigned from the partnership of Field Fisher Waterhouse and is joining PwC to lead their cross-service offering on cyber and data security. This is at an early stage and so we are not in a position to comment any further on a departure date. We would like to thank Stewart for his dedicated service to the firm. Separately, we also confirm that four additional associates have been recruited to and four associates have resigned from the privacy and Information team. Partners Simon Briskman in London and Phil Lee in Palo Alto will continue to oversee privacy & information team.

‘Our technology & outsourcing practice will also be expanding its client offering in the North West region in conjunction with our recent merger with Heatons in Manchester. Our privacy & information team still remains the largest in the UK and together with our US and EU offices serves global organisations with European privacy concerns. The team includes the highly regarded Phil Lee and Nick Holland, as well 10 dedicated privacy lawyers including associates and directors.’

Also departing Field Fisher is Holah, who leads the trade marks and brand protection group – part of the firm’s intellectual property practice. He will join former TMT practice colleagues Graeme Payne, Victoria Hobbs, Allan Poulter and high-profile former IP and technology head Mark Abell at Bird & Bird. Holah joined Field Fisher in 2000 from DLA Piper before being made partner in 2002.

Field Fisher has suffered a spate of partner departures in recently, including its head of privacy and information Eduardo Ustaran, who is being held to a 19-month notice period by the firm before he is able to move to Hogan Lovells’ global privacy and information practice.

Dentons has also benefited from the departures, with franchising partner Babette Marzheuser-Wood who was hired last September to help build the firm’s franchising practice in the UK and Europe, as well as its capabilities in the hotel, leisure and retail sectors.

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Taylor Wessing fills German head of private equity slot with Skadden hire as Bird & Bird bolsters Frankfurt

Posted on |
Germany Bird & BirdSkadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & FlomTaylor Wessing
legal-business-default

Taylor Wessing has hired Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom M&A partner Walter Henle to fill the role of German private equity head. The hire comes as separately, former Skadden Arps partner Peter Veranneman joins Bird & Bird’s Frankfurt and Dusseldorf offices from German bond company DGVA(Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Vertretung von Anleihegläubigern), where he was managing director in Cologne.

Henle will be based in Munich but work alongside M&A partners Michael Stein and Christian Kleeberg in Frankfurt. He is known for his work in the leveraged buyout space and previously represented Apax Partners in the €920m sale of its majority stake in IFCO Systems, and Allianz Capital Partners GmbH on the Fairchild Dornier investment.

Veranneman, meanwhile, focuses on capital markets and corporate law as well as public and private M&A. His experience includes advising UCB on its combined cash/equity takeover offer for Schwarz Pharma, and representing Continental on the sale of its electric motor business to Brose.

Both Veranneman and Henle joined Skadden Arps’ Munich office from Baker & McKenzie in 2004 when the firm first launched in the region. Veranneman left Skadden Arps in 2010.

Bird & Bird German managing partner and international corporate group head Alexander Schröder- Frerkes said: ‘We are delighted to welcome Peter to our team. His excellent reputation and extensive experience in advising public-listed companies on a variety of large transactions make him an excellent addition to our practice.’

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving Doors: Brodies hires Transocean former GC as Squire Sanders and Bird & Bird make key hires

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment Bird & BirdBrodiesSquire Patton Boggs
legal-business-default

The past week was one for lateral hires outside the City, as Brodies boosted its oil and gas practice with the hire of former Transocean general counsel for Africa and the Mediterranean, Tom Hickey; Squire Sanders beefed up its construction team in Manchester with former head of construction and engineering and corporate services at Pannone, Sean McCay; and Bird & Bird bolstered its Brussels base with the second competition partner exit from Ashurst’s Brussels office in two months.

Dual-qualified in England and Wales and the State of California, upstream oil and gas expert Hickey is to join Brodies’ Aberdeen-led oil & gas team on 6 April but will continue to operate from Paris, where he has been based for the last 15 months while with Transocean.

While at Transocean Hickey negotiated drilling contracts and supported the firm’s operations, compliance and tax teams as mobile rigs were moved between jurisdictions along the north, west and east African coasts, prior to which he held the position of assistant GC at explorative energy company Hess Corporation between 2000 and 2012.

During that time, Hickey worked out of Hess’ London, Houston, Kuala Lumpur and New York offices, advising on a wide variety of upstream and corporate projects in Europe, West Africa, the Americas, Australia and Asia.

Bill Drummond, managing partner of Brodies, said: ‘Tom has an impressive track record working with cross-functional teams on the successful delivery of complex and challenging projects across the globe.

‘In addition to his proven ability to carry out proactive risk analysis, develop local contractual arrangements and offer innovative solutions to manage risk, his in-house experience has given him a deep understanding of the issues that matter most to corporate clients, whether political, commercial or cultural.’

Also joining the Brodies team, this time in Glasgow, is dual-qualified renewables lawyer Donna Kelly-Gilmour, who came across earlier this month as partner from Glasgow-based boutique Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie.

Meanwhile, below the border, former head of Pannone’s construction and engineering group and corporate services division McCay, returns to Squire Sanders as partner in its construction division in Manchester, where he trained and spent 16 years at the firm until 2006, serving as a partner for seven years.

With more than 20 years’ contentious construction and engineering experience, McCay advises private and public sector clients in the energy, utilities, waste management and engineering industries, with particular expertise in advising on nuclear decommissioning and large infrastructure projects and regeneration schemes.

Also joining Squire Sanders’ 21-lawyer construction team from Pannone is contentious construction associate Jody Kite.

This comes just a few months after Australian firm Slater & Gordon announced the acquisition of the consumer services and personal injury (PI) business of Pannone in November in a deal worth £33m.

Meanwhile, across the channel, Bird & Bird has appointed competition and EU partner Efthymios Bourtzalas from Ashurst’s Brussels outpost, where he has been a partner since 2007, having spent three years as a case handler in the European Commission’s directorate general for competition.

Greek-qualified Bourtzalas has been involved in several high-profile and complex competition law matters at an EU and national level, including in particular several phase I and phase II merger and State aid cases. His practice includes merger control, restrictive agreements, cartels and abuse of dominance cases, state aid, public procurement, external trade, internal market, EU regulatory and institutional matters, and litigation on competition and EU matters before the EU and national courts.

His exit comes just weeks after high-profile competition partner Julian Ellison left Ashurst’s Brussels office in February to join Mayer Brown’s Brussels base in February.

Co-head of Bird & Bird in Belgium, Anne Federle, said: ‘We are very excited to welcome Efthymios to our team. His extensive experience, in particular in the energy and communications sectors, makes him a great fit and his track record of working with clients in South Eastern Europe will support the development of our firm’s activities in this region.’

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

RBS litigation: Bird & Bird’s head of dispute resolution criticised for £500m fluctuation in value of claim

Posted on |
Finance Bird & Bird
legal-business-default

The highly complex Royal Bank of Scotland 2008 rights issue litigation has seen Bird & Bird’s dispute resolution head Steven Baker criticised at the High Court over a £500m fluctuation in the value of the claim.

In his fifth witness statement to the court in November Baker, who represents John Greenwood and the RBoS Shareholders Action Group Limited, with around 12,000 retail and around 100 corporate, institutional and charitable members (the BB Action Group), told the court: ‘the losses suffered by the members of the BB Action Group who have actually issued proceedings so far would equate to approximately £900m…and the total acquisition value of those claimants’ shares is £1.25bn.’

These figures were relied on by Mr Justice Hildyard in the third case management conference.

However in his seventh witness statement in January in the proceedings, in which the claimants allege RBS’ 2008 rights issue prospectus was defective and contained material misstatements and omissions, Baker corrected these figures to £392m (in place of £900m) and approximately £490m (in place of £1.125bn) respectively.

Mr Justice Hildyard said: ‘The explanation (and excuse) for these startling differences given by Mr Baker is that there was a mistake made in differentiating between members of the Group and actual claimants, and thus in calculating the value of aggregate claims. This mistake is regrettable in itself, especially in the wake of earlier inaccuracies in statements made by the BB Action Group or on its behalf as to the availability of ATE cover. I shall expect a greater degree of care and accuracy in the future.’

Bird & Bird is heading one of two large claims against RBS over its rights issue, led by Baker and Serle Court’s Philip Marshall QC. The action is being brought against the bank’s former chief executive Fred Goodwin and three other directors.

The second action RBS faces includes a group of 21 claimants involving a number of UK and international financial institutions and pension funds, led by Stewarts Law partner Clive Zietman and 3 Verulam Buildings’ Andrew Onslow QC. Litigation funder Argentum is backing this action.

Herbert Smith Freehills is defending RBS in both cases.

A spokesperson for Bird & Bird said: ‘This is the biggest ever such claim in the UK, and we are representing the leading shareholder group. It is a major achievement to have mustered such a group to fight for compensation on behalf of shareholders who suffered huge losses in RBS’ rights issue in 2008.

‘There was no miscalculation of the issued members of the Action Group’s claims. There was simply a factual error in expressing the value of claims issued when in fact some of those claims had been deferred. In any event, the balance of those claims will be issued shortly, together with further substantial claims.’

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Asia calling: Bird & Bird launches in South Korea as Taylor Wessing and Allen & Gledhill expand Asia footprint

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment Bird & BirdJones DayTaylor Wessing
legal-business-default

Bird & Bird has joined a host of international law firms looking to enhance their global footprint with a cooperation agreement in Asia’s fourth largest economy, tying up with South Korean firm Hwang Mok Park (HMP).

Announced today (25 February), the top 20 firm said the aim is to focus on helping clients in industry sectors where technology and regulation are driving change.

Founded in 1993, HMP is acknowledged by the Legal 500 as third-tier in antitrust and competition, banking and finance, corporate and M&A, disputes, employment, and insurance.

Bird & Bird, meanwhile, which currently has a presence in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Singapore through its global association with ATMD Bird & Bird, is, the 966-lawyer firm said, ‘experiencing a period of rapid growth in the Asia Pacific region.’

Bird & Bird’s chief executive David Kerr said: ‘We are impressed with their track record in Korea, where they have a strong base of multinational clients and a broad portfolio of interesting work. We have experienced a significant increase in client demand in the region and this agreement reflects our plans to develop an integrated Asia-Pacific offering.’

Chairman of the firm’s Asian region Justin Walkey added that ‘Korea’s advanced, technology-driven economy is a natural fit for Bird & Bird.’

Bird & Bird expanded its presence Asia Pacific presence last March, having signed a cooperation agreement with Sydney-based digital-economy law firm Truman Hoyle.

Its most recent limited liability partnership accounts for the 2012/13 financial year show that its overdraft facility rose 55% to €21m from €13.6m in 2011/12, while net debt was up 20% from €22.6m to €27.1m during that period.

Other firms to launch recently in South Korean include Linklaters, Clifford Chance, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

Last week, Baker & McKenzie made a further strategic push into Asia, becoming the latest global player to launch an office in Myanmar. Confirmed last Tuesday (18 February), the firm said the launch of a branch in the city of Yangon was to be led by infrastructure and corporate partner Chris Hughes, who is currently based in Sydney.

Last week also saw Taylor Wessing’s Singapore arm, RHTLaw Taylor Wessing expand its regional footprint with an exclusive tie-up with PBC Partners in Vietnam, which currently has offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The arrangement will give RHTLaw access to 22 legal professionals in Vietnam. That tie-up comes only four months after RHTLaw announced its cooperation agreement with Indonesian law firm, Hanafiah Ponggawa and Partners.

Meanwhile, leading Singapore law firm Allen & Gledhill has also entered the Southeast Asian market by launching associate firm Allen & Gledhill (Myanmar), which came into force on 4 February. Headed by the former chief executive of the Singapore international arbitration centre, partner Minn Naing Oo, the launch follows the establishment of associate firm, Allen & Gledhill (Laos) in Vientiane in 2013.

The launches come after Jones Day confirmed this month its intentions to open an office in Perth in April this year, a region it described as ‘the mining and energy centre of Australia,’, with the hire of Allens Linklaters construction and energy litigation partner Stephen McComish.

Jones Day’s managing partner Stephen Brogan said the firm ‘continues to believe in the growing importance of Australia to the advancement of the global economy.

‘In the next decade, Western Australia in particular will play a critical role in supplying the energy and other commodity needs of Asia. If economic advancement is to benefit the largest number of people in Asia, then access to Australia’s resources will be essential,’ Brogan added.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving Doors: Key transactional and antitrust hires for Bakers, Bird & Bird, K&L Gates, Trowers, Reed Smith and Mayer Brown

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment Baker McKenzieBird & BirdReed Smith
legal-business-default

With transactional activity on the rise international firms including Bird & Bird, K&L Gates, Trowers & Hamlins and Reed Smith have bolstered their European corporate and banking capability, while Baker & McKenzie and Mayer Brown have made appointments in the buoyant pharmaceutical and antitrust sectors respectively.

In London, Bakers on Monday (3 February) announced the hire of highly rated pharmaceutical lawyer Julian Thurston, a former partner and consultant at Morrison & Foerster, who joins the firm’s 450-lawyer global pharmaceutical and healthcare industry group as a consultant.Recognised internationally as one of the leading life sciences transactional lawyers, the Legal 500 describes Thurston, who focuses on strategic joint ventures, licensing and collaborations with an emphasis emerging markets such as China Latin America and Russia, as a ‘leading individual’ in the industry.

Also in London, top 50 law firm Trowers & Hamlins announced this week that it has bolstered its banking and finance capability with the appointment of former Squire Sanders partner Simon Owen, who headed the banking team at legacy Hammonds prior to its January 2011 merger with the US firm.

Adrian Carter, head of banking and finance at Trowers, said: ‘With his enviable track record and skill set, Simon will help further strengthen our existing real estate and finance capabilities.’

In the corporate sector, Bird & Bird announced on Monday that it has hired former Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton corporate partner and cable market specialist Hans Peter Leube in Germany. Luebe, who joined the Frankfurt office on 1 February from Schalast & Partner in Frankfurt, has had an extensive career working across Cleary’s Frankfurt and New York offices, having previously worked for Baker & Mackenzie in Düsseldorf and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Frankfurt.

‘We are very pleased to welcome Hans Peter to our corporate team. Drawing on his practical experience in the communications industry, especially in the cable market, he can offer our clients an exceptional level of industry insight and advice,’ said Alexander Schröder-Frerkes, managing partner of Bird & Bird’s German practice and head of the international corporate group.

Also bolstering its corporate capability, this time in Paris, Reed Smith last week turned to Hogan Lovells for the hire of corporate partner Isabelle MacElhone, who was previously a partner with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

MacElhone’s hire, which brings the Paris corporate team up to five partners, follows the launch of the Paris competition practice in April 2013 with the hire of Hogan Lovell’s antitrust partner Michel Debroux.

‘We have a full-service corporate team in Paris, and with Isabelle’s added experience and knowledge we are able to provide both French and international organisations with expert support. Isabelle’s appointment brings new expertise and strengthens the capabilities of an already strong corporate team in Paris. I am very pleased to welcome her to Reed Smith,’ said James Wilkinson, head of the firm’s Europe & Middle East corporate group.

Also in Paris, which has seen a number of team moves and individual hires in recent months, global law firm K&L Gates has hired Allen & Overy (A&O) partner Jean-Patrice Labautière as a partner in the corporate/M&A practice.

An experienced corporate and transactional lawyer, Labautière practised with A&O for 15 years and advises financial institutions, corporations, and private equity clients on a wide variety of transactions, including complex acquisitions, reorganizations, and joint ventures. He is particularly active in the healthcare, financial services, and technology sectors.

The hire follows the January arrival in K&L Gates Hong Kong office of Deacons investment management partner Greg Heaton.

Meanhwhile, bolstering its competition capability in the Brussels heartland is global top 30 firm Mayer Brown, which has hired antitrust partner Julian Ellison from Ashurst. Ellison specialises in EU and UK competition law and has been involved in merger cases including ferry company P&O’s mergers with Stena Line and Brittany Ferries. The Legal 500 describe him as ‘easy to contact’ and adds that he ‘maintains the right balance between technicalities and practicalities’.

Kiran Desai, partner-in-charge of the firm’s Brussels office, said: ‘Julian is a highly regarded EU and UK competition lawyer whose experience complements our focus in Europe on network industries, local markets, government investigations and litigation before the EU Court of Justice. In addition, his skills will enhance our state aid practice and our representation of clients in sectors such as transport and chemicals.’

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

LLP latest – Bird & Bird and Eversheds pay cost of expansion and restructuring

Posted on |
Financial results 2012/13 Bird & BirdEversheds Sutherland
legal-business-default

The cost of Bird & Bird’s strategic investment in 2012/13 became apparent today (27 January) with the filing of its limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts, which show that its overdraft facility rose 55% to €21m from €13.6m in 2011/12, while net debt was up 20% from €22.6m to €27.1m during that period.

Turnover at the 966-lawyer firm was up 8% to €293,248 from €270,745 the previous year, while profit was down 7% from nearly €65m in 2012 to €60.2m this year.

The top 20 firm has been in expansion mode and, in addition to opening in Dubai and entering co-operation agreements in Sydney and Switzerland, in November 2012 merged with Denmark’s Bender von Haller Dragsted.

The firm also secured the hire of partner Sven-Michael Werner from rival firm Taylor Wessing to its China corporate practice in January.

This growth is reflected in the firm’s fee earner numbers, which rose by 10% to 856 from 773 in 2011/12.

Its highest paid equity partner took home €1,011,000 – only a marginal increase compared to the €1,008,000 paid the year before.

Meanwhile, the costs of the three year strategic plan unveiled by Eversheds in July 2012 has also become apparent, with the top 10 LB100 firm’s LLP accounts showing that its restructuring costs amounted to £4.8m, which includes its redundancy programme and office closures.

Provision for onerous leases was a further £3.7m and in a statement the firm said: ‘Restructuring costs were incurred following a detailed management and operation review in January 2013 to align the operations of the firm to the new three-year strategic plan and address certain parts of the business where current market activity makes existing structures unsustainable.

‘The costs incurred include the costs of closing the Copenhagen office and other redundancy costs. Provisions have also been made for the costs of leases on vacant or sublet properties.’

Group turnover increased nearly 3% from £366m to £376m in 2012/13.

Elsewhere, the average number of members and employees dropped from 2,761 to 2,734, with the number of legal advisers down from 1,482 to 1,455.

Eversheds was one of a number firms to announce job losses last year, confirming in May 2013 that 116 staff would be made redundant across the firm after a consultation that placed 166 jobs at risk, including 82 fee earners. This was the UK law firm’s sixth redundancy round since 2007.

Meanwhile, the estimated entitlement for the highest paid member for the 2012/13 year stood at £1.2m compared to £1.15m in 2011/12.

The firm’s defined contribution pension scheme, which is closed to new entrants, had a deficit of £772,000 as of 30 April 2013, up from £403,000 in 2012.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving doors: Bird & Bird, Bond Dickinson and Simmons all make lateral moves

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment Bird & BirdSimmons & SimmonsWomble Bond Dickinson
legal-business-default

The appetite shown by global elite firms to hire laterally at the start of the year has spread wider in the City, as Bird & Bird, Bond Dickinson, Simmons & Simmons and US firm Sedgwick have all been in action recently.

Bird & Bird secured the hire of partner Sven-Michael Werner from rival firm Taylor Wessing to its China corporate practice. Werner, who speaks Mandarin, has over 12 years’ experience practising Chinese law and will be based at the firm’s Shanghai office. He has a focus on M&A and foreign direct investment, particularly advising European clients investing into China.

‘Sven-Michael’s extensive experience in our key sectors of technology, media and life sciences, as well as with major fashion brands, makes him a good fit for our growing corporate practice in China,’ said Marcus Vass, head of Bird & Bird’s China transactional group.

Bird & Bird has also appointed Air Arabia general counsel Anna Anatolitou as a partner across both its UAE offices. Prior to that she was at Norton Rose and has over 13 years’ experience as an aviation and dispute resolution lawyer.

‘Now Anna has joined, we have practical capability in the Middle East to advise airlines, insurers, lessors and investors on all legal issues. Our international aviation sector group has grown considerably over the past ten years and will continue to keep growing,’ said Paul Briggs, co-head of the firm’s aviation group.

Meanwhile another Global 100 firm, Simmons & Simmons, has also scored a coup with the hire of Reed Smith’s head of investment funds for Europe and the Middle East, Dale Gabbert.

Gabbert advises fund managers and financial institutions on the establishment and running of all classes of alternative investment funds, including hedge funds, private equity funds and credit funds.

‘Dale’s appointment will add further scale to our private funds practice, and we are looking forward to him joining this growing team,’ said Colin Leaver, Simmons’ asset management and investment funds sector head.

On the domestic front, Bond Dickinson brought in high regarded intellectual property (IP) expert Patrick Cantrill as partner from top-tier Leeds firm Walker Morris, where he was head of its IP department. The Legal 500 describes him as having an ‘incredible wealth of experience’ illustrated by having over 30 years’ of experience managing IP portfolios for blue chip and international organisations.

‘He is one of the most accomplished lawyers in his field and he will be a first-rate addition to our intellectual property and media practice,’ said Bond Dickinson chairman Nick Page. ‘We look forward to working with him as we develop our presence in London and internationally,’

Finally, US firm Sedgwick brought in DLA Piper insurance litigation partner David Murphy into its London office earlier this month. His experience spans a variety of classes of business, including property, energy, engineering, mining and credit insurance.

Murphy’s practice is truly international. He has represented London market and global insurers in analysing insurance claims and coverage issues arising from numerous jurisdictions around the globe, including Thailand, Colombia, Australia and Peru.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

H1 2013/14: Bird & Bird reveals revenue increase of 5%

Posted on |
Financial results 2013/14 Bird & Bird
legal-business-default

Bird & Bird today (3 December) attributed a 5% increase in its half year (H1) 2013/14 revenues to the strengthening of its international offering, although the firm declined to disclose its underlying turnover figure.

The 960-lawyer firm, which operates its accounts in euros, estimated growth of 5% in euros, which it claims equates overall to 10% growth in sterling when currency fluctuations across H1 are taken into account.

Highlights in H1 include office openings in Dubai and Denmark, as well as lateral hires across corporate, intellectual property and media.The top 20 firm also said that despite difficult market conditions, the majority of its offices continued to grow.

In June, Bird & Bird announced an annual 2012/13 revenue growth of 6%, up from £235m to £249m, marking 25 years of continuous growth.

That performance was described by the firm as ‘solid’ and in line with budget ‘in the face of challenging economic conditions in our major markets.’ Despite these prevailing conditions the firm continued to invest, with two new offices, two cooperation agreements and 36 new partners – 11 of which were internal promotions.

Today’s results follow a swathe of positive H1 reports from LB100 firms, including newly-merged Ashurst, which also today reported a 5.8% increase in turnover during the first half of 2013/14 to £298m, attributing the rise to improved economic conditions and an uptick in transactional work.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk