Legal Business

DAC Beachcroft set for defining post-merger management election

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Leadership DAC Beachcroft
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DAC Beachcroft is gearing up for a management election this summer between both insurance and non-insurance partners as the firm looks to select its first new executive team since the merger of Davies Arnold Cooper and Beachcroft in October 2011.

Current senior partner Simon Hodson and managing partner Paul Murray have been in place since 2005 when they were elected to the roles at legacy Beachcroft and then re-elected for a second term in 2010. Neither will stand again this time around.

Legal Business

Partner promotions: DAC Beachcroft makes up 47% of 15-strong round in Bristol

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Partnership promotions DAC Beachcroft
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UK-top 25 firm DAC Beachcroft has announced its partnership promotions for 2015, making up almost half of its intake in Bristol.

A total of 15 lawyers will make the firm’s partnership ranks, seven of which will be based at the firm’s Bristol office. From the remainder, three were made up in London, two in Manchester, and one each in Birmingham, Winchester and Leeds.

The promotions take the firm’s total partner numbers to 258 and will go into effect from 1 May. These are spread across ten practice areas with most partners were made up in in claims solutions followed by commercial dispute resolution, real estate and healthcare regulatory.

DAC Beachcroft managing partner Paul Murray said: ‘As always, these promotions underline that client demand remains strong and prospects across the business remain good. Coupled with our improving financial performance, the promotions speak volumes for the renewed confidence I am seeing across the firm and will be instrumental in us realising our full potential in terms of profitable growth.’

The promotions come after the firm LLP fillings at Companies House in January revealed its profits available for division among members fell by 18.3% from £31.2m in the 2012/13 financial year to £25.5m in the year to 30 April 2014.

The promotion list in full:

Ros Ashcroft, Regulatory & Public Law, Bristol

Nick Beko, Real Estate, Manchester

Jonathan Bingham, Claims Solution Group, Birmingham

Rhiannon Davis, Insurance Advisory, London

Belinda Dix, Healthcare Regulatory, Winchester

Faye Fishlock, Claims Solutions Group, Bristol

Gemma Leonard, Real Estate, London

Harald Loeffler, Commercial Dispute Resolution, Manchester

Richard Loxley, Employment & Pensions, London

Cassandra Mitchell, Claims Solutions Group, Bristol

Chris Morris, Healthcare Regulatory, Bristol

Mike Pearce, Corporate & Commercial, Bristol

Simon Thomas, Commercial Dispute Resolution, Bristol

David Williams, Claims Solutions Group, Leeds

Rob Williams, Claims Solutions Group, Bristol

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

A 17-year dispute: Roadchef workers win legal battle against DAC Beachcroft client over employee shares

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Litigation Capital LawDAC BeachcroftHarbour Litigation
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Hundreds of workers at motorway service operator Roadchef are set to share a windfall after a 17-year long legal battle against the company’s former chief executive regarding an employee share option scheme.

More than 600 people working for Roadchef, which has 21 service stations in England, Wales and Scotland, were due to benefit after former managing director Patrick Gee, who led the 1983 buyout of the firm, decided to allocate them around 20% of the company’s shares in the mid-80s. Gee died, however, before the scheme was completed and his successor, Timothy Ingram Hill was accused of cheating staff out of millions of pounds by disregarding Gee’s wishes. When Roadchef was bought out in 1998 by Delek, an Israeli multinational, the shares made Ingram Hill almost £27m.

Bankrolled by Harbour Litigation Funding, the claim involved the 1998 transfer of shares in Roadchef between two trusts, EBT1 and EBT2. EBT1 operated an employee share ownership plan for the benefit of employees while EBT2 was used to provide share incentives to senior management. The dispute brought to court concerned the circumstances in which the senior management trustees granted options over the shares to Ingram Hill personally, who served in several high powered positions at the company over a period of time including as managing director, chairman and chief executive.

Hardwicke Chambers trio Nigel Jones QC, PJ Kirby QC and Emily Betts were instructed by Capital Law for the claimant, while Fountain Court Chambers duo Michael Brindle QC and Giles Wheeler were instructed by DAC Beachcroft for the defendants.

The claimant argued that transfer of shares from EBT1 to EBT2 was void and that the transfer made was in breach of trust or breach of fiduciary duty owed to the beneficiaries of EBT1. There were further allegations that Ingram Hill dishonestly assisted in the breach, as he received the shares in the knowledge that they had been transferred in breach.

Having considered whether or not the transfer of the shares was entirely valid, void or voidable, in January 2014 Justice Proudman found that, irrespective of any wrongdoing on the part of Ingram Hill, the transfer was void as it was outside the power of the trustees. Proudman held that the claimant could therefore void the transfer of the shares. The High Court also found Ingram Hill liable for breach of fiduciary duty as he did not obtain the informed consent of other directors because he did not tell them he intended to secure the options over the shares.

The success for the claimants at trial ultimately led to a settlement between the parties. In a statement today (2 February), Capital Law said: ‘The terms of the settlement with Timothy Ingram Hill (and others, including his wife, Mrs Ingram Hill) remain confidential. The Roadchef Employee Benefits Trustees Limited will now undertake negotiations with HMRC and other parties to determine precisely how much money will be available for distribution. They will continue to work to administer the trust as swiftly as possible so that the beneficiaries can receive their respective share without further undue delay.’

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘A challenging year’: DAC Beachcroft profit falls as firm hit by rising staff costs and IT failure

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Financial results 2013/14 DAC Beachcroft
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DAC Beachcroft’s latest LLP fillings at Companies House have revealed the firm’s profits available for division among members fell by 18.3% from £31.2m in the 2012/13 financial year to £25.5m in the year to 30 April 2014 as staff costs rose and the firm booked the cost of an IT failure.

Profits fell even before the IT failure was included with operating profit dropping from £32.6m in financial year 2013 to £31.1m in 2014, the firm was then hit by the unviable IT project which it booked as a £2.9m exceptional item.

However, the firm did see an increase in fee income which rose from £186.8m to £197.2m, which the firm put down mostly to organic growth though it did note its partnership with De La Torre & Monroy in Colombia which it formalised on 1 December 2013.

The extra income was offset by rising staff costs which rose by 10% from £99m to £109m as headcount increased by a similar percentage with the number of fee earner working at DAC Beachcroft increasing from 1,328 to 1,473 while support staff increased from 803 to 723.

On the other hand, the average number of members dropped from 113 to 109 with the highest profit share also fell from £450,340 to £438,506. The fillings said the members considered the results: ‘a solid performance in a challenging year.’

The fillings also revealed that the firm had extended its banking facilities by £15m to help it focus on ‘its strategic growth plans’. This saw the amount of bank loans the firm had outstanding rise from £9.2m in 2012/13 to £24.1m in 2013/14.

michael.west@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Partner promotions: Wragges and DAC Beachcroft make up significantly more lawyers; Olswang promotes two

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Partnership promotions CMS UKDAC BeachcroftGowling WLG
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Ahead of its 1 May merger with City firm Lawrence Graham, Wragge & Co has more than doubled the number of partner promotions it made last year to five, including two in its housing, development & regeneration team.

Ed Colreavy and Jacqueline Knox were made up in the housing practice. In other practice areas, Ian Gordon was made up in pensions disputes, Jasvir Jootla in restructuring and corporate recovery, and Gus Wood in the firm’s energy group.

Senior partner Quentin Poole said: ‘We have looked at talent, experience, client requirements and growth opportunities, and have decided to promote these five exceptional individuals to the partnership.’

In contrast, Olswang has made up just one new partner apiece in its London and Berlin offices. The promotion of Kevin Cordina and Gordon Geiser to partnership at Olswang, which takes effect from 1 May, will bring the number of partners in the top-40 LB100 firm to 121 across eight offices in Europe and Asia.

This is one fewer than last year for the firm, which promoted three to partnership in March 2013, again in London and Berlin.

Cordina is a patent lawyer, specialising in electronics and will be based in the firm’s City base, while Geiser – a dual qualified restructuring and insolvency expert in Berlin – will help the firm extend its cross-border capability and supports the recently launched Olswang Restructuring Solutions, which is aimed at providing counsel to companies, managers, shareholders and creditors during crises and near-critical situations in Germany.

Meanwhile top-30 LB100 firm DAC Beachcroft has appointed 16 to partnership, more than three times the five associates promoted in each of the last two years. Over half (nine) of the promoted lawyers across the firm’s Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Newport offices were women, while five promotions were in its City base, taking the total number of partners at the firm to 256.

While the majority of promotions took place in across various divisions of the firm’s signature insurance practice, three lawyers in both corporate and commercial and real estate have also been promoted.

This comes after the firm promoted two new partners in its Madrid office last December, José María Pimentel and Luis Siles.

DAC Beachcroft managing partner, Paul Murray, said: ‘After years of relative steadiness, this year’s bumper promotion numbers are a clear sign of our solid commercial performance to date and the ambition we have for future growth. As ever, the growth of the business is led by what our clients need. This is reflected in the various practice areas, sector expertise and locations of those being promoted.’

 

DAC Beachcroft 2014 partner promotions in full:

Hans Allnutt, global insurance (London)

Anne Batanero, real estate (Bristol)

Louise Bloomfield, employment & pensions (Leeds)

Anthony Carrington and Dan Prince, claims validation team (Birmingham)

Kathy Farmer, practice governance & risk (Leeds)

Emma Fuller, motor (Newport)

Barbara Goddard, casualty, (London)

Liz Jones, large loss (Birmingham)

Daniella McGuigan, employment & pensions (Leeds)

Lili Oliver, motor (Bristol)

Ben Pariser, real estate (Bristol)

Glenn Ruddy, real estate (London)

John Singh, corporate & commercial (London)

Alex Von Westernhagen, corporate & commercial (London)

Nick Williams, corporate & commercial (Bristol)

 

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

LLP filings 2012/13 – DAC Beachcroft, Dentons, Olswang and Ince & Co reveal numbers

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Financial results 2012/13 CMS UKDAC BeachcroftDentonsInce & Co
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DAC Beachcroft, Dentons, Olswang and Ince & Co have joined the ranks of leading UK law firms to have filed their limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts on Companies House, with the former three all seeing an increase in their bank debt.

Dentons UKMEA LLP saw its bank loans increase by around £3m in the 2012/13 year, while profit was down 10% to £28.3m, which the firm attributed to increased marketing and administration costs stemming from its tripartite merger with Salans and Fraser Milner Casgrain.

Revenue at the top-10 firm dropped 1.5% from £144.8m to £142.8m.

Meanwhile, in line with firms including Shoosmiths and Morgan Cole that saw their highest paid equity partner sum fall, Dentons paid their best earner £564,000, constituting an 18% drop when compared to 2011/12.

The firm enjoyed savings in staff costs, which decreased from £75,705 to £72,822 this year, due to a decline in numbers, including fee earners and support staff, from 994 to 928 members.

Elsewhere, as DAC Beachcroft yesterday (21 January) announced the opening of its representative office in New York, its LLP accounts reveal increases in its borrowings over the course of the last financial year to finance continued investment.

During a year in which the 1000-lawyer top 25 UK firm acquired the assets of Andersons Solicitors in Scotland in September 2012 and formed DAC Beachcroft Chile Limitada in Santiago two months later, its accounts show that the firm has refinanced its banking facilities, which now include a £40m four-year revolving credit facility, while the LLP accounts also confirm a £10.2m cash call from partners.

Net debt grew 14% from £34m in 2011/12 to £38.7m the following year, with the Andersons acquisition adding close to £500,000 to net debt, but adding net assets of £600,000.

The accounts confirm a 14% increase in turnover for 2012/13 to £186.8m from £163.5m the year before. Operating profit too increased 13% from £30.8m at the end of 2012 to £34.6m in 2012/13.

Staff costs increased 16% from £86m to £99m as total staff grew 11% from 1842 at the end of 2012 to 2051 the following year, as did the average number of equity partners from 89 to 113.

However, the highest paid equity member took home £450,000 at the end of last financial year, 22% less than £579,000 the year before.

Meanwhile, Olswang’s filings reveal that its overdraft grew by £3m to £18m in 2013, with net debt up to £13.7m from £8.4m.

The UK top 40 firm, which saw its turnover increase from £108.5m to £110m but operating profit drop from £39.3m to £38m, paid its highest earning equity member a significantly heavier pay packet this year at £716,000, up from £576,000.

Its overall employee headcount dropped from 565 to 554 in 2013.

Standing out for reducing its bank loans, however, is top 40 firm Ince & Co, which LLP accounts show £500,000 in bank loans in 2013, compared to the previous year’s figure of £1.4m.

Revenue was more or less static in 2013 at £61.9m compared to £61.1m in the previous year, while the overall profit was £1m lower in 2013 at £19m.

The firm’s highest paid member also took home less in 2013 at £545,670 compared to £584,065 in the previous year.

Legal Business

Legal Business

DAC Beachcroft launches New York base as part of transatlantic alliance

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US DAC Beachcroft
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Its international expansion has been extensive in recent years but UK insurance firm DAC Beachcroft has complemented its push in the Americas by opening a representative office in New York to build relationships in the US.

Located at One Battery Park Plaza in Manhattan, the new office forms part of a strategic alliance with specialist New York insurance law firm, Abrams Gorelick Friedman & Jacobson (AGF&J), to work more closely together in New York and London to better serve the interests of their insurance clients.

The 1,000-lawyer, top 25 UK firm, which already has a widespread presence in Latin America, says the new Manhattan base, which opened on Monday 20 January, will promote its multi-jurisdictional insurance capabilities, especially in Latin America, and its international commercial litigation and arbitration in North America.

Staffed on a rotating basis, the core team will include head of insurance David Pollitt, head of global Paulino Fajardo and Mexico office chief Francisco Fernandes-Fletes.

Also in the core team are corporate insurance partner Adrian Williams, engineering and construction partner Nick Young, reinsurance partner Julian Miller, financial lines partner Mark Sutton and commercial litigation/arbitration partner Matthew Wescott.

Commenting on the new office, DAC Beachcroft managing partner, Paul Murray, said: ‘We know there are opportunities for the firm on the other side of the Atlantic. This base will allow us to build relationships in North America, which is another important step toward our long-term goal of becoming the leading international provider of legal services to the insurance sector.’

David Pollitt, head of the firm’s insurance sector group, added: ‘New York is a very important market for many of our insurance clients. We already have a number of strong relationships with major international insurers.

‘They are increasingly more interested in our unique global offering, particularly in relation to our own-office Latin America coverage where we now have a formidable presence in Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

‘We will be focusing on claims work as well as corporate and regulatory work. Our reach extends beyond insurance into commercial litigation and international arbitration where, again, our global footprint offers clients access to strong support in key markets.

‘Furthermore, we have worked with the team of Abrams Gorelick for many years now and our alliance with them will enable both of us better to reach our clients in New York and London.

The firm recently expanded its Latin American presence via a merger with Colombian alliance partner De la Torre & Monroy Abogados Asociados, which began trading as DAC Beachcroft Colombia on 1 December 2013, having formally allied with the six-lawyer Bogata insurance firm in March 2013 ahead of the liberalisation of the Colombian insurance market.

This latest move builds on the firm’s tie-up with Chilean firms Seguros Lex and Amunategui y Cia in November 2012, while its now 20-strong Mexico base has been ‘going strong’ according to Murray, since it’s opening 12 years ago by legacy Davies Arnold Cooper.

Murray has said the firm has further long-term plans to expand in the region, with its sights set on an alliance in Peru, while Guatemala and Panama are also viewed as prospective locations.

Osborne Clarke also announced last October that it had launched a branch in New York’s creative and digital district of BoHo, its second in the US after it set up shop in Palo Alto in 2001 to build links with technology and venture capital clients.

The NY arm primarily provides UK legal advice to European clients who have moved into New York or US clients looking to position themselves in Europe as well as developing relationships with investors. Like DAC, the branch runs on a flexible basis with 12 partners and associate directors, with two or more partners on the ground at any given time, rotating every seven to ten days.

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Latin America: DAC merges with Colombian alliance partner De la Torre & Monroy

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Legal mergers DAC Beachcroft
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DAC Beachcroft has expanded its Latin American presence via a merger with Colombian alliance partner De la Torre & Monroy Abogados Asociados, which began trading as DAC Beachcroft Colombia yesterday (1 December).

The 1000-lawyer top 25 UK firm, which formally allied with the six-lawyer Bogata insurance firm in March this year ahead of the liberalisation of the Colombian insurance market, agreed the tie-up after partners voted in favour on 22 November.

De la Torre & Monroy, which is ranked first tier by the Legal 500 for insurance in Colombia, has been operating under the direction of founding partners Camilla de la Torre and Gabriela Monroy for 20 years and already shares a number of existing clients with DAC Beachcroft in the local Colombian insurance and international reinsurance market, particularly in London, New York and Spain.

Past clients at the firm include Aon, TPL, Cordel Limitada, and RA Ajustadores.

DAC Beachcroft Colombia will specialise in working with international insurers and reinsurers, advising on the full range of claims as well as arbitration, corporate, commercial and regulatory issues. The firm will also provide full service legal support for international investors in Colombia and to local clients.

DAC Beachcroft managing partner Paul Murray (pictured) told Legal Business: ‘Legacy DAC has worked with the firm on Columbia reinsurance matters going back 12 years and as a result we have built up mutual confidence in each other’s technical ability as well as on a relationship level between the people. Since our formal association earlier this year, we have spent the intervening months going through the financial and regulatory niceties to get to the point of merging.’

According to Murray, the firm will look to bring some of the Colombian office into London as part of a training programme, while DAC Beachcroft European lawyers will also go to Colombia as part of building a stronger connection between the offices.

This latest move builds on the firm’s tie-up with Chilean firms Seguros Lex and Amunategui y Cia in November last year, while its now 20-strong Mexico base has been ‘going strong’ according to Murray, since it’s opening 12 years ago by legacy Davies Arnold Cooper.

The firm is one to watch in Latin America as, Murray says, it has further long-term plans to expand in the region, with its sights set on an alliance in Peru, while Guatemala and Panama are also viewed as prospective locations.

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Investment costs: DAC Beachcroft issues £10m cash call amid positive half-year financials

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Financial management DAC Beachcroft
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DAC Beachcroft has issued a £10m cash call to LLP members and simultaneously increased its rolling credit facility to £40m, as it aims to reach target revenue of £200m by the end of the financial year.

The top 30 firm, which merged with Davies Arnold Cooper in 2011, announced today (18 November) that its half-year results for 2013/14 amounted to £90m in total billings for the six-month period to 31 October, an increase of 7% compared to the first half of last year. Senior partner Simon Hodson told Legal Business he believes the results were ‘quite strong.’ This increase is on top of a 15% rise in revenues for the financial year 2012/13 to £188.2m.

The firm has also confirmed a four-year flexible financing facility of up to £40m with Lloyds Bank and HSBC, a facility which Hodson said ‘is available for us to do what we want with.’

The increase in member contributions to capital by £10m brings the firm ‘more in line with businesses of [its] size,’ said managing partner Paul Murray (pictured). He also noted that despite ‘widespread speculation around the difficulties of raising finance in the current economic climate, both banks were pleased to provide additional facilities, reflecting their belief in our business model and growth strategy.’

According to the firm’s LLP accounts for 2011/12, the firm’s overdraft facility with both Lloyds and HSBC stood at £29.6m, a substantial increase compared to 2011 when the figure equalled over £5.1m.

Commenting on the new funding arrangements, Murray added: ‘We’ve grown from an £89m business in 2005 to what we expect to be a £200m business at the end of this financial year. In that time, we have grown from seven UK offices to being a global business with offices in four continents. Running a business of this size requires guaranteed amounts of working capital and the flexibility to deal with peaks and troughs of cash flow.’

‘With sound financial management and a continued focus on billing and cash collection right throughout the year, I’m confident that we will see a year-end result that will justify the considerable faith the banks and the members have shown in our business.’

Other national players to make the cash call this year include Hill Dickinson, which voted though a £2.8m cash call to partners in August to boost the balance sheet, due to what managing partner Peter Jackson said was down to a year of heavy investment.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Healthy competition: Capsticks takes five partners from DAC Beachcroft

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Strategic recruitment CapsticksDAC Beachcroft
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It may be one of its signature practice areas but progressive insurance giant DAC Beachcroft last week (30 August) confirmed five Leeds-based partners will be leaving its market-leading health team for rival specialist Capsticks.

Although departure dates are yet to be finalised, Ian Cooper, Rachael Heenan, Robert McGough, Ron Simms and Claire Reynolds will all make the move to Capsticks next year.

DAC Beachcroft, which has advised the NHS since its inception 65 years ago, has the largest health practice of any UK law firm with 487-strong firmwide team comprising 50 partners and 200 fee earners operating across the independent and public sector, according to the firm.

Managing partner Paul Murray said regional senior partner in Newcastle and member of the national healthcare management team David Weatherburn and Leeds partner and head of the national health estates team Eve Gregory will take over the leadership and operational management of the northern health team as long-term structures are put in place.

‘We are intensely proud of our national health team, advising those at the forefront of health and social care in this country. Of course, that reputation makes our people the envy of the competition and, inevitably, some of them will depart for pastures new’, said Murray.

‘However, when people leave it provides opportunities for others to develop. We have some amazing talent in our health practice and our people will ensure we remain ‘business as usual’ for our clients over the coming months,’ Murray added.

This isn’t the first time that DAC Beachcroft has lost lawyers to insurance rivals in recent months – in April four insurance partners in Madrid left to join Clyde & Co’s new Spanish launch. However, in the same month DAC Beachcroft itself took a five-strong professional indemnity team from Morgan Cole in Wales. Meanwhile, in July Adrian Williams joined the firm’s corporate insurance team from reinsurance giant Swiss Re, where he was general counsel for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Both Capsticks and DAC Beachcroft won places on the Department of Health and the NHS Litigation Authority’s (NHSLA) new 14-strong cross-department legal roster when it was announced in June this year, with Capsticks appointed to two of the three sub-panels while DAC Beachcroft was chosen for all three.

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk