Legal Business

In-house Round-up: Swiss Re GC to DAC, Co-op’s Gulliford to Pannone, FACT appoints first GC and Auction.com takes on senior legal team

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In-house Co-operative Legal ServicesDAC BeachcroftPannone Corporate
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If it had seemed that the flow of UK hires between private practice and in-house was very much one-sided in the corporates’ favour a recent run of high profile moves has gone some way to evening out the score.

Co-operative Legal Services (CLS) co-founder Jonathan Gulliford has joined Pannone Affinity as a consultant as part of an ongoing growth drive at the Manchester firm’s white label legal arm.

The legal division, which was launched in 2011 by Pannone to capitalise on opportunities presented by the Legal Services Act, provides commoditised services to a range of clients including insurers Allianz and Aria.

Gulliford joined the Co-op from RAC Legal Services in 2006 and was one of the founders of the household name’s legal division. In 2012 CLS became the first SRA regulated alternative business structure (ABS), recording a total revenue of £33m in 2011/12.

Gulliford said of his recent move: ‘With so many opportunities in the legal market post LSA and LASPO the potential for growth is huge.’

The first week of this month also saw Swiss Re corporate and prudential regulation lawyer Adrian Williams (pictured) join DAC Beachcroft’s London office from the reinsurance company’s headquarters in Zurich.

Prior to Swiss Re, Williams was head of legal at QBE European Operations in London, where he established the inaugural in-house legal team. Head of insurance at DAC, David Pollitt, said: ‘Our insurance clients have been telling us for some time that they want their panel firms to be able to service their needs from a corporate/commercial advisory perspective as well as from a claims perspective. We have responded to this client demand with the recruitment of Adrian.’

Williams added: ‘A lot of law firms I was coming across as a GC weren’t getting their service right even now. I’ve always really admired the successful partners in my field and I’ve been looking for an opportunity to apply what I’d learnt as a GC and to build something that was as successful but had my own slant on it.’

The moves come after the FT’s high profile GC Tim Bratton this month joined Berwin Leighton Paisner’s flexible staffing operation Lawyers on Demand as its first practice development director.

Elsewhere, a number of interesting moves between corporates have also been announced this month including The Federation Against Copyright Theft’s (Fact) appointment of former Group Lotus IP lawyer Byron Jacobson as its first permanent GC.

To date FACT has relied on external advisers, including Wiggin, Russell-Cooke and Belfast’s Edwards & Co and has taken on secondees, including Wiggin IP litigation partner Neil Parkes, who was acting GC for six months from 2011 to early 2012 while still an associate.

Prior to Lotus, dual US-UK qualified Jacobson was at Bristol-based drinks group Allied Domecq, having moved to the UK from specialist IP firm Nelson & Roediger in Phoenix, Arizona, and before that Dorsey & Whitney’s Denver office.

Jacobson has not yet been replaced in the legal team at Lotus, which is managed by head of legal services Karen Bloodworth.

In the US, meanwhile, online real estate marketplace Auction.com has reunited a senior legal team, all formerly together at Yahoo! with former GC Michael Callahan named as Auction.com’s executive vice president, chief legal officer and company secretary.

Mindy Heppberger and Eugene Lao, who while they worked at Yahoo! were vice president and deputy GC, have joined Auction.com in those roles. Lao joins most recently from a stint at US social gaming company Zygna having left Yahoo! in 2011. Callahan, meanwhile, resigned from Yahoo! last summer.

While at Yahoo!, Callahan built a legal, public policy, ethics and compliance, and IP department, which grew threefold to 200 under his leadership. He acted as key advisor to the executive team and board of directors through acquisitions, investments and divestitures including the strategic investment and restructuring of Yahoo!’s holdings in the Alibaba Group.

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Financial results 2013: DAC Beachcroft, Stephenson Harwood, Brodies and Morgan Cole reveal their numbers

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Financial results 2013 BrodiesDAC BeachcroftStephenson Harwood
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Top 30 UK firms DAC Beachcroft and Stephenson Harwood today (15 July) unveiled growth in revenue for 2012/13, while Brodies last week revealed a third consecutive increase in turnover and profit and Morgan Cole has seen its profits drop significantly.

DAC Beachcroft’s revenues have increased by 14.2% to £188.2m, up from £164.8m in 2011/12. Net profit at the 1079-lawyer firm also increased by 42% to £31.8m at the end of the last financial year, up from £22.4m the previous year. However, profit per equity partner (PEP) is down by 11.5% from £321,000 in 2011/12 to £284,000.

The firm merged with Davies Arnold Cooper in October 2011 and in January this year became the first European firm to launch in Chile by acquiring two local firms. Managing partner Paul Murray said: ‘Year-on-year comparisons continue to be distorted by the merger mid-year in 2011/12 but these numbers will provide a baseline for next year. Overall the results are acceptable in what continues to be a challenging and changing economic environment.’

Also unveiling its revenue figure today is UK top 30 firm Stephenson Harwood, which announced a more modest growth of 2% to £112.3m at the end of the 2012/13 financial year, up on last year’s figure of £110.2m.

The firm has attributed the growth to ‘some major investments including the recruitment of 12 new partners and the opening of offices in Dubai and Beijing’, chief executive Sharon White (pictured) said.

The firm now has nine offices across Europe, Asia and the Middle East and has acted on a number of high profile international deals over the course of the year, including for Indonesia-based Lion Air for the world’s largest commercial aircraft order, comprising 234 Airbus – A320 and A321 aircraft, with a price list value of $24bn. The firm also advised Hitachi on its bid to provide the rolling stock for London’s Crossrail, with a total contract value of around £1.8bn.

Meanwhile, Scottish firm Brodies has seen its revenue grow for the third year in a row, posting a 7.5% increase to £46m, up on £42.8m last financial year. The firm has credited the successful implementation of the second year of its three-year strategic plan, following on from a revenue increase of 16% in 2011/12, up from £36.9m.

Over the course of the year, the firm, which has four offices across Scotland and in Brussels, has continued to expand its Aberdeen office, which has grown from 34 to 46 staff, including 28 lawyers, as a result of three partner hires and six new lawyers.

Legal Business Management Partner of the Year, Bill Drummond, said: ‘The targeted investment that is being made across the business – in people and infrastructure – positions us well to benefit from stabilising market conditions and our strong balance sheet means that Brodies’ management team can continue to seek suitable investment opportunities to further enhance the service we deliver to our clients.’

Elsewhere, national top 75 firm Morgan Cole has posted a drop in revenue and profit, posting a turnover of £35.4m, down 3.3% from last year’s £36.6m, while PEP also dropped 34.7% to £162,000 from £248,000 in 2011/12.

Managing partner Elizabeth Carr said the firm has spent the past year considering its future business strategy ‘to ensure the right structure to meet the needs of the evolving market’ and subsequent changes to that structure and investment in the firm’s property portfolio means the reduction in revenue and profit are ‘entirely as expected.’

Highlights of the year include growth of £1.7m in the public sector and appointments on the Government Procurement and NHSLA panels.

Carr added: ‘Consolidation, competition and pricing pressures will continue through 2013-14 but we are confident that exemplary service to clients, focused sector marketing and an open approach to merger and acquisition opportunities will result in new clients and increased revenue in 2013-14 and beyond.’

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving Doors: DAC Beachcroft, RPC, K&L Gates and Reed Smith boost London offering with lateral hires

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Strategic recruitment DAC BeachcroftDechertK&L GatesReed SmithRPC
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London has been the focus of a series of hires for top national, City and US firms including DAC Beachcroft, RPC, K&L Gates and Reed Smith, as Dechert has also boosted its Moscow offering with a hire of a partner from Hogan Lovells.

Adrian Williams joins DAC Beachcroft’s corporate insurance team from reinsurance giant Swiss Re, where he was general counsel for Europe, Middle East and Africa, and was based in Zurich. The firm has also bolstered its real estate team in London with the hire of Nathan East from Hempsons. East specialises in advising medical professionals, care providers and the NHS.

‘We are delighted to welcome Nathan to the firm. His appointment adds an important extra dimension to our existing health practice with his considerable experience of advising GPs,’ said Eve Gregory, head of the firm’s health real estate team.

Elsewhere, 1,548-lawyer firm Reed Smith continues to grow its London office with the appointment of Eoin O’Shea as a partner in the firm’s global regulatory disputes practice based in London. Joining from Lawrence Graham (LG), O’Shea is known for his disputes work which includes economic crime, corporate crime, fraud and corruption disputes and investigations. He spent six years at the commercial bar and another six years with Simmons & Simmons before joining LG. O’Shea has led on litigation for major pharmaceutical companies relating to blackmail and other crimes.

‘Eoin’s reputation and his broad experience, across our key industry sectors and geographies, will ensure that Reed Smith is even better placed to assist clients facing the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape,’ said Richard Spafford (pictured), head of Reed Smith’s commercial disputes group for Europe and the Middle East.

‘O’Shea told Legal Business: ‘The reason I joined Reed Smith is because they are very strong in litigation worldwide. For my specialism in bribery and corruption it helps to have a strong group in the US.’

Reed Smith hired banking and finance partner Claude Brown from Clifford Chance in April this year.

Meanwhile, K&L Gates, which dropped three places in this year’s Global 100 to 25 with a turnover of $1,06bn, has added Anthony Fine as a partner in its energy, infrastructure and resources (EIR) practice in London. Fine joins from White & Case where he was head of the PPP/PFI practice in the firm’s energy, infrastructure, project and asset finance group.

‘With his track record in projects and infrastructure and his significant market connections, I am delighted that Anthony has joined our growing practice,’ said Tony Griffiths, London managing partner of K&L Gates.

Also growing in London with a number of recent heavyweight hires is RPC, which has brought in partner Sukh Ahark from Davenport Lyons, where he was head of banking and finance.

Ahark spent eight years at legacy Herbert Smith and has also worked for Pinsent Masons and Hammonds. Recent mandates he has advised on include luxury building company Harrison Varma Limited on the financing of a development of 20 new residential apartments, where the financing was provided by Barclays and Coutts.

‘We’re very pleased to have Sukh on board. His practice neatly complements our existing broad-based corporate offering, and his outgoing, unfussy and approachable style of doing business fits very well with how we operate at RPC,’ said Jonathan Watmough, managing partner of RPC.

Sukh’s appointment follows RPC’s hire of a three partner corporate team from Wragge & Co at the start of the year, consisting of former managing partner Richard Haywood, the head of corporate Maurice Dwyer, and David Marshall, a private equity specialist.

In Russia meanwhile, global top 50 US firm Dechert has recruited Taras Oksyuk from Hogan Lovells where he was head of real estate to lead the firm’s real estate and construction practice in Moscow. Deals that Oksyuk has advised on include leading Russian property fund, O1 Properties, on its $500m sale of a business centre in Moscow to Kaspersky lab.

Laura Brank, Moscow managing partner and head of Dechert’s Russia & CIS practice said: ‘We are very pleased that Taras is joining us. He is a highly regarded Russian real estate and construction expert who will bring a wealth of experience to our corporate and real estate practices in Moscow.’

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

 

To be included in future Revolving Doors round-ups please send your announcements to caroline.hill@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

NHSLA unveils £400m panel as DAC and Hill Dicks win spots

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Adviser reviews DAC BeachcroftHill Dickinson
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DAC Beachcroft, Kennedys, Hill Dickinson, Browne Jacobson and Weightmans are among 14 firms to have won places on the NHS Litigation Authority’s (NHSLA) expanded services legal panel, with a total legal spend of around £400m over four years.

The body that deals with claims from patients who have been harmed whilst under the care of the NHS today announced the conclusion of its two-month procurement process across three sub-panels: clinical liability; non-clinical liability; and regulatory, health and disciplinary (RHD).

The above-named firms stand out for winning a place on each of the three sub-panels. Also appointed to the clinical liability panel – which with an estimated annual legal spend of £70-80m is the most significant of the three – are Berrymans Lace Mawer; Bevan Brittan; Capsticks; Clyde & Co; Hempsons and Ward Hadaway.

Berrymans also won a second spot on the six-strong non-clinical liability panel with an estimated annual spend of between £10-15m.

The RHD panel, which has the smallest annual spend of between £2-5m, saw a second panel win for Capsticks; Hempsons and Ward Hadaway, alongside one time panel winners Field Fisher Waterhouse; Mills & Reeve and Morgan Cole.

The new contract, which went live on 28 May with a lifespan of four years, is based on fixed hourly rates, with firms providing ‘additional valued services’ to support the NHS, in an approach which is expected to deliver substantial savings.

According to the NHSLA, it has secured more competitive terms from the firms involved by running the procurement process across all 16 Department of Health organisations, which previously procured their own legal advice.

The firms will provide advice on health related issues including clinical and other negligence and specialist healthcare regulator advice to organisations including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Professional Standards Authority and Public Health England.

NHSLA chief executive Catherine Dixon said: ‘We’re delighted to have secured what I am confident will be excellent quality legal services for the NHS at a price which ensures value for money.’

The NHSLA, which slashed its external advisers from 90 to 15 back in 2002, kicked off its tender process in March this year.

The number of firms on the clinical liability panel, last appointed in 2008, has increased from 10 to 11 while the organisation has reduced the number of firms on the non-clinical liability panel, which was last reviewed in 2009, from seven to six.

A complete list is as follows:

Clinical liability

  • Berrymans Lace Mawer
  • Bevan Brittan
  • Browne Jacobson
  • Capsticks
  • Clyde & Co
  • DAC Beachcroft
  • Hempsons
  • Hill Dickinson
  • Kennedys
  • Ward Hadaway
  • Weightmans

Non-clinical liability

  • Berrymans Lace Mawer
  • Browne Jacobson
  • DAC Beachcroft
  • Hill Dickinson
  • Kennedys
  • Weightmans

Regulatory, health and disciplinary

  • Browne Jacobson
  • Capsticks
  • DAC Beachcroft
  • Field Fisher Waterhouse
  • Hempsons
  • Hill Dickinson
  • Kennedys
  • Mills & Reeve
  • Morgan Cole
  • Ward Hadaway
  • Weightmans

The 15 organisations to benefit from these panels are: Care Quality Commission, Health Education England, Health Research Authority, Health and Social Care Information Centre, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, Human Tissue Authority, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, Monitor, NHS Blood and Transplant, NHS Commissioning Board, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, NHS Litigation Authority, NHS Trust Development Authority, Professional Standards Authority, Public Health England.

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Clyde & Co to open Madrid office with DAC Beachcroft insurance team

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Spain Clyde & CoDAC Beachcroft
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Clyde & Co is to open a Madrid office following the appointment of a four-partner insurance team from DAC Beachcroft’s local office.

The team of nine lawyers, including insurance partners Ignacio Figuerol, Ricardo Garrido, Pablo Guillen and Miguel Relano, have resigned to establish the office for Clyde & Co, extending the firm’s international footprint to 29 locations across Europe, America and Asia.

Legal Business

DAC Beachcroft boosts professional negligence practice with hire of team in Wales

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Strategic recruitment DAC Beachcroft
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DAC Beachcroft has announced the appointment of a five-strong professional indemnity (PI) team from Morgan Cole to its Newport office.

The team, led by partner Clare Hughes-Williams, comprises one associate and three solicitors who will work as part of the professional and commercial risk practice from 1 May.

Hughes-Williams has led Morgan Cole’s professional indemnity team since 2002 and is highly rated in The Legal 500. She is particularly known for defending solicitor negligence cases but the team handles claims against the full range of professions, including accountants and surveyors.

Partner Marcus Campbell, who leads DAC Beachcroft’s professional indemnity practice in Bristol, said: ‘We are delighted to welcome Clare and her team to the firm. They are the only specialist professional indemnity team in Wales and will enable us to support our clients’ requirements in Wales, as part of our national team working from offices across England and Scotland. We look forward to working closely with them all.’

He added: ‘The professional indemnity market is becoming increasingly competitive with the rationalisation of insurer panels and ever-increasing pressure on rates but DAC Beachcroft is uniquely well-placed in the market.

‘The appointment of Clare and her team is further testament to our commitment to recruiting high-quality teams with the reputation and ability both to provide a first-rate service to our existing clients and to attract new business.’

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Clydes opens in Madrid with DAC Beachcroft insurance team

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Spain Clyde & CoDAC Beachcroft
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Clyde & Co yesterday (16 April) confirmed it is to open a Madrid office following the appointment of a four-partner insurance team from DAC Beachcroft’s local office.

The team of nine lawyers, including insurance partners Ignacio Figuerol, Ricardo Garrido, Pablo Guillen and Miguel Relano, have resigned to establish the office for Clyde & Co, extending the firm’s international footprint to 18 locations across Europe, America and Asia.

The four partners are widely considered heavyweights in a firm thought to be a market leader in insurance law in the area. Figuerol also sits on the DAC Beachcroft management board.

The terms of the departures, including timings, are currently under discussion but DAC Beachcroft says that it will continue to provide a full-service insurance offering to the market in Spain under the leadership of Paulino Fajardo, Enrique Gich and Pablo Wesolowski.

The move to open in Madrid further reflects Clydes’ intention, since its merger with Barlow Lyde & Gilbert in 2011, to spread further internationally.

Last summer, the firm became the first to open in post-Gaddafi Libya after it recruited Libyan Investment Authority general counsel Abudery Shariha. In the same period it announced that it was to launch in Sydney and Perth with an eight-strong team hire from Australian heavyweight Allens, while in February this year Clydes announced its intention to form an alliance with an Indonesian firm.

James Burns, senior partner elect at Clyde & Co, said: ‘The DAC Beachcroft office in Madrid has had an excellent reputation for many years. We have known and worked with the partners there for a long time and are very pleased that we are now in a position to establish a Madrid presence with lawyers of the calibre of Ignacio, Ricardo, Pablo and Miguel.’

Paul Murray, managing partner of DAC Beachcroft, said: ‘Although we are obviously disappointed they have made this decision, DAC Beachcroft continues to be the leading insurance practice in Spain. DAC Beachcroft’s 60-strong team in Madrid will continue to serve its clients across all lines of work and we remain absolutely committed to investing in the development of the Spanish office and continuing to create a Latin American platform.’

Davies Arnold Cooper (DAC) established the Madrid office in 1989 and merged with Beachcroft in 2011, attracted by its Latin America group. Since then it has forged alliances internationally, most recently with an alliance with Colombian firm De La Torre & Monroy and Malaysia’s Gan Partnership.

Just last month US firm White & Case opened in Madrid following the appointment of Latham & Watkins’ corporate head in the country, Juan Manuel De Remedios.

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

DAC Beachcroft becomes first UK firm in Chile

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Latin America Amunategui y CiaDAC BeachcroftSegurosLex
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DAC Beachcroft has strengthened its presence in Latin America by becoming the first European-based firm to launch in Chile by acquiring two local firms.

Chilean players SegurosLex and Amunategui y Cia joined the English firm to create DAC Beachcroft Chile at the beginning of November in a move to extend its leading insurance practice in the continent.

DAC Beachcroft is also keen to seal a partnership with Colombian firm De La Torre & Monroy within the next 12 months. De La Torre works primarily with insurers and undertakes a lot of work related to the London market, so would be a logical fit for the major UK firm.

Legal Business

NHSLA looks to control growing legal spend in panel review

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Adviser reviews Bevan BrittanDAC Beachcroft
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Newly appointed NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) chief executive Catherine Dixon’s priority will be getting value for money and using law firms to engage with NHS trusts as she prepares for a legal panel review later this year.

Dixon joined the NHSLA in April from the NSPCC where she was general counsel and company secretary. She was previously head of legal at Bupa and in private practice at Eversheds. She replaces outgoing NHSLA chief executive Steve Walker.

Legal Business

Mixed fortunes for mid-market in tough Scots climate

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Scotland DAC BeachcroftTLT
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TLT’s recent takeover of niche Scottish firm Anderson Fyfe is the latest chapter in a flurry of movement among mid-market firms in Scotland trying to secure their futures amid pernicious market conditions.

The Bristol-based firm is set to acquire Anderson Fyfe’s Glasgow and Edinburgh operations from July, while simultaneously launching a Northern Ireland practice through the lateral hire of banking litigation partner Katharine Kimber from Belfast firm Wilson Nesbitt Solicitors.