Lloyds Banking Group panel shrinks from ten firms to eight
Last month saw DLA Piper and Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) lose out as Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) reduced its UK legal roster from ten to eight firms.
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Uber has said it will appeal after it lost a key tribunal case which saw Leigh Day take on DLA Piper in a landmark employment rights claim.
Leigh Day represented Uber drivers on a case calling for drivers to be entitled to national minimum wage and basic holiday pay in a ruling that could affect tens of thousands of drivers. The tribunal ruled the drivers are not self-employed and are entitled to basic employee rights.
The human rights specialist firm acted for the drivers in the case brought by the GMB Union. Lawyer Annie Powell represented the drivers, instructing Thomas Linden QC of Matrix Chambers.
DLA advised Uber on the case, with a team led by UK head of employment Adam Hartley and including Jonathan Ollivent, who is secondment with from DLA. DLA instructed Littleton Chambers David Reade QC to act for the ridehailing company.
The action was launched on 19 July and heard over six days. The Central London Employment Tribunal heard cases brought by the GMB Union.
The claim against Uber could have wide implications for a range of workers in industry sectors in what has become known as the ‘gig economy’. There are as many as 30,000 Uber drivers in London this year, according to Uber’s chief executive. Leigh Day said the drivers had claimed Uber had acted unlawfully by deducting sums from drivers’ pay.
Uber, whose legal team is led by GC Powerlist member Matt Wilson (pictured) is facing another legal battle with Transport for London (TfL) over the latest guidelines brought in for private hire cars that would introduce stricter rules on the company. Hogan Lovells partner Paul Dacam instructed Blackstone Chambers’ Tom de la Mare QC to advise on the challenge. TfL is being represented by its in-house team and instructed Martin Chamberlain QC of Brick Court on the matter.
Uber regional general manager Jo Bertram said: ‘Tens of thousands of people in London drive with Uber precisely because they want to be self-employed and their own boss. The overwhelming majority of drivers who use the Uber app want to keep the freedom and flexibility of being able to drive when and where they want. While the decision of this preliminary hearing only affects two people we will be appealing it.’
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk
Read the full judgment here.
Allen & Overy (A&O) and DLA Piper have won roles among US heavyweights as Qualcomm acquires Dutch firm NXP Semiconductors for $39bn.
Smartphone chip designer Qualcomm has agreed to the world’s biggest automotive chip maker NXP in a deal worth $47bn including debt. The combined company expects annual revenues of more than $30bn.
According to Dealogic, the transaction is in line to be the largest European technology targeted M&A deal on record, and will be the biggest semiconductors targeted M&A deal on record globally, surpassing the $36.1bn acquisition of Broadcom by Avago Technologies announced in May 2015.
While Qualcomm turned to US elite Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Cravath, Swaine & Moore, A&O’s Amsterdam outpost also advised on the deal. A&O’s team was led by Amsterdam corporate partner Christiaan de Brauw. Other team members include tax partner Godfried Kinnegim and corporate partner Joyce Leemrijse. The Paul Weiss team includes corporate partners Scott Barshay and Steve Williams and tax partner Jeff Samuels.
DLA Piper’s US arm acted on behalf of the Qualcomm Board with a team including global co-chief executive Jay Rains and M&A partners Doug Rein and Jeff Baglio. Shearman & Sterling also played a role on the deal, advising Qualcomm on European competition law aspects.
NXP was guided through the transaction by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Amsterdam-headquartered De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek.
Meanwhile, Sullivan & Cromwell won a spot on the deal acting for Qualcomm’s financial adviser Goldman, Sachs & Co with New York based M&A partner Stephen Kotran leading the team. Jones Day advised NXP’s financial adviser Qatalyst Partners with a team led by London M&A partner Ferdinand Mason.
The acquisition follows Japanese telecoms group SoftBank’s £24.3bn deal to acquire UK tech flagbearer ARM Holdings with Slaughter and May, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Davis Polk & Wardwell and Morrison & Foerster all winning roles. Advisers took home £14.5m in fees for the transaction.
Earlier this month, Herbert Smith Freehills and Cravath advised British American Tobacco on its offer to acquire the remaining 57.8 % stake in Reynolds American for $47bn.
madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk
DLA Piper has appointed corporate partner Tom Heylen as London managing partner, taking over from Lord Tim Clement Jones, who will continue to work in his government affairs role and support the firm on Brexit-related issues.
Heylen, who has been an elected board member for four years, will begin his new role in January.
Sandra Wallace, UK managing partner at DLA Piper said: ‘Lord Clement Jones has been instrumental in shaping the London to office into what we see today. Over the last six years he has driven the external face of DLA Piper in the City with vigour and we are immensely grateful for his contribution both as London Managing Partner and for his government affairs and parliamentary acumen.’
Heylen added: ‘My primary focus will be promoting collaboration and team work, not only within the London office but between London and the rest of the world. We must ensure that we continuously improve the level of service we give our clients to help them achieve their business aims. Recruiting and developing talent and promoting diversity will be a crucial part of this.’
Heylen, who has experience in M&A and private equity work, acts for clients including Aegis Group plc, JLL, Lend Lease and Sun Capital.
Prior to joining DLA Piper, Helyen spent five years with the Health and Safety Executive; part of which was spent in a policy unit in Whitehall leading government policy on OP pesticides. This involved, amongst other things, preparing responses to parliamentary questions and briefing Ministers of State.
In May, DLA appointed Webber Wentzel corporate partner Johannes Gouws as South Africa managing partner to lead the firm’s push in the country after it launched its first African offices at the end of last year in Casablanca and Johannesburg.
kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk
Real estate partner Richard Hopkinson-Woolley is to leave DLA Piper for Simmons & Simmons after less than three years at the firm, Legal Business can reveal.
Known as ‘Hoppo’, Hopkinson-Woolley is a real estate lawyer who trained at Simmons, and has a broad practice across investment and development work. His key clients include Oxford Properties, Tishman Speyer and funds advised by Pramerica.
This arrival at Simmons comes after the firm made layoffs at its London office this summer following the vote for Brexit, with real estate as one practice affected most. Real estate practices have generally experienced a slowdown in transactions of late, since the Brexit vote on 23 June.
Simmons head of real estate in London John Kelsey said: ‘We’re delighted to welcome Richard to our team of real estate lawyers here in the UK. We’re committed to continuing to grow our real estate capabilities and Richard has particular strengths that will complement our existing team.’
In June, the firm hired from the in-house community for real estate specialist Deian Rhys, who had been a senior counsel at Goldman Sachs.
Hopkinson-Woolley had joined DLA Piper in 2014 around the same time as several Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) partners including corporate partner Patrick Somers, head of real estate Laurence Rogers and corporate tax partner Neville Wright.
Growth slowed last year after something of a revival for Simmons in 2014/15. For financial year 2015/16 the firm posted turnover up 2% in 2015/16 to hit a record £295.1m but partners suffered a sharp fall in profits as the firm’s cost base soared.
georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk
Following Norton Rose Fulbright‘s (NRF) acquisition of a Vancouver firm earlier this month, DLA Piper is to merge with Canadian intellectual property firm Dimock Stratton with sixteen partners joining the global outfit in November.
Dimock Stratton specialises in intellectual property litigation and the acquisition, licensing and portfolio management of patents, trade-marks and copyrights, as well as trade secret protection with clients including BMW, Cisco Systems, A&W Food Services and Magna.
Commenting on the merger DLA’s global co-chair Roger Meltzer said that the move was an important step to boost the firm’s competitive edge and execute its growth strategy.
The firm’s Canadian managing partner Robert Seidel added: ‘It is a tremendous growth opportunity to be joining forces with an industry heavyweight such as Dimock Stratton, which has been involved in many influential cases in patent, trade-mark and copyright law in Canada. We are excited for what this combination will achieve for our clients.’
The move follows DLA’s first foray into Canada last March when the firm merged with Vancouver-headquartered firm Davis, adding 250 Canadian lawyers, including 112 partners, to DLA’s 4,000-strong operation.
Davis is ranked by The Legal 500 as a top-tier firm in infrastructure and projects, alongside Blake, Cassels & Graydon, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg and McCarthy Tétrault, and is ranked in the fourth-tier for work in the power sector. The firm is also ranked in the fourth-tier of The Legal 500 for banking and finance work. The firm’s biggest clients include Rio Alto Mining and Japanese corporates Sumitomo and Mitsubishi.
The expansion follows the merger of Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co and Canadian firm Gowlings to form Gowlings WLG, a combination which went live in February this year and was driven by both firm’s IP practices.
kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk
In a week which saw multiple departures from Ashurst, the firm sought to reverse the trend with a hire in its German tax practice, while DLA Piper and Shoosmiths made national hires and White & Case bulked up in London.
Ashurst has hired partner Martin Bünning from Jones Day in Frankfurt, where he was a partner since 2011. His practice focuses on tax advice for investors in real estate and other alternative investments, as well as on tax structures for open-ended and closed funds.
Commenting on the hire, Tobias Krug, managing partner of Ashurst in Germany said: ‘Martin Bünning is exceptionally experienced in advising on the tax aspects of national and cross-border real estate, private equity and corporate transactions. He is ideally suited to Ashurst given the firm’s strength in these areas and we are confident he will make a significant contribution to the team.’
Meanwhile Shoosmiths boosted its national regulatory practice with the appointment of two partners, Roy Tozer in Birmingham and Charles Arrand in Milton Keynes from DLA Piper.
Arrand was also previously at Pinsent Masons and has experience in advising both individuals and well-known brands on a range of regulatory issues including investigations and prosecutions in relation to regulatory offences while Tozer has been involved in high-profile health, safety and environmental cases as well as multi-jurisdictional product liability cases.
Stuart Little, commercial practice group head at Shoosmiths, commented: ‘The addition of Roy and Charles’ expertise will further grow our highly successful regulatory practice, allowing all our clients to benefit from first class regulatory and compliance advice alongside our award winning client experience.’
DLA has also made a hire in Birmingham, strengthening its real estate team with the appointment of Monique Sutherland from Squire Patton Boggs. Sutherland has been involved in a number of landmark developments in the Midlands including Paradise Circus.
In London, White & Case expanded its global tax practice with the addition of Michael Wistow as co-head of the firm’s tax practice in EMEA from Berwin Leighton Paisner. His practice is focused on corporate, finance and real estate industry-based transactions and clients, including real estate finance, property and debt funds, securitisation, leasing and structured financings and corporate
The firm’s London office executive partner Oliver Brettle said: ‘With our recent expansion across our practices in London, and continued focus on profitable growth, we believe a larger tax team is appropriate and necessary here in London. The team will continue to focus on both high value tax advice-driven mandates and supporting our transactional practices. Our tax lawyers will play a particularly strategic role in the ongoing development of our real estate, private equity, finance and infrastructure industry practices.’
kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk
The summer lull is over with a spate of new laterals for firms including multiple hires at DLA Piper, Simmons & Simmons and Fieldfisher, while US firm Winston & Strawn recruited in the City and Bristows and Weightmans both added to their benches.
DLA led a transfer spree in South Africa with a nine-lawyer hire, including four partners. The firm adds former Webber Wentzel partner Peter Bradshaw as its new head of corporate, along with corporate partners Marita van der Walt and Nada van Dyk and two associates. It also hired finance and projects partner Jackie Pennington from Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr along with two associates. DLA also added and a new director, Janine Simpson, to its competition practice.
The firm launched its own South African office in October 2015 after ending its 10-year alliance with Cliffe Dekker. South Africa managing partner Johannes Gouws said: ‘The calibre of the lawyer that have joined us clearly demonstrates the strength of DLA Piper’s brand locally and internationally. Our South Africa office is very much open for business with a strong client offering centred on our corporate and finance capabilities.’
In Paris, Simmons & Simmons boosted its financial market practice with lateral hire Nicolas Duboille from Granut Avocats and partner Agnes Rossi from King & Wood Mallesons. The firm recently appointed Simonetta Giordano to its Paris branch, previously of counsel at Clifford Chance.
Fieldfisher was another to strengthen the bench in Europe, with three new partners in its Germany offices. The firm added two lawyers from DLA in Cologne to its Düsseldorf office. Marcus Kamp was a counsel at DLA and Marcus Iske a senior associate, and both join as partners. The firm also adds Oliver Süme as an IT partner in Hamburg, who has acted as president of the European Internet Service Providers Association.
In the City, Winston & Strawn rehired Michael Stepek, who spent 17 years at the firm until 2005 before moving to legacy Hogan & Hartson and then to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in 2010. Stepek is an international arbitration partner, having worked across the major global arbitration centres.
UK firms also added to the hiring spree. Bristows added Anna Cook as a partner in its commercial and technology disputes team. Cook had been working as a consultant to Bristows, and was previously a partner at RPC. While Weightmans signed Cassandra Auld as a partner into its Glasgow real estate team. She was formerly a senior associate at Pinsent Masons.
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk
DLA Piper is to cut 180 business support roles in the UK, following a consultation that was launched in May this year to move those roles to a Warsaw hub.
Out of 200 proposed job losses, the current number of redundancies now stands at 175, including one resignation and four staff redeployed internally. However according to the firm, individual consultations are still ongoing, which may further reduce the number over the coming months.
The redundancies will impact the IT, finance, HR, marketing & business development, and secretarial teams in the UK in what the firm’s chief operating officer Andrew Darwin says is ‘part of our plans to operate more effectively on a global basis and improve the quality, consistency and efficiency of the way we deliver our services to our clients.’
The move, which is one of the largest law firm redundancies since the aftermath of the financial crisis, will see DLA Piper direct huge swathes of jobs and shift roles to low-wage economy Poland.
In a shift away from the firm’s roots in Yorkshire, where DLA Piper can trace its history back to 1764 when the firm Barnard & Bolland was established in Leeds, a number of roles are to be axed in Sheffield and Leeds. All of the firm’s UK offices will be affected, including London. DLA Piper also has offices in Birmingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Manchester.
The changes follow a two-year review of the firm’s operations, run by Darwin, and a pilot of a global shared services centre in Warsaw.
The move comes three years after DLA Piper’s last UK redundancy round, when around 250 staff were laid-off in a move that also saw the firm close its Glasgow office.
The UK’s largest law firm, DLA Piper saw revenue growth this year of 4% to £1.6bn, while profit per equity partner was flat at £937,000.
The move is arguably another sign of a slowdown in the legal market, with King & Wood Mallesons axing 45 business services staff in London in March and Reed Smith cutting 45 lawyer roles across the US, UK and Middle East in January.
More recently, Simmons & Simmons laid off lawyers in London following the Brexit vote. While the firm has refused to comment on the number of redundancies, banking and real estate are two practices known to be affected.
kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk
Hogan Lovells has hired former DLA Piper director Stephen Allen following his exit from the firm in March this year.
Allen was director of delivery and quality at DLA controlling a department of 100 staff responsible for operational initiatives. The team focused on pricing and profitability, flexible lawyering and innovations, including negotiating a relationship with Lawyers on Demand (LOD).
He will take up his role as Hogan Lovells head of legal services delivery in September, with a remit to bring together operations in legal project management and resource allocation such as the firm’s Birmingham legal services centre and its use of alumni and contract lawyers.
Prior to joining DLA in 2014, Allen was head of global legal services transformation at PwC, where he delivered projects such as legal sourcing deals for Balfour Beatty and EoN.
From 2009 to 2012, Allen was director of innovation at Berwin Leighton Paisner, establishing the firm’s Managed Legal Service unit, a multi-source legal platform to deliver greater efficiency and value for clients.
His time at DLA saw the firm highly commended at the Legal Business Awards 2016 for Legal Innovator of the Year. DLA launched its flexible working unit in 2015, an initiative driven by co-chief executive Simon Levine and Allen.
Working with LOD, the venture allows the firm to work with DLA alumni supported by LOD’s team of freelance contractors. Around 50 lawyers are expected to join by the end of 2016, supported by LOD’s pool of 400 lawyers.
Initially launched in the UK, the firm has since expanded its partnership with LOD into Asia-Pacific and Australia, launching in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Hong Kong and Singapore to create one of the world’s largest New Law ventures.
Hogan Lovells deputy chief operations officer Darren Mitchell said: ‘Stephen will have a global focus on ensuring that we are being innovative and that we are working as efficiently as possible, whilst maintaining the high quality that clients expect from Hogan Lovells.’
Allen added: ‘I will be looking to expand the team over time and to significantly develop what Hogan Lovells is already doing around legal project management and resource allocation.’
Hogan Lovells has made some recent pushes into legal innovation, developing its Regulatory Accelerator tool launched earlier this month for FinTech companies looking to navigate Financial Conduct Authority regulations.
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk
