Legal Business

Revolving doors: DWF makes Scottish insurance play as Skadden and EY make key hires

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Strategic recruitment DWFEYSkadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
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In this week’s appointments around up, law firms including Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, DWF and accountancy giant EY have all key appointments.

DWF announced the launch of a counter fraud team in Scotland to enhance its national fraud offering to the firm’s insurer client base – which includes Aviva, QBE, RSA, Travelers, and Zurich – with the recruit of Jill Sinclair as partner from Harper Macleod to lead the team.

Sinclair will head the team and work within DWF’s national counter fraud team led by Lorraine Carolan, former national head of claims validation at DAC Beachcroft.

The launch follows the firm’s acquisition of insurance boutique Fox Hartley in May this year, a move which bolstered the firm’s offering in litigation and alternative dispute resolution services for insurer clients.

US firm Skadden announced last Thursday (23 June) the hire of Reed Smith private equity real estate (PERE) partner Robert Porter as of counsel to its London office. Porter advises PERE firms, sovereign funds, property companies and financial institutions on UK and European real estate funds, joint ventures, M&A, financings and structured transactions across Europe and the Middle East. Porter, a former partner at CMS Cameon McKenna and Clifford Chance, will now head Skadden’s European PERE initiative.

Meanwhile, Big Four accountancy firm EY expanded its legal offering across Chile and Argentina with the hire of Jorge Garnier from Argentine power company Genneia, where he served as senior legal counsel, as an executive director to build a team focusing on corporate law. In Chile, the firm recruited Paola Bruzzone from retailer Falabella where she was general counsel. Her move to EY will see her lead the legal services group, which will focus on corporate and commercial law. The Chilean practice will initially focus on core offerings around corporate and commercial law, M&A and employment law.

EY also added to its legal team in Canada, where Toronto-based Norton Rose Fulbright corporate partner Anthony Kramreither joined EY Law to lead its business law team.

EY global law leader Cornelius Grossmann, said: ‘New legislation and compliance measures demand that we provide more expansive legal services globally. These key hires provide the breadth and experience required to deliver multidisciplinary services as we continue to acquire the leading talent for our growing teams.’

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving doors: DWF makes major corporate City hire as A&O and Stephenson Harwood make international appointments

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Strategic recruitment Allen & OveryDWFStephenson Harwood
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DWF has appointed a new London head of corporate while Allen & Overy (A&O) and Stephenson Harwood have both made lateral hires to their international offices.

In a move to ‘significantly grow’ its corporate offering, DWF has hired Squire Patton Boggs head of capital markets Matthew Doughty to lead its London corporate division. With over 20 years’ experience, Doughty specialises in mid-market M&A, equity capital markets transactions and ongoing securities law advice for both private and publicly owned companies. National head of corporate at DWF Frank Shephard said the firm’s national team has a ‘very clear’ growth plan, ‘which involves investing in our London office and increasing its connectivity with the firm’s regional hubs in order to deliver high-value corporate work for clients with greater efficiency, cost-effectiveness and expertise.’

The senior director of antitrust at Philips, Yvo de Vries, is to join A&O’s Amsterdam office as partner in its global antitrust practice. Before his time at the lighting company, de Vries was the head of the EU litigation department of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A&O Amsterdam senior partner Ferdinand Grapperhaus said: ‘the unique combination of his experience as a lawyer, a litigator in Luxembourg and an in-house counsel at Philips make him a huge asset to our practice.’

Stephenson Harwood has also made an international lateral hire with the addition of Erik Wallace to its private wealth team. Wallace, who will be based in the firm’s Hong Kong office, joins from Withers. Stephenson Harwood Greater China private wealth head Ian Devereux said: ‘With his reputation and expertise in US taxation and estate planning matters, his arrival will significantly enhance the ambit of service we can provide to our Asian clients with US nexus. Having a partner of Erik’s calibre join the firm fits perfectly with the level of expertise our clients expect.’

Chadbourne & Parke has hired Bryan Cave’s head of Central Eastern Europe and CIS team Irina Tymczyszyn as partner to its international arbitration and public international law practice in London. Tymczyszyn advises major international clients in the area of disputes relating to shareholders’ and investment agreements, construction agreements, agreements relating to oil and gas industries and fraud.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

DWF opens in Germany through local acquisition while Pinsents strengthens Munich with four-partner team

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Just a week after launching its first office in continental Europe in Brussels, DWF has acquired the four-partner German arm of commercial and tax outfit BridgehouseLaw to establish a footprint in Europe’s biggest market.

Also in Germany, Pinsent Masons has hired a four-partner team of capital markets specialists from boutique Mayrhofer & Partner for its Munich office.

The acquisition of BridgehouseLaw Germany, which has an international network of offices across the Middle East and the US, will add around £3m to DWF’s top line. DWF will acquire its Cologne and Munich offices, leaving BridgehouseLaw with a representative office in Berlin that is not included as part of DWF’s announced acquisition plans.

Four equity partners at BridgehouseLaw – Oliver Bolthausen, Klaus Brisch, Michael Falter and Dr Mathias Reif –will become equity partners at DWF from 1 January 2016.

DWF managing partner and chief executive Andrew Leaitherland said BridgehouseLaw would provide capability in key geographic regions and enable growth opportunities in the tech and energy sectors.

He added: ‘DWF has a large number of German clients, as well as clients who do business in Germany, the EU and the US, and this strategic acquisition provides a platform to access many of the sectors and markets which are important to our clients’ business objectives and which support DWF’s own strategic plans.’

2015 has seen DWF’s first forays internationally. DWF’s German launch follows the Brussels office opening at the start of December and a new office in Dubai at the start of the year.

Pinsent Masons has hired the founding partner of Munich boutique Mayrhofer & Partner, Thomas Mayrhofer, alongside fellow partners Alexander Thomas, Gudrun Moll and Hans-Ulrich Birkhofer from 1 January next year.

The team from Mayrhofer & Partner team advises mainly public companies in all aspects of capital markets and has acted on transactions including the initial public offering of CashCloud and the sale of Realtime Technology to Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE.

Mayrhofer said: ‘Our firm has been independent since its establishment in 2000, however the opportunity to become part of an innovative and strategically-focused international firm was simply too good to ignore.’

kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk

Subscribers can read more analysis in the piece: ‘Challenging to maintain’: German market has volatile November.’

Legal Business

More investment planned as DWF notes profit fall and borrowings rise in annual review

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Profit at top-25 firm DWF fell 7% for the year ending 30 April 2015 from £50.4m to £46.7m, which the firm has attributed to a ‘focus on the integration of our people as well as consolidation following our mergers and acquisitions’.

DWF’s annual review, published yesterday (24 November) also revealed that the number of full-time employees across the firm’s 13 locations fell by almost 200, from 2,350 to 2,160 as a result of a ‘careful balance of natural attrition and modest restructurings’.

In addition, borrowings at the firm rose steeply, from £13m in 2014 to £32m in 2015, including £21.3m in bank loans and a £10.8m overdraft. Noting ‘improved visibility and strong recurring cash flow’ in its financial statements, the firm said it was ‘able to put in place a revolving credit facility committed to July 2018 and two overdrafts, which are due for renewal annually’.

DWF’s financials, first revealed in August revealed a second year of stagnant growth for the firm, with a 1% rise in revenue from £189m to £191m, while profits per equity (PEP) fell steeply, down 16% to £325,000.

However, in the annual report, managing partner and chief executive officer Andrew Leaitherland (pictured) hinted at further investment internationally for 2016. The firm currently has one international office located in Dubai, which it launched in March this year with a team of four-lawyers, including a construction partner hired from Holland & Knight.

Leaitherland said: ‘Our move into Dubai has been successful and supported our international push, building on our infrastructure work. We will selectively open more offices and remain client-led. If a client provides the opportunity, allowing us to de-risk the move, we will consider it.’

kathryn.mcann@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving doors: It’s one in, two out at Clyde & Co while DWF boosts practice in Dubai

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Strategic recruitment Clyde & CoDWF
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Clyde & Co has appointed Mark Sutton as a senior equity partner in its professional financial disputes group. Sutton joined from national firm DAC Beachcroft where he was head of its global directors & officers and financial institutions group.

Going the other way, commodities trade finance partner Philip Prowse has left Clydes for Holman Fenwick Willan, having joined the firm back in 2011. His departure follows that of finance and insolvency specialist Terry Green who has also left the firm to join the London office of Chicago headquartered Katten Muchin Rosenman.

DWF has hired Baker & McKenzie Habib Al Mulla arbitration head Gordon Blanke as a partner in the firm’s international commercial arbitration team. Based in DWF’s first international office in Dubai, which opened this year, Blanke has been lead counsel and arbitrator in a number of leading international cases under a wide range of UK and international rules of arbitration, as well as ad hoc cases and also holds rights of audience before the Dubai International Financial Centre courts.

Meanwhile in Paris, Gide Loyrette Nouel has hired Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira partner Nuria Bové to create an Iberian desk in the French capital. The Gide Cuatrecasas’ Iberian Desk will support Iberian and Latin American companies on their operations in France, as well as French clients on their operations in the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America. Both firms said the specialist team will naturally work alongside all of Gide’s other practice groups and international offices and was born out of a long-standing relationship between the French and Iberian firm, along with Chiomenti in Italy and Gleiss Lutz in Germany.

At the Bar, 11KBW has hired Julian Blake of 6KBW College Hill to add to its public law team. The chambers said the hire was in line with its strategy to consolidate and enhance three core areas of practice commercial, employment and public law. 

victoria.young@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving Doors: Insurance-focused firms invest as Clydes expands in South Africa and DWF hires a former managing partner

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Strategic recruitment Clyde & CoDWF
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Last week saw a flurry of announcements as firms revealed their hires made over the summer. Clyde & Co invested in its South Africa office with a lateral from Linklaters’ ally Webber Wentzel, DWF hired the former managing partner of Anderson Strathern and Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) hired a partner from Chadbourne & Parke’s City office.

Clydes, which opened up in Johannesburg in May 2014, invested further in its outpost by hiring Ernie van der Vyver from Webber Wentzel. Having led the South African firm’s financial regulatory practice, van der Vyver joins Clydes’ corporate insurance group with a view to increasing its transactional and regulatory capability in the country. He joined Webber Wentzel as a partner in March 2010 from Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr.

Meanwhile, peer insurance firm HFW hired financial institutions specialist Christopher Cardona into its London office. A disputes partner, Cardona specialises in mandates from the Latin American region and joins the firm’s three partner team currently servicing the area.

Paul Wordley, a senior re-insurance partner and member of HFW’s Strategy Board said: ‘We are seeing significant opportunities in the insurance and reinsurance sector in Latin America and Christopher’s reputation and extensive expertise in this area greatly enhances our service offering to clients and underlines our commitment to the global insurance market.’

Despite having a flat year financially, DWF continued its expansion into Scotland with the hire of Andrew Lothian, Anderson Strathern’s former managing partner. Lothain, who led the Scottish outfit for five years till September last year, will head up the firm’s casualty and general insurance practice in Scotland. He advises insurers, self-insured corporates and public bodies in disease, motor and catastrophic injury cases.

Meanwhile, after Legal Business revealed the departure of Olswang former corporate head Fabrizio Carpanini, Dorsey & Whitney announced the firm had hired him to lead its UK and European private equity (PE) practice. Carpanini, who also sat on Olswang’s management and executive committees and led its PE group. Primarily his experience has focused on institutional-facing PE deals, institutional and management buy-outs, as well as development capital and buy-and-build transactions.

Finally, in a busy week for hires, King & Wood Mallesons hired Jones Day partner Jean-Louis Martin to lead its real estate offering in Paris as well as co-head its Europe and Middle East sector group. Alongside Martin, the firm, which has invested strongly in real estate after recruiting a team of lawyers from Eversheds led by William Naunton and Clive Jones, also brought across a three-lawyer team from Jones Day.

Martin covers all aspects of real estate law and investments, with a particular focus on acquisitions and sales of assets, portfolios, property companies and the formation of real estate funds. The team has advises real estate investment funds, institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds as well as French and international sponsors.

michael.west@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving doors: OC, DLA and DWF make key hires as CMA promotes new cartels head

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Strategic recruitment DLA PiperDWFOsborne Clarke
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Last week saw a trio of LB100 firms, Osborne Clarke (OC), DWF, and DLA Piper,  make key national and international appointments while the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) bolstered its cartels and criminal group with the internal promotion of a director to its leadership team.

OC, which has this year seen a period of dramatic growth and assured strategic expansion, recruited Hogan Lovells commercial partner Mark Taylor to its London office. A specialist in tech and IT projects, outsourcing and cyber security, his move to the firm follows that of telecoms specialist Jon Fell, who left Pinsent Masons after 15 years for OC in June.

UK managing partner, Ray Berg, said: ‘Digital business, data privacy and mobile payments are all hot topics in today’s world. Mark brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in all three, making him a huge asset to the team. We look forward to welcoming him to our London office and further strengthening our expertise for the benefit of our clients.’

On the back of a recent disappointing financial performance, DWF has forged ahead with further investment and appointed DAC Beachcroft partner Lorraine Carolan as its national head of counter fraud.

Set to join this month, Carolan headed DAC’s national claims validation team and prior to that led the litigation practice. She will work alongside the firm’s 900-strong insurance team to ‘deliver increased value to the firm’s client base of insurers’.

She said: ‘There are a number of opportunities available to pursue within the fraud market, and DWF’s investment in their systems and intelligence provide a strong platform on which to explore these.’

Carolan’s hire comes on the back of DWF’s second year of lacklustre performance. In early August its financial results showed a 1% rise in revenue and a 16% drop in profit per equity partner.

DLA Piper meanwhile, has made a bid to enhance its Australia offering with the recruit of heavyweight corporate lawyer James Philips from Minter Ellison, where he co-headed its M&A practice.

Having advised on transactions valued at more than AU$100bn, he specialises in takeover bids, schemes of arrangement, public to privates, privatisations and equity capital markets work. Philips constitutes the sixth lateral hire made by the firm as part of a strategic effort to better its corporate capabilities in the Asia Pacific. Others in recent months includes Allen & Overy partner Grant Koch as head of private equity in Sydney; Michael Bowen, Scott Gibson and Marc Wilshaw of Perth corporate law firm Hardy Bowen in July; and partner David Hallam from Melbourne firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth in July.

DLA Australia managing partner John Weber said: ‘We have gained significant momentum in the Australian market, in particular with a focus on transactional corporate work, and we’re delighted to welcome James.’

Finally the CMA last week bolstered its cartels and criminal group with the promotion of Deborah Wilkie as director of civil cartel enforcement.

Previously a lawyer at Herbert Smith Freehills before joining the body in 2014, she will lead an expanded team alongside existing director Juliette Enser, and act as project director on Competition Act cartels cases, while playing a role in the CMA policy work on cartels and leniency.

Stephen Blake, CMA senior director of cartels and criminal, said: ‘This appointment further strengthens the CMA’s cartel enforcement group, reflecting the ongoing importance we place on identifying, investigating and taking enforcement action against cartel activity by firms and individuals across the UK. Deborah brings a wealth of skills and experience, both from her time at the CMA, and before that as a lawyer in private practice, dealing with large and complex commercial disputes.’

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Financials 2014/15: PEP dives 16% at DWF as revenue growth stalls

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Financial results 2014/15 DWF
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DWF, suffering a second year of lacklustre performance, is the latest law firm to report evidence of difficulties for those with large insurance practices as it posts financial results showing a 1% rise in revenue and a 16% drop in profit per equity partner (PEP).

Turnover at the firm, which recently relocated its London office to the Walkie Talkie, increased by just 1% from £189m to £191m. That result, which comes after revenues also flatlined last year, was supported by a rise in corporate and banking which grew by 3% to provide £33m in fees, an amount equalled by its real estate practice which grew by 1%.

However, profits were hit as the firm continued to expand including launching its first overseas office in Dubai and hiring 24 new partners, though its equity partnership actually fell from 71 to 65. Net income for the 2014/15 financial year came in at £21m giving the firm a PEP figure of £325,000 – down 16% on last year’s £387,000 which was itself down 11% on 2012/13.

The firm also said it had refinanced loans and put in place a £45m facility provided by five lenders.

DWF’s managing partner and CEO, Andrew Leaitherland (pictured), said: ‘Our financial performance last year reflects the significant strategic investments needed to align our operating model with our strategy as set out in our strategic vision. Our focus has very much been on integration of our people as well as consolidation following our mergers and acquisitions and our resource base is now set at an appropriate level to allow us to deliver our targeted revenue grow this year. ‘

Leaitherland added: ‘We know it takes time to see the returns and it’s a good indicator of our business that we’ve continued to grow despite these investments, and also operating within markets such as insurance where our clients are experiencing challenges to which we’ve responded.’

In March this year, the firm launched in Dubai using a team of four-lawyers including a construction partner hired from Holland & Knight to establish the outpost. Meanwhile, since the end of the financial year, the 1134-lawyer firm has overhauled its business model looking to build a more flexible offering for clients. This included creating a centralised paralegal service, a contract-lawyer offering and a consultancy. It also launched subsidiary, 15squared, to gain a foothold in the legal product market.

michael.west@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Pinsents and CMS miss out as DLA Piper, DWF and Weightmans make it onto Scots government legal panel

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Both Pinsent Masons and CMS Cameron McKenna have missed out on spots as nine firms were awarded places on the Scottish government’s legal services framework which is open to public sector bodies across Scotland.

Scottish firms Anderson Strathern and Harper MacLeod were the only two to win places on all of the six lots: contracts, commercial and corporate; debt recovery; litigation, reparation, employment and inquiries; major projects; property; and a one-stop shop.

DLA Piper won a sole place to provide property advice, with DWF taking a position on the major projects roster. Weightmans also gained a solitary engagement on the litigation lot.

Pinsents and CMS both missed out on slots having been on the previous panel with roles also being handed to Brodies and a handful of smaller Scottish outfits including MacRoberts, Morton Fraser and Thorntons. Pricing is understood to have played a key role in the procurement with the government saying it weighed bids on a 60/40 quality/price basis.

Harper Macleod chairman, Lorne Crerar, said: ‘Given the level of interest and high levels of competition during this procurement process, being appointed to the Framework panels is an achievement in itself, however this simply affords us the ability to bid for a wide range of tender opportunities. We look forward to competing for the opportunity to work with the Government and a wide range of public bodies over the next four years.’

The tender process, which was launched a year ago, was run by the Scottish Procurement and Commercial Directorate with the finalised framework available to over one hundred public bodies in Scotland, including NHS organisations, fire and rescue services, the Scottish police authority and the equality and human rights commission.

The former panel was renewed in 2011 and included eleven firms, namely Anderson Strathern; Biggart Baillie; Brodies; DLA Piper; Dundas & Wilson (now CMS); Harper Macleod; Ledingham Chalmers; Maclay Murray & Spens; MacRoberts; Morton Fraser and Pinsent Masons.

The current framework comprises:

Lot 1 – Contracts, Commercial and Corporate: Anderson Strathern, Harper Macleod, MacRoberts, Morton Fraser and Thorntons

Lot 2 – Debt Recovery: Anderson Strathern, Brodies, Harper MacLeod, Morton Fraser and Thorntons

Lot 3 – Litigation, Reparation, Employment and Inquiries: Anderson Strathern, Brodies, Harper MacLeod, Morton Fraser and Weightmans

Lot 4 – Major Projects: Anderson Strathern, Brodies, DWF, Harper MacLeod and MacRoberts

Lot 5 – Property and Related Matters: Anderson Strathern, DLA Piper, Harper MacLeod, Morton Fraser and Thorntons

Lot 6 – One Stop Shop: Anderson Strathern, Brodies, Harper MacLeod, Morton Fraser and Thorntons

michael.west@legalease.co.uk

For more on the current state of play in the Scottish legal market see: When the hurlyburly’s done – nationalism, devolution and another turbulent period for Scots law firms

Legal Business

DWF launches subsidiary to enter burgeoning legal product market

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Following on from the launch last month of consultancy, paralegal and flexible lawyer offerings, DWF has entered into the growing legal product market by launching a wholly owned subsidiary, 15squared, to sell and develop technology products for in-house clients.

Headed up by DWF’s chief technology officer Richard Hodkinson, the tech venture was born out of Claimbase Solution, a cloud-based tool for large insurers with volume claims, which the firm acquired through its 2013 merger with professional indemnity practice Fishburns.

Alongside Claimbase, the top-25 firm has also developed other products including DWF Pinpoint, which provides secure online space for storing client documents and data, and DWF Notify, an incident notification app which communicates alerts throughout an organisation.

Hodkinson will be supported by an 18-member sales, marketing and operations team based across the firm’s offices in London and Manchester as well as a number of developers. Commenting on the venture Hodkinson said 15squared had been launched in direct response to changes in client demand for more tailored, technology-driven services.

He added: ‘DWF has built a reputation as being at the forefront of innovation and has invested heavily in its in-house technology in order to deliver legal services differently, and the launch of 15squared as an independent entity allows us to focus on identifying market needs and bringing these services to DWF’s clients and the wider market with greater efficiency and value than ever before.’

Last month the firm overhauled its business model to include a centralised legal support centre with paralegals based in Manchester, a consultancy and a contract lawyer service spearheaded by the firm’s head of employment and service delivery Andrew Chamberlain.

kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk