Legal Business

‘Super valuable’: Freshfields hires SFO’s joint-head of bribery in corporate crime boost

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Strategic recruitment Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has hired the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) joint-head of bribery and corruption Ben Morgan to its corporate crime and global investigations practice.

Morgan was seconded to the SFO from Norton Rose Fulbright in 2012. A year later he was promoted to his co-head position reporting to SFO director David Green QC. During his time at the criminal law agency, Morgan has led investigations into Rolls-Royce, Airbus and GlaxoSmithKline.

He is the fifth partner in London with particular experience and expertise in corporate crime matters acting for corporates and financial institutions. Freshfields said it is committed to expanding its capability in this space to match client demand.

Freshfields global head of dispute resolution David Scott told Legal Business: ‘Our practice is to defend and look after the interests of our corporate clients and you need to offer the best possible package of advice. We’ve got very good experience of acting for corporates in those scenarios but it’s been such a rapidly changing scene.

‘To have someone from the opposite side of the fence at the main criminal law agency in the UK is super valuable experience that we can add to our own. The fact that Ben was a private practice lawyer at a quality firm means that he will fit into our practice very well and very easily.’

Freshfields advised Tesco as it agreed to pay the SFO £129m in fines relating to a 2014 profit misstatement, avoiding prosecution after a two-year investigation. That year it was revealed the Magic Circle firm had fronted up a team disputes partners Andrew Austin, Ian Taylor and Ali Sallaway providing counsel. The retailer also enlisted Kingsley Napley, which advised with a team led by Stephen Parkinson, head of criminal litigation.

The firm’s litigation team is also gearing up for potential damages claims against Europe’s biggest truck makers after they admitted to operating a 14 year price cartel. Truck makers Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Paccar, Inveco and Volkswagen’s MAN were all fined after admitting to the cartel back in June 2016. Volvo-owned Renault has enlisted Freshfields’ head of global antitrust litigation Jon Lawrence and partner Bea Tormey to co-ordinate defences for claims in several EU jurisdictions.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Six partners to exit Freshfields this month as finance restructure takes effect

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Finance Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Six finance partners will leave Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer at the end of this month, with two more to leave the equity while the Magic Circle law firm implements a restructure of its finance practice.

Legal Business has chosen not to name the five City partners and one New York partner who will leave the firm at the end of April, including three London partners whose exits come as result of the recent rejig of the Magic Circle firm’s practice. Finance has about 34 partners in London and more than 70 globally.

Two others – one in New York and another in London – are to give up equity partner status in April but it is understood they will remain with the firm in other roles.

In addition to the eight which leave the partnership this financial year, two partner exits from the London practice are expected for April 2018. Another finance partner in Asia, who has already left the firm, was also affected by the recalibration.

Though there are a number of reasons behind the departures, Legal Business understands that at least three partners are being explicitly managed out as part of the shake-up of Freshfields’ finance practice, which has focused its practice more heavily on deal finance.

The exits also include London’s sole aviation finance partner Rob Murphy, who joins China Development Bank’s aircraft leasing unit CDB Aviation Lease Finance as its general counsel and chief operating officer. His team of associates has joined Holland & Knight. Without a natural successor to Murphy, who was due to retire from the firm, Freshfields effectively pulled out of the aviation finance sector.

Finance head Simon Johnson (pictured) said: ‘We had a strategic review in 2016 and have refocused our product offering. This review has resulted in some associated changes within the partner group. We are confident that our practice is well placed for the next phase of its development. The hire of the five-partner team from Ashurst in Paris reflects the firm’s confidence and faith in the finance practice, as do the two promotions in London and Frankfurt this year.’

In 2015 Freshfields began the ‘recalibration’ of its finance practice, which saw leveraged finance split into its own team, giving the department four groups.

The process has coincided with the firm putting some finance partners on its second-tier lockstep, a model brought in more than two years ago. Those partners from Freshfields’ finance practice now join partners in Japan and Germany, and practices such as IP and employment on the second ladder, which runs from 10-30 points and sits alongside the traditional 17.5-50-point ladder.

Freshfields is not the only Magic Circle firm rethinking its investment in finance. Earlier this month Legal Business revealed Linklaters has reviewed equity points in its banking practice, making some managed changes to point distribution. Around six exits, roughly half of which are retirements, are expected from the practice in coming months, while four new banking partners were elected in the firm’s last promotions round. The firm has close to 100 banking partners globally, with around 40 in London.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Read more: ‘Recasting finance at Freshfields: high ambition married with gently lowered expectations’

Legal Business

Freshfields gives power to associates to pitch for fintech clients

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Innovation Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

While other Legal Business 100 firms such as Slaughter and May and Simmons & Simmons are giving free legal advice to win over fintech clients, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer associates have been given the opportunity to pitch and win client relationships as part of a growing bid to win new clients in this area.

Around 25 associates across Freshfields are part of the initiative, which began when a client invited associate Adam Ryan to pitch alongside another associate, Claire Harrop. The pair now lead the fintech associate initiative.

Ryan (pictured) told Legal Business: ‘Three years ago, when we realised where things were headed, we started an internal education campaign before taking our fintech practice out to clients. We met with regulators, we partnered with academics and legal tech start-ups, and created a network in that area. When we went out to clients to talk to them about the issues they were facing, it was a much more compelling conversation.’

The team has an annual budget and associates are rewarded with firm bonuses. The initiative was led by global head of fintech Richard Lister, with financial institutions co-heads Claire Wills in London, New York-based Valerie Ford Jacob and Christoph Gleske in Frankfurt overseeing the project.

Lister said: ‘Although partners gave broad guidance on the fintech strategy, we have deliberately empowered an associate group that has a deep interest in tech and financial services to drive the project – the obvious premise being that tech is now driving the careers of people in their 20s and 30s in a way that it never did before.’

Meanwhile, Allen & Overy (A&O) launched a new tech innovation space last month inviting tech companies to work with A&O lawyers, technologists, and the Magic Circle firm’s clients.

The new project, named Fuse, encourages collaboration to explore, develop and test legal, regulatory and deal-related solutions.

Tech companies can apply to work at A&O’s Bishops Square offices in a space accommodating 60 people. Applications open this month, with successful companies moving in to A&O in September.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Freshfields gives power to associates to pitch for fintech clients

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Associates Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

While other Legal Business 100 firms such as Slaughter and May and Simmons & Simmons are giving free legal advice to win over fintech clients, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer associates have been given the opportunity to pitch and win client relationships as part of a growing bid to win new clients in this area.

Around 25 associates across Freshfields are part of the initiative, which began when a client invited associate Adam Ryan to pitch alongside another associate, Claire Harrop. The pair now lead the fintech associate initiative.

Legal Business

Freshfields wins mandate on Standard Life/Aberdeen Asset Management £11bn merger

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Corporate Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Magic Circle firm acts alongside Slaughters and Maclays

With the asset management market tipped for further consolidation, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer scored a role alongside Slaughter and May and Maclay Murray & Spens on Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management’s £11bn merger in March.

Legal Business

Freshfields and DLA announce Brexit hires as May triggers article 50

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Strategic recruitment DLA PiperFreshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and DLA Piper have announced high-profile Brexit hires as British Prime Minister Theresa May triggered article 50 today (29 March).

Freshfields has appointed Jonathan Hill, the UK’s former European commissioner for financial stability, financial services and capital markets union as a senior adviser, while DLA has appointed Paul Hardy, former EU legal adviser to the House of Lords, who will join the firm in April as a legal director and lead Brexit specialist.

Hill, who was previously the UK’s most senior diplomat in Brussels, resigned after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union on 23 June last year. He also previously served as leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 2013 to 2014.

Freshfields senior partner Ed Braham said: ‘Jonathan brings outstanding experience and skill from a diverse and extensive career that is valuable both to our clients and to our firm.

‘We have shown significant strength as a firm with regards to Brexit related issues, and Jonathan’s contributions, while respecting his obligations, can only enhance our reputation and our efforts.’

Meanwhile, DLA has appointed Hardy in a move which the firm said ‘reflects DLA Piper’s commitment to supporting its clients on Brexit-related matters, helping them to navigate the increasing complexity of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.’

In a statement, Richard Bonnar, chair of DLA’s Brexit committee added: ‘Brexit is a reality that many of our clients, as well as we ourselves, are having to contend with, so there’s no doubt that it merits investment as part of our long-term strategy. Paul is a leading EU lawyer with first-hand experience of working both in Brussels and Westminster. His hire very much reinforces our commitment to helping our clients prepare for Brexit and to protect their interests on a national and global basis.’

Hardy was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1992 and has over 20 years’ experience as a lawyer. He was a legal adviser in the European Commission from 2004 to 2008 and was appointed Counsel for European Legislation in 2009 in the House of Commons and EU Legal Adviser to the House of Lords in 2014.

kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk

Read more: ‘Not a smooth process’: The legal profession opines on the Brexit negotiations to come

Legal Business

‘It could still fall apart’: Freshfields client Tesco takes DPA after two year SFO investigation

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Litigation Freshfields Bruckhaus DeringerTesco

Tesco has agreed to pay the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) £129m in fines relating to a 2014 profit misstatement, avoiding prosecution after a two-year investigation.

If approved by the Crown Court on 10 April 2017, Tesco will pay the £129m financial penalty in addition to the SFO’s full costs. As a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA), Tesco does not admit any liability in relation to the scandal.

The hearing will be before Sir Brian Leveson QC, President of the Queen’s Bench Division, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice.

The scandal relates to an accounting discrepancy in September 2014 that saw the retailer post incorrect profits by a margin of £326m. As a result, Tesco reported a £6.3bn loss in 2015, one of the biggest in British retail history.

In October 2014, it was revealed that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was advising on the criminal investigation by the SFO, with disputes partners Andrew Austin, Ian Taylor and Ali Sallaway providing counsel. The retailer also enlisted Kingsley Napley, which advised with a team led by Stephen Parkinson, head of criminal litigation.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner Robert Amaee said: ‘The steady onward march of DPAs in the UK, shows that equipping the right prosecutor with the right tools can make a real difference.  From Tesco’s perspective, while the investigation into individuals continues, the company will undoubtedly be pleased to bring this matter to a close.

He added: ‘DPAs have so far netted the UK fines and disgorgement in excess of £650 million, and that’s after just four of them with others waiting in the wings.  We may well see a significant growth in the use of DPAs, if the government’s recent consultation on corporate criminal liability for serious economic crimes does, as is expected, lead to a widening of the law.’

WilmerHale white collar counsel Alison Geary said: ‘DPAs are attractive to publicly-listed companies, they allow the board to deal with the issue and move on.’

‘The DPA is not in place yet, in theory the deal could still fall apart if the agreement was not approved by the judge at the final hearing. However, Tesco has taken the decision that it needs to make an announcement to the market at this stage.’

Introduced in 2014, DPAs offer an alternative for prosecutors that struggle to charge corporate entities due to the cost and complexity of cross-border investigations.

Following the announcement of the SFO probe, Stewarts Law launched legal proceedings on behalf of the retailers shareholders. Partner Sean Upson secured third party funding from Bentham Ventures and said he would file a claim for shareholders’ losses.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Mishcon, A&O and Freshfields major winners at 2017 Legal Business Awards

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Allen & OveryFreshfields Bruckhaus DeringerMishcon de Reya

Mishcon de Reya, Allen & Overy (A&O) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer were among the major winners at the 2017 Legal Business Awards, with Macfarlanes’ senior partner Charles Martin recognised as Management Partner of the Year.

Mishcon (pictured) was named Law Firm of the Year for the second time in five years, winning the most coveted award for what is been a startling run over the last decade (as can be seen in our December cover feature ‘The USP – What is Mishcon’s secret formula?‘.

A&O was of the one night’s main winners, picking up two awards: Competition Team of the Year and Legal Innovator of the Year, thanks to the successful launch of its MarginMatrix product and collaboration with Deloitte. Meanwhile, Freshfields picked up one of the most sought-after awards, Private Equity Team of the Year, for its role advising Advent International on the £1.5bn sale of the Priory Group to Acadia Healthcare.

Our Lawyer of the Year award this year was given to commemorate the work and life of the late Frances Murphy of Slaughter and May, one of the finest City M&A partners of her generation.

In other key practice categories, Clifford Chance was selected as Corporate Team of the Year for its role advising National Australia Bank on the three-and-a-half year-long demerger and subsequent listing of CYBG; while Ropes & Gray won Finance Team of the Year for advising Virgin Media on two innovative transactions. In one of the most competitive slots, Latham & Watkins was named US Law Firm of the Year.

Gowling WLG was a joint winner alongside Hogan Lovells in the Real Estate Team of the Year category, then returned to the stage to pick up the CSR Programme of the Year award for its work on establishing the Suited For Success charity.

Our disputes category was split for the first time this year, with Boies, Schiller & Flexner named Commercial Litigation Team of the Year for obtaining the first summary judgment from the Financial List in a landmark case for Barclays, while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom picked up the International Arbitration Team of the Year award for securing victory for the Republic of South Sudan in its ICSID dispute with Sudapet Company.

Other major awards saw Virgin Media’s legal team named In-House Team of the Year for its role in the success of two major initiatives for the company in the last year, while Scotland’s leading independent, Brodies, picked up National/Regional Firm of the Year after a very strong 2016.

The awards were presented to 900 guests in a gala ceremony last night (23 March) hosted by renowned journalist and newscaster Alastair Stewart. The event was preceded by a reception to mark the launch of this year’s GC Powerlist report.

The winners were selected by an external judging panel comprising the following senior general counsel: Nilema Bhakta-Jones, group legal director of Ascential Group; Claire Chapman, general counsel (GC) and company secretary of Daily Mail and General Trust; Kate Cheetham, general counsel at Lloyds Banking Group; Kirsty Cooper, group GC and company secretary at Aviva; Claire Debney, director of legal strategy at Shire; Chris Fowler, GC UK Commercial for BT; FT GC Dan Guildford; Geoffrey Timms, GC and company secretary at Legal & General Group; Zoopla Property Group GC Ned Staple; Nigel Paterson, general counsel at Dixons Carphone; Nyeem Syed, assistant GC, financial & risk at Thomson Reuters; and Tony Williams of Jomati as well as Alex Novarese and Mark McAteer from Legal Business.

Our May edition will include a full report of the night. For more details on the awards, click here.

mark.mcateer@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business Awards 2017 – The Winners

Bristows – TMT Team of the Year

Ropes & Gray – Finance Team of the Year

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom – International Arbitration Team of the Year

Ashurst – Restructuring Team of the Year

Allen & Overy – Competition Team of the Year

CMS Cameron McKenna – Energy and Infrastructure Team of the Year

Boies, Schiller & Flexner- Commercial Litigation Team of the Year

Irwin Mitchell – Private Client Team of the Year

Bond Dickinson – Insurance Team of the Year

Clifford Chance – Corporate Team of the Year

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer – Private Equity Team of the Year

Gowling WLG/Hogan Lovells – Real Estate Team of the Year

Three Crowns – Boutique of the Year

Frances Murphy, Slaughter and May – Lawyer of the Year

Gowling WLG – CSR Programme of the Year

Vieira de Almeida – International Firm of the Year

Ahsan Gulabkhan, Virgin Atlantic – Rising Star In-House Counsel of the Year

Virgin Media – In-House Team of the Year

Charles Martin, Macfarlanes – Management Partner of the Year

Latham & Watkins – US Law Firm of the Year

Allen & Overy – Legal Innovator of the Year

Linklaters – Legal Technology Team of the Year

Brodies – National/Regional Firm of the Year

Mishcon de Reya – Law Firm of the Year

Legal Business

Comment: Hot private equity money is remaking Europe’s legal market

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Finance AshurstFreshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

What are we to make of the most aggressive raid between top ten City firms since Allen & Overy helped itself to the bulk of Norton Rose’s leveraged finance team back in 2002? In some ways, news this month that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is to ship in a productive five-partner buyout group from Ashurst seems even more notable.

For Freshfields, which has shied away from lateral recruitment in its European heartlands, to make such a huge commitment is striking and speaks to the doubled-down bet the Magic Circle firm has made in private equity and related finance.

In 2015 its much-vaunted team secured a way-above plateau recruitment of high-yield specialist Ward McKimm, culturally a big ask for a firm where veteran partners treat lockstep like religion.

This latest commitment in Paris, for a team with business worth around £8m, is even more notable and illustrates the extent to which Freshfields’ buyout team has gained huge internal clout.

For Ashurst, the move is a considerable but not surprising reverse. The team was long known to be unhappy with Ashurst’s direction and profitability – an issue brought to a head after heavy investment and falling income in 2015/16 savaged its bottom line.

The response from Appold Street is that the firm is realistic about how its business is reshaping post-Blake Dawson, repositioning the firm as an upper mid-market player with extra potency in infrastructure, real estate and related funds, TMT and several product lines in finance. There is nothing wrong with that but it’s plainly not the Ashurst of old and not the easiest narrative to articulate.

Such niceties will take a back seat for now as Ashurst has to demonstrate a tight grip on its finances under new managing partner Paul Jenkins (pictured) before it runs into major investment for its Spitalfields move in 2019. The claim is that morale has steadied after a torrid period in the autumn and that profits are on course for a much better year. It hardly needs saying that Ashurst needs that result.

The wider story in Europe’s legal market is the extent to which unprecedented investment in private equity and leverage finance is remaking strategically key practice lines.

Ashurst has had a hole punched in its European private equity practice leaving it with functional coverage in Paris. The firm – once a brand name for buyout work – is increasingly relegated to mid-tier status in Europe and most City players have seen their position in private equity heavily eroded as US law firms have piled in.

At every point that the leveraged deal market seemed to reach equilibrium over the last decade, it has been bid continually higher. On the same day that news of the Ashurst move emerged, Sidley Austin unveiled a seven-partner Munich deal team taken from Kirkland & Ellis, echoing Sidley’s six-partner hire last spring from the same firm.

Last April Goodwin Procter, of course, hired a private equity and funds team in Paris from King & Wood Mallesons with devastating impact. That the greatest strengths of SJ Berwin were in exactly the portable areas of funds and private equity that were top of the shopping list for high-paying US firms was a factor in that firm ending up as Europe’s largest legal insolvency.

The force of money chasing these mobile stars is shaking law firms to their foundations, contributing to the breakdown in lockstep at elite London firms. There has never been a better time to be a serious player in private equity. Conversely, for managing partners, there has never been a better time to have had your firm sit this one out.

No-one doubts there is a heap of money to be made here but the full impact of this on the legal market is yet to be calculated. And the forces sweeping through the profession have not finished yet.

alex.novarese@legalease.co.uk

Read more in: ‘The M&A Report: Private equity offers the clients for all seasons’

Legal Business

Six in the City: Freshfields makes up 18 partners as London dominates promotions

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Partnership promotions Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Following several City exits in 2016 for the Magic Circle firm, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has reinforced its London bench with six new partners as part of an 18-strong promotions round, its largest since 2012.

In the first round revealed from the Magic Circle in 2017, the firm added partners in six practice groups across ten offices. The election of the partners will be effective from 1 May.

The promotions are a boost from previous years, with the firm making up 16 partners in 2016 and 17 in 2015. In 2012 the firm made up 20 partners. The six new London partners also make up the largest round for the City office in recent years, with the firm making up just three in 2016 and 2015.

The City cohort includes James Scott as a new corporate partner, Nicholas Frey and Nicholas Williams in disputes, Michele Davis in antitrust, competition and trade, Richard Hart in finance and May Smith in tax.

They will be joined by three new partners in Frankfurt and two in Berlin, as well as one a piece in Vienna, Milan, Amsterdam Dubai, Beijing, Tokyo and New York. The round also sees five female partners made up, around 22%.

Freshfields senior partner Edward Braham (pictured) said: ‘We are delighted to welcome these exceptional individuals into the partnership. Their legal expertise and commercial know-how will help us continue to grow our market-leading offering for our clients around the world.’

Exits for Freshfields in 2016 have included the resignation of Ben Spiers for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, while Kirkland & Ellis took on finance partner Jonathan Birks. Real estate finance specialist Jeffrey Rubinoff moved to White & Case and Ian Frost left for Vinson & Elkins in February.

matthew.field@legalease.co.uk

Freshfields partner promotions 2017:

Antitrust, Competition and Trade

Michele Davis, London

Kaori Yamada, Tokyo

Corporate

Yan Chen, Beijing

Lars Meyer, Frankfurt

Omar Pringle, New York

Hanneke Rothbarth, Amsterdam

Simon Schwarz, Frankfurt

James Scott, London

Jason Xu, Beijing

Dispute Resolution

Nicholas Frey, London

Michael Ramb, Berlin

Sami Tannous, Dubai

Nicholas Williams, London

Employment, Pensions and Benefits

Karin Buzanich-Sommeregger, Vienna

Finance

Richard Hart, London

Robin Helmke, Frankfurt

Tax

Roberto Egori, Milan

May Smith, London