Legal Business

Cooley takes Taylor Wessing, Goodwin and White & Case partners in London rebuild

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Strategic recruitment CooleyGoodwinTaylor WessingWhite & Case

Cooley has moved to bolster its London ranks following a number of recent senior departures with the hire of a trio of partners from Taylor Wessing, Goodwin and White & Case.

The US firm has recruited Angus Miln, Ali Ramadan and Helen Pantelides, all of who will join the emerging companies and venture capital (ECVC) practice in London. The hires come just weeks after Cooley’s London managing partner Justin Stock and two other transactional partners left to join Akin’s London office.

Miln, a Legal 500 Hall of Famer for venture capital, joins Cooley after almost eight years at Taylor Wessing, where he led the VC practice. He also previously worked at Bird & Bird, where he made partner in 2008, as well as Latham & Watkins and Simmons & Simmons.

Pantelides, who made partner at White & Case last year, previously worked alongside Miln at Taylor Wessing before leaving to join the US firm in 2019.

The duo will be joined at Cooley by Legal 500 leading individual Ramadan, also an ex-Bird & Bird partner, who has spent the past five years at Goodwin after a brief stint at Orrick. All three focus on venture capital and high-growth companies , handling the life-cycle of corporate and financing matters for tech and life sciences clients.

London chief Stock, one of the founding partners of Cooley’s London office, quit the firm this summer, moving to US rival Akin with corporate head Stephen Rosen and fellow tech transactions partner David Bresnick.

The city base is now led by capital markets head Claire Keast-Butler and disputes head James Maton.

In a statement, Keast-Butler said: “Angus, Ali and Helen are among London’s most outstanding and well-regarded advisers to emerging companies and the venture capital industry. We are excited about the huge opportunity our expanded ECVC practice in London will bring as we continue to execute on our ambitious growth strategy.”

Keast-Butler has been at the firm since joining from Latham in 2019, while Maton is one of the remaining founding partners of Cooley’s London base, which opened in 2015.

The West Coast leader made a splashy launch in the City that year, taking partners from Morrison & Foerster and legacy Edwards Wildman Palmer to create a 55-lawyer UK practice.

Of the 20 partners who opened that office, just five now remain – Maton, Chris Coulter (tech transactions), Ann Bevitt (employment and privacy), Ryan Naftulin (corporate) and Laurence Harris (disputes).

According to its website, Cooley now has 30 partners in London and around 65 associates and counsel.

The firm recently appointed a new CEO to replace the long-serving Joe Conroy, who had held the position since 2008. Rachel Profitt stepped into the new role this January, with Conroy staying on as chairman.

Legal Business

Life During Law: Richard Lever

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Life During Law Goodwin

The Godfather is a great film. Tom Hagen was a bit of an inspiration. There’s that scene where he turns up at the hospital where the Godfather is staying with all these private detectives, and he deals with the police. Then there’s another part where he says: ‘I have a special practice. I handle one client. Now you have my number. I’ll wait for your call.’ That kind of power, that kind of control was inspiring.

I quit studying law after a year. I switched to history and politics because there were a lot of hours in the classroom doing law. After university, I travelled and taught English abroad. My girlfriend at the time wanted to come back to the UK as she had a job lined up as an accountant, so I came back with her. I would have been happy staying a teacher. One of the things I applied for was law school and I ended up doing the conversion course. The rest is history.

Legal Business

‘An emphasis on people and culture’: Goodwin names Pathak as new London co-head

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Goodwin

Goodwin has named funds partner Ajay Pathak (pictured) as its new London co-chair to replace Paul Lyons, who is stepping down after five years in the role.

Pathak, who is ranked as a leading individual in The Legal 500, will lead the office alongside current co-chair Gemma Roberts, who succeeded Samantha Lake Coghlan in 2021.

During Lyons’ tenure as co-head since 2017, the Boston-bred firm’s City arm has grown significantly. Last year the office generated 8.2% of the firm’s global revenue after a 63% spike in turnover to $161.8m from $99.1m in 2020.

This year, the firm has continued its growth trajectory. It added new practices to its UK offering with the hire of capital markets partner Ariel White-Tsimikalis in January from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, antitrust and competition partner Sarah Jordan in March from Kirkland & Ellis, and this month, executive compensation partner Saba Rais from Macfarlanes and employment partner Alex Fisher from Travers Smith.

Other significant hires for 2022 included real estate partner Eric Lim, life sciences licensing partner Morag Peberdy, regulatory partner Andrew Henderson and finance partner Ed Saunders. This followed its 2021 nine-partner hiring spree.

Pathak takes over the role as the firm prepares for its move into a larger City office next year, he said: ‘We now have over 200 lawyers compared to just shy of 40 when I joined in 2017. That growth has been very focused around five key client industries, namely life sciences, technology, private equity, real estate and financial services, and the convergence between them. This strategy has allowed us to better serve our clients globally and puts us in a strong position as we look forward to the next chapter for the London office.’

According to Pathak, one of his top priorities over the coming year will be maintaining a strong firm culture following the office’s recent growth: ‘We have a real emphasis on people and culture. When you grow as quickly as we have in London, it’s even more important to ensure that we don’t forget the importance of our culture and the importance of creating a diverse firm.

‘We’re living in a new world now of hybrid working, which is clearly a positive in many ways, but is another reason why we need to maintain our focus on our relationships with our people, and indeed our clients.’

Since joining the firm from King & Wood Mallesons in 2017, Pathak has also played an active role in championing young talent at the firm. He highlighted its recent 10-strong London promotions round as a testament to the quality of its people and how optimistic the firm feels about its growth potential in the City.

Looking forward, Pathak is confident about where the firm is positioned. He concluded: ‘We do not know as yet exactly what the next year holds in store, but we are confident that our deep industry focus means that we are well-placed placed to help our clients navigate through what could be more challenging times.’

megan.mayers@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘Dramatic expansion’: Goodwin’s London turnover spikes 63% amid lateral bonanza

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Financial Results 2021/22 Goodwin

The London office of Goodwin has seen revenue soar 63% in 2021/22 amid a surge in lateral hires over the year, the firm’s latest financial results reveal.

The City arm reported turnover of $161.8m, up from $99.1m last year. This striking gain follows the firm’s bullish revenue growth of 72% between 2015 and 2021.

The Boston-bred firm’s global metrics tell a similarly auspicious story, with revenue just shy of $2bn at $1.97, up 33% from $1.48bn last year. Its global financials also put profit per equity partner (PEP) at $3.69m up 28% from $2.88m for 2020/21.

Impressively for an office little over a decade old, the London revenue made up 8.2% of the firm’s global turnover this year, up from just shy of 7% last year. Credit can be given in part to its 47% growth in headcount from 140 lawyers including 43 partners in the City on 1 March 2021 to 206 lawyers including 50 partners as of 7 March.

The hiring drive has focused on its five key industry-focused pillars, said Gemma Roberts, London co-chair: ‘The dramatic expansion we have seen across our UK and global business during 2021 has been fuelled by meeting the needs of our existing and new clients principally in the five industries we focus on: real estate, private equity, technology, life sciences and financial institutions. This demand has led to us continuing to add the top talent in the market – at all levels – across our groups, both organically and laterally.’

Among the laterals, the firm lured four partners from Kirkland & Ellis including private equity player Hugh O’Sullivan in April 2021, tax duo David Irvine and Dulcie Daly in May, and most recently, competition partner Sarah Jordan in March 2022.

Also in the private equity space, Geoff O’Dea joined from Baker Mckenzie, while the firm bolstered its tech and life sciences sector practice with the additions of data privacy expert Lore Leitner from Wilson Sonsini and capital markets partner Ariel White-Tsimikalis from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.

Rounding off the nine-partner hiring spree, litigator Hannah Field joined from White & Case in 2021 and real estate transactions guru Eric Lim joined from Baker McKenzie on 1 March this year. The firm also promoted three partners across its regulatory, tech and life sciences and tax teams.

These key industry focuses have also been the setting for its biggest deals over the year. In the private equity space, a team led by Roberts acted for GTT Communications on the $2.1bn sale of its infrastructure business to I Squared Capital.

The London life sciences practice teamed up with New York M&A lawyers to advise on Biocon Biologics’ $3.3bn acquisition of Viatris Inc.’s global biosimilars business. While in the real estate space, the London team acted on the structuring and establishment of Ares European Property Enhancement Partners III SCSp, which was oversubscribed with roughly €1.5bn of commitments.

Notwithstanding its growth, the firm remains transactions-heavy with 20 corporate partners compared to two in disputes. But as the private equity, tech and life sciences sectors continue to boom, Goodwin’s financials speak for themselves.

megan.mayers@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Global 100: Goodwin – No guts, no glory

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Financial results 2020/21 Goodwin

The Zoom call with Gemma Roberts, private equity partner and recently-appointed co-chair of Goodwin’s London office, has not got off to the most auspicious of starts. First Roberts has a tech malfunction and then the interview is disrupted by the world’s loudest weekly fire alarm test. ‘Learning points for our next call will be to make a computer work and to not have it at 11am on a Wednesday,’ Roberts quips. The irony of the situation is not lost, given the firm’s reputation for advising on matters with a strong technology bent.

Looking at Goodwin both internationally and in London, there appears little cause for alarm. Globally, the firm has increased revenue 12% since 2020 to $1.49bn and a striking 72% over the last five years, making it the third-fastest growing global firm by revenue after Kirkland & Ellis and Covington, which have bolstered turnover 110% and 78% respectively since 2016. In that context, the London office comfortably eclipses the firm at large, bringing in $99.1m, marking a 33% surge since 2020. The London office now generates nearly 7% of firm-wide revenue, no mean feat given this office is just 11 years old.