Legal Business

EY Law recruits competition chief from CC to spearhead state aid, antitrust and trade practice

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Strategic recruitment Clifford ChanceEYHogan Lovells
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Big Four accountant EY continues to enhance its international legal offering and has recruited Clifford Chance’s (CC) competition-focused counsel Steven Verschuur to lead its EU State aid, competition and trade law practice.

Verschuur has served as head of competition at CC’s Amsterdam practice for the last three years, where he split his time between the Dutch city and Brussels. Also a former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer lawyer, he specialises in EU State aid, competition, trade law and merger control.

EY said there is an ‘increasing demand for strategic legal advice on the State aid aspects of tax structures and rulings’ and Verschuur, who will be based in Brussels, is ‘well-placed to meet clients’ needs working in close collaboration with EY’s international tax teams.’

EY global law leader Cornelius Grossmann added: ‘We are delighted that Steven has joined EY. His extensive experience in State aid, competition and trade law will be a great asset to our practice. Bringing in the right talent is central to our success, and to building a quality service offering in a multidisciplinary environment. We welcome Steven at an exciting time, as we continue to hone and expand our global practice.’

Verschuur’s departure follows that of Oliver Bretz, CC’s former global head of antitrust, who left after 15 years at the Magic Circle firm to launch a competition boutique in January.

EY has made good on its continued efforts to enhance its presence in the legal market, particularly in the Asia Pacific region. In April it announced an alliance with South Korean firm Apex Legal as part of a greater agenda to build a 200-strong team of lawyers spanning key commercial centres throughout Asia-Pacific.

Meanwhile, CC’s Amsterdam office also saw the departure of finance counsel Robert Masman, who left to join Hogan Lovells and makes partner in the process. Masman specialises in asset based and structured finance and will work closely with banking partner Wouter Jongen who was recruited in 2014.

Sharon Lewis, global head of Hogan Lovells’ finance practice, said: ‘Building our on the ground presence in Amsterdam is an important priority for our global finance practice as the Netherlands is such a key jurisdiction for cross-border banking and debt capital markets.’

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

70 years’ experience: Hogan Lovells adds Baker Botts disputes trio in Houston

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Strategic recruitment Hogan Lovells
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Hogan Lovells has tapped Baker Botts’ disputes team in Houston with the hire of three partners with almost 70 years’ combined experience at the firm, including the former head of the Houston office.

Houston-based partners Maria Boyce, Jennifer Smith, and Cristina Rodriguez all leave Baker Botts to join Hogan Lovells as it expands its litigation, arbitration and employment practice group.

Boyce, who focuses on complex commercial litigation and intellectual property litigation, spent 27 years at Baker, becoming partner in 1997. She became the department head of litigation in 2002, and then partner in charge of the Houston office in 2007 which she ran for six years before being elected as member of the executive committee in 2009.

Smith, who is qualified in England and Wales, leaves the firm after 23 years, having served as deputy head of the firm’s litigation department for seven years. Her primary focus is international arbitration with experience in cross-border disputes across the energy, petrochemicals, shipping and technology industries.

Rodriguez departs Baker Botts after 19 years, during which she was a founding member of the firm’s diversity committee since 2004. She has experience of professional liability, commercial, securities and employment litigation and her practice includes advising employers on the handling of sensitive internal investigations and the defence of employment litigation.

Hogan Lovells chief executive Stephen Immelt said: ‘As Houstonians with global practices and perspectives, Maria, Jennifer, and Cristina are the kind of market leaders who will add to our team. Houston is critical for many of our energy clients in Texas and international clients in Latin America and beyond.’

Hogan Lovells has this year expanded in various jurisdictions internationally. The firm established a presence in Australia with Allens partners Nicky Lester and Tim Lester spearheading the launch in Sydney and Perth respectively in March, and also expanded its Tokyo practice with a corporate hire from local boutique in April.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Orrick hires Hogan Lovells’ heads of energy and renewables as it continues City build-out

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Strategic recruitment Hogan LovellsOrrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
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Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has continued with its European strategy revamp, building its energy team in London by hiring Hogan Lovells’ global co-head of energy and natural resources Matthew Williams and renewables co-head John Deacon.

The duo will be joined by Edward Humphries, currently counsel at the transatlantic firm but who makes partner in the move, with Williams joining as co-head of Orrick’s European energy practice alongside Carlo Montella in Milan. The move replicates Deacon and Williams’ shift from Hunton & Williams to Hogan Lovells in 2011.

Williams has focused his career on domestic and cross-border power M&A deals but also covers project finance, commodity trading and corporate restructuring. Past work includes acting on the development of a 1000 MW power plant at Thorpe Marsh in the UK and advising Gazprom on a proposed acquisition of the Marcinelle 800 MW power station in Belgium.

Deacon, who was responsible for Hogan Lovells‘ renewables practice outside of the US, has advised on a series of offshore wind farms, as well as waste-to-energy schemes and biomass power plants across EMEA. Humphries is more focused on energy trading and commodities, with experience also in corporate work for energy companies.

Williams said: ‘We are excited to be a part of a growing and innovative practice and to collaborate with a team that we have known and respected in the market for many years. I am particularly looking forward to working with Carlo to grow the European energy practice to complement the firm’s strengths in energy markets around the world.’

The trio will re-unite with fellow energy partner Colin Graham, who last year also joined from Hogan Lovells amid a build-out in London by Orrick which included Stephen Phillips, who now serves as co-head of Orrick’s European Restructuring team, from White & Case; Shawn Atkinson, a corporate, tech and venture capital partner from Edwards Wildman; and Proskauer Rose’s finance partner Michael Crosby.

So far Orrick’s renewed European strategy, which is focusing on core sectors in Europe including energy, finance and tech, has seen its German offering slimmed down as it closed offices in Frankfurt and Berlin while its arbitration offering was boosted by an opening in Geneva.

michael.west@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

City moves: Kirkland sees another exit as Proskauer hires Howe while Hogan Lovells builds its high yield offering with Dentons hire

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Strategic recruitment Hogan LovellsProskauer Rose
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Proskauer Rose has continued to build its London corporate offering, bringing in M&A partner James Howe from Kirkland & Ellis, while Hogan Lovells has strengthened its debt capital markets (DCM) team in the City with the hire of high-yield partner Sylvain Dhennin from Dentons.

Kirkland’s Howe joins as Proskauer builds its London office with recent private equity hires including Steven Davis and Matt Rees from King & Wood Mallesons and Simmons & Simmons respectively. He has experience in cross-border M&A and leveraged buy-outs, particularly in financial and business services, and technology.

Davis, who heads the UK M&A group commented: ‘It’s been an exciting few months at Proskauer. The firm is committed to growing its global M&A and financing platform and James’ arrival further strengthens our team in London.’

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson hired three Kirkland partners, led by Mark Mifsud, last week (27 May) as it also looks to build a signficant corporate offering in the City.

Meanwhile, after having lost banking specialist Stuart Brinkworth to Fried Frank two weeks ago, Hogan Lovells hired Dhennin into its finance practice from Dentons’ high yield group where he focused on bond and securities offerings in emerging markets. He joined Dentons from Gide Loyrette Nouel in 2012, having also worked in-house as assistant vice-president at JPMorgan Chase, where he dealt with French and German capital markets transactions within the DCM EMEA group and at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

High profile clients includes Société Generale and HSBC while recent mandates include advising automotive parts manufacturer Faurecia on its €500m 3.125% senior notes issue due 2022 as part of an overall refinancing.

Commenting on the firm’s latest hire, global finance practice head Sharon Lewis said: ‘The European high yield bond market has grown as a direct result of the financial crisis and corporates and funds are increasingly looking to this market as part of their financing arrangements. High yield is a specialised field in which only a small number of lawyers have gained real experience and Sylvain’s expertise will be invaluable in building our high yield offering in London.’

Other hires made by the firm of late includes Frankfurt-based senior corporate partner Matthias Jaletzke from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Paul Hastings’ project finance head Joseph Kim to its Tokyo finance practice; and Kirkland & Ellis corporate partner Steven Tran to the Hong Kong corporate practice in September.

Its City office did, however, see the resignation of Brinkworth, who is set to lead Fried Frank’s London finance offering with a mandate to build debt fund relationships.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving Doors: Hill Dickinson makes a double hire to its real estate team while Hogan Lovells makes a key lateral in New York

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Strategic recruitment Hill DickinsonHogan Lovells
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The past seven days have seen Hogan Lovells make a key arbitration hire in New York, Jones Day make a play for Latin American disputes with a double hire in Miami while Hill Dickinson undertook a double hire of its own to bulk up its real estate team.

In the same week as it made a significant German hire from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, taking senior corporate partner Matthias Jaletzke in Germany, Hogan Lovells brought in New York arbitration partner Samaa Haridi from Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

Haridi, a board member of the Arab Bankers Association of North America, counsels corporations and financial institutions from across the globe in arbitral proceedings. He reunites at Hogan Lovells with former arbitration colleagues at Thacher Proffitt & Wood: Ollie Armas, Luis Enrique Graham, Thomas Pieper and Carlos Martinez.

‘As the demand for international arbitration continues to grow, clients expect us not only to have a deep bench, but also the best lawyers with the unique set of skills, experiences, and know-how needed in different regions of the world and different industries,’ said Daniel González, global head of Hogan Lovells’ international arbitration practice. ‘Samaa, as a recognized international arbitrator and advocate, is exactly the kind of partner we want and clients expect.’

Jones Day found Miami fertile ground for expansion of its arbitration and litigation team. The firm hired Latin American disputes duo Carlos Concepción and Ricardo Puente from boutique law practice Concepción Martinez & Puente as it targets further growth of its Miami office, which, since opening in March 2013, has grown to 12 partners and 23 lawyers.

Back in the UK, Hill Dickinson has taken steps to grow its real estate team with senior appointments in London and Manchester. Jim Garton joined Hill Dickinson’s London team from Gateley, where he led the real estate and real estate finance teams in London while Jim Purves joined from Pinsent Masons in Manchester.

Garton is known for his work advising West Ham football club on its successful bid to take over the Olympic Stadium in Stratford following the London Olympic Games in 2012 and Purves counts delivery group DHL, High Street retailer John Lewis and engineering group Balfour Beatty among his client roster. Garton said that he joined Hill Dickinson ‘on account of its strong property offering nationally and its client list which includes Lloyds TSB Group, RBS, HSBC, Santander, Metro Bank, The Co-operative Group, Iceland and National Express Group to name but a few.’

Meanwhile, there was also movement in the in-house market, with airline Monarch promoting Alison Wilds to the newly created role of group head of legal. Wilds joined Monarch in February last year to advise on the purchase of thirty new Boeing aircraft. Before moving in-house, Wilds was a partner and head of the aviation and finance group at London law firm of Harbottle and Lewis.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Hogan Lovells expands Frankfurt office with senior Skadden PE partner Jaletzke and lawyer duo

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Strategic recruitment Hogan LovellsSkadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
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Hogan Lovells has bolstered its German operations with senior corporate partner Matthias Jaletzke, who counts Apax Partners among his clients, joining the firm from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom alongside two other lawyers.

Described by The Legal 500 as having ‘a good transactional approach’, M&A lawyer Jaletzke advises both corporates and private equity (PE) houses. He is joined by European counsel Hanns Joerg Herwig and a corporate associate.

In particular Frankfurt-based Jaletzke has been a longstanding adviser to Apax Partners, which raised the largest European PE fund, at €11.2bn, in 2007. He advised on the PE house’s acquisition, subsequent IPO, and $420m sale of Versatel Group to KKR last year; as well as the €920m sale of a majority stake in IFCO Systems to Brambles in 2010; and its €1.6bn acquisition of the Tommy Hilfiger Group in 2005. Other key clients include Quadriga Capital, Bregal Capital and Odewald & Compagnie.

It is understood Hogan Lovells voted on the recruitment of Jaletzke this week and he is expected to start at the firm on 1 July.

Jaletzke’s exit from Skadden follows the departure of fellow private equity partners, Frankfurt-based Peter Veranneman and Munich-based Walter Henle, who last year moved to Bird & Bird and Taylor Wessing respectively.

The trio join Hogan Lovells’ German practice, which is considered particularly strong in commercial litigation, venture capital, and IP-related issues. The firm did, however, take a knock in 2013 with the departure of a 30-lawyer (nine-partner) team to Morrison & Foerster, constituting its entire partnership ranks in Berlin.

David Gibbons, global head of Hogan Lovells’ corporate practice, said: ‘Matthias is one of the leading private equity lawyers in the German market and we are delighted to welcome him to Hogan Lovells. Having Matthias as part of our team adds significant additional weight to our capabilities in Frankfurt, and is a clear indication of our drive to continue to grow our offering in the German market, which we regard as a key area of growth and investment.’

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

£70,000 NQ salary: Hogan Lovells matches Slaughter and May as legal salary race reaches new heights

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Salaries Hogan LovellsSlaughter and May
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Hogan Lovells has bumped up the salaries of its newly qualified lawyers by £5,000 to £70,000 in a move that will see it again match the salary on offer at Magic Circle firm Slaughter and May.

In a hike that is more than double the pay rise given to newly qualified lawyers at Hogan Lovells last year, when salaries rose by £2,000 to £65,000, Hogan Lovells becomes one of the top-paying law firms in the City.

The £70,000 salary for newly qualified lawyers is 15% higher than what was on offer just four years ago, when a newly qualified lawyer at the firm would earn £61,000 a year.

Meanwhile, the rates for trainees will also increase to £41,000 for first year trainees, £1,500 up on last year, while second year trainees will earn £2,000 more to reach £46,000.

With sharp growth at US firms offering £100,000 salaries in the City, the steep rise in salary at Hogan Lovells generates more heat in the battle for talent. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which has yet to announce its salary bands for the new financial year, was the highest paying Magic Circle firm for newly qualified lawyers in 2014, pegging their salaries at £67,500.

Slaughter and May started the salary review season at the end of last month when it announced NQs would recieve £70,000 while those with three years experience would get £96,500.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

CMA seeks permission to appeal after RPC-client’s victory in Eurotunnel case

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Litigation Hogan LovellsRPC
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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said it will seek permission to appeal a decision by the Court of Appeal last Friday (15 May) which overturned a ban on Eurotunnel-owned and RPC-client MyFerryLink’s right to operate between Dover and Calais.

The company was told in January it must quit the cross-Channel ferry market following a ruling by the Competition Appeal Tribunal on the basis that its acquisition of the former SeaFrance operation in 2013 would damage competition.

Last Friday (15 May) in a two to one majority decision, the court ruled the CMA, which is responsible for the control of mergers in the UK, does not have jurisdiction over Eurotunnel’s acquisition of the former SeaFrance operation between Dover and Calais.

Representing the appellant on Friday was Monckton Chambers’ duo Daniel Beard QC and Rob Williams who were instructed by RPC for Société Coopérative de Production SeaFrance.

Monckton Chambers’ Paul Harris QC and Ben Rayment represented the CMA, and finally Monckton Chambers’ Meredith Pickford QC and Ligia Osepciu were instructed by Hogan Lovells for the second respondent DFDS Seaways, a competitor of MyFerryLink which operates ferries to France and Holland.

The CMA argues it should protect the interests of passengers and freight customers given that Eurotunnel runs a ferry service on the short sea route as well as a competing rail link. The CMA is also seeking greater legal clarity ‘for the wider benefit of the UK merger regime’.

In a statement myferrylinks said: “We continue fundamentally to disagree with the CMA on a number of critical points. First and foremost we do not consider that the CMA has jurisdiction to review the transaction as a matter of UK merger law. It is also manifestly the case that the CMA’s decision, which will reduce choice, is bad for consumers, bad for competition and bad for all those involved in cross-Channel operations (staff, employees, customers and the wider regions in both Dover and Calais).”

The application will be made to the Court of Appeal although if granted the appeal would be heard in the Supreme Court.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Targeting the City: Fried Frank hires Hogan Lovells’ Brinkworth as head of finance

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Strategic recruitment Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & JacobsonHogan Lovells
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After having hired two private equity partners in recent months, US firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson has bolstered its finance capability with the hire of Hogan Lovells finance partner Stuart Brinkworth (picutred) to head its London finance offering.

Brinkworth resigned from Hogan Lovells on Friday (15 May) and has now been placed on gardening leave. He will officially start his role at Fried Frank’s London office from 1 September.

The new position at Fried Frank will see Brinkworth tasked with building debt fund relationships with clients in London and also supporting the firm’s private equity practice.

Brinkworth joined Hogan Lovells from SJ Berwin in 2010 as a partner in the firm’s banking group, he specialises in acting for UK and international lenders including credit and debt funds, sponsors and bidding consortia on UK domestic and cross-border leveraged finance deals.

His hire is indicative of the firm’s strategy for growth in the London office, which recently saw private equity partner Daniel Oates join from O’Melveny & Myers in January, and its London managing partner Graham White who joined from Kirkland & Ellis last year. It does, however, follow the departure of its international disputes head in London, Nick Cherryman, who moved to King & Spalding last month.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

News in brief – May 2015

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DWFHogan LovellsKing & Wood Mallesons
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WHITTAKER STEPS DOWN AS LLOYDS GC

Group general counsel (GC) Andrew Whittaker is stepping down from his role at Lloyds Banking Group with deputy GC Kate Cheetham set to replace him. Whittaker joined the bank in May 2013 after having served as the legal head of the Financial Services Authority. The bank also saw the departure of disputes chief Philippa Simmons last month and began a redundancy consultation looking at cutting up to 25 mid-level positions.