Linklaters news, updates and analysis | Page 25 of 38

Linklaters’ banking chief Gideon Moore, dispute resolution head Michael Bennett and Asia managing partner Marc Harvey have made a final three-man shortlist to replace Simon Davies as the firm’s managing partner.

Moore, a powerful figure within the Magic Circle firm, has emerged as the strongest candidate for managing partner post now that frontrunner Michael Kent has been eliminated from the leadership race, along with Western Europe managing partner Pieter Riemer and co-head of operational intelligence Tom Shropshire.

Sheffield-born Moore has headed Linklaters global banking group since 2011 and his tilt at the top job was boosted recently by his reappointment to the role, despite his candidacy for the managing partner post. Moore faces fierce competition from global dispute resolution head Bennett, a late addition to the managing partner race, and Harvey.

The leadership race, sparked by Davies’ early resignation from managing partner to join Lloyds Bank as chief legal, people and strategy officer, is expected to conclude by 17 November when the firm’s new managing partner will be unveiled at its annual partner conference. The Magic Circle firm’s 12-person partnership board, headed by senior partner Robert Elliott, will put one of the three remaining candidates forward as its nomination for the role, and then the partnership will vote to ratify the appointment.

Hong Kong-based Harvey, who has spearheaded Linklaters aggressive push in Asia since his appointment as regional managing partner in early 2014, is viewed as one of the firm’s top strategic thinkers and has strong support among the firm’s younger partners. At 46 years old he is the youngest partner on the three-man shortlist, but has held a string of management positions at the Magic Circle firm since being appointed head of Hong Kong in 2004. Having spent just six of his 25 years at Silk Street in London, his appointment would herald a departure from the London-centric nature of the firm and reflect Asia’s increasing importance to its top line. 

Bennett, who replaced Harvey as global dispute resolution head in 2014 after his Hong Kong-based rival took on the Asia managing partner role, has been one of the firm’s biggest billers for a number of years and counts oil major BP, scandal-hit security giant G4S and sugar maker Tate & Lyle among his clients. He has strong international support, as he trained at Linklaters’ Tokyo office and has spent time in New York and Hong Kong before settling in London.

Moore, the oldest and the most experienced of the final candidates, is the only partner on the final shortlist not to have been trained at Linklaters, having started his career as a barrister before stints at Magic Circle rival Clifford Chance and DLA Piper. Nonetheless, he has still spent equally as many years as a Linklaters partner as Bennett, and one more than Harvey.

Having spent all of his Linklaters career at Silk Street, Moore has a large following in London and runs a banking group that accounts for almost 25% of the firm’s turnover. Before becoming banking chief Moore spent 10 years as head of leveraged finance with partnership board member Nick Syson.

The winner of the managing partner race will most likely work alongside corporate heavyweight Charlie Jacobs, the out-and-out frontrunner for the senior partner position set to be vacated by Elliott this time next year.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

With the frontrunners having emerged earlier this summer, the partnership board at Linklaters has formalised the six-man shortlist to replace Simon Davies as managing partner.

The governance body, headed by senior partner Robert Elliot, will pick from global banking chief Gideon Moore, finance and projects head Michael Kent, Asia managing partner Marc Harvey, disputes chief Michael Bennett, Western Europe managing partner Pieter Riemer and co-head of operational intelligence Tom Shropshire.

The 12-person board will select a candidate from the line-up and put them to a partnership vote to ratify the appointment this autumn.

Kent, who has long made clear his intention to become the next managing partner, and high profile Moore had emerged as the early frontrunners for the top job before Bennett came forward as a contender. Shropshire’s surprise inclusion sees the New York-qualified corporate and capital markets partner register as an outside chance for the role, having only made partner in 2006. He counts National Grid, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Rio Tinto as clients and has been named as one of the UK’s most influential black people for the past three years by Powerlist.

The firm will have a new managing partner in place by its partner conference on 17 November to ensure a handover period before Davies steps away a year early to join Lloyds Bank. The firm’s two-term leader will take up a post on 1 January as the banking giant’s chief legal, people and strategy officer.

Moore, who has a more international practice than Kent, is deemed to have had a successful four years in charge of the firm’s banking group, which accounts for about 25% of the firm’s global revenue. Having had a strong run on the back of a buoyant restructuring market following the financial crisis, many inside Linklaters feel Moore has outperformed his peers at other Magic Circle firms in guiding the group through a more difficult period recently amid a shift from traditional bank lending to other financing models. Kent, however, has a wider support base.

The senior partner race, which is traditionally concluded six months before the managing partner election, has taken a backseat following the surprise resignation of Davies. That position will be confirmed in September 2016, with corporate heavyweight Charlie Jacobs and co-head of global M&A Jean-Pierre Blumberg in the running.

Elliott, who is overseeing the managing partner election and attending executive committee meetings in light of Davies’ earlier than expected departure, is widely expected to stay on at the firm in a consultant capacity once his term ends on 30 September 2016. David Cheyne, who Elliott succeeded as managing partner in 2011, was similarly asked to stay at the firm and kept on as a consultant.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Finance & projects head Michael Kent and global banking chief Gideon Moore have emerged as the frontrunners to succeed Simon Davies (pictured) as managing partner of Linklaters with a replacement set to be elected by November.

With Davies leaving the top job a year early to join Lloyds Banking Group as the bank’s most senior lawyer in the New Year, the race to succeed him has seen Moore and Kent garner wide support throughout the Magic Circle firm. A long list will be formed within the next fortnight, which will then be whittled down to a shortlist by the end of August.

A partner at the firm told Legal Business: ‘Gideon and Michael are the frontrunners. Kent is the most open in publically declaring his hand. He’s the person that people know wants the job while others have been a bit more coy. Gideon has kept his cards close to his chest but people are now getting out of the boxes. Gideon has the support of a big practice area and he’s got a lot of the skills to do it. As a leader you have to have respect and people respect him. He’s pretty analytical and pretty sharp. Gideon starts with a bigger home base but Michael is regarded as a calm and steady hand.’

Asia managing partner Marc Harvey and Western Europe managing partner Pieter Riemer are also expected to make the shortlist. Harvey is viewed as having developed the firm’s Asia practice since replacing Stuart Salt in February last year, with Asia the only region to come out of the last financial year with meaningful growth as the firm’s revenue rose by just 1% to £1.27bn.

Harvey, who has also headed the firm’s global litigation group since 2010, has held a number of management positions and has been tipped as an outside bet to win the five-year term. With Harvey open to relocating back to London, after leaving Silk Street nearly two decades ago to boost the firm’s litigation group in Asia, one ex-partner told Legal Business ‘he’s had a lot of success and Linklaters is fixated on Asia so Marc carries a bit of currency’. Harvey, who made partner in 2000, served as head of China for the four years previous to running the firm’s Asia strategy.

Hong Kong-based Harvey and Amsterdam-based Riemer would be viewed as the biggest departure from the ‘iron rod’ management style employed by Davies, with both credited as possessing high amounts of emotional intelligence. Reimer is, however, seen as a longshot for the top job with little support outside of Western Europe. With around half of Linklaters’ 450-strong partnership stationed in Silk Street, one ex-partner comments: ‘Peter is a nice guy but the weight of the firm is at Silk Street so why would you trust a partner in a 20-man office in Amsterdam to run the entire firm?’

The only blemish against Kent, who is receiving wide support from partners outside of the firm’s power hubs of corporate and banking, is a question mark as to whether his management style would be too much of a continuation of what went before. One Linklaters partner comments: ‘He’s a bright guy and a straight shooter. The regulatory group has grown a lot and he’s run and built that group very well. He’s a very calm and measured guy and is a bit more like Simon than the rest of the frontrunners. He’s a little bit colder, with Harvey probably the most charismatic of all of them.’

Nonetheless, with corporate heavyweight Charlie Jacobs the strong favourite to secure the senior partner poster post set to be vacated by Robert Elliott next year, there is a feeling among Silk Street partners that Kent might offer complementary skills to the high-profile partner.

Moore, who has a more international practice than Kent, is deemed to have had a successful four years in charge of the firm’s banking group, which accounts for about 25% of the firm’s global revenue. Having had a strong run on the back of a buoyant restructuring market following the financial crisis, many inside Linklaters feel Moore has outperformed his peers at other Magic Circle firms in guiding the group through a more difficult period recently amid a shift from traditional bank lending to other financing models.

One former partner told Legal Business: ‘The reason Simon Davies won it was that he’d never really offended anyone so he was a neutral choice. Gideon is marmite and he has to face up to the fact that his profile is not equal to his personality. I’m not sure Gideon Moore as managing partner and Charlie Jacobs as senior partner is a ticket anyone wants in the firm as it vests the power in the two most mainstream groups and two high profile partners. Some people will think Michael Kent is the better option for that reason. Michael is a highly respected partner and he’s neither corporate nor banking. He’s a very decent guy and people would respect him. He would bring a lot more presence back to the managing partner role. Michael is a frontrunner, if not the frontrunner. ‘

Elliott, who is overseeing the managing partner election and attending executive committee meetings in light of Davies’ earlier than expected departure, is widely expected to stay on at the firm in a consultant capacity once his term ends on 30 September 2016. David Cheyne, who Elliott succeeded as managing partner in 2011, was similarly asked to stay at the firm and kept on as a consultant.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

It’s long been a trusted technique for major corporates to ship in public figures for advisory roles to open doors and bring a touch of geopolitical gravitas to the table but so far the idea has rarely made it to law. But Linklaters  has decided to borrow from the plc playbook with the appointment of former UK Foreign Secretary William Hague to a newly created ‘International Advisory Group’ in a bid to bring in an ‘external perspective’ on the firm’s strategy.

A statement issued by the City giant said the new body will aim to support ‘the governance and strategic direction-setting of the firm’, and consist of internationally-renowned individuals that can offer guidance on matters that impact the firm and its clients.

‘[The group] will act as a sounding board, providing critical input as we develop and refine our strategy, suggesting priorities for consideration, highlighting opportunities, and signposting risk,’ Linklaters said in a statement. The firm said that the once the group becomes established, it will play a role in Linklaters’ global partner meetings.

Linklaters senior partner Robert Elliott commented: ‘We believe that under William’s leadership, this group will provide us with an extra gear in making the most of current opportunities and shaping the long-term future of the firm. It will include outstanding individuals bearing international reputations, who can bring innovative thinking, genuine insight and high quality constructive input.’

Despite some of the fuzzy messaging around the announcement, it seems more likely that Hague has been brought in for his ability to position Linklaters in the minds of key influencers rather than for his incisive take on the pros and cons of lockstep remuneration or how to drive margin via a client relationship programme.

Hague’s appointment comes after the foreign secretary stood down last year after a cabinet reshuffle. He will join Linklaters’ advisory group in September 2015 as its sole member with the discretion to appoint others.

Discounting a speech as a teenager at a Conservative Party conference, Hague rose to early national prominence as leader of the opposition between 1997 and 2001, when he led a party struggling to cope with the early years of the New Labour bandwagon. His term as Conservative leader ended with the 2001 general election with a second comprehensive defeat at the polls. However, Hague, a superb public speaker generally judged in Westminster to have an intellectually agile mind, made a substantial comeback in political life as a well-regarded foreign secretary in the 2010-2015 coalition administration. He stood down as an MP after 26 years ahead of this year’s general election.

Hague was quoted in the statement as saying: ‘This group will be flexible and pragmatic in how it supports the firm and I am looking forward to spending time with the talented workforce who drive this great firm and the partners who lead it. Additional members of the group will be identified over the coming months and my priority will be to find innovative and influential thinkers who are well renowned in their fields.’

The addition to Linklaters’ leadership team comes as the City law firm this month confirmed that its managing partner Simon Davies was standing down early to take a senior legal and strategic role at Lloyds Banking Group.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk