Legal Business

Commerzbank loses bankers’ bonuses appeal

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Litigation CommerzbankLinklaters
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Commerzbank has today (26 April) lost its appeal in its high-profile four-year battle over unpaid bankers’ bonuses – one of the largest cases against a bank to run since the credit crunch.

Represented by Linklaters, Germany’s second largest bank will have to pay €52m to 104 London-based bankers, unless it obtains leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Stewarts Law head of commercial litigation Clive Zietman represented 83 of the claimants, alongside 4 Pump Court’s Nigel Tozzi QC. Mark Levine, employment partner at Mishcon de Reya, and Andrew Hochhauser QC acted for the remaining 21. Commerzbank turned to Linklaters employment partner Nicola Rabson, instructing Matrix Chambers’ Thomas Linden QC.

All three judges at the Court of Appeal – Lord Justice Maurice Kay, Lord Justice Elias and Lord Justice Beatson – upheld an earlier High Court decision that Commerzbank had breached its contractual obligations by failing to pay retention awards promised to Dresdner Kleinwort (now part of Commerzbank) employees.

Commerzbank, when it took over Dresdner in 2009, claimed the bonus promises were not bound by law. This was despite a verbal announcement made by Dresdner Kleinwort’s, chief executive officer Stefan Jentzsch for its investment banking division in April 2008, which claimed there was a guaranteed minimum bonus pool of €400m for that year.

The retention pool was formally approved at a board meeting where members clarified that revenues of an estimated €2.3bn formed the basis of a €400m cash pool.

 

Zietman said: ‘This is not just a victory for my clients. It is a triumph for common sense and for some very well established principles of English contract law. It is a great pity that the bank saw fit to contest so vigorously and for so long, a case that could so easily have been avoided.’

 

Kingsley Napley employment law partner Andreas White commented: ‘Given the huge sums at stake, Commerzbank is bound to attempt an appeal to the Supreme Court, but the bank’s patience with employment litigation may be wearing thin.’

The bank also lost the employment tribunal case against former employee Latifa Bouabdillah earlier this month, who was dismissed after not informing the bank about suing her previous employer and rival Deutsche Bank for discrimination. jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

 

 

 

Legal Business

Love the legacy but it’s time for renewal

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Comment Linklaters
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Tony Angel and the cute teddy bear next to him greeted me as I found my new desk – a Legal Business cover from 2003 and a personal favourite, a brilliant dissection of Linklaters’ painful reinvention as metric-driven world-beater. I soon dug out other classics, including the 2009 Icarus-themed investigation into pre-collapse Halliwells and the crumpled Hammonds cigarette packet illustrating a 2005 piece on the national player’s strained finances.

Legal Business

Davis Polk and Linklaters win landmark Lehman settlement

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Litigation Davis Polk & WardwellLinklaters
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Linklaters and Davis Polk & Wardwell have won a settlement agreement in the long-running Lehman Brothers bankruptcy that ‘unlocks’ $9bn of assets and sees them returned to the bank’s customers.

Linklaters acted for administrators PwC, an instruction the firm has enjoyed since Lehman collapsed in 2008, on all English law matters.

The Magic Circle firm has fielded a large team acting for PwC, including restructuring partners David Ereira, Tony Bugg and Richard Holden in London and litigation partner James Warnot in New York.

Legal Business

Insolvency teams line up on high-profile failures

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Finance Linklaters
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With HMV, Jessops and Blockbuster all entering into administration in the first few weeks of 2013, leading City firms have scored significant instructions.

Linklaters is involved in the administration of HMV, with restructuring and insolvency partners Richard Hodgson and Richard Bussell taking the lead. Linklaters had also been advising the lenders, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, to HMV Group since the beginning of 2011 and banking partner Chris Howard continues to advise the lenders.

Legal Business

Cleary and 2012 GC take top prizes in 2013 Legal Business Awards

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Cleary Gottlieb Steen & HamiltonLinklaters
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Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Linklaters and London 2012’s Terry Miller were among the key prize-winners at last night’s Legal Business Awards.

Cleary Gottlieb was named Law Firm of the Year from a shortlist including Baker & McKenzie, Bristows, Clifford Chance, Clyde & Co, RPC and Travers Smith. The Wall Street leader was singled out for a truly outstanding year, combining cutting-edge mandates such as Greece’s sovereign bond restructuring and advising Rosneft on its $55bn acquisition of TNK-BP, while posting the highest five-year growth rate of any elite global law firm.

In one of the most popular awards of the night LOCOG general counsel Terry Miller won the title of Lawyer of the Year for her work on London’s internationally-lauded 2012 Olympics.

Telefónica UK, meanwhile, was named In-House Team of the Year. Reinforcing a notable night for corporate counsel, the awards also saw the launch of Legal Business’s GC Powerlist, an annual appraisal of the most influential UK and international lawyers at the in-house Bar.

The awards, now in its 16th year, was held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel with nearly a 1,000 guests in attendance.

Other flagship awards saw Bill Drummond pick up the Management Partner of the Year Award, after being elected for a sixth term as head of Brodies, while TLT was named National/Regional Firm of the year following bold strategic moves into Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Ropes & Gray was named US Firm of the Year after establishing itself a major finance and private equity force in the City. South Africa’s ENS (Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs) was crowned International Firm of the Year for setting out its stall to become the first pan-African law firm.

Among the practice awards, Skadden Arps Meagher & Flom secured Dispute Resolution Team of the Year for the second year running, while Linklaters was named Corporate Team of the Year and Clifford Chance won Finance Team of the Year.

Mills & Reeve won the award for Real Estate Team of the Year, while Herbert Smith Freehills took home Competition Team of the Year.

Other winners included Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which won the award for CSR Programme of the Year, CMS, which won Energy & Natural Resources Team of the Year and O’Melveny & Myers, which picked up Private Equity Team of the Year.

For a full list of winners and shortlisted firms, click here.

mark.mcateer@legalease.co.uk This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Legal Business

TNK-BP takeover saga ends in largest Russian deal ever

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Corporate LinklatersRosneftSkadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
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The ongoing battle over what was to become of Russian oil joint venture (JV) TNK-BP finally concluded at the end of 2012, in one of the largest M&A deals of the year. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Linklaters all played lead roles on TNK-BP’s multibillion-dollar sale to Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft in December.

The deal has made Rosneft, advised by Cleary, the largest listed oil company in the world. However BP, represented by Linklaters, still has an almost 20% stake in the company after negotiating a cash plus shares sale worth $27bn.

Legal Business

Places up for grabs on FSA investigation panel

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Legal regulation Herbert Smith FreehillsLinklaters
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City law firms unimpeded by banking relationships will be seeking a place on a new Financial Services Authority (FSA) panel of external advisers to carry out investigations into financial institutions. The panel, which will be announced in spring next year, will comprise firms that will compile reports under section 166 of the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA), also known as ‘skilled person’ reports, as part of the FSA’s drive towards a risk-based regulatory approach.

The FSA put out a tender questionnaire in October as part of its process to appoint the panel. The FSA will use firms on the panel when a financial services institution finds itself in trouble, using the reports to decide whether to fine or impose other sanctions.

Legal Business

DLA Piper ramps up French offering with boutique addition

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Europe DLA PiperLinklatersPinsent Masons
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DLA Piper’s recent takeover of French corporate boutique Frieh Bouhenic is the most significant development in a spate of activity involving UK-based international firms in Paris at the end of the summer.

The international giant officially joined forces with the corporate firm on 1 October. Eleven-partner Frieh Bouhenic is ranked in the second tier for private equity in The Legal 500 EMEA, with a particular reputation for leveraged buyout work. Recent highlights include advising the consortium comprising Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, AXA Private Equity and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec on the acquisition of SPIE.

Legal Business

Magic Circle sees revenues up after muted financial year

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Magic Circle Allen & OveryFreshfields Bruckhaus DeringerLinklaters
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Turnover at Magic Circle firms rose by a modest 2.6% this year, with the UK’s five Global Elite firms pulling in over £5.2bn of fees and £4.2bn worth of profit in the 2011/12 financial year.

As the UK’s financial reporting season kicks off, Allen & Overy emerges as one of the top performers after another strong year that saw turnover climb by 5% to reach £1.18bn, up from £1.12bn in 2010/11. The firm is one of the best performing in the group over the past five years, growing revenues by an average of 3% each year since 2008. Much of that can be attributed to the firm’s network in emerging markets, with around 15% of A&O’s lawyers now based in Asia.

Legal Business

Australia tempts yet another major international player

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Australia LinklatersSlaughter and May
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Linklaters has joined the ranks of its Magic Circle peers by moving into the Australian market via an alliance with Allens Arthur Robinson (AAR).

The alliance, which went through on 1 May, was planned over a year ago, according to a source close to the firm. AAR, which had operated an exclusive relationship with Slaughter and May, is viewed by many as one of the best in the region.