Legal Business

Disputes round-up: Rosenblatt listing eyes third-party funding expansion as trio of firms collaborate on new litigation tech

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Disputes Mishcon de ReyaRosenblatt

London disputes specialist Rosenblatt is trying something new with its planned launch of a litigation funder, while three law firms have also highlighted their innovation wares by collaborating with a litigation start-up.

Rosenblatt this week (8 May) raised £43m in its listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), giving the 21-partner firm a market capitalisation of £76m in what it described as a ‘significantly oversubscribed’ float. It was the fourth and biggest law firm initial public offering (IPO) to date.

Rosenblatt chief executive Nicola Foulston told Legal Business: ‘We have raised funds to fund our own lawyers. We are not currently operating as a third-party funder like Burford, but if someone says they have a case and they want our resources, we can take risks because we can afford to.’

Foulston added the firm ‘would be opening a third-party funder in the next couple of years’, however, and said ‘it would be a separate entity with a very strong steel wall between it and the firm’.

Foulston also argued the firm’s chief executive model, notably with a lack of senior partner, would be a key strategic boost going forward: ‘I am completely stunned that the sector is still dominated by those [senior partners], who are of course exceptional lawyers, but it makes them think they are capable of doing the job I do.’

‘The main benefit of our model is motivating and attracting talent. It moves the model away from a core base of equity partners who make decisions impacting their earnings, instead I make those decisions and the partners are rewarded. Everyone benefits from it.’

Foulston joined Rosenblatt as chief executive in 2016, specifically to oversee the firm’s journey to an IPO. She previously acted as chief executive of motor sport company Brands Hatch, joining in 1990 and managing the business’ 1996 listing on the London Stock Exchange. In 1999, Foulston was in charge as Brands Hatch was sold for $195m to US marketing giant Interpublic.

The firm is backed by respectable recent revenue growth. In the last financial year to 31 December 2017, Roseblatt recorded a 3% rise in revenue to £15.9m, while EBITDA grew by 28% to £5.5m.

Foulston says that while the firm is open to branching out into other areas, it remains focused on litigation work. The firm recently acted for Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell in the high-profile £127m sale of its newspaper business to Trinity Mirror, marking the end of Desmond’s 43-year-long publishing career.

Rosenblatt’s share price rose to 111p just after the market opened, but stood at 105p early Thursday (10 May).

The firm’s listing follow Gateley’s pioneering 2015 float, which raised £30m, and the listings of Gordon Dadds and Keystone Law, who last year raised £20m and £15m respectively.

In other disputes news, Mishcon de Reya, Baker McKenzie and Taylor Wessing have teamed up with LitiGate, a Tel Aviv-based legal tech start-up.

LitiGate, founded by ex-litigator Nimrod Aharon and AI practitioner Guy Uziel, uses machine learning algorithms to review arguments and suggest counter arguments and fall-backs. The technology is able to rely on a database of previous case law to recommend the optimum argument.

The start-up was one of five companies selected this week to feature in Mishcon’s incubation programme, MDR LAB. Nick West, Mishcon’s chief technology officer who oversees the programme, said the firm would ‘eagerly anticipate getting to know them, to understand what their technology can do and to help them perfect their product’.

All three firms will be providing their resources to further boost LitiGate’s development. Taylor Wessing partner Laurence Lieberman commented: ‘We are constantly looking for innovative solutions that will maximise efficiency to ensure the best outcomes for our clients, and reduce the overall cost of litigation.’

Mishcon’s MDR LAB, which ran for the first time last year, invites legal start-ups to work with the firm’s lawyers over a 10-week period during the summer.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Acceleration: Mishcon de Reya aims to bring ‘propositions to life’ in second MDR LAB cohort

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Innovation Mishcon de Reya

Mishcon de Reya has announced the second cohort of companies joining the firm’s incubation programme in London in the latest of a string of moves in the legal tech space.

The five new companies range from concept-stage to revenue generating, and will join the firm’s technology incubator programme over a 10-week period from today (8 May). ThirdFort, DealWIP, LitiGate, Digitory Legal and LawPanel were all selected following a pitch day at the firm’s London headquarters on 21 March, where a total of 16 companies presented their products and ideas.

ThirdFort was founded in September last year and is a property transaction product at the development stage; DealWIP was founded last June and has a user-stage product providing a platform for transactional lawyers; LitiGate is an AI tool for dispute resolution; Digitory Legal is a pricing prediction and management tool for litigators founded in 2016; and LawPanel, also founded in 2016, is an online trademark management platform.

Two of the companies are based in the UK, two in the US and one in Israel. The second cohort reflects a commitment to early stage start-ups, with lower-profile names making up the group.

MDR’s Chief Technology Officer and Direct of MDR LAB Nick West (pictured) commented: ‘The first year of MDR LAB really exceeded our expectations – as our ongoing relationships and investments in the 2017 cohort illustrate. We genuinely enjoy working with these early stage legal tech start-ups to help them bring their propositions to life.’

West told Legal Business the LAB’s focus was on early stage companies: ‘We want to go with companies right at the start of their journey. We go and get hold of interesting, early-stage technology and we will help them create a product we want to use.’

He added: ‘We’re always looking for a company trying to solve a real problem, and we recognise the pain points they want to solve. We want people with an interesting story and a good team that can work with us, and that’s what these companies have.’

The move follows banking giant Barclays announcing a legal tech iteration of its Eagle Labs initiative, while Allen & Overy revealed a shift in emphasis with a list featuring more well-established start-ups in its second cohort last month.

MRD LAB’s 10-week programme offers a more intensive approach to rival incubators as participants gain close proximity to the law firm’s experts and clients. MDR LAB was first launched in 2017, with Everchron, Orbital Witness, PING SaltDNA, Surukam analytics and Synergist.io making up the round. MDR has since invested six-figure sums in Ping and Everchron.

‘We’ve found this collaborative approach has accelerated the development of some incredible products and we’re proud of what all of the 2017 cohort have achieved’ West added.

thomas.alan@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

Gender diversity: pay gaps revealed at Addleshaw Goddard, Mishcon de Reya and Gowling WLG

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Salaries Addleshaw GoddardGowling WLGMishcon de Reya

A fuller picture of the legal industry’s gender pay gap issue is emerging as Addleshaw Goddard, Mishcon de Reya and Gowling WLG become the latest firms to reveal big earnings disparities.

Gender pay brackets at Addleshaw – published Tuesday (13 March) ahead of the 4 April deadline required by legislation brought in last year – reveal the firm paid its male staff on average 43.2% more in bonuses than women for the year to 5 April 2017. The median bonus figure was 33.3%.

Female employees were paid on average 23.8% less per hour than men, although again the median figure was lower at 16.4%.

In line with the reasons touted by other firms, Addleshaw pointed to a higher proportion of females being employed in junior and administrative roles, such as secretarial services where its PA population is 98% female, and fewer women in senior roles as the reason for the discrepancy between pay and bonus gaps. Human resources director Niki Lawson said this meant the firm’s pay gap was not an equal pay issue.

‘I don’t think the data for our sector is revealing anything we don’t already know but I hope it will help to drive greater accountability across the professional services community and even greater, collective commitment to addressing the underlying causes.’

Lawson said the firm was working to close the gap through a number of initiatives, including unconscious bias training and programmes it has introduced in recent years. Its female leadership programme Flourish began in 2012, after which nearly a third of partner promotions have been female, pushing overall representation in the UK partnership to 26% from 20%. The firm is targeting 30% female partnership by 2020.

Meanwhile, Mishcon pays men 42% more than women on average in bonuses, rising to 51% as a median figure. For hourly pay, men are paid 17% more on average, rising to 37% for the median figure.

‘As has been observed across the legal industry, the data is affected by the distribution of roles: we have many more women than men working in secretarial and legal operations roles,’ the firm said in its report. ‘In our business, 63% of our people are women. Our secretarial and legal operations roles are 97% women and make up 19% of the roles performed by women at the firm.’

Gowling WLG also published its numbers on its website recently. They reveal that the firm’s hourly pay is 25% higher for men on both a median and average basis, while bonuses are 64% higher for men on average, and 49% higher on a median basis. Again, the firm blames having proportionally more females in support roles than its lawyer population for the pay gap.

Regarding the bonus disparity, the firm said it has three bonus schemes but there is a higher proportion of females in the firm-wide scheme than in the director and fee-earner bonus schemes. The firm has a gender target of 30% female partnership by 2026.

‘We are confident we do not have an equal pay issue,’ the firm’s report said. ‘However, we are continuing to take steps to ensure that everyone within the firm has the same career opportunities, allowing them to access salary and bonus progression as they develop and advance through the firm.’

These numbers follow magic circle firm Allen & Overy, revealing on Monday (12 March) it paid its male staff on average more than 42% in bonuses than women, with the median bonus figure standing at 23%. The firm’s female employees were paid on average 19.8% less per hour than their male counterparts, a gap which widened to 27.4% when the median figure was calculated.

Other firms to report include Linklaters, which last month revealed that it paid its male staff members nearly 60% more in bonuses than women. Taylor Wessing, Bird & Bird, Pinsent Masons and CMS have also reported their pay gaps.

hamish.mcnicol@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘Embarrassed’ Mishcon partner ‘condemns’ Presidents Club conduct as SDT suspends assault solicitor – more to come for the profession?

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Legal affairs Mishcon de Reya

Law may have a reputation as a relatively staid career but it was inevitable that the profession would be drawn into the widening debate about the treatment of women sparked by last year’s reports of harassment in the film industry.

Following the latest controversy to grip business, Mishcon de Reya today (25 January) issued a statement of contrition after it emerged that one of its partners attended the controversial City charity dinner at the centre of a Financial Times report alleging harassment.

Mishcon issued the statement after it emerged that property partner Nick Minkoff was one of 300 guests at the Presidents Club Charity Dinner event held last Thursday (18 January) at the Dorchester in central London. The statement reads: ‘The existence of male-only events of the type operated by the Presidents Club are contrary to the core values of Mishcon de Reya, specifically that we always aim to foster a culture which thrives on diversity and respect for the individual. The firm endeavours in all its matters and dealings to be an inclusive environment where everyone can realise their full potential.

The actions that took place that night were deplorable and should be condemned. They have no legitimate place in society.’

The firm confirmed that Minkoff, who has been with Mishcon since 2010, ‘attended the evening as a guest in order to support good causes’. The statement added: ‘He is embarrassed by being associated with this event and has confirmed that he never personally witnessed any of the reported behaviours but does not dispute them. He himself condemns any such behaviours.’

The FT’s report on Wednesday (24 January) stated that a number of the 130 female hostesses hired for the event were subjected to boorish and demeaning behaviour by some of the guests, triggering outrage in business and political circles due to the event’s links to prominent public figures.

It emerged today that several other lawyers were on the guest list, including Francis Weaver, a former real estate partner of Kingsley Napley. He is currently a self-employed consultant to the firm.

Fried Frank corporate partner Dan Oates was also named on the guest list. A firm spokesperson said: ‘Dan did not attend the dinner and left shortly after arriving. Dan and Fried Frank are appalled by, and completely disassociate themselves from, the reported behaviour.’

Berwin Leighton Paiser (BLP) international disputes head Graham Shear attended the dinner, and the brochure for the event listed Shear on its seven-strong organising committee. Accounts for the Presidents Club name BLP as the charity’s principal legal adviser for at least the last five years.

BLP did not respond to requests for comment until Monday (January 29), days after being contacted. The firm issued a statement saying: ‘BLP is not, as incorrectly stated in The Presidents Club Trustees’ Annual Report, The Presidents Club’s principal legal advisers. We have done occasional pieces of work for the charity on a pro bono basis, as we do for a number of other registered charities.’

The BLP spokesperson added Shear was ‘extremely embarrassed’ and ‘deeply regrets’ his attendance and any association with the dinner. ‘Graham recognises that such events are inconsistent with our values and beliefs.’

The row came as the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) this week announced that Alastair Main, a former solicitor at City investment house Schroders, has been suspended from practising until 4 January 2019 and ordered to pay £2,000 in costs following a criminal conviction.

Main hit the headlines in January 2017 after being convicted of one count of racially-aggravated assault and one count of sexual assault at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court after an incident in a 2015 Christmas party at the London Rowing Club in South West London.

Main was ordered by the court to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and sign the sex offenders’ register.

The tribunal found that Main had breached professional principles requiring solicitors to act with integrity and for failing to maintain public trust in the profession. The full judgment, which will include the SDT’s full reasoning for the decision, is set to be published in March.

It last week separately emerged that Dentons had put a partner at its Scotland practice on a leave of absence while it investigates a claim of sexual misconduct.

Opinion remains divided as to how the legal industry stacks up against other sectors in stamping out abusive behaviour and harassment of women. While many believe the profession is now far less tolerant of harassment, others counter that the status and rewards handed to partners encourage abuse. But with the issue still on the business agenda months after claims first surfaced regarding US film producer Harvey Weinstein, the profession’s record looks set to face more scrutiny.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘Exactly what we’ve been looking for’: Mishcon de Reya hires equity capital markets head from Addleshaw Goddard

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Strategic recruitment Mishcon de Reya

Legal Business’ Law firm of the Year Mishcon de Reya has made a significant move to develop its corporate practice, today (15 January) hiring Addleshaw Goddard partner Tim Field as head of equity capital markets.

Field has advised a range of clients including investment banks, financial advisers, brokers, stock exchanges, regulators for over 20 years on matters such as initial public offerings (IPO), takeovers and securities law.

Field was head of Addleshaw Goddard’s own equity capital markets practice, and has recent experience of advising on the IPO of payment technology company SafeCharge.

Before Addleshaw Goddard, Field had acted as head of the Middle East offices of Simmons & Simmons between 2009 and 2012.

Nick Davis, Mishcon’s head of corporate, told Legal Business: ’Tim is a great fit in terms of someone who has built practices and is able to lead our equity capital markets offering. He’s exactly what we’ve been looking for.’

Davis said that the firm had not previously operated with a dedicated head of equity capital markets, and insisted that Field’s appointment ‘will take this practice forward.’

On the corporate practice in general, Davis commented: ‘Corporate has been sustained and built organically, it’s unrecognisable from five years ago. We are getting some fantastic associate CVs, which is the best test for me.’

The appointment of Field indicates another strong year of expansion for Mishcon, building out a corporate practice that largely plays second fiddle to its renowned contentious offering.

The firm’s last major hire came in November last year, when disputes stalwart Ben Giaretta arrived from Ashurst. Giaretta, who focuses on commercial arbitration, had been with Ashurst since 1999.

Mishcon will be hoping to build again on 2017’s impressive financial performance, when the firm recorded a 17% growth in turnover to £149.4m.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Second Ashurst partner exit this week as disputes specialist Giaretta joins Mishcon de Reya

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Strategic recruitment AshurstMishcon de Reya

Ashurst has seen its partner bench further diminished with the departure of disputes stalwart Ben Giaretta to Mishcon de Reya.

Giaretta – who joined Ashurst in 1999 – was made up to partner in 2009 and headed its Asian arbitration team out of Singapore for seven years. He moved back to the firm’s London office last year.

The move is a further knock to Ashurst, which has also lost two corporate partners to US firms in London since the end of October.  Earlier this week, Dominic Ross left for White & Case, following James Wood’s announced departure to Sidley Austin on 30 October.

Giaretta joins Mishcon in 2018 and will be focused on commercial arbitration.

Kasra Nouroozi, partner and head of the dispute resolution department at Mishcon de Reya, said Giaretta’s ‘focus on commercial arbitration is the perfect complement to our existing strength in investor-state work, as developed by Karel Daele over the past few years”.

A spokesperson for Ashurst said: ‘Strengthening the international arbitration practice even further is a key priority for the firm. We have a very strong bench of arbitration talent in all regions at all levels and under the leadership of global head of international arbitration, Matthew Saunders, we are confident that the team will continue to achieve great results’.

Other recent Mishcon laterals include restructuring and insolvency partner David Leibowitz and real estate litigator Joanna Lampert, who were both snapped up from Berwin Leighton Paisner in April. It is the current Legal Business Law firm of the Year, having posted the strongest organic revenue growth of any Legal Business 100 firm over the past decade.

nathalie.tidman@legalease.co.uk

For analysis of Ashurst’s aim of reviving its corporate practice, read: ‘Deal view: Ashurst strives to reboot M&A brand but deal market is getting tougher’

Legal Business

Bean bags primed – A&O buffs up disruptive cred as eight companies join its innovation hub Fuse

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Innovation Allen & OveryMishcon de Reya

Having already carefully cultivated an image as the most free-thinking City law firm in its weight class, Allen & Overy (A&O)has taken another step to recast itself for the age of disruption after choosing eight companies to join its ‘tech innovation hub’ Fuse.

The City giant is offering companies space in its London HQ which will work together with the firm’s lawyers, technologists and clients to create services and products for companies, financial institutions and law firms.

From 80 applications those chosen by the firm to take up places in the hub include legal AI specialist iManage – previously RAVN; digital legal services innovator Avokka; regulatory risk intelligence outfit Corlytics; legal technology innovator Legatics; legal management software company Opus 2 International; and AI company Vable. The first company to sign up for Fuse was fintech outfit Nivaura.

The Magic Circle firm has also taken on not-for-profit enterprise Ithaca, which aims to create a mobile online technology platform to assist asylum seekers gain access to pro bono legal advice.

The companies, which will move into A&O in September, are expected to spend four months using the facilities. After that time the firm will look to invite others to Fuse.

Fuse is the latest attempt by a prominent law firm to adapt the Palo Alto-style incubator model, with Mishcon de Reya and Dentons currently pursuing broadly similar ventures.

The tech companies were invited to pitch to Fuse’s selection committee, which included JP Morgan’s Oli Harris, Funding Circle legal counsel Robert Kerrigan, Amazon corporate counsel Alex Wong and Balderton Capital principal Sam Myers.

Fuse’s chairman, A&O partner Jonathan Brayne, said the selection process had been an ‘extremely interesting and rewarding experience’. He added: ‘We’re looking forward to welcoming the companies into the space next month, introducing people from A&O and our clients’ businesses to it and, ultimately, helping shape what emerges from the Fuse environment.’

The project is the latest in a string of innovations for A&O which last year teamed up with Deloitte for the first marquee joint venture between a Big Four accountant and a Magic Circle law firm. The firm eventually closed the doors to new clients following the launch of MarginMatrix, a tech-driven service to help banks handle regulation of the $500trn over-the-counter derivatives market.

While Fuse and its legal counterparts are billed as a means of bringing in new ideas and collaboration to the profession, the industry’s many luddites will be waiting to see if such ventures ultimately prove to be more vapid marketing exercise than brave new world.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Read more: If it ain’t broke… Do A&O’s New Law business lines live up to the hype? (£)

Legal Business

Watson Farley to retain all its qualifying trainees as Mishcon’s rate falls to 64%

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Trainee retention Mishcon de ReyaWatson Farley and Williams

Watson Farley and Williams will retain 100% of its autumn 2017 qualifying trainees, while Mishcon de Reya‘s rate of retention has dipped below 80% for the first time in three years.

All of Watson Farley’s 15 final-year trainees will stay at the firm on permanent newly-qualified lawyer (NQ) contracts, marking a modest improvement over last year’s autumn trainee retention rate when 13 out of 14 or 93% of its trainees were kept on.

The NQs will be retained across Watson Farley’s practice areas; four in energy, three in asset finance and corporate, and one each in litigation, real estate, tax, employment and finance.

Watson Farley’s graduate recruitment and development manager Lucie Rees said that the firm’s 100% retention rate was ‘particularly exciting’ and that ‘we have always been pleased that we have kept on a high percentage of our qualifying trainees over the years.’

Mishcon’s trainee retention rates dropped from its autumn trainee retention last year, when all 11 trainees were kept on. This year, the firm has retained nine out of a group of 14, equalling just 64%.

In a statement, Mishcon said: ‘We are constantly testing and improving our recruitment procedures. It’s disappointing that retention is lower this year – in the previous three years it has been over 80%. But we are confident that our evolving strategy will help ensure that the matching of trainees to the firm works well on both sides.’

A number of UK firms have announced their autumn 2017 trainee retention rates, revealing that Mishcon’s 64% rate fell below both Trowers & Hamlins and Withers, who posted 70% and 73% rates respectively.

Watson Farley posted strong financial growth in its most recent financials, with global revenues rising above 20% to £159.8m. Mishcon also recorded a strong set of results this year, with 17% turnover growth to £149.4m. The firm’s revenues have doubled since 2011/12 when Mishcon’s top line was £73.1m.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Labour MP Keir Starmer opts against role advising Mishcon Academy

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Strategic recruitment Mishcon de Reya

Keir Starmer QC, the Labour MP and the party’s Brexit spokesperson, has decided against taking on a role advising the Mishcon Academy, Mishcon de Reya‘s in-house training arm in London, citing other commitments.

In a statement, Starmer said: ‘I am grateful to Mishcon de Reya for discussing a possible role advising the Mishcon Academy with me, but, given my other commitments, I have decided not to further the discussions.’

Yesterday’s media reports of discussions between Starmer and Mishcon regarding possible work advising in-house training arm attracted criticism from a Conservative MP who sought to accuse him of a ‘conflict of interest’.

Earlier in the year, Mishcon de Reya successfully acted for campaigner Gina Miller in a landmark legal challenge which resulted in a Supreme Court ruling that confirmed the UK was unable to legally exit the EU without parliamentary approval.

Mishcon disputes partner Rob Murray acted on the case, instructing Lord Pannick QC and Rhodri Thompson QC.

Starmer, who was formerly previously the director of public prosecutions for England and Wales, has worked for Mishcon in the past. He joined the firm as a part-time dispute resolution consultant in 2014. Starmer’s register of interests says that between 1 June and 30 September 2016, he received £4,500 a month for legal advice provided to Mishcon.

Between June and November of the same year, Starmer also received £7,200 for legal advice given to West End firm Simons Muirhead & Burton.

The Holborn and St Pancras MP is a tenant at Doughty Street Chambers, where he specialises in human rights law.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Mishcon boosts fledgling cyber security consultancy service

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Cyber security Mishcon de Reya

Mishcon de Reya has brought in Mike Owen from PwC as the fourth member of its expanding cyber security consultancy service, advising clients on cyber intelligence, risk consultancy and reputation management.

In a month of global cyber attacks, the new cyber security adviser, who previously worked at BAE Systems and Sage Pay, joined Mishcon’s non-lawyer analysts Emeric Bernard-Jones and Laura Hawkins, and head Joe Hancock.

Mishcon described the appointment of Hancock himself, who also joined from Big Four accountancy firm PwC last October, as the lead for a service which goes ‘beyond traditional legal advice’.

The consultancy sits within Mishcon’s dispute resolution business, overseen by disputes head Kasra Nouroozi. Nouroozi and fellow lawyers Gary Miller, Robert Wynn Jones and Hugo Plowman all support the service.

Mishcon’s cyber service goes ‘beyond traditional legal advice’.

Hancock told Legal Business that the service had been well received by clients, and represented a ‘growth area’ for the firm.

Mishcon’s cyber security venture was unusual among law firms due to its combination of cyber intelligence, risk consultancy and reputation management, all under one roof, Hancock added.

A ‘broad range’ of clients have signed up to the service, including large corporates, financial institutions and private individuals. A number of them are new to the firm, others are pre-existing.

Hancock’s team consists of specialists in data theft, reputation management and data protection.

In 2014, Norton Rose Fulbright hired the former cyber security head at National Air Traffic Services (NATS), Paul Swarbrick. He focused on protecting client information and developed the firm’s cyber security strategy.

In 2015, Sullivan & Cromwell, Debevoise & Plimpton, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, Linklaters and Allen & Overy announced they would form a cyber security alliance to share intelligence on threats, specific attacks and best practice.

This would allow them to exchange information with US banks, such as Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, to protect sensitive information from cyber threats.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk