Legal Business

Bumpy start to 2018 for Norton Rose Fulbright as Japan corporate head departs and two offices close

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Asia Norton Rose Fulbright

While 2017 saw Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) further expand its global footprint through two mergers in the US and Australia, the new year has begun with the firm losing out internationally with Paul Hastings recruiting its Japan head of corporate and NRF closing its Abu Dhabi and Kazakhstan offices.

Paul Hastings confirmed Eiji Kobayashi has joined its Tokyo office today (12 January), with his four-person team, including two associates, expected to join him in the coming weeks.

Kobayashi joined NRF at the beginning of 2015 from Japan’s largest firm, 500-lawyer Nishimura & Asahi, where he co-lead the cross-border transactions group. He went on to head up NRF’s corporate, M&A and securities operations in the country. A US-qualified lawyer, he previously worked in the Houston and Tokyo offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. He typically advises Japanese corporates on outbound investment and M&A deals.

He said Paul Hastings’ ‘strong cross-border track record and local expertise in Asia’ attracted him to the firm: ‘I am keen to help the firm’s clients effectively navigate compliance and investigations challenges and to seize opportunities from cross-border mergers and acquisitions.’

Including the new hires, Paul Hastings will have 13 lawyers including four partners in the Japanese capital, all in corporate save for one partner and one associate in litigation.

NRF also closed its Kazakshtan base at the beginning of the year after Almaty-based partner Yerzhan Kumarov established a domestic shop, KM & Partners.

‘We mutually agreed that a full-service offering was no longer required by Norton Rose Fulbright in Kazakhstan,’ said Martin Scott, managing partner of Europe, Middle East and Asia. A spokesperson for the firm added the firm will maintain an unspecified ‘working relationship’ with Kumarov.

NRF also announced this week that it had shut its Abu Dhabi office in December last year, moving partner Paul Mansouri and the other two lawyers based there to Dubai. One of the business services staff was also moved to Dubai, while two other support staff were made redundant.

‘In the past few years, the majority of our activity has increasingly regionalised,’ according to head of Middle East Deirdre Walker. ‘As a result it makes better business sense to consolidate our resources in Dubai. Our clients want simplified access to our firm across the Middle East. This development addresses their needs allowing us to support them with their opportunities across the region.’

NRF’s move to pare back its Middle East operations has been a relatively common trend among global law firms that have grown like weeds internationally, creating a barrage of offices that very often do not live up to their initial promise. Major law firms have reacted to losses in the Middle East after overinvesting during the oil boom in the 2000s, with Abu Dhabi in particular a primary target. In 2015 and 2016, Simmons & Simmons, Latham & Watkins, Vinson & Elkins and Herbert Smith Freehills closed their doors to focus on Dubai, just 100km away.

These developments follow an expansive year for NRF, in which completed two mergers – with Manhattan-headquartered Chadbourne & Parke  and Australia’s Henry Davis York . These were not without fallout though, with four infrastructure and energy partners leaving in the summer to establish Pinsent Masons’ Perth office .

marco.cillario@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

NRF appoints first female chair as City veteran Parish steps down

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Leadership Norton Rose Fulbright

While Norton Rose Fulbright’s (NRF) chief executive Peter Martyr is closing in on two decades leading the firm, its C-suite will see a new face with Tricia Hobson becoming its first female chair and Stephen Parish stepping down as EMEA chair next spring.

NRF announced that Australia head Hobson will take over as global chair at the end of the year from the London-based Parish.

Parish will continue as chair of NRF’s operations in Europe, Middle East and Asia, a role where he was elected for a third term in 2015 . There will be a fresh election for the EMEA role in early 2018, though Parish has confirmed that he will not stand again.

Described by the firm as an ‘ambassadorial leadership role’, the global chair focuses on improving collaboration and client relationship among NRF’s various verein members, as well as promoting diversity and inclusion initiatives.

‘The main task is to be the external face of NRF from an international perspective,’ Parish told Legal Business. ‘There is quite a bit of travelling around the world to meet clients and preaching the good news about what NRF is doing. It is also about being the internal face, going around the various regions, telling our people what we are doing and how they can help with our development.’

The global chair role was first established in 2009 and held by Parish until 2011, when it was turned into a one-year role taken up on a rotational basis by the firm’s regional heads – along with Europe and Australia, the firm has a chair for its American and Canadian businesses.

The Sydney-based litigator Hobson was named in the role a few days after NRF’s merger with mid-tier Australian practice Henry Davis York went live on 1 December .

A veteran litigator, Hobson recently defended three former directors of QrxPharma in a lawsuit brought by a group of shareholders on alleged regulatory non-disclosure.

‘It is fantastic that we are able to have a woman as global chair,’ continued Parish. ‘One of the things I have been keen to promote during my time as chair is diversity, and gender diversity is one of the most important aspects of it.’

Martyr, who was in October confirmed for a sixth term leading NRF , said that Hobson’s appointment demonstrated ‘the importance of the Asia Pacific region to the development of our global business’. ‘Tricia’s knowledge and extensive experience of working within the global insurance industry will be invaluable as we look to grow our practice.’

The changes in leadership comes amid a busy time for NRF. Aside from the Henry Davis deal, the top 20 Global law firm in June went live on its merger with New York’s Chadbourne & Parke .

Marco.cillario@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

Martyr closes in on 20 years at helm as Norton Rose Fulbright chief gets a sixth term

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Leadership Norton Rose Fulbright

Having already been one of the longest-serving leaders at a major City law firm, Peter Martyr looks to be taking a crack at the industry’s record books after having been re-appointed for a sixth term as chief executive of Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF).

A spokesperson confirmed that Martyr will begin his new three-year term in January 2018, taking him until the end of 2020, by which point he will have had approaching 20 years at the head of the firm.

Partners were told of the appointment at a meeting in June but NRF has been unusually coy about the mechanics of the process, refusing to say if there was a vote for the new term. Martyr was formally elected to his fifth term in 2014.

Martyr was first appointed at the head of legacy Norton Rose in 2002 , becoming the architect behind the transformation of the City firm from ailing Magic Circle challenger into global giant via a series of mergers in the US, Australia, Canada and South Africa. The 4,000-lawyer firm last year turned over $1.685bn.

While Martyr is given huge credit for re-inventing the 220-year old institution, his long leadership has garnered some criticism from partners regarding lack of consultation and transparency… claims that will be fuelled by caginess over his re-appointment.

NRF has nevertheless been active again globally this year, securing mergers in the US with a takeover of Chadbourne & Parke and Australia’s Henry Davis York, giving the combined firm 160 partners in the country.

The firm deploys a verein structure which means that operates as a series of globally separate profit centres rather than a fully integrated partnership.

Martyr’s re-appointment means he will fully oversee the implementation of its 2020 strategy, which includes a focus on the implementation of a cutting edge practice management system from SAP and moves to re-engineer its business for global clients.

Speaking to Legal Business in July, Martyr said the firm was in a ‘transitional phase, a time of transformation and structural changes. A lot of what we are doing has been designed to drive efficiency and flexibility. It will take about five years for the strategy to be fully implemented. We are now in year two.’

marco.cillario@legalbusiness.co.uk

For more analysis of Martyr’s leadership, see ‘On the bus – Inside the Norton Rose Fulbright masterplan’ (£)

Legal Business

Expansive Pinsents ships in four Norton Rose Fulbright partners for third Oz office launch

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Strategic recruitment Norton Rose FulbrightPinsent Masons

Pinsent Masons is continuing its sustained international expansion drive with a new Australian arm in Perth and the hire of four infrastructure and energy partners from Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF).

The UK law firm’s new Perth branch, to open in the autumn, will be its third Australian office after Sydney and Melbourne and its fifth international launch in the last 18 months.

Legal Business

Cog on the Tyne – Norton Rose expands Newcastle legal services hub following successful trial

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Innovation Norton Rose Fulbright

After a year-long trial, Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) is following up on its recent transatlantic merger with further investment in its Newcastle legal services hub.

Supporting the firm’s operations globally, the Newcastle operation will move to larger premises on 1 November amid plans to increase headcount in the North East from 28 to 100 over the next two to three years.

The Newcastle centre launched as a one-year trial in 2016 that saw 25 paralegal staff and three associates provide legal support work across all practice groups. The team has also trialled the use of new legal technology, as well as collecting and analysing data for research.

Martin Scott, managing partner of Norton Rose Fulbright, Europe, Middle East & Asia, said expanding the team outside of London would allow the firm ‘to trial emerging technology and working practices, including agile working, in a structured way’.

Kiran Radhakrishnan, head of the Newcastle hub, told Legal Businessthe firm does not plan to move any employees from London and would prefer to recruit locally. He added that the pace of the team expansion will depend on demand, which at the moment ‘is looking very good’.

‘With its universities, the local talent pool and its growing reputation for technology and innovation, Newcastle seemed the right place to establish the hub. We ran a pilot to see whether the concept worked for us and that’s proved successful: demand is rapidly increasing, so the team needs to expand.’

NRF has signed a ten-year lease with Northumberland Estates for the new 6,950 sq ft premises in Quayside and was supported in the search by Invest Newcastle, a scheme devised by Newcastle City Council to support investment and job creation in the area.

The firm has focused heavily on efficiency in recent years and it is seen as a key plank of its strategy. The drive was illustrated by plans to relocate 170 operational roles, 5% of the global workforce, to a service centre in Manila, in a move announced in May last year. It is only the latest firm to focus on removing legal costs by enhancing efficiency through legal service centres, including Allen & Overy, Herbert Smith Freehills, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Hogan Lovells, among other Global 100 rivals.

Speaking to Legal Business this summer, global chief executive Peter Martyr said: ‘Efficiency is a big trend: that is why we are investing to get a platform that will make us more efficient. Everyone is focusing on that more than ever, because clients are becoming more demanding. The overall size of the legal market has not increased, so to be competitive you have to be more efficient.’

marco.cillario@legalbusiness.co.uk

For more on culture and strategy at Norton Rose Fulbright, read ‘On the bus – Inside the Norton Rose Fulbright masterplan’

Legal Business

‘A stellar team’: Pinsents to open in Perth with Norton Rose Fulbright partners

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Strategic recruitment Norton Rose FulbrightPinsent Masons

Pinsent Masons is continuing its extensive international expansion of late with a new Australian office and the hire of four infrastructure and energy partners from Norton Rose Fulbright.

The firm’s new Perth base, to open in the autumn, will be its third Australian office after Sydney and Melbourne and its fifth international launch in the last 18 months.

Norton Rose Fulbright’s Australian arm will see the departure of four partners, comprising construction and engineering specialists Rob Buchanan and Matthew Croagh, projects partner Adrienne Parker and arbitration expert Bill Ryan.

The firm’s Australian head David Rennick said: ‘In less than two years, Pinsent Masons has established itself among the preeminent infrastructure firms in Australia and enhanced its reputation across the Asia-Pacific region. Our strong growth and high calibre of work is being recognised and we are delighted to be able to attract a stellar team of fellow specialists to join us in expanding our business into Perth. The appointments also present an opportunity to expand further into the energy sector.’

Norton Rose Fulbright Australia’s managing partner Wayne Spanner connected the partners’move to Pinsents with NRF’s imminent combination with Australian law firm Henry Davis York, announced in June and expected for the second half of the year.

‘Some people will want to adopt a different course and we wish them well,’ he said. ‘This sort of thing is a common occurrence in mergers.’

He added: ‘We’ve had a strong, positive response from clients during our many conversations with them about what the combination would offer their organisations.’

Pinsents launched in Australia in 2015 and has since acted on infrastructure and energy mandates, including the AUD$15bn Melbourne Metro Project. The firm also advised First Solar on its project finance acquisition and development of a 48MW solar power plant and Samsung C&T on the AUD$2bn Roy Hill mining dispute.

The firm’s legal resourcing hub Vario will also begin operating in Australia, its first base outside the UK.

Pinsent Masons has invested heavily in its international operations in 2017. In June, the firm announced plans to launch in Dublin and the acquisition of diversity and inclusion specialist Brook Graham. In May, it entered Spain and South Africa with new offices in Madrid and Johannensburg.

In the last 18 months Pinsents has also expanded in Germany, opening an office in Dusseldorf and acquiring boutique Munich firm Mayrhofer & Partner.

The 1,600-lawyer firm has also strengthened its global teams through a spate of laterals this year: it hired three partners from Gowling WLG to bolster its Munich office in February and a new head for its corporate offering within the financial sector, Hammad Akhtar, from Ashurst in January.

When the Perth office opens, the firm will have 24 offices worldwide.

marco.cillario@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

US growth: Norton Rose Fulbright joins up with Chadbourne & Parke

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US Norton Rose Fulbright

Norton Rose Fulbright has completed its combination with Manhattan-headquartered Chadbourne & Parke, strengthening its North and Latin American presence with a focus on the financial sector, its chief executive said.

The combination, which completed on Friday (30 June) following a delay arising from several material conflicts, will make Norton Rose Fulbright one of the 25 largest law firm offices in New York City.

The global firm now counts 1,000 lawyers in the US, of which more than 300 are based in New York.

The firm now has around 4,000 lawyers in 59 offices across 33 countries. The combination will in particularly improve its capabilities in litigation, white collar disputes, tax, Latin American finance and infrastructure work.

The combination will also strengthen Norton Rose Fulbright’s operations in project finance, creating what global chief executive Peter Martyr described to Legal Business as ‘probably the strongest project practice in the world’.

Martyr added that the reason for the combination was simple: ‘We wanted to grow our strength in the US, they wanted a much bigger international position. We both are strong in energy, infrastructure and finance and our strategies are similar: this made the proposition particularly attractive.’

He said the firm’s reach would extend to Mexico City and Sao Paulo.

Andrew Giaccia, former managing partner of Chadbourne & Parke, is now vice chair of Norton Rose Fulbright’s US management committee.

marco.cillario@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

Norton Rose Fulbright delays Chadbourne merger due to a ‘few material conflicts’

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Legal mergers Chadbourne & ParkeNorton Rose Fulbright

Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has delayed its US merger with New York firm Chadbourne & Parke due to a ‘few material conflicts’.

Peter Martyr, global chief executive of NRF, said today in a statement that the combination process included an in-depth review of potential conflicts and as a result some material conflicts had been identified which the firm was working to resolve.

‘We expect our proposed combination with Chadbourne & Parke to enhance our capabilities and add tremendous value to our collective clients.  As we are in the process of working through the technicalities of bringing both firms together, it is premature to discuss any further at this stage. An update will be provided in due course,’ he said.

The merger with the $250m US firm will be NRF’s second North American merger in two years after NRF first entered the US through its combination with Texas practice Fulbright & Jaworski.

The deal will add to NRF’s $1.7bn top line and take the firm up to almost $2bn in total revenue worldwide.

Chadbourne is centred in New York, with a presence in Washington DC, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Moscow, Istanbul, Dubai and Johannesburg. It has a small insurance-focused offering in London.

Chadbourne has been on the merger hunt before, entering into talks with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in 2015, before talks ultimately fell through later that year.

Meanwhile yesterday (13 June), partners at NRF and Australian law firm Henry Davis York formally agreed to merge, less than a week after it was confirmed they were in late-stage discussions.

The merger will give the combined firm 160 partners in Australia with offices in Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. It is expected the merger will go live later this year.

kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

NRF votes through Henry Davis York Australian merger in second tie-up this year

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Legal mergers Norton Rose Fulbright

Partners at Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) and Australian law firm Henry Davis York have formally agreed to merge less than a week after it was confirmed they were in late-stage discussions.

The merger will give the combined firm 160 partners in Australia with offices in Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. It is expected the merger will go live later this year.

Henry Davis York offers services in five defined sectors – financial services, government, infrastructure, healthcare and university. The mid-pack Australian player is ranked top tier in restructuring and insolvency, with a good reputation in projects and infrastructure.

The full-service firm will tie in with NRF’s key sectors, financial institutions, energy, infrastructure, mining and commodities, transport, technology and innovation, and life sciences and healthcare.

NRF global chief executive Peter Martyr said the merger ‘will give us the critical mass we need in Australia to take full advantage of the steps already underway, at a global level’ to ‘modernise our business through the implementation of our 2020 business transformation strategy.’

The firm’s strategy, established in 2015, turns the firm’s attention to implementing new technology in the form of a practice management system from SAP, a plan for managing a diffuse and flexible workforce, increased use of data and analytics management, and knowhow, talent and knowledge management.

In February, NRF joined up with 400-lawyer New York-headquartered firm Chadbourne & Parke. The merger will see Chadbourne’s $250m practice bolted on to NRF’s US arm under the verein structure, giving the firm additional offices in Mexico City, São Paulo and Istanbul.

Madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Read more: On the bus – Inside the Norton Rose Fulbright masterplan

 

 

Legal Business

CAT orders Law Society to pay up to £230,000 costs in abuse of dominance case while first opt-out consumer damages class action fails

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Litigation Norton Rose FulbrightQuinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan

The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has hit the Law Society with a costs order of up to £230,000 to pay an online training provider after finding it breached competition law in a ruling published this week, while the first CAT opt-out consumer class action was withdrawn. 

In a judgment in May, the CAT ruled that, by requiring law firms to buy anti-money laundering (AML) and mortgage fraud training from it rather than others as a condition of maintaining their Conveyancing Quality Scheme Accreditation (CQS), the Law Society had abused its dominant position in the legal training market.

The claimant, Socrates Training, which provides online AML training packages, alleged that the Law Society’s actions were anticompetitive and sought an injunction as well as damages and costs. Its approved costs budget was £230,000.

The CAT ruled that the Law Society must now pay Socrates’ costs and damages. Socrates sought £112,500 damages in its claim form. The quantum of damages, however, will be determined at a later hearing.

Socrates has until 1 September 2017 to come to agree quantum, while a further case management conference will also take place in the interim to consider directions on the quantum proceedings. The date has yet to be fixed.

The Law Society was represented by Norton Rose Fulbright. Socrates Training was represented by Bernard George.  

In a separate set of CAT antitrust proceedings, the first opt-out consumer class action in the UK has failed after Dorothy Gibson, the National Pensioners Convention’s (NPC) general secretary, who was the class representative, officially withdrew the claim against defendant Pride Mobility Products.

Gibson has agreed to pay 60% of Pride’s costs, a figure amounting to roughly £309,000. Gibson had secured after-the event insurance through Burford Capital, underwritten by Great Lakes Reinsurance, for Pride’s costs up to £1.08m and her own disbursements in the case of failure.

The claim followed a 2014 decision from the Office of Fair Trading which found Pride had breached competition law by banning retailers from advertising prices online below Pride’s recommended retail price. Leigh Day represented Gibson in the case. Band Hutton Button represented Pride.

The second collective class action to be brought in the UK under the new collective damages regime is still awaiting approval at the CAT. That is a separate £14bn consumer damages opt-out competition class action case against MasterCard, in which Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner Boris Bronfentrinker is acting for the class representative.

The claimants, debit and credit card users in the UK, alleged that MasterCard charged retailers anticompetitive fees to process card payments and retailers passed that cost onto consumers.

A ruling on whether the claim will be allowed to proceed is expected this month.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk