Ropes & Gray News, Analysis and Updates - Page 3 of 5

Ropes UK office founder Allen to retire at the end of the year

1 November 2016 11:34am3 August 2018 11:13am | Kathryn McCann

Maurice Allen, Ropes & Gray‘s UK office founder and senior partner is to retire at the end of this year. An internal memo announcing Allen’s intention to retire was sent out around the firm’s office today (1 November).

There are currently no plans to replace him in role of senior partner, created in July 2014 when the dual role of co-managing partner shared by Allen and Mike Goetz was split. A spokesman for Ropes said Allen will remain a consultant at the firm.

Allen (pictured) is a seasoned finance lawyer, working at Coward Chance, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and White & Case before joining Ropes & Gray with Goetz to spearhead the launch of the firm’s London office in 2009.

His clients have included borrowers such as Liberty Global, Ahold and Bain Capital; and lenders such as Avenue, Highbridge, Ares, Sankaty, Partners Group, CVC Credit, MV Credit and AMB. Bank clients have included Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs.

Speaking to Legal Business in 2013, Allen said: ‘I was very lucky that Ropes & Gray came along, otherwise I could have reached a low point at Freshfields. But no more moving now – this will be my last home.’

Legal Business‘ 2015 US Law Firm of the Year, Ropes & Gray, saw its London headcount jump 37% in 2015, underlining the firm’s City ambitions. Last year it signed a deal to move to larger offices in London, nearly doubling its current space in line with its ambition to have 150 lawyers in the UK by 2017.

kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk

Read more in: ‘Life During Law – Maurice Allen’

US partner promotions: Ropes & Gray promotes two in London in reduced global round

27 October 2016 09:41am15 February 2018 10:45am | Madeleine Farman

Partnership promotions Ropes & Gray

Two in the City have made the cut as Boston-based Ropes & Gray has promoted a modest 11 to partner in its 2016 round. The number of promotions in London match last year’s figures, but overall promotions are down 35% from 17.

Tax lawyer Andrew Howard and real estate lawyer David Seymour will be made up to partner on November 1 bringing the City office’s partner headcount up to 35.

Howard advises on transactions involving investment funds, including private equity, finance, securitization, special situations, real estate and fund formation and counsels clients on cross-border and international tax matters while Seymour has spent his career representing investors and lenders on a variety of real estate transactions across the risk spectrum.

The bulk of promotions were made up in the US with Boston receiving four, New York gaining two while Washington DC and Silicon Valley saw one partner made up each. There was one promotion in Asia with private equity lawyer Vincent Ip gaining partner status in the firm’s Hong Kong office.

The firm’s London office has bulked up its offering this year with the arrival of rising star Helen Croke from Travers Smith. Croke joined veteran Phil Sanderson who moved to the Legal Business Global 100 top 20 firm in 2014. It was announced earlier this month the firm had hired leading finance lawyer Malcolm Hitching who joins from Herbert Smith Freehills.

Other US firms to release their partner promotions this year include White & Case which bolstered its partnership by 40 this year, an increase of 23% on last year’s numbers with eight made up in the City. Kirkland & Ellis also announced it had made six up to partner in London in an 81 global partner promotion round.The firm has made up two fewer in the City than last year, when it made up eight in London of a total of 90 promotions.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Promotions in full:

Andrew Howard, tax, London

David Seymour, real estate, London

Megan Baca, technology and IP, Silicon Valley

Zachary Blume, capital markets, Boston

Nikhil Bodade, private equity, New York

Charles Boer, private equity, Boston

Kellie Combs, life sciences, Washington DC

Andrew Devore, insolvency, Boston

Brett Friedman, health care, New York

Vincent Ip, private equity, Hong Kong

Patricia Lynch, structured finance, Boston

Revolving doors: Ropes & Gray takes HSF finance partner as Harbottle & Lewis makes private client play

23 October 2016 23:00pm14 February 2018 11:24am | Georgiana Tudor

Strategic recruitment Harbottle & Lewis Ropes & Gray

Ropes & Gray has strengthened in the City as Harbottle & Lewis has made a major private client play. Meanwhile, at the Bar, Essex Court Chambers has made several appointments.

Last week Ropes hired leading finance lawyer Malcolm Hitching as a partner in its London office. Hitching is HSF’s former UK and EMEA finance head and had been a partner since 2003. He specialises in corporate financings, restructurings and debt finance, recent credentials include acting for Virgin Group, Lonmin and Yell Group. The departure was the second exit from HSF in a week after HSF financial regulation partner Nick Bradbury also left for Allen & Overy.

Meanwhile, media firm Harbottle & Lewis has expanded into private client with the hire of Lee & Thompson’s family team, including partners Catherine Bedford, Nicholas Westley and Mark Irving and their associates. Bedford, who will head the family law team, joined Lee & Thompson in 2007 and founded the firm’s family group. According to The Legal 500 she has ‘propelled the firm into the front line of niche family law firms’.

Finally at the Bar, Lucas Bastin is joining Essex Court Chambers from Latham & Watkins. Bastin specialises in investment treaty arbitration, international commercial arbitration and public international law and has been named leading junior in the Legal 500. The set also added Maitland Chambers banking and finance duo Ciaran Keller and James Sheehan last week.

Richard Jacobs QC, co-Head of Essex Court Chambers, said: ‘We are delighted to be welcoming Ciaran and James as new tenants. They are outstanding juniors with established reputations in the commercial/chancery arena, a great fit for the profile of disputes handled by members of chambers here and abroad.’

georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk

Ropes continues City buyout push with hire of Travers star Helen Croke

6 May 2016 07:39am14 February 2018 10:32am | Tom Moore

Strategic recruitment Ropes & Gray Travers Smith

Having landed Travers Smith private equity veteran Phil Sanderson in 2014, top 50 US law firm Ropes & Gray has returned to the leading private equity shop to recruit rising star Helen Croke.

Croke, who counts London-based buyout house Bridgepoint as one of her main clients, leaves Travers Smith after 17 years. Her departure comes as a reverse to the 300-lawyer City thoroughbred, which has so far had a strong record in retaining key partners despite the decade-long push by predatory US rivals into its core private equity heartlands. Croke will work alongside Sanderson, who formerly headed Travers’ private equity team before handing over to Paul Dolman.

Mike Goetz, Ropes’ London managing partner said: ‘Helen will enhance the already very strong team that we have built in London over the past six years. She is one of the most outstanding lawyers of her generation and her arrival will give us further capacity to not only serve our current client base but also build on existing opportunities.’

Croke qualified at Travers in 2001 and was made a partner just seven years later. She is a go-to adviser for the likes of Silverfleet Capital, which she helped to spin out of Prudential’s fund management arm M&G in 2007, and Arle Capital Partners, which Croke advised on its spin-off from Candover in 2010.

A regular for Bridgepoint’s smaller-cap business, Bridgepoint Development Capital, Croke has acted on a string of deals for the house including its sale of healthcare company Quotient Clinical to GHO Capital in December. Croke more recently handled its acquisition of a 40% stake in online lead generation business MVF in February 2015 and £42m purchase of e-document management systems Phlexglobal from Inflexion Private Equity in July 2014. (The general counsel of Bridgepoint is former Travers Smith partner Charles Barter, who switched in 2008.)

Boston-bred Ropes has been one of the fastest-growing US law firms in London since launching in 2009, making a sustained push in Europe’s private equity and leveraged finance market underwritten by mandates for longstanding US sponsor clients such as TPG and Bain Capital. Ropes is already the 13th largest overseas law firm in the City, with 133 lawyers. This represents a 37% increase in headcount over the past year.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

For more on US firms in the City, subscribers can see our 2016 Global London report

Ropes, Shearman and Slaughters win key roles on Liberty Global’s proposed acquisition of Cable & Wireless

17 November 2015 13:43pm6 August 2018 11:57am | Kathryn McCann

Corporate Ropes & Gray Shearman & Sterling Slaughter and May

Ropes & Gray, Shearman & Sterling and Slaughter and May have landed key roles on the proposed £5.5bn acquisition of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) by Virgin Media owner Liberty Global.

Both Ropes and Shearman acted as legal advisors to Liberty, with London partners Robert Haak and Jane Rodgers co-leading for Ropes, which worked on financing aspects.

Haak said: ‘Our work with Liberty is always a great team effort – collaborating closely with their in-house finance lawyers, Ruchi Kaushal, Nina Alitalo and Ian Johnston, and always working within a very tight time limit. We have again demonstrated our ability to operate seamlessly across both bank and bond products on complex acquisition finance transactions.’

The Shearman team advising Liberty focused on corporate aspects and included Manhattan M&A partners George Casey and Robert Katz and London based M&A partners Jeremy Kutner and Laurence Levy. New York-based partners Laurence Bambino, Doreen Lilienfeld and Alan Goudiss advised on tax, corporate governance and litigation matters respectively while Washington partner Ethan Harris also provided tax advice.

Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co worked alongside Shearman, advising Liberty on UK pensions aspects of the transaction, with a team led by Jason Coates and Paul Feathers.

Liberty’s financiers were advised by Allen & Overy and Latham & Watkins. Goldman Sachs, which was among Liberty’s financial advisers, instructed Skadden, Arps Meagher & Flom with a London team led by Michal Berkner that included partners Michael Hatchard and Scott Hopkins, with support from New York partner Paul Schnell.

Corporate partner Andrew Jolly led for Slaughters, to advise longstanding client CWC. The team also included financing partner Ed Fife, competition partner Jordan Ellison, pensions and employment partner Roland Doughty and tax partner Sara Luder. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison provided support to Slaughters on financing aspects of the transaction, with a team led by managing partner and global head of securities Mark Bergman.

Slaughters previously advised CWC when it sold its 55% interest in Monaco Telecom to a private investment vehicle in 2014. The firm also advised the telco as it built a strategic alliance with Columbus Networks in 2013.

The acquisition by Liberty, which also owns brands such as Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet, UPC, and VTR, is still subject to approval.

Liberty has been highly acquisitive in recent years, turning to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer last July when it purchased BskyB’s 6.4% stake in the UK broadcaster ITV.

kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk

Ropes & Gray promotes two new London partners in global round of 17

3 November 2015 10:00am15 February 2018 10:45am | Jaishree Kalia

Partnership promotions Ropes & Gray

Having been increasingly focused on growing its City offering through lateral hires and expanding into new practice areas, Boston-based Ropes & Gray has promoted just two associates or 12% to its City partnership ranks from a reduced global round of 17.

This is fewer than last year when the firm made up four City lawyers from a total of 20. But this year, associates Robert Haak, who focuses on corporate and financing transactions, specialising in high-yield debt offerings and acquisition finance and general corporate lending lawyer Benoit Lavigne, have made the cut.

The rest of the promotions were made in five other offices, including Hong Kong and Tokyo, across litigation, tax, finance, labour & employment and other areas.

From the total round, over half (nine) were female. The firm also announced a new principal in the its benefits consulting group and four counsel roles.

The promotions were effective from November 1.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Ropes & Gray’s partnership promotion round follows that of Latham & Watkins, White & Case and Cleary Gottieb.

The new partners are:

Megan Bisk – employment, Boston

Thomas Brown – litigation, New York

Sarah Clinton, investment management, Boston

Jennifer Ewing – private client, Boston

Pamela Glazier – tax, Boston

Adam Greenwood – tax, New York

Kathleen Saunders Gregor – tax, Boston

Robert Haak – finance, London

Benoit Lavigne – finance, London

Matt McGinnis – litigation, Boston

Anne Johnson Palmer – litigation, San Francisco

Sarah Schaffer Raux – special situations, Boston

Jennifer Rikoski, benefits, Boston

Jason Serlenga – private equity, Boston

Kaede Toh – government enforcement, Tokyo

Dan Ward – litigation, Boston

Peng Yu – private equity, Hong Kong

Revolving doors: key hires at Ropes & Gray and Clifford Chance while White & Case loses Polish disputes head

2 November 2015 00:00am6 August 2018 12:25pm | Victoria Young

Strategic recruitment Clifford Chance Ropes & Gray White & Case Revolving doors

Global 100 heavyweights Ropes & Gray and Clifford Chance announced key lateral hires last week, while White & Case saw the head of its Polish disputes practice leave the firm.

Boston-based Ropes & Gray expanded its global antitrust practice with the addition of Ruchit Patel. Joining from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton’s highly rated competition team, Patel will be the first antitrust partner in Ropes’ City office and continues the push by the London practice to broaden its offering, following the hire of its first London disputes specialist Thomas Ross from K&L Gates in April.

In France, Clifford Chance has improved its real estate practice team with the recruitment of King & Spalding partner Alexandre Couturier. With more than ten years’ experience in real estate, Couturier has particular expertise in the formation of real estate investment funds. He joins as a partner to the firm’s Paris office.

In Warsaw, White & Case was dealt a blow as its head of litigation and arbitration Paweł Pietkiewicz is leaving to join Greenberg Traurig. He will join as head of the 10-lawyer strong litigation and arbitration team as it splits from the banking and finance team.

The senior partner of Greenberg Traurig’s Warsaw office Lejb Fogelman said the recent successes of the firm’s banking and financial practices led to the decision to separate the leadership of the banking and finance practice from that of the litigation and arbitration practice. Former co-head of litigation and arbitration Andrzej Wysokiński will continue to develop the banking and finance practice.

Meanwhile at the Bar, 39 Essex Chambers has announced public law specialist Adam Fullwood will join the set. With more than 20 years’ experience, Fullwood joins from Kings Chambers. 39 Essex Chambers chief executive David Barnes said Fullwood had an ‘outstanding reputation’ in the public law arena and would be an excellent addition to its thriving team.

On the regulatory side, The Legal Services Board has appointed Ofcom director of investigations Neil Buckley as chief executive. Buckley replaces Richard Moriarty who departs in February 2016 to join the Civil Aviation Authority as deputy chief executive and group director for consumers and markets.

victoria.young@legalease.co.uk

Revolving doors: King & Wood Mallesons, Ropes & Gray, Trethowans make strategic hires

26 October 2015 00:00am6 August 2018 12:32pm | Victoria Young

Strategic recruitment King & Wood Mallesons Ropes & Gray Trethowans Revolving doors

On the move this week are partners from Clifford Chance, Weil Gotshal & Manges and Trethowans, who are joining King & Wood Mallesons, Ropes & Gray and Trethowans respectively.

King & Wood Mallesons has added Lorraine Vaz to join as partner, to start in London on November 2. Vaz joins from Clifford Chance where she was the director of leveraged and acquisition finance in the general banking group.

Ropes & Gray has appointed Jieni Gu to join as a partner in its Shanghai office from Weil, Gotshal & Manges. The firm said her addition to the M&A practice will help it’s ability to serve corporate clients in China as they pursue opportunities on a global scale.

Dorsey & Whitney has signed up Rajan Shori to join its London Real Estate group. Shori, who has 20 years’ experience in commercial real estate, joins from Howard Kennedy where he was a partner.

Kilian Helmreich joins Munich firm Gütt Olk Feldhaus as partner. He was a partner in the corporate department at Latham & Watkins and specialises in domestic and cross border mergers & acquisitions.

11KBW has hired Jonathan Auburn of 39 Essex Street to strengthen its public law team. Auburn is recognised as a leader in public law, community care, education and local government in the Legal 500, and has written the textbook ‘Judicial Review: Principles and Procedure’.

In the Channel Islands, First Names Group has named Malcolm Macleod head of corporate services. A qualified chartered accountant, Macleod joins from Capital Asset Services where he was head of corporate solutions in Jersey.

Regional firm Trethowans has hired Sophie Eales, who leaves Bond Dickinson after more than a decade. Eales, who has significant experience advising major UK lenders and significant corporates has been appointed as partner in the firm’s banking team.

victoria.young@legalease.co.uk

Ropes adds first full-time City IP partner as it recruits McDermott privacy co-chairs in data security push

18 August 2015 15:50pm14 February 2018 17:04pm | Jaishree Kalia

Strategic recruitment McDermott Will & Emery Ropes & Gray

Ropes & Gray is pushing on with its City build-out with McDermott Will & Emery data privacy co-chairs joining the firm’s privacy and data security practice in London and Boston.

Rohan Massey has joined Ropes’ as its first full-time City-based intellectual property (IP) partner, after nearly 15 years at McDermott having joined in October 2000. Massey most recently headed the IP, media and technology team at the firm as well as co-chairing its global data privacy group. His main focus is IP asset management, data privacy and commercial deals.

In his new role at Ropes, Massey will advise clients on EU and UK privacy and data protection as well as media, e-commerce, outsourcing, IT and IP, and co-lead the privacy and data security practice, alongside Heather Egan Sussman who joins the Boston-bred firm alongside him.

Boston-based Sussman previously co-chaired McDermott’s global privacy and data security and technology practice alongside Massey, and will focus on on privacy, information security and consumer protection. Doug Meal, a litigation partner in Ropes’ privacy and data security practice said: ‘They are both big-picture thinkers, with an impressive track record of helping clients innovate while simultaneously meeting compliance obligations and solidifying consumer trust. Our clients will immediately recognise and benefit from the energy and brilliance that Heather and Rohan bring to our growing, global privacy and data security and technology capabilities.’

The hires form part of the firm’s wider push to grow its London base after it launched a commercial litigation offering with K&L Gates disputes partner Thomas Ross in April and recruited Chadbourne & Parke structured finance specialist Partha Pal in May.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Kirkland picked to defend Baxalta as Slaughters and Ropes take the lead on Shire’s $34bn hostile takeover

5 August 2015 13:02pm14 February 2018 12:33pm | Michael West

Corporate Kirkland & Ellis Ropes & Gray Slaughter and May

Shire has turned to longstanding adviser Slaughter and May in the UK while Ropes & Gray won the mandate in the US as it looks to takeover rival drug company and Kirkland & Ellis-client Baxalta in a hostile $33.9bn deal.

Slaughters‘ Martin Hattrell, who previously advised on the pharmaceutical giant’s $51bn bid for Abbvie, is working on the deal for Shire alongside a team including corporate partner Adam Eastell, tax specialist Tony Beare and competition partner Claire Jeffs.

Having turned to Davis Polk & Wardwell on the Abbvie deal, the Dublin-headquartered company opted for Ropes to work on US aspects of the deal this time around. The firm’s team was led M&A partner Christopher Comeau, whose previous work includes acting for Cubist Pharmaceuticals on several $500m+ acquisitions and its $9.5bn sale to Merck, and included securities & public companies partner Paul Kinsella and tax partners David Saltzman and Christopher Leich.

The deal is aimed at creating ‘the global leader in rare diseases’ and comes after Baxalta was spun-off from Baxter at the start of July 2015. Shire is proposing to combine the companies offering 0.1687 Shire ADRs per Baxalta share – giving the company an implied value of $33.9bn.

Meanwhile, Kirkland has been selected by the board of Baxalta, which rejected the deal earlier in July finding not in the best interests of the shareholders, to advise on the bid with a team led by corporate partners Scott Falk and Daniel Wolf, who previously acted for American General Corp on its $23bn hostile takeover by AIG in 2001. Kirkland previously advised Baxter on the spin-off of its Biosciences division which became Baxalta.

The combined firm would target having $20bn in sales by 2020 with 65% of that coming from products targeting rare diseases. The company would also look to the launch over 30 products designed to achieve over $5bn in sales.

michael.west@legalease.co.uk

Law firm financial data

Disputes hub

Crisis management

Powerlists

Nominations

Available Now…

GC Powerlist: Philippines 2023

GC Powerlist: Denmark Teams 2023

Ropes & Gray news, updates and analysis | Page 3 of 5