Legal Business

Branching out: RPC, Eversheds and Bird & Bird create new consultancy offerings

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Innovation Bird & BirdEversheds SutherlandRPC
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The recent push by major UK firms into non-legal services looks set to continue, with Bird & Bird and RPC both unveiling moves into non-legal consultancy, while Eversheds further expands its pioneering service.

Sticking with its technology, media and telecoms specialism, Bird & Bird in February established an IT project consultancy, Baseline, in a joint venture with Lancashire-based ASE Consulting. The endeavour sees partners, led by co-head of Bird & Bird’s transformational project team Dominic Cook, invest their own capital in the project, with the team agreeing to pass legal work back to the firm.

Legal Business

Hunting Titans: RPC fails to convince judge to order BNY Mellon to release Argentinian bondholders

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Litigation Allen & OveryLatham & WatkinsRPC
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The battle between Argentinian bondholders and the South American government rattles on after RPC failed to convince a High Court judge to order the trustee, The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon), to release $257m to four holdout investors.

George Soros’s Quantum Partners, Knighthead Master Fund, RGY Investments and Hayman Capital Master Fund had been seeking to have the judge declare that BNY Mellon pay the holdout investors, confirm that Argentina’s English law bonds are governed by English law and request that he tell the bank to show a copy of the judgment to a US court currently stopping Argentina from paying out the bonds.

Mr Justice David Richards said ordering the BNY Mellon to pay the holdouts would ‘would be in breach of trust’ and ‘serves no useful purpose’.

While the judge did rule that the bonds in the trust are governed by English law, he refused to order the bank to show his judgment on the matter to the US court.

He explained: ‘The claimants are critical in some respects of the conduct of the trustee in the US proceedings. I do not propose to enter into a discussion of those criticisms. I am in no doubt that the trustee is conscious of its obligations as trustee but equally it is conscious, as it must be, of the delicate position in which it finds itself as a trustee subject to the personal jurisdiction of the US courts’

He added: ‘I am not satisfied that the trustee’s conduct of the litigation has been outside the reasonable range of possible approaches.’

Tom Hibbert, a partner at RPC, and Latham & Watkins‘ former vice-chair of global litigation John Hull, were representing the four holdout investors. They instructed Mark Hapgood QC of Brick Court Chambers and David Quest QC of 3 Verulam Buildings.

Andrew Denny, a London litigator at Allen & Overy, advised BNY Mellon on the proceedings and instructed Robert Miles QC of 4 Stone Buildings.

The bondholders said in a statement: ‘The Honourable Mr Justice David Richards today made an important Declaration in the Chancery Division of the High Court in London that the sum of €225 million transferred by the Republic of Argentina to the account of the trustee (BNY Mellon) with Banco Central de la República Argentina on 26 June 2014 is held on trust and that the trust is governed by English law.’

‘The Claimant Euro Bondholders are very pleased with the English Court’s decision, which represents a significant step forward in the defence of their interests under the English law Trust. They have been deeply concerned that their legitimate English law proprietary interests in the payments have not been taken into account in the on-going US litigation. They now hope that this declaration can be brought to the attention of the appropriate Courts at the first available opportunity and that those courts will have regard to the decision of the English Court.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘Willingness to do things differently’: RPC to try hand at management consultancy

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Innovation RPC
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RPC is set to launch a new management consultancy business to target its core insurance sector clients, and has hired Rory O’Brien, the former global head of risk consulting and software at Towers Watson, to spearhead the venture.

In what is a rare move by a Legal Business 100 law firm into the management consultancy business – with Eversheds Agile and Addleshaw Goddard’s professional practices consultancy being notable examples – O’Brien joins the firm as a partner and will sit on RPC’s management board. He has been tasked with broadening the top-end advisory services RPC offers its clients in the insurance sector.

Having also served as managing partner and head of insurance management consultancy at EMB Consulting, O’Brien will build an insurance management consulting team that will advise clients on issues including strategy, capital management, operational efficiency, regulation, M&A, and outsourcing.

O’Brien said: ‘There is a major opportunity to create an alternative insurance consultancy provider that is independent, has deep sector expertise and an insurance industry focus. I share RPC’s ambition and willingness to do things differently in the best interests of clients, so it was a natural and logical move to come here, to a firm with a well-established brand in the insurance sector and a track record in innovation and entrepreneurial spirit.’

The firm’s managing partner Jonathan Watmough (pictured) added: ‘Rory is a leader in the market and has a strong track record of helping clients prosper. This innovative move to combine top-end consulting and legal services is compelling for our clients, and a significant departure from the traditional law firm offering. And it’s the first major step in RPC becoming a broad-based City professional services business.’

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

H1 2014/15: ‘The way we’d planned it’ – RPC half year revenue rises by 16%

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Financial results 2014/15 RPC
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City law firm RPC has recorded a 16% rise in its first half-year revenue from £38.7m in the same period last year to £46m. The firm said the rise, covering the period May to October, was a ‘direct result’ of its investment strategy and was spread across most of its practice areas and offices.

Managing partner Jonathan Watmough said: ‘This is where I’d hoped we’d be and puts us in a good position to push on into the second half of the year, which is traditionally stronger for us. These results demonstrate that our investment strategy is delivering the way we’d planned it.’

In July, the firm posted mixed financial results for 2013/14, with revenue up 3% to £84.1m – representing growth of 40% since 2011 – but partner profits down by 6% to £26m. Profit per equity partner (PEP) came in at £338,000 for the period, a 9% drop on last year’s figure of £372,000. The firm did not report a profit figure for the half-year.

The firm this year notably strengthened its insurance and marine capability in the UK and Asia with the hire of senior litigation partner Leigh Williams from Clyde & Co and shipping and international trade partner Steven Wise from Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) in Hong Kong.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk 

Legal Business

Summer retention 2013/14: RPC posts 100% trainee retention rate as CMS sees rate drop to 67% post Dundas tie-up

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Trainee retention CMS UKRPC
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City firm RPC is the latest to reveal its trainee retention rates this summer, and has announced it will keep all 15 trainee solicitors who applied to qualify this year, constituting the second time the firm has achieved a 100% rate since 2010. Meanwhile, CMS Cameron McKenna posted more modest results and confirmed a retention rate of 67.2%, with the firm’s London office keeping the lion’s share of trainees.

For RPC, the results signal a consistently positive retention rate for the firm, which kept 100% in 2011; 80% in 2012; and 81% last year.

RPC managing partner Jonathan Watmough said: ‘We invest a lot of time and money in our trainee recruitment programme, and set the bar for qualification very high. It’s always particularly pleasing, therefore, when we get such an outstanding group who make the grade, and doubly gratifying when we are able to offer them all positions at the firm.’

‘We have a very good record of retaining a high percentage of our trainees which is testament to the rigour of our recruitment process and the quality of our development programme throughout the training contract.’

‘We look to attract a very specific kind of person – someone who’s as interested in understanding business as learning the law, and who has the breadth of experience and range of interests to bring a different perspective to the advice they give their clients.

‘Given the quality I see coming through year on year the future success of RPC is in good hands.’

For Cameron McKenna, a breakdown of the results will see 21 join the City office; four join the Bristol office; 10 take a position in Edinburgh; three join in Glasgow; and three in Aberdeen.

The results are a marked shift downwards on last year’s results which saw the firm hold onto 28 out of 34 newly qualified lawyers that September, equating to a retention rate of 82%.

Graduate recruitment partner Simon Pilcher attributed the lower results to the firm’s recent combination with beleaguered Scots firm Dundas & Wilson that went live in May. He explained: ‘We have a significant increase in the number of trainees qualifying in August compared to last year (61 trainees this year compared to 34 last year). As a consequence, due to the volume of trainees the overall retention rate is regrettably lower than in previous years.’

‘However we are in a strong position as a firm post-merger and were therefore able to offer more NQ positions than last year with 41 trainees accepting roles with us. This represents an increase of 46% compared to the number of roles offered in the August qualification round last year and a 64% increase in comparison to Aug 2012.’

Other results to emerge in recent weeks include Magic Circle firm Linklaters which kept 93% of qualifying trainees in its latest cohort and Mayer Brown which said in late July it kept ten (or 67%) of trainees for September 2014. More evidence of the firm’s intention to scale back includes plans to cut its September 2016 trainee intake by half, and take in just ten applicants compared to its usual 20-strong group.

Sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Financial results 2013/14: RPC posts mixed results with revenue up 3% against 9% drop in PEP

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Financial results 2013/14 RPC
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RPC has this morning (21 July) posted mixed financial results for 2013/14, with revenue up 3% to £84.1m – representing growth of 40% since 2011 – but partner profits down by 6% to £26m. Profit per equity partner (PEP) came in at £338,000 for the period, a 9% drop on last year’s figure of £372,000.

In 2012/13 the City firm rose five places to 44 in the LB 100 with a revenue uptick of 21% to £82.1m, while PEP increased 5% to £372,000. Profit per lawyer, however, dipped 8% to £86,000.

Managing partner Jonathan Watmough (pictured) said: ‘We’re very pleased with last year’s revenue growth, particularly off the back of the stellar 20% increase we posted the year before. Especially given that our growth – broadly in line with what the likes of the Magic Circle have achieved – is entirely organic, and not the result of merger activity.

‘But it could have been better – last year saw a significant uptick in activity towards the financial year-end but too late to be accounted for in the 2013/14 financial year. But it has meant this year has got off to a flying start – revenue to date is already 14% up on the same period last year, with average recovered rates also continuing to climb.’

He added: ‘We’re not motivated or governed by some arbitrary PEP metric and so we don’t run the business that way. Compare this with other firms who have announced 3-5% increases in revenue and, in some cases, larger increases in profit and PEP; surely, in a case like that, when costs are increasing by up to 7% year on year you can only increase profit in a climate like this by slashing cost and not investing, and you can only increase PEP by cutting partners and not replacing them. That’s not our style, and nor will it ever be.’

In December 2013, RPC took steps to adopt an entirely merit-driven pay model and announced its intentions to abolish the traditional flat-rate salary for newly-qualified solicitors (NQs) in the UK and move to a system linked to merit and market rates from September 2014.

Highlights in the last year saw the firm secure a place on the 25-strong advisory panel for AIG, as well as winning the mandate to be sole advisor on a project involving pharma giant AstraZeneca on the acquisition, construction and planning related issues for a new global research and development (R&D) centre and corporate headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, which AstraZeneca intends to inject £330m into.

However, the year also saw the firm lose its head of financial services and regulatory Steven Francis to Baker & McKenzie in March, while insurance partner Simon Kilgour joined the City office of fellow international firm CMS. Last week also saw DLA Piper hire a four-strong real estate team from RPC, including heavyweight Stephen Malley.

Sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

RPC bolsters insurance and marine teams with double hire from Clydes and Holman Fenwick

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Strategic recruitment RPC
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RPC has strengthened its insurance and marine capability in the UK and Asia with the hire of senior insurance litigation partner Leigh Williams from Clyde & Co and shipping and international trade partner Steven Wise from Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) in Hong Kong.

Williams will be based in London and specialises in complex high value international insurance and reinsurance litigation work, with a particular focus on the marine and energy sectors. Originally qualified as a barrister, Williams was previously a partner at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert between 2005 and its merger with Clydes in 2011.

Notable cases he has advised on include acting for Polish conglomerate Elektrim on its €2.5bn dispute with French and German telecoms companies Vivendi and T-Mobile, and for German truck manufacturer MAN in its successful US$1bn claim against Daimler Chrysler subsidiary Freightliner, the highest damages award ever made by the English Commercial Court at the time.

RPC managing partner Jonathan Watmough (pictured) said: ‘Leigh is well known to many of us here at RPC, and we’re very much looking forward to him joining. We are actively investing in our high value complex insurance litigation practice, and he fits squarely into that space. He also has a broad-based background handling more general commercial litigation and international arbitration, which dovetails neatly with our existing arbitration practice.’

Wise, meanwhile, will be based in Hong Kong and focus on dry shipping and trade disputes, alongside complex charterparty and multi-jurisdictional litigation and arbitration. Wise has worked in Asia for over ten years and primarily acts for members of P&I clubs in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and mainland China, as well as representing ship owners, operators and trading companies.

The hire in Hong Kong follows RPC’s earlier recruitment of Ince & Co’s Singapore head of insurance and reinsurance Iain Anderson in October 2013, to boost its insurance capability in the jurisdiction.

Watmough added: ‘Steven’s expertise complements our existing marine practice, headed by Andrew Horton. Coming shortly after the appointment of marine insurance partner Iain Anderson in Singapore towards the end of last year, Steven’s arrival means that, since we opened in August 2012, we’ve already established one of the strongest Asia Pacific marine practices.’

Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

RPC in talks with breakaway Edwards Wildman partners alongside Cooley and Foley & Lardner

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US firms Locke LordRPC
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RPC is in talks with a potential breakaway group of Edwards Wildman Palmer City partners – made up of corporate partners Niall McAlister, Eero Rautalahti, Stuart Blythe, and insurance and reinsurance partner David Kendall – alongside California-headquartered Cooley and top-60 Global 100 US firm Foley & Lardner.

The formerly five-strong splinter group is down to four after Shawn Atkinson, who served as co-chair of Edwards Wildman’s venture capital group, resigned in June to go to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Legal Business

RPC in talks with breakaway Edwards Wildman partners alongside Cooley and Foley & Lardner

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US firms Locke LordRPC
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RPC is in talks with a potential breakaway group of Edwards Wildman City partners – made up of corporate partners Niall McAlister, Eero Rautalahti, Stuart Blythe, and insurance and reinsurance partner David Kendall – alongside California-headquartered Cooley and top 55 Global 100 US firm Foley & Lardner.

The formerly five-strong splinter group is down to four after Shawn Atkinson, who served as co-chair of Edwards Wildman’s venture capital group, resigned last week to go to Orrick.

Located at Old Broad Street, the partners are understood to be unhappy over a lack of support from the US together with issues of ‘disconnection’ and pay.

A partner at the firm said: ‘Everybody has a different take on this. Everyone likes more money and more love from colleagues. That’s like any US firm in London and it’s very normal for a lower end AmLaw firm.’

The firm has denied claims that it is looking to sell off its London office and the partner added: ‘The firm will always have a London office but just different in size.’

The discussions follow a string of partner exits, most recently insurance & reinsurance partner Damian Connolly, who this month took up the position of chief legal officer for American managed healthcare company Aetna International. In early June, insurance heavyweight Francis Mackie started a new role at national firm Weightmans.

An ex-partner told Legal Business: ‘It’s the usual mixture of problems of a London office when it goes to the stage of being neglected. There are partners looking at their exit strategy if the talks don’t meet their expectations and satisfaction.’

Edwards Wildman and RPC declined to comment. Foley did not return requests for comment.

Sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Partner promotions: Watson Farley; RPC; TLT and McCann FitzGerald unveil numbers

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Partnership promotions McCann FitzGeraldRPCTLTWatson Farley and Williams
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Top 50 UK firms Watson, Farley & Williams (WFW) and RPC have unveiled their latest partner promotions, making up 13 and three lawyers respectively, as top 60 firm TLT and leading Irish firm McCann FitzGerald both announced today (7 May) that they have promoted four lawyers.

WFW’s 13 promotions – which is a significant increase on last year’s figure, when just four lawyers were made up – brings the total number of partners to 133.

The new partners have been promoted in eight of the firm’s 13 offices, with three apiece in London and Hamburg, two in New York, and one each in Athens, Bangkok, Paris, Rome and Milan.

Promotions were made across six practice areas including the 389-lawyer firm’s energy and projects group, real estate, corporate, maritime, finance and disputes.

Managing partner Lothar Wegener said: ‘I congratulate these 13 outstanding lawyers on their promotions to the WFW partnership. In addition to highlighting our confidence in these individuals as practitioners, collectively this group of new partners underscores the ongoing strength of the firm as a whole, and the confidence we have in our respective practices.’

Meanwhile, RPC promoted three new partners across its insurance and reinsurance disputes, insurance disputes (professional indemnity) and competition practices. Last year, the 311-lawyer firm made up just one lawyer.

‘When we appoint new partners at RPC we’re welcoming them as genuine owners of the business, with a real stake in our future success. That’s the reality of an all equity partnership. So, naturally, the bar is set that much higher,’ said RPC’s managing partner Jonathan Watmough.

Maintaining a steady hand is TLT, which promoted four of its associates to partnership – the same number as last year – across the 250-lawyer firm’s corporate, disputes and banking teams, within its Bristol and London offices.

The promotions take the firm’s total partner headcount to 96. In addition, TLT promoted 20 solicitors to associate, up from 2013 when that figure was just nine.

TLT’s senior partner Robert Bourns said: ‘These promotions, both at partner and associate level, recognise the drive by individuals to identify client need and deliver in a way that clients find supportive and valuable – getting the job done. Their commitment to understanding and matching the clients’ business needs and the whole firm’s legal expertise, together with their flexibility and responsiveness make the difference.’

All partner promotions went into effect on 1 May 2014.

Outside of the UK, leading Irish law firm McCann FitzGerald today announced the appointment of four new partners, with one in banking and financial services; two in dispute resolution and litigation; and one in real estate, bringing the total number of partners at the all-equity firm to 70.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk