Legal Business

Revolving Doors: Strategic UK hires for Irwin Mitchell; Simmons; Speechly and Winckworth Sherwood

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Strategic recruitment Charles Russell SpeechlysIrwin MitchellSimmons & SimmonsWinckworth Sherwood
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A series of lateral hires across the UK last week saw Irwin Mitchell take on a trio of commercial litigation partners from Eversheds, DLA Piper and Matthew Arnold Baldwin (MAB), while Simmons & Simmons bolstered its information technology team with a hire from DLA, and Speechly Bircham and Winckworth Sherwood hired into their planning and real estate practices respectively.

Irwin Mitchell made a significant investment into its business legal services division with the appointment of Eversheds banking and financial services litigation partner Jonathan Crook, DLA disputes partner Dorrien Peters and MAB professional indemnity partner Jonathan Sachs.

Sachs formerly headed the professional indemnity team at MAB and earlier roles have included leading the litigation teams at Pettman Smith and legacy Sprecher Grier Halberstam, now SGH Martineau. He will join the firm’s London office.

Crook was in Eversheds’ Manchester office previously, where he specialised in banking and financial services litigation, and he will transfer across to Irwin Mitchell in the North West City.

Peters, who originally trained as an electronic engineer with BAE before joining DLA Piper’s Sheffield office, specialises in complex disputes in the IT, manufacturing, engineering and construction sectors and the use of computer forensic methods in support of civil fraud claims.

‘All three are experts in their field and demonstrate our intention to grow our market share by investing in highly talented people who have an innovative approach to law and proven track record when it comes to supporting the complex needs of clients,’ said Nigel Kissack, national head of commercial litigation at the firm.

Elsewhere, top 20 UK firm Simmons & Simmons has expanded its information, communication and technology (ICT) team with the hire of DLA partner Hinal Patel to its London office. Patel’s practice incorporates non-contentious technology with an emphasis on technology sourcing and general commercial contracting. While at DLA, Patel worked in both the firm’s London and Dubai offices.

‘Hinal Patel’s arrival marks a further milestone in the expansion of our ICT practice. His extensive experience of ICT and outsourcing work and cross border matters will be invaluable to our international practice,’ said Mark Curtis, head of ICT for the firm.

Meanwhile, City firm Speechly Bircham has bolstered its planning practice with the arrival of Tim Johnson from DAC Beachcroft. Johnson specialises in environmental and ecological matters relating to the development of land and ensuring compliance with European Union law. The Legal 500 commends him for his ‘commercial sense’ and ‘very sound advice’.

‘Tim adds strength in depth to our team, in particular with his wide experience of acting for developers on complex, mixed use schemes,’ said Claire Fallows, head of planning at the firm.

Winckworth Sherwood has also strengthened its real estate practice with the arrival of Christopher Brigstocke from Squire Sanders where he was a partner. His clients include developers, investors, funders and public sector bodies. He specialises in dealing with transport and infrastructure matters.

‘Christopher is an enormously respected real estate lawyer. His considerable experience and client following will be a terrific asset to the team,’ said Roger Fitton, managing partner of the firm.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving Doors: White & Case disputes partner joins the Bar as McGuireWoods; Covington and Simmons make key hires

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Strategic recruitment Simmons & SimmonsWhite & Case
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The latest standout lateral moves have seen White & Case litigator Paul Cowen return to the Bar as McGuireWoods expands its City restructuring offering with a hire from DLA Piper, and Covington & Burling and Simmons & Simmons boost their competition groups in Brussels with hires from Clifford Chance (CC) and Olswang respectively.

Cowen returns to the Bar after eleven years at White & Case. He joins 4 New Square’s international arbitration, construction and dispute resolution team.

After being approached by the Bar on several occasions late last year, Cowen told Legal Business that it was 4 New Square’s clear strategic objective and modern feel that attracted him. ‘Its core strategic priorities are international arbitration and big ticket construction advice, which is what I do,’ he said. ‘4 New Square is the modern face of the Bar – it does a lot of traditional work, but is open to new models of working. For example, they have a centralised IT system and its basic set up is similar to what I am used to in a firm.’

He added: ‘I am a barrister in my DNA. The main question was “is this practical and does it work”, and it will.’

Cowen was called to the Bar in 1996 and joined White & Case as a partner in 2008. He has experience of advising on non-contentious construction issues and contract negotiation, including building contracts, consultancy appointments, development agreements, collateral warranties, bonds and guarantees involving all forms of construction procurement.

Head of chambers, Ben Hubble QC added in a statement: ‘This recruitment provides a great opportunity both for Paul and for 4 New Square. His experience as part of the team at White & Case will prove invaluable and further advances our long term strategy for growth in the commercial and construction, international litigation and arbitration fields.’

Elsewhere, DLA Piper’s restructuring partner Simon Neilson-Clark has joined McGuireWoods in the firm’s restructuring and insolvency group in London, where he will focus on representing stakeholders in UK and international financial restructuring, insolvency and dispute resolution. He comes with experience of advising borrowers, lenders, and insolvency practitioners involving international structures, as well as debt and equity investors in cross-border, leveraged and group structures.

Dion Hayes, chair of the McGuireWoods restructuring and insolvency department said: ‘He has a tremendous amount of experience in large UK and cross-border restructurings and will greatly expand our capabilities in that area in London.’

In Brussels meanwhile, Covington & Burling has strengthened its EU competition practice with the hire of Clifford Chance partner Johan Ysewyn and Peter Camesasca, who returns to the US firm after a two-year stint running his own practice.

Ysewyn joins Covington as its European competition practice head and has experience of advising on international and Belgian antitrust law, including merger control, compliance, cartel and leniency issues, and abuse of dominance cases.

Camesasca has advised US and EU clients within the aviation, maritime transport, harbours and shipyards, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, electronics and semiconductor sectors. He joined Covington as a partner in March 2010 and left to run his own practice Peter Camesasca Advocaat BVBA in June 2012.

Covington’s Brussels managing partner, Peter Bogaert said: ‘The arrival of Johan and Peter’s return to Covington are very exciting news for our European and broader international competition practice. It brings us fully on track with our plans to grow in Brussels, and we feel this is a watershed moment for the EU competition group, which produces cutting edge work for a range of clients, including AstraZeneca, Expedia, Microsoft, Samsung, and many others.’

Similarly, Simmons & Simmons has hired competition partner Koen Platteau from Olswang to its EU, competition and regulatory practice in Brussels. Platteau joined Olswang in 2008 and has represented clients before EU institutions, the Belgian Competition Authority and EU and national courts, on merger control, cartel cases and abuse of dominance cases, compliance programmes, competition litigation/arbitration and State aid matters.

Simmons & Simmons international dispute head Hans-Hermann Aldenhoff said: ‘Koen’s appointment will add further scale, not only to our EU, competition and regulatory practice, but to our Brussels office as a whole and we are looking forward to him joining this growing team.’

Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Partner promotions: Simmons adds eight new partners, half in London

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Simmons & Simmons has promoted eight lawyers to its partnership ranks, just one more than the top-20 LB100 firm made up last year.

Half of the total promotions came in London, with one each in Frankfurt, Paris, Milan and Tokyo, with promotions falling across the firm’s corporate and commercial, financial services, disputes and real estate practices.

The firm made up two female lawyers this year, again one more than last year.

Senior partner Colin Passmore said: ‘Recognising and promoting the talent that exists within our firm is key to us achieving our ambitious growth plans. Ours is a high performance culture, and these eight outstanding individuals amply demonstrated their ambition, talent, and commitment to our clients and the firm.’

At the end of 2013 the firm reported an 8% increase in revenues for the half year for 2013/14, rising from £121m at the same point the year before to £130.7m.

Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

The new partners are:

Ali Crosthwaite – real estate, London

Christophe Fichet – corporate & commercial, Paris

Craig Bisson – financial services, London

Devarshi Saksena – financial services, London

Laura Orlando – dispute resolution, Milan

Richard Kramer – corporate & commercial, Tokyo

Simon Whiteside – financial services, London

Thomas Scharfenberg – financial markets, Frankfurt

Legal Business

The end of the pipeline: Herbert Smith Freehills and Simmons advise AO on float to attain $1bn market cap

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A healthy pipeline of London Stock Exchange listings has seen Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) advise online appliances website AO on its proposed initial public offering (IPO), with the small-beginnings Bolton white goods company reportedly expected to attain a market capitalisation of around £1bn upon listing.

The HSF team is being led by equity capital markets (ECM) partner Chris Haynes and includes US-qualified global head of capital markets Steve Thierbach and corporate partner Mike Flockhart. AO, which sells items from fridges to coffee machines through its website, said in a statement last Friday that it plans to raise £60m from the IPO.

Simmons & Simmons is advising the underwriting banks on the deal including Jefferies International, J.P. Morgan, Cazenove and Numis Securities. The team is being led by corporate and ECM partner Colin Bole, alongside US securities partner Julian Perlmutter.

Reports from the financial press including the FT and Bloomberg have placed AO’s capitalisation figure at around the £1bn mark, with the FT placing it between £800m and £1.4bn.

While there were no entries in January to the main list, companies waiting to float in order to provide their private equity investors with an exit include Warburg Pincus-owned Poundland and KKR-owned Pets at Home.

Last year saw IPOs raise $18.7bn, a substantial increase on 2012, which raised just $4.7bn according to Dealogic.

In late January, Dentons and Lawrence Graham advised Hurricane Energy, which focuses on oil reserves in reservoirs beneath the North Sea and has already signed investment and drilling deals with BP and Transocean, as it prepares to float on the AIM market of the LSE with a value of £272m.

Hurricane, which is expected to start drilling in the second half of 2014, was led by Dentons corporate partner Jeremy Cohen, alongside energy partner Danielle Beggs and environment partner Sam Boileu.

Cenkos Securities acted as Hurricane’s nomad and broker, with Lawrence Graham’s head of corporate Geoff Gouriet advising alongside senior associates Rebecca Gordon and Jenna Beever.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving doors: Bird & Bird, Bond Dickinson and Simmons all make lateral moves

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Strategic recruitment Bird & BirdSimmons & SimmonsWomble Bond Dickinson
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The appetite shown by global elite firms to hire laterally at the start of the year has spread wider in the City, as Bird & Bird, Bond Dickinson, Simmons & Simmons and US firm Sedgwick have all been in action recently.

Bird & Bird secured the hire of partner Sven-Michael Werner from rival firm Taylor Wessing to its China corporate practice. Werner, who speaks Mandarin, has over 12 years’ experience practising Chinese law and will be based at the firm’s Shanghai office. He has a focus on M&A and foreign direct investment, particularly advising European clients investing into China.

‘Sven-Michael’s extensive experience in our key sectors of technology, media and life sciences, as well as with major fashion brands, makes him a good fit for our growing corporate practice in China,’ said Marcus Vass, head of Bird & Bird’s China transactional group.

Bird & Bird has also appointed Air Arabia general counsel Anna Anatolitou as a partner across both its UAE offices. Prior to that she was at Norton Rose and has over 13 years’ experience as an aviation and dispute resolution lawyer.

‘Now Anna has joined, we have practical capability in the Middle East to advise airlines, insurers, lessors and investors on all legal issues. Our international aviation sector group has grown considerably over the past ten years and will continue to keep growing,’ said Paul Briggs, co-head of the firm’s aviation group.

Meanwhile another Global 100 firm, Simmons & Simmons, has also scored a coup with the hire of Reed Smith’s head of investment funds for Europe and the Middle East, Dale Gabbert.

Gabbert advises fund managers and financial institutions on the establishment and running of all classes of alternative investment funds, including hedge funds, private equity funds and credit funds.

‘Dale’s appointment will add further scale to our private funds practice, and we are looking forward to him joining this growing team,’ said Colin Leaver, Simmons’ asset management and investment funds sector head.

On the domestic front, Bond Dickinson brought in high regarded intellectual property (IP) expert Patrick Cantrill as partner from top-tier Leeds firm Walker Morris, where he was head of its IP department. The Legal 500 describes him as having an ‘incredible wealth of experience’ illustrated by having over 30 years’ of experience managing IP portfolios for blue chip and international organisations.

‘He is one of the most accomplished lawyers in his field and he will be a first-rate addition to our intellectual property and media practice,’ said Bond Dickinson chairman Nick Page. ‘We look forward to working with him as we develop our presence in London and internationally,’

Finally, US firm Sedgwick brought in DLA Piper insurance litigation partner David Murphy into its London office earlier this month. His experience spans a variety of classes of business, including property, energy, engineering, mining and credit insurance.

Murphy’s practice is truly international. He has represented London market and global insurers in analysing insurance claims and coverage issues arising from numerous jurisdictions around the globe, including Thailand, Colombia, Australia and Peru.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Positive financials continue as Simmons & Simmons posts an 8% increase in H1 revenues

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Financial results 2013 Simmons & Simmons
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Top-20 Legal Business 100 firm Simmons & Simmons has reported an 8% increase in revenues for the half year (H1) 2013/14, rising from £121m at this point last year to £130.7m.

The firm has reported improved performance across all practice groups. This represents a reversal in fortunes for the firm, who last year reported a 3% dip in revenues at the half-year stage, attributed at the time to problems in the Eurozone.

The revenues posted are also much stronger than the firm’s full 2012-13 results, which were broadly flat with a 1% dip to £250.3m, with profit per equity partner also staying more or less flat at £525,000.

Simmons’ managing partner, Jeremy Hoyland, told Legal Business: ‘We’ve seen more growth in northern Europe, the UK, Germany and Netherlands where market conditions have definitely improved. For us, the Middle East has done better.’

In terms of practice areas, Hoyland said that the corporate group – including both its equity capital markets team and its general M&A practice – had seen the most growth, while the finance team had also performed well.

‘Overall we are well placed to build on this good progress in the second half of the financial year,’ he added. Although the firm does not release a half-year profit figure, Hoyland noted: ‘the profits should be well up on this time last year because so much of the cost base is fixed,’ he added.

Simmons has been in expansive mode in 2013, opening in Munich in March and Singapore in May which may go some way to explaining the rise in revenues. The Munich launch was based on an intellectual property platform, which given that the European Patent Court is based in the city and the strength of the firm’s IP practice, seemed a prudent move. Meanwhile Singapore launched with five partners, relocating Norton Rose lateral hire Dan Marjanovic, a banking and finance partner, to the office from Hong Kong.

However, Hoyland said that although the new offices are producing revenues, they had not yet made a material difference to the firmwide increase in turnover.

On the basis of H1 results released so far the UK legal market appears to be in rude health going into 2014. Allen & Overy today (20 November) posted a 7.5% increase, while Olswang’s H1 revenue grew by 15%. DWF has been the standout performer so far with a 54.5% increase due largely to the firm’s rapid expansion through mergers in the last 18 months.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Negotiations conclude over Simmons’ hire of Mahrie Webb from Burges Salmon

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Strategic recruitment Burges SalmonSimmons & Simmons
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Long-running negotiations have now concluded between Burges Salmon and Simmons & Simmons over the start date of funds partner Mahrie Webb, who in May became the City practice’s fourth hire to its low-cost Bristol office.

Simmons launched the South West base in September last year with the hire of financial services litigation partners Tim Boyce and Ed Crosse from Osborne Clarke.

However, Webb has yet to join and it is understood that Burges Salmon initially tried to hold the highly regarded funds lawyer to two years gardening leave but that figure has now been reduced to a year, with Webb expected to join Simmons in May.

While neither Simmons nor Burges Salmon would comment, the move is an indication of the way Simmons’ entry into the already competitive, overcrowded Bristol market is being viewed by the leading local firms.

Simmons’ Bristol office was set up to deliver efficiencies to clients and flexible service models and in theory is not in direct competition with local firms.

However, last October saw Simmons hire Burges Salmon banking partner Helen Hancock and speaking earlier to Legal Business one Simmons partner commented: ‘A lot of the Bristol firms think we’re competing in the Bristol market, which is not why we set it up.’

Attempts to enforce a notice period of this length are unusual. However in October it emerged that Field Fisher Waterhouse’s head of privacy, Eduardo Ustaran, is being held to a 19-month notice period before he can join Hogan Lovells.

caroline.hill@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Bristol tussle over Simmons’ hire of Mahrie Webb from Burges Salmon

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Strategic recruitment Burges SalmonSimmons & Simmons
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Negotiations are still underway between Burges Salmon and Simmons & Simmons over the start date of funds partners Mahrie Webb, who in May became the City practice’s fourth hire to its low-cost Bristol office.

Simmons launched the South West base in September last year with the hire of financial services litigation partners Tim Boyce and Ed Crosse from Osborne Clarke.

However, Webb has yet to join and it is understood that Burges Salmon initially tried to hold the highly regarded funds lawyer to two years gardening leave but that figure may be reduced to a year.

Legal Business

Trainee retention: Eversheds, Clyde & Co, CMS Cameron McKenna and Simmons reveal rates

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Trainee retention Clyde & CoCMSEversheds SutherlandSimmons & Simmons
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The number of training contracts being offered by City firms may have dropped by over 20% but the recently revealed retention rates of Eversheds, Clyde & Co, CMS Cameron McKenna and Maclay Murray & Spens remain high, although Simmons & Simmons has slid to 71%.

Eversheds, which yesterday (10 September) posted an 87% retention rate, offered 40 out of 45 newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers a permanent role at the firm, which 38 accepted. The figures mirror last autumn’s retention round, when the same number of NQs were kept on.

Angus McGregor, HR director at Eversheds, congratulated the successful NQs, commenting: ‘Our training contract is designed to extend the experience and skill sets of junior lawyers across multiple industries and sectors, preparing them for the modern legal world.’

Elsewhere, 1081-lawyer Clyde & Co has reported that it will retain 95% of its trainees, with 36 out of 37 trainees accepting a job at the firm. This follows an equally high retention rate of 94% this time last year.

Meanwhile, top ten LB100 firm CMS Cameron McKenna has announced it will hold onto 28 out of 34 NQs this September, equating to a retention rate of 82%. Of those retained, 23 will join the City office, while two will move to the insolvency and recovery group in Bristol. The others bolster the firm’s practice in Scotland, with one joining the real estate and finance practice in Edinburgh, a further lawyer heading to the Edinburgh office’s disputes department, and the last joining the employment team in Aberdeen. CMS unveiled a similar result last year of 84%.

However, Simmons & Simmons has revealed a retention rate of 71%, a drop on last year’s figure of 89%. The firm offered 17 out of a total of 24 trainees a position, with the vast majority taking on roles in the City.

Outside of the City firms, Weil Gotshal & Manges’ London arm has offered jobs to four out of six NQs, a retention result of 67%. This marks a slide on last year’s figure of 73%.

The beleaguered Scottish market has also seen Maclay Murray & Spens (MMS) offer 15 out of 19 NQ positions this year across its London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen offices.

MMS chief executive Chris Smylie said: ‘We are delighted to have been able to offer so many opportunities to newly qualified lawyers. It signals our confidence in the future, as we further build our strategy for growth, following last year’s root and branch review. This follows on from our recruitment of three lateral hires at partner level in August and the promotion of two partners from associate in June.’

However, at Dundas & Wilson, out of 21 trainees who applied for positions with the firm, 14 have accepted offers to stay after they qualify.

sarah.downey@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

LB100 – The top 25: The age of turbulence

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Legal Business 100 2013 Freshfields Bruckhaus DeringerSimmons & Simmons
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It’s been a bumpy ride for many of the UK’s largest firms, fighting battered profits with consolidation and increased global expansion. Welcome to the Legal Business 100, where headline revenue increases hide a tougher reality

When the UK’s 62nd largest law firm by revenue is suddenly wiped off the face of the earth, despite posting a 2% revenue increase in 2011/12, you’d expect a little nervousness within the profession. Cobbetts, which went into administration in March, posted a profit per equity partner (PEP) increase of 16% in its last-ever LB100 appearance, something that many of the firms occupying the list today would gladly take. But, as it would turn out – as has been the case ever since the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers – when it comes to law firm financials, all is not what it seems. And, as the demise of Halliwells proved in 2010, it takes more than the collapse of a regional stalwart to seriously unhinge the market.