Corporate veteran vows to maintain City focus when he succeeds Saul in May
The new senior partner at Slaughter and May, Stephen Cooke, has pledged to retain the firm’s City focus when he takes up his five-year term at the helm of the UK’s most profitable law firm in May.
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Slaughter and May, the UK’s most profitable law firm, has elected its longstanding head of M&A Steve Cooke as its next senior partner.
Cooke will take the top job at Slaughters on 1 May, succeeding Chris Saul who will retire from the Magic Circle firm after eight years at the helm. He has been handed a five-year term.
Slaughters remained a largely City firm under Saul, with around 90% of its partners based in London, and Cooke has committed to maintaining that strategy at a time when US firms are increasingly following Slaughter’s Magic Circle rivals in opting for a bigger global footprint. He has also committed to maintaining much of his practice, continuing to do client work alongside his leadership role.
Cooke told Legal Business: I’ve been on the partnership board since 2001 and pretty involved in our strategy since then. As with all of our elections it’s never a massive change of course. There’s nothing I specifically want to change at the firm. I’m also going to carry on doing client work and running client relationships. I want to carry on doing client relationships and look after them.’
Having joined Slaughters as a trainee solicitor 33 years ago, Cooke has become one of the City’s leading transactional lawyers and holds key client relationships with temporary power supplier Aggreko, computer processor maker ARM Holdings, house builder Barratt Developments, British Gas owner Centrica, drinks giant Diageo and engine maker Rolls-Royce. A partner at the firm for nearly 25 years, Cooke became head of firm’s leading M&A practice in 2001.
Saul retires from Slaughters after nearly four decades at the firm, having joined as an articled clerk in 1977. He has been a partner for over three decades, having been made a partner in 1986. While the firm has stuck to its traditions in an age when rivals have sought to globalise, instead setting up a best friends network of law firms to cover cross-border work, Saul has looked to internationalise the firm’s client base and expand in Hong Kong during his time as senior partner.
His retirement follows that of elder statesman Paul Olney as practice partner at the end of 2014 and Graham White as executive partner in 2013. Then disputes head Richard Clark was elected as White’s replacement, while David Wittmann, who was just finishing the firm’s trainee programme in 1990 when Olney was made a partner, became practice partner at the start of 2015.
Saul added: ‘I have known and worked closely with Steve throughout his career at the firm. He has all the attributes to lead the firm and nurture the special qualities which continue to set Slaughter and May apart. He will bring tremendous experience, vision and energy to the role.’
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
For more on Slaughter and May see: ‘The new boy – can Ryde & co keep Slaughters’ deal team on top? ‘
Slaughter and May and Nabarro improved their trainee retention figures this month with the latter firm retaining 89%, while the Magic Circle firm posted a 95% retention rate.
The first to announce this year was Slaughter and May, which said 38 of the firm’s 40 qualifying trainees accepted newly-qualified positions, for a retention rate of 95%. Trainee recruitment partner Robert Byk said this high score ‘underlines our focus on recruiting for the long term future of the firm’.
The intake is an improvement on its autumn 2015 figure of 33 of 37 trainees, and ahead of its 2015 spring intake when 88% of a 42 strong cohort accepted offers.
Meanwhile Nabarro is to retain eight of its nine trainees, which is a retention rate of 89%, improving on its autumn figures when it kept only 77%, or 10 out of 13 of its trainees.
The firm kept on a trio of real estate lawyers, two in the funds and indirect real estate practice as well as lawyers in the banking and finance, corporate and intellectual property teams.
Nabarro graduate recruitment manager Mel Brooking said: ‘We work hard to give our trainees a positive experience of Nabarro across six seats, so it is always a pleasure to see a high proportion choosing to qualify with the firm.’
Our sister website The Lex 100 has created a retention rate table which will be updated as more figures are announced.
daniel.coyne@legalease.co.uk
A host of figures within the legal profession including former Allen & Overy (A&O) senior partner Guy Beringer QC (pictured) have been recognised in 2016’s New Year honours.
Beringer made the list, receiving a CBE for services to export finance and pro bono work in the legal sector. He carried out two terms as senior partner at the Magic Circle firm from 2000 until 2008, and was made a Queen’s Counsel in 2006.
Since 2010 Beringer has been the chairman of UK Export Finance, the government’s export credit agency. He also chairs the Legal Education Foundation; co-chairs the Bingham Centre Appeal Board; and is chairman at the City Music Services.
A CBE also went to former Slaughter and May partner Charles Randell for his services to financial stability and climate change. Randell was a partner at Slaughter and May for 33 years until 2013 and was highly regarded for advising on a string of privatisations between the 1980s and 1990s.
After Slaughter and May, Randell was appointed director of the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority. He is also the non-executive director at the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC).
Another legal veteran to be recognised is restructuring partner David Ereira who recently joined US firm Paul Hastings from Linklaters. He awarded an OBE for his services to the insolvency regime and to charity. The City finance heavyweight spent 25 years as a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and more recently Linklaters, after he made a rare jump between the Magic Circle firms in 2007, when Linklaters senior partner Robert Elliott persuaded Ereira to join the Silk Street-based firm.
Ereira spent the majority of his time there advising PwC as the administrators of Lehman Brothers.
As well as his lawyering day job, Ereira is also the chairman at the Insolvency Service and vice-chairman of trustees at Marie Curie.
The Queen also made one of her regular legal advisers, Harbottle & Lewis senior partner Gerrard Tyrrell a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. Tyrrell was already a member of the order which is appointed by the Queen to recognise those who served her in a personal way.
jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk
Magic Circle firm Slaughter and May has followed up steep rises in salary earlier this year with bumper bonuses as high-performing junior lawyers pocket over £15,000.
With City salaries rising this year as competition for talent heats up and more profitable US firms expand in London, Slaughter and May has lifted bonuses to between 9%-16% of salaries. Last year, associates seen as performing at a good or exceptional level pocketed bonuses ranging from 7.5% to 15% of their salaries.
With salaries for junior associates already increased by up to 10% this year, the shift in the bonus range at Slaughter and May has led to substantial pay-outs. For newly qualified lawyers which earn £70,000 per year, the bonus equates to £6,300, up almost 30% from £4,900 the year before.
A spokesperson for Slaughter and May said: ‘Our associate bonus this year is again primarily linked to PQE and, to a limited extent, performance.’
He added: ‘We do not impose billing or time recording targets on our associates and our approach to bonus differentiation is to recognise performance and career progression, while ensuring that we reflect our team culture of valuing and recognising everyone’s contribution.’
The move comes as Slaughter and May, the most profitable UK-headquartered law firm, makes an aggressive push in pay to ensure it keeps attracting the best City talent. Earlier this year, Slaughter and May overtook Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as the highest paying Magic Circle firm for newly qualified lawyers with salaries of £70,000.
All trainees and support staff will also receive a bonus of 4% this year, up on last year’s figure of 3%.
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
High Street retailer John Lewis Partnership (JLP) has cut its external legal panel to just four firms comprising Slaughter and May, Burges Salmon, Dentons and Eversheds, naming Slaughter and May as its main corporate adviser, following a review of its existing arrangements.
Led by general counsel (GC) and company secretary Keith Hubber, Slaughter and May has been appointed to provide the legal team with strategic advice ‘in a number of complex and high-profile areas’ and to provide support on corporate governance matters.
There is also a new appointment in Burges Salmon, which joins Dentons and Eversheds, who have been reappointed to the roster, to provide a broad range of legal services ‘outside Slaughter and May’s remit’.
Hubber said the review was implemented to establish ‘closer, longer-term relationships with a smaller number of firms who are committed to investing in their relationship with the partnership’.
Under the leadership of former company secretary and director of legal services Margaret Casely-Hayford, who stepped down from the role in 2014, the JLP legal team’s preferred advisers have included Eversheds, Hogan Lovells, Pinsent Masons, Reed Smith, Shepherd and Wedderburn, and Wragge & Co.
Corporate lawyer Hubber succeeded Casely-Hayford after 13 years at BG Group where he served as deputy GC.
On the overhaul of the JLP external panel, Hubber said in a statement this morning (7 December): ‘The company identified firms with proven sector experience who understand the partnership’s culture and demonstrated a desire to work collaboratively to support the in-house team.’
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
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
Linklaters and Slaughter and May have landed major roles advising on the government’s record-breaking £13bn sale of former Northern Rock mortgages acquired during the financial crisis.
Announced this morning (13 November) by the Treasury, the mortgages originally owned by Northern Rock are being sold by UK Asset Resolution (UKAR) – set up to look after the mortgages nationalised when Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley ran into difficulty in 2008 – to Cerberus Capital Management, in what is the largest-ever financial asset sale by a government in Europe.
UKAR is selling this portfolio of mortgages for £280m more than their book value, demonstrating the strength of global investors’ interest in the UK.
In a statement UKAR said taxpayers will get back more money from Northern Rock than they were ‘forced to put in during the financial crisis’, and today’s sale means the government has exited over 85% of the assets of the former bank. All proceeds will be used to pay down the national debt.
Slaughter and May advised UKAR with a team led by finance partner Guy O’Keefe and corporate finance partner Craig Cleaver. O’Keefe told Legal Business: ‘The deal involved a high degree of overlap on financial regulatory and competition law issues, with bespoke state aid considerations to navigate through.’
The firm had previously advised the Treasury, its longstanding client, on the transfer of Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley into public ownership in 2008.
Allen & Overy advised the financing banks in respect of the agreement by Cerberus to acquire the mortgages from UKFI, which manages Treasury’s 100% share in UKAR. The team was led by securitisation partner Salim Nathoo, and included banking partners Trevor Borthwick and Ian Powell, corporate partner Annabelle Croker, real estate partner Dan Mckimm and tax partner Lydia Challen.
Linklaters advised Cerberus with a team led by structured finance partner Adam Fogarty and corporate partner Tracey Lochhead.
Cerberus is subsequently selling on £3.3bn of the portfolio to TSB, advised by Hogan Lovells with a London-based team led by partners John Allison, Jon Chertkow and Rachel Kent.
Chancellor George Osborne said: ‘Today marks another major milestone in clearing up the mess left by the financial crisis, with the sale of former Northern Rock mortgages. The sale is the largest ever sale of financial assets by a British government. The highly competitive process, unprecedented scale, and the fact that these mortgages have been sold for almost £300 million more than their book value demonstrates the confidence investors have in the UK, which has only been made possible by the success of our long term plan.’
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
Rolls-Royce has hired Slaughter and May to lead its defence as it faces an SFO probe into alleged bribes paid in Asia.
The agency is under pressure to get a successful prosecution against the aerospace giant, after securing funding worth millions of pounds in January 2014 to ramp up its investigation into Rolls-Royce.
Rolls Royce has now hired Slaughters litigation partners Richard Swallow and Jonathan Clark to beef up its defence.
Swallow, who defended GlaxoSmithKline in corruption investigations by the SFO and US authorities over alleged kickbacks paid to Saddam Hussein’s regime during the United Nation’s oil-for-food program in Iraq, will lead the defence.
Slaughters will be supported by Debevoise & Plimpton, which were instructed to defend the aerospace company when a whistleblower reported allegations of bribery in China and Indonesia in 2012. Lord Gold, a conservative peer and former senior partner at Herbert Smith Freehills, was also brought in to lead an internal review into the company’s compliance procedures.
The new instruction is the latest in a long pipeline of high-profile UK fraud work for Slaughters. The UK SFO this week dropped its case against the firm’s client Olympus after charging it with making false and misleading financial statements just yesterday, and the Magic Circle firm also acted for the SFO in settling a £300m claim for botching an investigation into property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz down to £1.5m.
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
The UK Serious Fraud Office has dropped its case against Slaughter and May client Olympus two years after charging the Japanese photo company with making false and misleading financial statements.
The SFO offered no evidence against Olympus, which had instructed Slaughters to defend it from the charges, following a Court of Appeal judgment in February ruling that English law does not criminalise the misleading of auditors by the company under audit.
Slaughters disputes and investigations partner Jonathan Cotton led the defence of Olympus and its subsidiary, Gyrus. Supported by litigator Ewan Brown, the team instructed John Kelsey-Fry QC of Cloth Fair Chambers and Lord Ken Macdonald QC of Matrix Chambers as counsel.
The SFO said in a statement: ‘The SFO could not have prosecuted individuals in this case because Japan does not extradite its nationals.’
The decision to enter no evidence in court against Olympus is the latest in a string of embarrassments for the SFO, which in July last year agreed to pay property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz £1.5m in damages over a botched investigation into the collapse of Icelandic banks. Incidentally Slaughter and May had acted for the SFO on that case, with a team lead by Cotton.
The SFO became the first international fraud agency to bring charges against Olympus following one of the biggest financial frauds in Japan’s history was uncovered by British chief executive Michael Woodford.
Sacked just two weeks into his tenure at the Japanese corporation after challenging the Olympus board over payments, Woodford reported Olympus to the SFO over its acquisition of British medical equipment maker Gyrus for £1.1bn in 2008. A Japanese court ordered Olympus to pay £4.5m in fines at the start of 2013, with an SFO investigation launched swiftly after.
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
Subscribers can read more in the feature article: ‘Hard graft – The pan-Europe bribery crackdown.’
