Last week saw a host of international law firm lateral hires, while judge Sir Jeremy Cooke has left the UK’s High Court to return to the commercial Bar.
Kirkland takes fourth Linklaters City partner in a year, appointing PE partner Holdsworth
Kirkland & Ellis has returned to Magic Circle firm Linklaters for one of its last remaining private equity heavyweights in the City, hiring David Holdsworth as the US firm rebuilds its London office.
GCs have arrived and all we have to welcome them are platitudes
Two books of note have just been published by veteran lawyers – The Inside Counsel Revolution: Resolving the Partner-Guardian Tension by former GE legal head Ben Heineman and The Future of the In-House Lawyer: The General Counsel Revolution, a collection of essays edited by Carillion’s Richard Tapp. The common ground is obvious in charting the wresting of power and resource over the last 25 years from law firm to corporate legal teams.
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The bottom line is, well, the bottom line – numbers always settle the score
At a recent drinks evening with a leading City law firm, Legal Business heard a familiar refrain from a veteran corporate partner about how the team he leads is doing very well but has had its reputation – and that of the firm as a whole – dragged down by the sniping of ex-partners. Several weeks previously at a dinner, another major firm had run through its strategy and performance, making a great play of the claim that, though the firm had clearly suffered a few reverses since the banking crisis, it was performing ahead of peers.
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As the Bar elite thrives, New Law wobbles – scratch some more predictions
It is a recurring theme in Legal Business commentary that the received wisdom and forecasting for the profession do not age like fine wine and 2016 is proof once more that no one knows anything. Take the Bar, which has supposedly been in the last-chance saloon for a generation and yet in the commercial sector keeps thriving.
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It’s a risky world out there… and a big chance for a new kind of lawyer
Ashurst’s Ben Tidswell argues a volatile, globalising risk landscape is a call to arms for the modern law firm
One of the many lasting consequences of the downturn has been a prolonged expansion of the globalised compliance framework. Increased oversight of financial markets has been at the forefront of this development, as reflected by the passage of the US Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 and a succession of EU directives. This trend has also witnessed a heightened focus on white-collar crime, targeting areas such as fraud, corruption, tax evasion, terrorism financing and money laundering. Existing laws, such as Canada’s Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, have been strengthened, and new legislation, such as the UK Bribery Act, has been introduced.
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We wanted diversity, we got box-ticking – real change on diversity needs leadership in law
Fieldfisher’s Michael Chissick says progress on gay inclusion masks a wider diversity failure in law
‘Did you see the game at the weekend?’ is the type of question I am often asked at events. I know my answer, ‘no, I don’t really follow sport’ – will kill the conversation dead, and I don’t have the skills or required knowledge to blag my way through the small talk of the weekend’s fixture list.
The last word – Charlie says
In response to an opinion piece from Gibson Dunn’s Charlie Geffen in our last issue, we ask management if firms must decide whether they are advisory or legal process driven
US PITCH
‘Geffen is right, but I wonder if he would have said it if he’d been at his old firm [Ashurst] as it’s a pitch for US firms in London. Clients are increasingly separating what is strategic and what is process-driven. I don’t agree that the UK firms aren’t capable of giving both, and no client out there will go to law firm A for their strategic work then take it off them and give law firm B the process work. Clients are looking to us to ensure the process end is done efficiently.’
Colin Passmore, senior partner, Simmons & Simmons
Nokia appoints first global legal panel
Shearman, Reed Smith, Dentons and Eversheds among firms to win places
Shearman & Sterling, Reed Smith, Dentons and Eversheds are among the firms appointed to Nokia’s newly-created global legal panel.
Sidley secures TowerBrook work despite K&E charm offensive
Tussle continues over lucrative work after K&E raid
After a high-profile tussle and one of the biggest team hires in the City, Sidley Austin has secured the corporate work of key Kirkland & Ellis client TowerBrook Capital Partners, amid claims that Sidley pushed aggressively to secure the work.
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Pinsents scraps leadership for life amid top-down management restructure
Changes include new board responsibility for strategic decision-making
Pinsent Masons has made a series of changes to its management structure, including the introduction of fixed terms for those in leadership positions, the formation of an operations committee and the cession of decision-making control to the board.
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Shell global panel slashed from 11 to six
Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy, Baker & McKenzie and Norton Rose big winners
Royal Dutch Shell has cut its global panel from 11 firms to just six, as the company reorganises its legal arrangements following its merger with BG Group.
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Ashurst’s next global head right for the role despite challenges
A power shift towards Australia was seen at Ashurst last month when the firm announced its next global managing partner would be Sydney-based banking partner Paul Jenkins (pictured).
Jenkins will join chair and New Zealander Ben Tidswell at the helm, splitting his time between London and Sydney. Part of his role will include heading the executive committee, day-to-day management, partner performance and client management.
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Magic Circle’s ‘disappointing’ approach to apprenticeships
Magic Circle firms have taken a ‘disappointing’ approach to the government-backed scheme, the Trailblazers Apprenticeship in Law initiative, with both Slaughter and May and Clifford Chance ruling apprentices out completely, while Allen & Overy (A&O) and Linklaters have been non-committal.
The only firm to announce any willingness to offer apprenticeships is Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, with a spokesperson confirming last month it was ‘looking at a number of ways to attract talented people in Manchester and the apprenticeship model is one that we are hoping to be able to offer later this year’. It is understood the firm is currently mulling over paralegal apprenticeships with no decision on whether this will be offered in conjunction with Trailblazers.
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From offshore to Big Law: the Panama Papers’ lasting imprint on the legal landscape
Tom Moore argues profession must deal with changing attitudes on tax and reputation
The offshore market is being redrawn following the leak on 3 April of 11 million documents from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co, which led to a public outcry about tax evasion. The leak revealed some 12 world leaders, including close associates of Russian president Vladimir Putin and 143 politicians, used the firm to avoid tax in developed countries.
HSF and Jones Day lead firms on £1.4bn London housing JV
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Jones Day were among a raft of firms that advised the investors behind residential schemes at the Olympic Park in Stratford and Elephant and Castle on a joint venture (JV) to combine the developments and create a £1.4bn JV vehicle for rented housing. Amid a booming London real estate market, intensified by supply not keeping up with housing demand, the firms were instructed by Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, property firm Delancey’s flagship fund DV4 and Dutch pension fund asset manager APG, combining to create 4,000 London homes. Olswang, Mishcon de Reya, Simmons & Simmons and London firm Michael Conn Goldsobel also won instructions on the deal.
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Magic Circle take the lead as Glencore sells $2.5bn stake in agricultural arm
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters advised on Glencore’s $2.5bn sale last month of a 40% stake in Glencore Agricultural Products to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).
Glencore instructed a Linklaters team led by corporate heavyweights David Avery-Gee and Charlie Jacobs, while Freshfields corporate partners David Higgins and Richard Thexton advised CPPIB. Freshfields’ Amsterdam managing partner Winfred Knibbeler also advised on the antitrust aspects of the deal.
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Mirror images: Goodwin expands in Europe to recreate London practice
US firm returns to King & Wood Mallesons to staff Paris offering
The first quarter of this year has proved slow for many private equity (PE) practices in Europe but this has not deterred Goodwin Procter from recruiting in France.
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DAC Beachcroft deepens relationship in Malaysia with application for joint venture
Last month DAC Beachcroft became one of a few firms to take advantage of the liberalisation of the Malaysian market as it applied to the country’s Bar council for a joint venture (JV) licence with Kuala Lumpur-based association firm Gan Partnership.
According to Gan Khong Aik, one of four partners at Gan Partnership, the two firms have been in a formal association for the last four or five years. The Malaysian practice, which specialises in corporate commercial, dispute resolution and intellectual property is hoping to expand its offering in reinsurance and insurance through formalising its relationship further with DAC.
Ports in a storm – Can Ince get back on course?
Once a leading player in marine and insurance work, Ince & Co has been hit by discord and an ailing core market. Legal Business assesses the high-risk course the firm is charting in response.
Blue, purple and pink LED lights flash on entering the doors to Ince & Co’s new home at London’s Aldgate Tower. Inside is a spacious office decked out with the latest tech, contemporary meeting rooms and a communal café. Around the corner is an open-plan office where leadership duo Jan Heuvels and Paul Herring sit among their teams. There are no phones in this office; each desk boasts a Surface Pro – the latest Microsoft tablet – with a built-in phone integrated with the firm’s e-mail.
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