Striking out… or how to lose a client in ten minutes

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Striking out… or how to lose a client in ten minutes

A 23-year-old became the most sought-after baseball player last year when he announced he would leave Japan to play in the US. Shohei Ohtani was already a phenomenon. Able to pitch and hit – a skillset as rare as hens’ teeth in the game and infinitely more prized – league rules limiting his initial pay guaranteed whichever team landed him an absolute bargain.

The intrigue intensified when Ohtani’s agent sent all 30 Major League teams a list of questions he wanted answered in English and Japanese, from which just seven were asked to deliver a two-hour presentation. At the end, Ohtani made the surprise decision to sign with the Los Angeles Angels. Continue reading “Striking out… or how to lose a client in ten minutes”

Welcome to the hurricane – Latam GCs struggle with corruption clampdown

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Welcome to the hurricane – Latam GCs struggle with corruption clampdown

It has been a turbulent few years for many of those in the upper echelons of Brazilian politics and business. Around the world, headlines have been filled with salacious tales of corruption, perhaps most notably the bribery and kickback scandal emanating from state-backed oil giant Petrobras, embroiling many high-profile individuals and entities across the region.

Anti-corruption legislation and regulation enacted in the past five years – the so-called 2014 Clean Company Act, fully implemented in 2015 amid public unrest by the soon-to-be-impeached President Rousseff – has enabled Brazil to usher in a new era of compliance, the efficacy of which has left many in the business community reeling. The judge-led ‘Lava Jato’ (‘Carwash’) investigation, started in 2014, is perhaps the most recognisable herald of this new era. Continue reading “Welcome to the hurricane – Latam GCs struggle with corruption clampdown”

Client profile: Sarah Nelson Smith, Yum! Brands

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Client profile: Sarah Nelson Smith, Yum! Brands

In many ways it was ideal preparation. Before embarking on a legal career, Sarah Nelson Smith took a post-law school gap year working as a holiday rep in the popular Greek retreat of Halkidiki. It was an eye-opening experience, figuratively and literally, welcoming holidaymakers at unholy hours and dealing with bizarre questions and gripes.

‘We had one guy who complained about the sea. There was a beautiful blue-flag beach but he said: “The hotel smells too salty in the morning.” He also complained about too many fish, while once a woman was crying during the welcome speech. When I asked her what was wrong, she said: “I can’t find my boyfriend.” I asked: “When was the last time you saw him?” and she said: “I haven’t seen him since we arrived at the airport, when the police took him.” He’d been smuggling drugs and got arrested. I had to go to the British consulate and fetch him.’ Continue reading “Client profile: Sarah Nelson Smith, Yum! Brands”

In-house: CMS breaks new Crown Estate ground as Heineken UK and DLA toast another two years

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In-house: CMS breaks new Crown Estate ground as Heineken UK and DLA toast another two years

The legal adviser overhaul of £13bn real estate business The Crown Estate by general counsel (GC) Rob Booth continues with CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang picking up a sole legal provider mandate for the estate’s £2.5bn regional retail portfolio. Meanwhile, DLA Piper has won another two years as principal legal adviser to Heineken UK.

CMS’s appointment with The Crown Estate, announced Monday (March 12), covers work including asset management, development, sales and purchases for its regional portfolio, which comprises 14 shopping and retail parks, three shopping centres and one leisure destination. It is the first time the firm has secured a role on the panel. Continue reading “In-house: CMS breaks new Crown Estate ground as Heineken UK and DLA toast another two years”

Panel beaters – Balfour revamps Pinsents partnership as Barclays’ buying shake-up signals its last panel contest

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Panel beaters – Balfour revamps Pinsents partnership as Barclays’ buying shake-up signals its last panel contest

Is big business turning its back on the conventional legal panel? This month at least sees two prominent examples, with listed infrastructure group Balfour Beatty extending and revamping its sole supplier partnership with Pinsent Masons as banking giant Barclays unveils its final global panel review.

Pinsents today (5 March) announced its sole supplier mandate with the FTSE 250 company had been re-signed until 2020, the second extension to a deal which kicked off in April 2013. The latest partnership, however, has introduced new pricing structures for greater flexibility. Continue reading “Panel beaters – Balfour revamps Pinsents partnership as Barclays’ buying shake-up signals its last panel contest”

CC hits Newcastle for surprise takeover of Carillion’s volume legal arm

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CC hits Newcastle for surprise takeover of Carillion’s volume legal arm

Get your Magic Circle-meets-Geordie Shore quips ready as Clifford Chance (CC) has made a surprise acquisition of Carillion’s pioneering in-house legal arm.

The Newcastle-based business Carillion Advice Services (CAS) was put up for sale following the collapse of its Wolverhampton-headquartered parent in January in one of the largest UK insolvencies for years. Carillion filed for liquidation after talks with its creditors and the government failed to reach a deal on Carillion’s £1.5bn liabilities. Continue reading “CC hits Newcastle for surprise takeover of Carillion’s volume legal arm”

‘A wonderful opportunity’: Network Rail begins long journey to new £70m adviser panel

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‘A wonderful opportunity’: Network Rail begins long journey to new £70m adviser panel

Network Rail has begun its longest-ever panel review process for external adviser work, which could be worth up to £70m over five years from next April.

The rail company’s review will be the first under new group general counsel Stuart Kelly, who was promoted from deputy group GC following the departure of Suzanne Wise in March last year for a non-legal role as senior vice-president for corporate development at Japan Tobacco International . The review will be led by Network Rail route businesses GC Dan Kayne. Continue reading “‘A wonderful opportunity’: Network Rail begins long journey to new £70m adviser panel”

Evolutionary forces – US body for legal ops hits Europe as new breed of client emerges

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Evolutionary forces – US body for legal ops hits Europe as new breed of client emerges

Disruption looms as James Wood reports on first European conference for CLOC

Richard Susskind must have lost count of the number of times he has spoken about the future of law, but in his introductory remarks to the 2018 CLOC EMEA Institute gathering in London he seemed cheerfully off balance. Many of the concepts Susskind has prophesied are now realities at large US companies and even sceptics would concede that the emergence of sophisticated legal operations teams feels like a decisive shift for the industry.

Continue reading “Evolutionary forces – US body for legal ops hits Europe as new breed of client emerges”

On borrowed time – the GCs looking for answers in a post-LPO age

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On borrowed time – the GCs looking for answers in a post-LPO age

The collapse of film giant Kodak in 2012 is already established to many as the definitive case study of the failure of a business convinced its model would last forever. At its peak, Kodak’s share of the photographic film market was more than 80% in the US and 50% globally. So, when a Kodak employee invented the first digital camera in the 1970s, he was told by the board to keep quiet about it. Denial took hold right up until January 2017 when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Reborn as a tiny, niche player with a few lucrative patents these days, annual profits for Kodak now are around $12m.

The lesson? Adapt or die. If innovators stop innovating, problems follow. Just ask Nokia and BlackBerry. This, on a much smaller scale, could be an existential crisis that the legal process outsourcing (LPO) industry may have to face. Continue reading “On borrowed time – the GCs looking for answers in a post-LPO age”