Marco Cillario caught up with CMS UK managing partner Stephen Millar to discuss the first year since the three-way union with Nabarro and Olswang went live
Legal Business (LB): What’s your general take on the first year and a half of life of CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang? Continue reading “The CMS interview: Pains and gains”
Legal Business: Simmons seems to have come out of a period of malaise. What have been the primary drivers for that growth over the last two years?
Jeremy Hoyland, managing partner: Most of that has been driven by the sectors, so [opening in] Ireland is not because we’re interested in the domestic market. We’re interested because it’s an important market for banks and funds. Continue reading “The Simmons interview: What to worry about”
Alex Speirs: Now less than a year out from the UK’s scheduled withdrawal from the EU, how would you characterise the current state of negotiations?
Dominic Grieve: They’re not going well at all. We are not talking the same language. The UK is seeking a bespoke deal recognising our past membership of the EU, our desire to maintain very close links with the EU in a wide range of fields, to have as near frictionless as possible trade in goods and services, and to participate in a vast range of EU peripheral activities. But we want freedom to operate our own immigration policy, not have freedom of movement, the ability to do third-country trade agreements and the ability to deregulate or change the regulatory framework in areas. Continue reading “Grieve on Brexit: No great advantage”
LB: What’s been happening in the two years since the Canada tie-up?
David Fennell (DF), chief executive: One of the reasons for doing that combination was access to the US market, so our US sales are up by 18% year-on-year. Continue reading “The LB interview: Gowling WLG”
LB: What was the background to the merger talks?
Therese Pritchard (TP): I started it. It’s my fault. In February of 2017, I was interested in strategic growth. So looking for a firm that had the same culture and practice areas that are successful or where they were interested in growing. I did some reading. I saw enough that looked interesting that it was worth a call to Lisa. One chat led to another and eventually we invited more partners to the discussions and decided this looked like a great fit. Continue reading “Eyes on ‘the prize’ – BCLP’s leaders on going all-in for transatlantic union”
Legal Business (LB): How do you create a clearer picture of what Pinsents is doing on diversity?
Richard Foley (RF): You’ve got to be consistent in highlighting it as a priority. We’re clear about the programmes we have and we’re vocal about successes. We’ve just been ranked second of all UK corporates in this year’s Stonewall index for the second year running. Continue reading “‘Our values are imperatives’: Pinsents chief on diversity, success and being bolder”
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) today (21 February) announced that much-touted banking litigator Damien Byrne Hill will be replacing Mark Shillito as head of disputes for the UK and US on 1 May.
Unsurprisingly as one of the key names in what remains the City’s bellwether ComLit shop, Byrne Hill has acted on a string of marquee matters in his 27 years at HSF (by way of legacy Herbert Smith), including defending Goldman Sachs in a $1.2bn claim brought by the Libyan Investment Authority. Shillito, who had run the practice for ten years, including steering it through a turbulent period in the wake of its 2012 union with Australian leader Freehills, returns to full time fee earning. Continue reading “‘There’s scope for growth’: Damien Byrne Hill on taking over HSF’s disputes team”
