Updated: Management shake up for DLA Piper as Knowles takes over as global co-chair and Levine put forward for co-CEO role

Posted on |

DLA Piper’s co-chief executive (CEO) Nigel Knowles is to replace Tony Angel as global co-chairman in a senior management shake-up which has also seen London IP and technology partner Simon Levine proposed as global co-CEO, partners at the firm heard this afternoon (4 February).

Current Americas co-chair and corporate and finance practice head Roger Meltzer has been put forward to sit alongside Knowles (pictured) in the global co-chair role, while, Americas co-chair Jay Rains has been proposed as joint global CEO alongside Levine.

Former Linklaters managing partner Angel will continue as senior partner until his term expires in 16 months as the international managing partner role which Knowles currently holds will be phased out.

Levine’s recommendation, which has been put forward by the executive board, needs to be approved by the international partnership and will take effect from 1 January 2015. Continue reading “Updated: Management shake up for DLA Piper as Knowles takes over as global co-chair and Levine put forward for co-CEO role”

Leadership: Maclay Murray & Spens CEO Smylie to step down as Shand takes the reins

Posted on |

After a tough three years Maclay Murray & Spens’ (MMS) chief executive Chris Smylie is to step down from his role, with corporate head Kenneth Shand to take over the reins of a firm which has seen revenue drop 33% since its £61.1m high in 2008 but is now executing significant changes out of a root and branch strategic review.

Smylie, who has chosen not to stand for a second term, will return to his role as a partner in MMS’ planning team. In the interim, he will work with Shand to ensure a smooth transition to becoming CEO in June. Continue reading “Leadership: Maclay Murray & Spens CEO Smylie to step down as Shand takes the reins”

Blue sky thinking – A&O initiative to adopt and roll out new business ideas from clients

Posted on |

Following on from its roll out of high-end contract lawyer service Peerpoint last November, Allen & Overy is continuing to challenge and develop its model with the introduction of an initiative to adopt new business practices from its clients.

The Magic Circle giant, led by senior partner David Morley, has pulled together five panels of between five and eight partners covering Asia Pacific; Middle East and Africa; Continental Europe; the US and the UK, to target its clients for ideas not usually seen in the legal sector across the entire business function including finance, human resources, strategy and IT. Continue reading “Blue sky thinking – A&O initiative to adopt and roll out new business ideas from clients”

Guest Post: See Talent. Liberate it.

Posted on |

It’s been viewed online nearly seven million times. Sheryl Sandberg calls it one of the most important documents ever to come out of Silicon Valley. And it was created by the company whose stock increased in 2013 more than any other’s in the S&P 500—up nearly 350%.

“It” is a 126-slide PowerPoint called ‘Netflix Culture: Freedom & Responsibility,’ and it outlines Netflix’s approach to just that—culture—although it has primarily been interpreted as a ‘reinvention” of HR,’ as this Harvard Business Review article puts it.

Going through the entire PowerPoint (I have) is valuable in and of itself; if nothing else, you’ll see how very well done PowerPoints can be, for a change. But the HBR article, written by the former head of HR at Netflix itself, distills their approach to talent into five tenets based on two key insights into how people actually feel about performing their jobs.

Continue reading “Guest Post: See Talent. Liberate it.”

Guest post: See Talent. Feed It.

Posted on |

Turnabout.

I recently wrote about how to demoralize, discourage, and disenchant top talent. This is about how to retain that talent. Like the prior column, this one is based on one of the top columns of the year from Strategy + Business, the Booz & Co. publication: ‘Retaining Top Talent: Yes, It Really Is All About Them.’

Prefatory clarification: What follows isn’t addressed to your inner circle of key leaders, or to the Super Rainmakers, all of whom you presumably know intimately, and with whom you talk about what follows all the time, in ways tailored to each individual. Rather, what follows is addressed to how you deal with all the talent that’s not at the tippy-top of your firm already. Continue reading “Guest post: See Talent. Feed It.”

King & Wood Mallesons reshuffles management team again following partner exit

Posted on |

King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has made another change to its practice management team just months after restructuring its leadership following its merger with SJ Berwin in November. Legacy SJ Berwin partner Craig Pollack was today (7January) named as its new global co-ordinator for dispute resolution replacing Beau Deleuil, who left KWM a month after the merger to join Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan’s Sydney office.

Pollack is already on the international management committee as an alternate and will continue as head of the Europe and Middle East dispute resolution practice. Alex Leitch will take over from Pollack as the new London head of dispute resolution. Continue reading “King & Wood Mallesons reshuffles management team again following partner exit”

Leadership: Herbert Smith Freehills unveils new joint CEOs

Posted on |

After much speculation, Herbert Smith Freehills announced today that it has appointed Sonya Leydecker (pictured) and Mark Rigotti as joint chief executive officers (CEOs).

The appointments come after a recommendation by the firm’s governance body, the council and following ratification by partners. Leydecker and Rigotti will take their positions for a term of three years after current CEOs David Willis and Gavin Bell step down on 1 May 2014.

Continue reading “Leadership: Herbert Smith Freehills unveils new joint CEOs”

Leadership: Eversheds favours client management specialist Paul Smith in chairman vote

Posted on |

Eversheds has named litigator and former Tyco relationship partner Paul Smith as its next chairman as current incumbent John Heaps steps down.

The partnership voted in favour of Smith in the third week of November against corporate partner Robert Pitcher, who also stood for election. Smith will begin his four year term on 1st May 2014.

Smith (pictured) specialises in environmental law and disputes and has defended a number of multinational companies in criminal investigations in the UK, Europe and North America. However, he has been most commonly known as a pioneering client relationship partner for DuPont and Tyco, and was named Lawyer of the Year at the 2008 Legal Business Awards for his work in securing its revolutionary single-supplier agreement with Tyco.

Continue reading “Leadership: Eversheds favours client management specialist Paul Smith in chairman vote”

Management overhaul for KWM SJ Berwin as dual corporate heads replace Davis

Posted on |

As King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin beds down its $1bn merger the Sino-Australian and UK giant has announced further changes to its management line up, with the news that Steven Davis will step down as City head of corporate to be replaced by dual heads Michael Goldberg (pictured) and Richard Lever.

With indications that further leadership changes are yet to come, the firm also announced yesterday (11 December) that Paris-based global partnership board member Maxence Bloch has been appointed as international head of corporate for the UK, continental Europe and the Middle East and will support both Goldberg and Lever in London. Continue reading “Management overhaul for KWM SJ Berwin as dual corporate heads replace Davis”

‘People were ready’ – Immelt to become sole Hogan Lovells CEO as Harris and Gorrell to stand down

Posted on |

The sensitive issue of governance has hung over Hogan Lovells since the 2010 merger that created the Anglo-American giant but the firm is to finally resolve the point in favour of a streamlined leadership model.

The dual UK-US leadership of Hogan Lovells is to come to an end with joint chief executives Warren Gorrell and David Harris set to stand down from their respective roles in June 2014. Harris is to retire from the firm, while Gorrell will return to full-time fee-earning.

In a move away from the UK/US joint leadership that has been in place since Hogan & Hartson and Lovells merged in 2010, Washington DC-based partner Stephen Immelt (pictured) has been chosen take the reins as sole CEO, while London-based partner David Hudd will become deputy CEO. Continue reading “‘People were ready’ – Immelt to become sole Hogan Lovells CEO as Harris and Gorrell to stand down”