‘A true win’ – Baker McKenzie on record Ecuador $1.6bn debt-for-nature swap and winning Finance Team of the Year

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‘A true win’ – Baker McKenzie on record Ecuador $1.6bn debt-for-nature swap and winning Finance Team of the Year

Baker McKenzie won Finance Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards for representing project manager Oceans Finance Company in structuring and implementing the government of Ecuador’s $1.6bn debt-for-nature swap and providing $300m for the Galápagos Islands – the largest marine conservation debt conversion to date.

LB spoke with partners Matthew Cox and James Tanner (pictured, middle) to learn more about their experience working on this landmark deal, the challenges they encountered, and what it meant to win Finance Team of the Year.

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‘A huge emotional release’ – DLA’s Adam Ibrahim on the longest trial of his career and winning Lawyer of the Year

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‘A huge emotional release’ – DLA’s Adam Ibrahim on the longest trial of his career and winning Lawyer of the Year

Adam Ibrahim, UK co-head of litigation and arbitration at DLA Piper, was last month named Private Practice Lawyer of the Year at the Legal Business Awards, following a standout year in which he led a large DLA team to victory in a complex mass claimant action over break fees on loans to small businesses, dubbed “the biggest banking case out there” by top-tier silk Bankim Thanki KC.

This March, Mr Justice Zacaroli handed down a 185-page judgment in the case, Farol v Clydesdale Bank and National Australia Bank, comprehensively dismissing all claims against both banks, as well as allegations of deceit against 15 current and former employees of the banks, including four senior executives.

Here, Adam talks to LB’s Anna Huntley about what it was like to be involved in such a huge and long-running case, the rise of class actions, his approach to leadership and management, and what it was like to win the Lawyer of the Year award.

Continue reading “‘A huge emotional release’ – DLA’s Adam Ibrahim on the longest trial of his career and winning Lawyer of the Year”