Revolving doors: Kirkland picks up Freshfields private equity stars again as seven partners depart pre-IPO Mishcon

Posted on |

With echoes of David Higgins’ landmark $10m switch in 2017 , Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has lost two up-and-coming private equity rising stars to US rival Kirkland & Ellis.

Freshfields lifer Vincent Bergin, who was made partner last year, arrives at Kirkland with an impressive back catalogue of clients, including private equity shops EQT ) and CVC Capital Partners. The other hire is Keir MacLennan – promoted in 2019, MacLennan specialises in high-profile and complex mergers and acquisitions, carve-outs, take-privates and exits for both financial sponsors and corporates. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Kirkland picks up Freshfields private equity stars again as seven partners depart pre-IPO Mishcon”

‘Leading-edge experience’ – Slaughter and May looks in-house to make rare City disputes partner hire

Posted on |
‘Leading-edge experience’ – Slaughter and May looks in-house to make rare City disputes partner hire

Slaughter and May has made a rare City hire, the firm announced today (19 November), recruiting a partner into its disputes and investigations practice from in-house.

Gayathri Kamalanathan is currently head of group litigation and enforcement at Danske Bank in Copenhagen, having been at the bank for almost two years, but is now set to join Slaughters in April. Prior to joining Dankse Bank, Kamalanathan had an eight-year spell at Deutsche Bank where she served as managing director UK head of litigation and enforcement and spent nine years at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer where she was a senior associate. Continue reading “‘Leading-edge experience’ – Slaughter and May looks in-house to make rare City disputes partner hire”

Comment: Litigators prepare as market enters phoney war but battle lines are yet to be drawn 

Posted on |
Comment: Litigators prepare as market enters phoney war but battle lines are yet to be drawn 

The received wisdom is that a downward trajectory in the economy results in an upward trajectory in contentious work as the environment becomes more acrimonious, and by extension more litigious. Of course, this is a simplistic take, but it does describe something that is approximately true.

But no downturn completely resembles the one before it. Though an overused description generally, even a cursory glance at the state of the economy shows the chaos wrought by the Covid-19 lockdown is truly unprecedented – the 20.4% contraction in in the economy during the second quarter of 2020 was the largest since records began.  Continue reading “Comment: Litigators prepare as market enters phoney war but battle lines are yet to be drawn “

Perfect storms – Cases of the year

Posted on |
Perfect storms – Cases of the year

Cash-rich funders; conflict-free boutiques; class actions aplenty. While some predict another economic downturn on the horizon, providing an uptick in conventional litigation work, these themes have defined the more eye-catching disputes of the past year. Add to the mix an increase in cyber-related litigation and accusations of fraud and regulatory missteps against some of the leading firms’ key institutional clients, and a kinetic disputes scene emerges.

Many of these developments are US imports, particularly class actions and a more aggressive approach to accusations of fraud. These US-style claims are often being pursued by disputes boutiques increasingly allying themselves with external funders. As a result, the stranglehold City bluebloods have over big-ticket litigation has loosened, while some feel only two or three of the smaller players are of sufficient quality to cause real disruption (see our boutiques report). Continue reading “Perfect storms – Cases of the year”

‘Serious loss of morale’: The recruitment crisis at the bench deepens

Posted on |
‘Serious loss of morale’: The recruitment crisis at the bench deepens

Cumulative cuts to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) budget over the past decade, amounting to 40% in total, have had a profound impact on the UK’s publicly funded legal system. One corollary is that there are too few senior judges. First and foremost, this is because insufficient candidates of quality have applied to become a High Court judge.

‘There seems to be a continued problem with recruitment, not in terms of quality, but in terms of numbers,’ says former chair of the Bar, Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC. Recognised as a perennial problem by the government, a streamlined application process was introduced last year. But this has done little to help. Vacancies remain across all three divisions: Queen’s Bench (QBD), Family and Chancery. Continue reading “‘Serious loss of morale’: The recruitment crisis at the bench deepens”

Litigation support – The right-hand men (and women)

Posted on |
Litigation support – The right-hand men (and women)

As the forum of choice for international litigants, London continues to enjoy an unparalleled reputation for high-value dispute resolution. The quality of justice delivered by its commercial courts is underpinned by the calibre of specialist independent judges and the lawyers that work in them. But beyond the courtroom door, a diverse range of specialist litigation support providers routinely help to bolster the case being put forward by the legal teams on both sides.

From asset tracing, e-discovery and forensic accounting to third-party funding, PR and witness training, many of these services are now increasingly central to formulating a successful dispute strategy. Critically, the level of sophistication required frequently goes beyond the capacity of in-house expertise available to general counsel (GCs), or even to the largest law firms. Continue reading “Litigation support – The right-hand men (and women)”

Market Report: Tax Litigation – Introducing the hard line

Posted on |
Market Report: Tax Litigation – Introducing the hard line

Post Brexit, HMRC is renewing its litigation focus on corporate tax evasion, enhanced by new powers to investigate corporate criminal offences. Dominic Carman reports

Like stargazing through a telescope, tax disputes look back in time. The typical gestation period between issues first catching HMRC’s attention and a dispute reaching court can take up to five years, sometimes longer. Nick Skerrett (pictured), head of contentious tax at Simmons & Simmons, says there has been a maturation of the governance processes within HMRC. ‘It is starting to bed down and HMRC has become more adept in its approach to working out those cases that it ultimately wants to come before the courts from those that it does not,’ he says. Continue reading “Market Report: Tax Litigation – Introducing the hard line”

Disputes perspectives: Craig Pollack

Posted on |
Disputes perspectives: Craig Pollack

I was supposed to study economics and realised I was not a very good economist. Then I went to study law in Israel and almost from the first lecture it all made sense. It explained the rule of law means we’re all treated equally and there’s due process if you get arrested. I come from Africa where in Zimbabwe and in South Africa there was no rule of law for black people.

I was hooked early on, but wasn’t hooked as a litigator. I thought I’d be a corporate lawyer, come to England, get involved in all this big M&A and it would be a fantastic, go-go, rock ‘n’ roll thing. Continue reading “Disputes perspectives: Craig Pollack”

Disputes perspectives: Geraldine Elliott

Posted on |
Disputes perspectives: Geraldine Elliott

I wanted a professional career. My father was a doctor but very keen I didn’t do medicine. I had a scientific background and law is a very analytical process. I’d watched a few television programmes about criminal lawyers.

Law was the right career for me. The life of doctors is very tough and there’s effectively one employer, whereas in law it’s easier for you to create a career because it’s constantly changing and there’s always something that can grab your interest. New people coming onto the market and changes in the competition make a massive difference. Continue reading “Disputes perspectives: Geraldine Elliott”

Disputes perspectives: Paula Hodges QC

Posted on |
Disputes perspectives: Paula Hodges QC

Becoming a lawyer was suggested to me by other people. I was about 15, and doing a lot of debating and public speaking in school. People started saying to me: ‘You should think about becoming a lawyer.’ The school was supportive, and sent me to conferences and such.

It was also because of watching TV. A lot of people say Crown Court, but I liked the American ones. The media attraction got me thinking about the advocacy side. Continue reading “Disputes perspectives: Paula Hodges QC”