Posted on

Slaughters makes up seven in the City with bulked-up promotion round

City blueblood Slaughter and May has promoted seven partners in the City and one in Hong Kong following an increased promotion round, with corporate receiving the lion’s share.

The promotion round sees London land four additional corporate partners, with one apiece going to the firm’s infrastructure and natural resources, investigations and financing practices respectively. In Hong Kong the one promotion came in corporate.

The promotion round is a significant increase on last year when the firm only made up one associate, with finance lawyer Harry Bacon receiving the nod. However, his promotion was announced alongside a rare hire for the firm, with Jing Chen joining as a partner in Hong Kong from the listing division of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.

Slaughters senior partner Steve Cooke commented: ‘Each of these talented individuals has already established a strong track record of providing excellent advice to our clients and will make an important contribution to the continuing growth of our business. The fact that we have promoted lawyers from a broad spread of practice areas in these uncertain times reflects the underlying strength of the firm.’

Meanwhile, all associates at Slaughters received a boost earlier this year, as the firm revealed a salary boost for associates with 2.5 years post-qualified experience or more, following a significant bump in newly-qualified pay last summer.

[email protected]

Slaughter and May promotions in full

London

  • Tim Blanchard (investigations)
  • Oliver Moir (infrastructure, energy, natural resources)
  • Samay Shah (financing)
  • Alexander Dustan (corporate)
  • Natalie Cook (corporate)
  • Harry Hecht (corporate)
  • Claire Jackson (corporate)

Hong Kong

  • Ben Heron (corporate)

This article first appeared on Legal Business.

Posted on

‘Not ingredients for activity’: Treasury reveals fiscal stimulus to battle coronavirus slump

Amid growing economic uncertainty, the Treasury on 11 March announced a budget looking to reassure businesses as coronavirus fears continue to rise and law firm partners brace for a slowdown.

The budget comes as early optimism for 2020 has turned to anxiety among major law firms, with clients become increasingly impacted by the global outbreak of coronavirus. Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a £30bn package to help tackle the virus, which included the abolition of business rates for small businesses and a £1bn government-backed loan scheme.

‘It’s too premature to make confident predictions but likely economic stagnation in some sectors combined with sliding equity valuations and market uncertainty are not helpful ingredients for M&A activity,’ Slaughter and May’s head of corporate Andy Ryde told Legal Business. ‘We’re therefore braced for a slower period, but would be optimistic for a quicker and higher bounce-back than we saw following the global financial crisis.’

Many in the market feel restructuring and insolvency lawyers will be in higher demand as coronavirus acts as a trigger for businesses already at risk, as seen in the recent collapse of UK airline Flybe. However, the government-backed loan scheme will be available only for businesses affected by the virus that are otherwise viable.

‘The main message from the government is “we’ll do whatever it takes,” but putting a number to the measures needed is difficult,’ Simmons & Simmons corporate partner Martin Shah told Legal Business. ‘It’s a confident message of saying the government will help businesses get through this with grants and loans as well as tax arrangements.’

A slew of law firms have been forced to respond to the virus, cancelling partner conferences and closing offices. Earlier this week, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan temporarily closed its New York office after a partner tested positive for COVID-1, while Baker McKenzie was the first major firm in London to be forced into a decision, briefly closing its 1,000-employee office after a member of staff was taken ill following a return from Northern Italy.

Also in a bid to support the economy, the Bank of England cut interest rates today in an emergency move. The monetary policy committee voted unanimously to slash the bank rate from 0.75% to 0.25%, in the hope of stemming fallout in the markets and supporting demand.

Meanwhile, the government also revealed consultation plans over the coming months for a possible levy to fund new action on money laundering. According to the budget report: ‘The government intends to introduce a levy to be paid by firms subject to the money laundering regulations to help fund new government action to tackle money laundering and ensure delivery of the reforms committed to in the Economic Crime Plan.’

Some in the legal profession believe the measures are not enough, however. Kingsley Napley criminal litigation partner Alun Milford commented: ‘The government needs also to ensure investment in extra prosecutors and a proper functioning court service to deal with money laundering and fraud cases effectively. Only with investment across the system will the authorities really be able to boast about a significant ramping up of the war on dirty money and financial crime and to meet the objectives set out in the Economic Crime Plan.’

The government also revealed a £14m backing of Companies House in an effort to ‘continue with vital capital projects to help its work tackling economic crime and anti-money laundering.’

[email protected]

Posted on

Are you aware that your law degree can help you to start a career in the boardroom?

Landing a training contract is not the only route into the legal sector. Company secretarial and governance roles give you the opportunity to use your legal knowledge and experience to get your foot into the boardroom. Being a Chartered governance professional immerses you in a broad career that provides exposure not only to law but business strategy, finance and support to the board of directors. The Chartered Governance Institute can help you gain experience if this is a career for you.

Good governance is vital to enabling the management of a board to effectively deal with the challenges of running an organisation and ensure that they operate legally, appropriately, ethically and fairly. Chartered governance professionals support, influence and advise the board regarding legal, regulatory and ethical matters to ensure that organisations keep all stakeholders in balance and execute well-informed decisions.

At the organisation’s core

Governance professionals possess highly strategic roles and hold positions of considerable influence. They work closely with the chair, CEO and directors to keep organisations true to their strategic purpose and ensure they operate successfully within regulation.

Transferable between sectors

As a law graduate, your degree opens the doors to a much wider career than conventional law. There is flexibility to move between public, corporate or not-for-profit sectors nationally and internationally. The role of a governance professional will differ from organisation to organisation, and no day will ever be the same. Governance professionals are in demand in across all sizes of organisations, and across a variety of sectors including charities and academy schools, as well as the National Health Service and sports organisations.

Interpersonal skills

Governance professionals need to keep-up-to date with regulatory changes, current issues and be wary of future developments.

In addition to technical knowledge, soft skills are essential to an organisation’s success and are just as crucial to business success as the more recognised ‘hard skills’.

A good governance professional should be able to effectively negotiate, communicate and form relationships. They need to have a non-partisan approach, informed decision making, ability to influence others, facilitation skills and at the same time be self-aware, independent, resilient and discreet, all while keeping a calm persona.

Do you want to know more?

Book a place at our Graduate Open Evening in London on 3 June 2020 and hear from governance professionals about what drew them into the role, how they qualified and their first-hand advice.

Alternatively, visit the Graduate Hub and register for an insight day, work shadowing opportunities, or sit in on an AGM session to gain rare insights into the plans and strategies of high-profile organisations within the UK.

Posted on

In-house: RPC and DWF among four new firms on Dixons Carphone’s expanded roster

Retailer Dixons Carphone has added four firms to a revised legal roster, with DWF, RPC, Bristows and Carson McDowell winning spots.

The panel will run for four years following the expiration of its previous arrangement in March, which was the result of a 2016 review. The new additions join ten firms Dixons Carphone has kept panel relationships with, including Addleshaw Goddard, Clyde & Co, DAC Beachcroft, DLA Piper, Doyle Clayton, Fieldfisher, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Pinsent Masons, Shoosmiths, and Worthingtons.

The 14 firms will work across commercial, corporate, employment, litigation, regulatory, property and IP work. General counsel Nigel Paterson, who featured in the GC Powerlist 2019, told Legal Business the winning firms were assessed against technical expertise, financial value, retail market understanding and their abilities to offer added-value services.

‘We have maintained existing relationships with the firms we’ve worked with for many years, while also bringing on board the expertise of four firms,’ he added.

Paterson has responsibility for 47 lawyers across employment, corporate and commercial legal teams in London, Athens and Oslo.  He joined Dixons Carphone a year after the £3.8bn merger between Dixons and Carphone Warehouse in 2014, which brought household names including Currys and PC World under one umbrella. A former senior lawyer at BT for over 14 years, he replaced interim joint-GC team of Helen Grantham and Tim Morris.

Dixons Carphone has been riding a turbulent couple of years of poor trading on the high street, and in 2018 announced the closure of 92 of its 700 stores.

[email protected]

This article first appeared onLegal Business.

Posted on

Ashurst enters US West Coast with four-lawyer Santa Monica projects play

Ashurst has launched a four-lawyer transport and infrastructure-focused base in Santa Monica, its second US office after New York.

The firm announced today (25 February) that projects partner Anna Hermelin has relocated from the firm’s Tokyo office to become managing partner of the new West Coast operations in the Los Angeles County.

The new outpost, staffed by Hermelin and three California-qualified Ashurst associates, will focus on projects and project finance work in the transport and social infrastructure sectors. Ashurst aims to grow the team to between seven and ten lawyers within a year.

A spokesperson for Ashurst told Legal Business that the launch was a reflection of mandates on the West Coast having increased significantly and was ‘aligned to the firm’s ambitions in terms of its projects, project finance and infrastructure offering’.

California has gathered increasing attention from international law firms in the last few years, although interest has mainly been focused on the booming Bay Area tech scene rather than the Los Angeles surroundings.

Some point to a growing gap between the North and the South of the state, with fewer financial institutions and public companies based around Los Angeles compared to a decade ago and reverberations across the legal industry. New York royalty Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, for example, has reduced its LA headcount in recent years and is planning to move to smaller premises when its current lease expires in 2021.

Others however point to the growing strength of the media and entertainment scene around LA’s Century City district, with Latham & Watkins launching locally in 2014 and Paul Hastings following suit in March 2018. The burgeoning tech scene around the area ambitiously dubbed Silicon Beach, between LA and Santa Monica, is also getting more attention from investors, with Boston-bred Goodwin launching in Santa Monica last year.

Other firms to open Southern California bases recently include Baker McKenzie in March 2018 and Clyde & Co in July 2017.

The launch of Ashurst’s second US base after New York follows the firm posting robust financials in 2018/19, with revenue rising 14% to £641m and profits per equity partner soaring 31% to £972,000. The firm has made considerable headway in New York in recent years having built out a generative government-side infrastructure advisory offering.

[email protected]

This article first appeared on Legal Business.

Posted on

‘Healthy competition’: LOD comes full circle with launch of challenger UK law firm

Lawyers On Demand (LOD) is launching a ‘challenger’ law firm to compete with traditional firms on providing advice to in-house teams across the UK, three years after the business was first launched in Australia.

The business – LOD Legal – is staffed exclusively by lawyers from an in-house background, with the team currently in excess of 30 lawyers comprised of new full-time employees and existing lawyers from the core LOD team. Like LOD, the business operates under a corporate structure.

‘The joy of our model is we can respond in a speedy fashion to what clients want,’ LOD co-founder Simon Harper (pictured) told Legal Business. ‘In the UK it will be focused at the start on delivering services in an agile way. The Australian business is significantly more progressed, so that provides a blueprint.’

Since its origins at legacy Berwin Leighton Paisner, LOD has enjoyed close relationships with traditional firms for work. However, Harper believes the launch of LOD Legal should not step on the toes of LOD’s private practice clients, instead providing ‘healthy competition’ as a significant majority of LOD’s work comes from in-house clients.

‘There was always an overlap with private practice, even in the BLP days,’ Harper added. ‘But we’re not looking at big ticket litigation or multi-jurisdictional M&A. We’re targeting the everyday work for in-house teams.’

With outsourcing and day-to-day commercial contract work the initial aim of the firm, LOD Legal will be supported by the project management and technology service lines already provided by the wider LOD business. Currently, LOD Legal is providing commercial legal advice to in-house teams across the technology, pharmaceutical, professional services and retail sectors in the UK. According to Harper, the business expects to add employment law capability imminently.

Moving ahead LOD Legal will be pitted against large traditional firms who also provide such offerings through their managed legal services arms. Eversheds Sutherland’s Konexo business is one such example, while DWF and Addleshaw Goddard also have managed legal services capabilities.

The moves by LOD come after changes made by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in November 2019, which allowed for solicitors in England and Wales to provide services in new ways, outside the confines of traditional law firm structures.

[email protected]

This article first appeared on Legal Business.

Posted on

Russell-Cooke: Navigating the barriers: tips for aspiring BAME lawyers 17 March 2020

Russell-Cooke is hosting its first BAME legal conference which will be taking place in London. Paulette Mastin (chair of Black Solicitors Network (BSN)) and Stephanie Boyce (deputy vice president of the Law Society) will be sharing their personal experiences and advice on how to navigate the legal profession. Guest panellists will also be discussing the alternative paths to becoming a solicitor. Aspiring solicitors / attendees will have the chance to ask questions of the panel plus take away practical tips on how to nurture a successful career in the legal industry.

Tuesday 17 March 2020 – 7 Bedford Row, London, WC1R 4BS

Register your free place at this seminar.

 

Posted on

Goodwin’s City arm hikes revenue 11% to $74m on the back of lateral bonanza

In another robust year for Boston’s Goodwin, its ever-expansive City arm has seen turnover lift 11% to $74m amid a year of aggressive investment.

The double-digit City turnover growth may not be as pacey as last year’s eye-catching 58% uptick to $66.8m, but it speaks of the benefits of investing heavily and sticking to the strategy in a year characterised by a slower rate of growth for many more mature practices of US firms in London.

Global revenue saw a comparable 11% increase to $1.33bn from $1.2bn in 2018, while profit per equity partner (PEP) rose 6% to $2.61m from $2.46m last year.

On the back of a sustained hiring spree, London lawyer headcount grew 23% to 86 fee-earners from 69 the previous year, outpacing 14% global headcount growth from 955 to 1,091. That growth resulted in a 3% dip in revenue per lawyer (RPL) from $1.255m to $1.219m for 2019.

Notably, the firm’s City lateral tally since the start of 2019 also stood at 11, chiefly in the tech practice, and mainly from rival in the space, Taylor Wessing.

The biggest haul came last summer with the team hire of Taylor Wessing’s head of life sciences Malcolm Bates, along with colleagues David Mardle, Tim Worden and Adrian Rainey.

The team followed the January 2019 addition of Taylor Wessing corporate partner Andrew Davis to its technology and life sciences practice and the March hire of Simon Thomas from Addleshaw Goddard as a partner in the financial restructuring practice.

More recently in August, tax partner Robert Young was hired from Taylor Wessing and Ali Ramadan joined from Orrick. Last November, private equity partner Carl Bradshaw went over from Kirkland & Ellis, while in January, Goodwin enlisted CMS’ private equity head James Grimwood and this month real estate partner Justin Cornelius joined from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.

The firm also last year threw its weight behind London, promoting three to partner – private equity lawyer Ravi Chopra, tax lawyer Katie Leah and real estate lawyer Martin Smith – in its 33-strong global round.

A relatively recent entrant into the London market, opening with a solitary partner (in the form of ex-Ashurst corporate real estate veteran and now Goodwin’s European chair, David Evans) in 2011, Goodwin’s success has been driven by a single-mindedness in sticking to and investing in the four core areas of real estate, private equity, life sciences and technology, mirroring the firm’s strongpoints in the US.

Goodwin had an impressive run of mandates during the financial year, acting for Medical Properties Trust on the acquisition of a corporate structure that owns a portfolio of 30 acute care hospital facilities, valued at roughly £1.5bn, with a team led by Evans, James Spence and Bradshaw.

The year also saw two $1bn mandates for Investcorp and a role advising Ares Management on the structuring and establishment of Ares European Real Estate Fund V, which closed last August having raised €1.78bn.

US firms to report more subdued financial performance out of London include Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, whose revenue remained broadly flat at $125.1m on the heels of a 28% surge in 2018, while Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft saw its London revenue drop for the second year in a row, falling 4% to $41.3 in 2019, in spite of global revenue growing 9% to $459m.

[email protected]

This article first appeared on Legal Business.

Posted on

Dealwatch: Big-ticket M&A back on track as Cleary and NRF lead on Alstom’s €6.2bn rail acquisition

Amid a relative dearth of substantial European buyouts recently, the proposed €6.2bn acquisition by France’s Alstom of the rail business of Canadian counterpart Bombardier will come as a boon for the international offices of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Norton Rose Fulbright.

Alstom said on Monday (17 February) it had signed an agreement with Bombardier and its shareholder the Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) to acquire 100% of the shares in Bombardier Transportation for between €5.8bn and €6.2bn.

As part of the deal, CDPQ will convert its current €2bn investment in Bombardier Transportation into shares in Alstom and will also invest another €700m in the French rail company, making it Alstom’s largest shareholder with 18%.

The extensive Cleary team advising Alstom was led by M&A partner Pierre-Yves Chabert with London partner Nallini Puri advised on UK corporate matters. Richard Sultman advised on tax from London.

Norton Rose advised Bombardier while Jones Day advised on the antitrust and competition aspects of the deal. Jones Day partner and co-head of antitrust and competition Bernard Amory led from the US. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP advised Bombardier’s financial advisor Citigroup.

Last year Alstom attempted a merger with German company Siemens with plans to create a European rail champion. The merger failed following a block from EU antitrust regulators. Bombardier has been disposing of several parts of its business recently and last year sold its regional jet business to Japanese engineering company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Meanwhile, Travers Smith advised TA Associates on the proposed sale of Merian Global Investors Limited to UK fund management group Jupiter Fund Management for £390m, paid through the issue of new Jupiter shares to Merian shareholders. The deal will create a combined portfolio of £65bn assets under management.

Merian provides investment expertise across major asset classes in fixed income, global emerging market equities, alternatives and global asset allocation. Jupiter Fund Management mainly manages investment trusts and private client portfolios as well as mutual funds, segregated mandates and investment trusts with investments worth £44.1bn for individuals and institutions across the UK and internationally. Jupiter’s fund covers equities, fixed income, multi-asset, multi-manager and alternatives asset classes.

The Travers team was led by head of private equity and financial sponsors and co-head of corporate Paul Dolman. Partner Tim Lewis provided financial regulatory advice, partner Simon Skinner advised on tax, Partner Philip Cheveley advised on equity capital markets and Partner Mahesh Varia advised on incentives and remuneration.

A Macfarlanes team led by M&A partner Luke Powell also advised Merian. Jupiter Fund was advised by Fenchurch Advisory Partners.

Speaking to Legal Business Dolman said that the deal brought together two market-leading asset managers and required a sizable Travers team, covering regulatory, public company, employment benefits and private equity specialisms.

‘We are seeing more and more trade buyers. Jupiter is a trade buyer, but quite unusual because it’s listed. The synergies that a trade buyer can bring gives them an advantage compared to a financial sponsor. It is consistent with what we are seeing in the market,’ said Dolman.

Finally, Travers also advised its long-term client Silverfleet Capital Partners on the acquisition of Danish-based credit management service provider Collectia.

The Travers team was led by private equity and financial sponsors partner Will Yates and worked alongside Danish firm Bruun & Hjejle on the cross-border transaction. Collectia was advised by Macfarlanes with a team led by partner Kirstie Hutchinson.

[email protected]

This article first appeared on Legal Business.

Posted on

Cooley’s City base passes $70m revenue mark as global growth slows

Cooley’s London outpost has outpaced the West Coast firm’s global revenue growth for the third consecutive year, rising 9% to $72.9m five years after its launch.

The results disclosed today (13 February) show a global revenue increase of 8% to $1.33bn while profits per equity partner (PEP) rose 6% to $2.54m in 2019.

The pace of growth slowed somewhat on last year, when both global and City turnover were up by double digit figures, 16% to $66.7m and 14% to $1.23bn respectively. Revenue per lawyer at the 1,000-strong firm grew by just 2% in 2019 to $1.32m compared to an 8% rise in 2018.

But overall the results signal another solid year for the Palo Alto-bred firm, fuelled by an ever busy Silicon Valley tech scene and faster-than-usual international expansion, with new offices launched in Brussels and Hong Kong in 2019, followed by Singapore this year. Cooley has grown its global turnover 157% since 2010.

The firm also continued growing its City base, which passed the 100-lawyer mark and is about to move into new premises at 22 Bishopsgate. The firm brought across capital markets partners Claire Keast-Butler and David Boles from US rival Latham & Watkins.

UK deals included advising biotech company Therachon on its $810m sale to Pfizer and manufacturer Bavarian Nordic on its €955m acquisition of manufacturing rights for two vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline.

Cooley was also active on the City contentious side, advising Allergy Therapeutics on a breach of contract claim against Canadian company Inflamax, and biopharma company IQVIA in a dispute with Swiss pharma company Cardiorentis.

In other financial results announced this week, revenue at the London base of US disputes heavyweight Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan rose 20% to £100.6m, while King & Spalding increased its UK turnover 15% to $55.7m. Wall Street firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, however, saw its London revenue drop for the second year in a row, falling 4% to $41.3 in 2019.

[email protected]

This article first appeared on Legal Business.