As Africa’s emerging economies continue to lure investors, a new legal geography is evolving to accommodate increasing cross-border traffic. LB reports.
The ties between Europe and its former colonial African countries have evolved dramatically since the Age of Discovery but strong geopolitical relationships remain.
Global law firms have traditionally dominated the corporate market in Russia and the CIS. LB assesses the chances of those domestic firms taking on the internationals at their own game.
Dimitry Afanasiev, chairman of the Russian law firm Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners (EPA&P), is fully aware of the challenges that lie ahead. On 19 July, EPA&P announced that it was to take over the Ukrainian firm Magisters, creating a pan-CIS firm with over 300 lawyers and, as reported in the legal press, a combined turnover of €115m. In doing so, the firm has planted a serious flag in a market that has always been dominated by major internationals. Continue reading “Russia: Space Invaders”
Russian business and politics can rarely be described as boring. Each year throws up its share of dramas, and 2011 is no exception to the rule.
From prime minister Vladimir Putin’s recent, and not entirely unexpected, self-anointment as Russia’s next president, through to Rosneft’s doomed oil exploration joint venture with UK oil major BP and its subsequent rebound into ExxonMobil’s welcoming arms. These events, and more, have shown that Russia hasn’t lost its flare for political and economic intrigue and infighting. Nevertheless, compared to the problems faced by some of its neighbours in the CIS and Western Europe, Russia has come through the year with a veneer of respectability and stability. Any knocks it has taken have come from external sources. Continue reading “Russia: Shades of grey”
As the airline industry continues to face a tough economic climate, falling passenger numbers and strict regulations, litigation levels have risen. But who’s getting the work?
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou could shake things up in the airline sector yet again. The 46-year-old founder of easyJet grabbed the world’s interest in September with rumours that he’s on the verge of launching a new long-haul budget airline likely to be called Fastjet.
But Sir Stelios has drawn more headlines of late for his legal disputes. In particular, a lengthy legal showdown with easyJet, which he founded in 1995 and in which his family still owns a 37.4% stake. It’s a dispute that has also seen him at odds with his former solicitors, Bird & Bird.
Clyde & Co’s Michael Payton has held the top job at the firm for 27 years and since 1997 has formed a formidable partnership with CEO Peter Hasson.
On the eve of the firm’s much-hyped union with Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, LB takes a closer look at this successful management duo.
Michael Payton has presence: there is no other word for it. As one of the longest-serving senior partners in the City, when he enters the room he instantly seems to take charge.
General Pinochet, Nick Leeson and Ian Maxwell are all former clients.
More recently, Rebekah Brooks and UBS rogue trader Kweku Adoboli have called in Kingsley Napley for help. LB speaks to managing partner Linda Woolley about a firm where the clients make the front pages.
The reception area at Kingsley Napley’s offices in Clerkenwell very much reflects the character of the firm. It’s small, but big enough to serve its purpose. It lacks the ostentation of many City rivals but isn’t too Spartan either. In fact, it’s just about right. Kingsley Napley hasn’t gone for the wow factor, which is probably just as well. Unlike some of its larger City neighbours, many of the firm’s most high-profile clients won’t ever step foot inside its office.
When US outfit Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe entered the London market in 1998, chairman Ralph Baxter had a dream of competing on the global stage.
But 13 years on, that dream looks to be souring. LB investigates what is going wrong.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe was once seen as one of the most successful and promising US firms resident in London. Achieving rapid growth and performing well financially, it seemed that nothing could go wrong. But a string of departures since the start of 2010 and a lack of strategic direction has left many asking if chairman Ralph Baxter’s sheen has come off. Added to the mix is the reputational damage done by its involvement in at least two very public and ultimately failed merger talks with SJ Berwin and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Orrick does not look like the unmitigated success story it purports to be.
