Month: November 2015

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DLA shows African ambition with dual office launch

Global 100 firm goes alone after warning alliance firms to integrate

DLA Piper’s split from South African associate firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr two months ago has spurred the world’s second largest law firm into action, deciding to go it alone in Africa through launches in Morocco and Johannesburg.

The moves mark DLA’s first on-the-ground presence in Africa, having enjoyed a relationship with firms on the continent through its Africa group since 2006. The office in Casablanca is already open for business, while Johannesburg will launch by March 2016. The launches follow a warning to its associated firms that failure to integrate with the rest of the network could result in broken relationships and a competitor instead of a friend.

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La Dolce Vita: Dentons opens first Italian office with DLA hires

Dentons has opened its first office in Italy having hired 21 lawyers, including three partners from DLA Piper, as well as from a local employment law boutique.

Leading the team from DLA is the firm’s former managing director for Europe and Africa, Federico Sutti, who also previously served as Italy managing partner for more than 16 years. He joins energy partner Matteo Falcione and real estate expert Federico Vanetti. Partners Aldo Calza and Iacopo Aliverti Piuri are also joining from employment law boutique hELP, which was founded by Calza after leaving DLA Piper.

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‘Like Scotland leaving the UK’: Bank ring-fencing reforms herald big changes

Further proposals for banking reform issued last month by the Bank of England are expected to cause significant internal restructuring of in-house legal teams, with some banks effectively having two separate legal functions.

Under the reforms, banks with core deposits greater than £25bn, including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander UK and The Co-operative Bank, will from 2019 need to separate their retail banking function from the rest of their group, which will divide the activities in the legal team. Banks are currently in a transitional phase of determining where the line is drawn between retail banking and investment banking operations.

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Disputes Yearbook 2015

Introduction

Opening Statements

Features

Pespectives

Market views

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Worldpay IPO to spark London fintech boom after £2.2bn float

Dealmakers predict end-of-season deal flourish in Q4

London’s goal of becoming a hub for tech companies to list took a further step in October, after payment processing company Worldpay floated on the London Stock Exchange in the largest City listing so far this year.

Allen & Overy (A&O), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Weil, Gotshal & Manges all scored roles as City-headquartered Worldpay sold 51% of its outstanding shares, raising £2.16bn with Worldpay receiving about £947.8m.

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Moving on: homebuilder McCarthy & Stone turns to A&O for its November listing

Regular counsel Freshfields advises lead arrangers on £1bn IPO

Retirement home builder McCarthy & Stone has selected Allen & Overy (A&O) to advise on its £1bn initial public offering (IPO) as it prepares this month to return to public ownership almost a decade after the developer was taken private.

McCarthy & Stone’s appointment of A&O is a move away from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which was listed as the developer’s solicitor in its most recent annual report in 2014. However, Freshfields already has a lead role on the float, acting for underwriters Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Jefferies International, with partner Mark Austin leading the team.

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News in brief – November 2015

SLAUGHTER AND MAY WIPES £600M OFF BA SUIT

Litigators at Slaughter and May have successfully struck out around £600m from a claim against client British Airways. The airline is one of several airlines facing a cartel damages action from flower importer Emerald Supplies and 564 other shippers. In October the Court of Appeal disagreed with Justice Peter Smith’s decision to adjourn a strike-out application against the economic tort claims and reduced the £1bn claim to £400m.


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It’s a people game – what PE lawyers can teach global law firms

If a good chunk of the latest issue of Legal Business is focused on technology and machines replacing lawyers, our extended focus this month on private equity is an interesting contrast. After all, what good would a supercomputer be in the clubby, driven and entrepreneurial world of leveraged buyouts?

But then private equity has for years been an outlier in City law. Leading law firms built their businesses around banks and multinational clients, ushering in globalisation, one-stop-shopping and customer relationship management programmes.

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The Last Word: The clients’ view

Interviewed for our annual in-house report, general counsel at leading companies give us their views on diversity, ethics and joining the c-suite

 

LOOKING GOOD

‘When I was a young lawyer, I remember working with an outside counsel and I said to him: “What’s your job versus my job?” He said: “My job is to make you look good.” My thoughts at the time were that there has to be more to it than that, but for firms that have focused on that mission, there’s been an upside for me and them. Those with no clue, who are just looking to build their book of business, have not fared well with me.’

Wanji Walcott, senior vice president, managing counsel, American Express

 

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Calling time at the Bar – Quality fears for English judges are growing as top QCs turn away from the bench

Disillusionment within the England and Wales judiciary was laid bare by the findings of the UK Judicial Attitude Survey in February this year. Pay freezes, pension cuts and increased workload have evidently soured the mood at the bench.

The survey, carried out by the UCL Judicial Institute, indicated that 86% of judges who had been in the post for at least five years believed that working conditions had worsened since 2010. And nearly a third of judges are considering leaving their positions early in the next five years. Perhaps even more worryingly, a high proportion of judges said that reduced pension benefits (76%) and a reduction in income in real terms (69%) would discourage people from joining the bench.

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