The Commercial Litigation Summit 2017
The new front
As expected – or feared – implementing the incoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a mammoth task for some companies. ‘It is all-encompassing,’ says Karen Kerrigan, chief legal officer at equity crowdfunding firm Seedrs. ‘The advantage of being a small business is that you can involve all the other departments. Frankly, I would be terrified of GDPR if I was at a large business, because you have to take a much more decisive risk-based approach in terms of what you are physically able to look at. We were able to sit down with our development team, our marketing team and our investments team, and go through every single one of their activities and the service providers they were using.’
To say GDPR will have wide implications for in-house teams is an understatement. It is unlikely that there will be any client or any part of a client’s business that will remain unaffected by the EU regulation, which has a deadline for implementation of 25 May 2018. Continue reading “The new front”
The new space race
‘For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace.’
John F Kennedy
When President John F Kennedy stood before Rice University on 12 September 1962 and boldly declared that not only would the US be the first country to land on the moon, but they would do it before the end of the decade, he captured the imagination of a generation. Continue reading “The new space race”
Waking the giant
Making Baker McKenzie stand out was once a simple business. The day in 1948 Russell Baker met John McKenzie by chance in a cab, he had already conceived the notion of an international law firm. Formed in 1949, its first international office was added six years later in Caracas, Venezuela. In the decades to follow, the Chicago-bred firm stood out as a genuinely global operator in a profession that remained largely a domestic concern.
True, having been stitched together from a series of financially separate offices, Bakers never worried the legal elite in New York and London, being dismissed by some as a mid-market franchise thanks to a multi-partnership model that was then unheard of. But Bakers could point to global coverage well beyond any peer, including market-leading practices in many jurisdictions where few rivals dared venture. Passing the $1bn mark in 2001, Bakers turned over more than $2bn just seven years later, making it one of the largest firms in the world. Continue reading “Waking the giant”
The Legal Services Act ten years on – still waiting for the Big Bang
As this issue hits desks, it will be ten years since the Legal Services Act gained Royal Assent, ushering in the most liberal services market in the world by some margin. Given that span of time, and the five years since the most radical elements of the act came into force with the regime for alternative business structures (ABS), it is natural to ask if it has lived up to billing.
There clearly was an impact of sorts, supporting an environment where new business models and fresh thinking were encouraged. That renewed the legal ambitions of the accountants, encouraged the pioneering UK launch of Slater and Gordon, and made Co-op as close as we have got to Tesco law. After a slow initial start there are now over 700 licensed ABSs in England and Wales, representing a significant chunk of the market. Also significant is the messy regulatory fallout and ongoing turf war that it triggered, which has continued with varying degrees of intensity ever since. Continue reading “The Legal Services Act ten years on – still waiting for the Big Bang”
What’s the point of Baker McKenzie?
Ever wonder what Baker McKenzie is waiting for? The firm once had a crystal clear market position as the only major commercial practice that got anywhere near being truly globalised. And while the sprawling nature of the network meant a 20-year battle to shrug off the franchise tag, Bakers has long achieved polished mid-market credibility in many key jurisdictions. While it was never a threat to the US and London elite, the logic for an emerging giant to handle the mid-stream work for global plcs speaks for itself. Yet Bakers has continually fallen short of its own rhetoric.
Having been an international trailblazer, growth has been pedestrian for a decade now and there is too little evidence of the oft-promised push up the value chain. Continue reading “What’s the point of Baker McKenzie?”
BLP’s US merger bid – a certain loss of confidence
If nothing else, it is safe to say Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP)’s not-very-convincing claim that management was not dead set on a US merger was stretching it. Because recent news that the firm is debating a union with Bryan Cave screams: ‘We really want a US merger!’
The talks come after last year having gone through a bruising but short courtship with the far larger Greenberg Traurig, the thrusting Miami shop which had a culture clash with BLP that could not have been more obvious if it had been heralded by fireworks. Continue reading “BLP’s US merger bid – a certain loss of confidence”
The last word: Speaking out
With the recent Weinstein revelations shining a light on sexual harassment and misogyny across every industry, we ask senior lawyers for their views
Call it out
‘Sexual harassment of anybody in any circumstance is outrageous. It must be called out at every opportunity and condemned for what it is – an insidious abuse of power.’
David Morley, member, Mayor of London’s International Business Advisory Council Continue reading “The last word: Speaking out”
Client profile: Mark Maurice-Jones, Nestlé
Unusually for the current UK and Ireland general counsel (GC) of Swiss multinational and famed KitKat creator Nestlé, Mark Maurice-Jones’ career started in teaching.
Armed with a chemical engineering degree from the University of Cambridge that he was unsure how to utilise, Maurice-Jones opted for a year-and-a-half-long stint in Hong Kong teaching maths, physics and chemistry. But ultimately he found the pull of a career in the law more alluring. Continue reading “Client profile: Mark Maurice-Jones, Nestlé”
Breaking China – Bird & Bird signs co-operation agreement with local leader AllBright
It has achieved long-term revenue growth through sustained international expansion – particularly in Asia in recent years – but Bird & Bird has made what it will consider a significant step forward for its ambitions in the region – a non-exclusive co-operation agreement with leading Chinese firm AllBright Law Offices.
The deal, which will see both firms work together on a preferred supplier arrangement, will enable Bird & Bird to build deeper relationships with Chinese clients. As part of the agreement, Allbright Law Offices will gain a base in Europe, with the firm opening its own operation within Bird & Bird’s Fetter Lane headquarters, staffed in the medium term by a permanent representative. Continue reading “Breaking China – Bird & Bird signs co-operation agreement with local leader AllBright”
Keeping home fires burning – DLA Piper chief Picón to join Latham & Watkins in Spain
Moving to the highest-grossing firm in the world from one that used to hold that position, DLA Piper senior partner and global co-chair Juan Picón has left for Latham & Watkins less than two years into his term to spend more time in his native Spain.
He will take over the role of Latham’s managing partner in Spain following the retirement of predecessor José Luis Blanco. He joins from DLA’s own office in Madrid, alongside fellow DLA corporate partners Ignacio Gómez-Sancha and José Antonio Sánchez-Dafos. Continue reading “Keeping home fires burning – DLA Piper chief Picón to join Latham & Watkins in Spain”
Sandrine Devillard, director, McKinsey France
At McKinsey we have been researching this topic for the past ten years. There is still underrepresentation of women on corporate boards, but the underrepresentation is even more striking on executive committees. Continue reading “Sandrine Devillard, director, McKinsey France”
Lisa Kepinski, founder and director, Inclusion Institute
Taking the moral position, that diversity and inclusion are ‘the right thing to do’ has not motivated change in business. Yet there has never been a senior leader that has said to me, ‘I want to treat people unfairly’. Continue reading “Lisa Kepinski, founder and director, Inclusion Institute”
Barbara Levi Mager, general counsel, Sandoz
The benefits that diversity and inclusion bring to the organisation in terms of strategic thinking… it’s a completely different world. When I talk about diversity, I mean not only gender and geography, but also background, education, upbringing, and the way we think. Continue reading “Barbara Levi Mager, general counsel, Sandoz”
Nia Joynson-Romanzina, founder and director, iCubed
The business case
Diversity and inclusion improves excellence in execution and risk management, and it gives strategic advantage. It improves execution by enabling better problem-solving; it’s an early warning system for bad decision-making. Continue reading “Nia Joynson-Romanzina, founder and director, iCubed”
Miral Hamani-Samaan, director of M&A, corporate transactions and international governance, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
ROLE MODELS
My mother is a lawyer and all through my youth, during the summertime, I would work as an intern with her or her colleagues, going to court, seeing criminal and civil cases. Continue reading “Miral Hamani-Samaan, director of M&A, corporate transactions and international governance, Hewlett Packard Enterprise”
Farrah Qureshi, CEO, Global Diversity Practice
ln Europe, diversity and inclusion takes on a cultural dimension – around identity, national culture, and languages. In the early years of the diversity and inclusion profession, issues of ethnicity and ethnic groups were less in the frame in Europe, whereas gender was much higher on the radar screen. Continue reading “Farrah Qureshi, CEO, Global Diversity Practice”
Lena Ernlund Malmberg, former head of legal IP, Nilfisk
‘Diversity’ can become a pop phenomenon, a buzzword. What you need to do, if you are going to talk about it, is also to walk to the talk. You have to live it instead of communicating it all the time. Continue reading “Lena Ernlund Malmberg, former head of legal IP, Nilfisk”
Shaping diversity: part three
Stamping out stereotypes
Despite the many senior GCs and in-house counsel that we have interviewed for this report (and elsewhere in GC magazine) as active sponsors of diverse workplaces, some of our consultants noted that legal departments were not typically being identified by diversity professionals as pioneers within their corporations on this issue. Continue reading “Shaping diversity: part three”
Diversity toolkit
Diversity and inclusion are now top strategic priorities for 21st century business leaders. Across the globe, many general counsel and law firm managing partners are engaged in the debate and committed to creating the conditions for diverse and inclusive organisations. Continue reading “Diversity toolkit”