Month: April 2020

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Latham vs K&E means that everyone else loses

Skadden Arps, Clifford Chance, Linklaters and, currently, Kirkland & Ellis – over the last 30 years these firms have all at one time had claims to have been the most influential law firms of their age, the pioneers that defined the top of the profession through dash, ambition and imagination.

And many senior lawyers would think that list is missing the name of the institution that looked unchallenged until the Kirkland effect gripped the market in the last three years. Continue reading “Latham vs K&E means that everyone else loses”

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For the profession, as the world, the coronavirus is a moment of truth

The longer you do this job, the more your mind wanders to the big moments – recessions, terrorist attacks, political shocks, wars. Yet as I sit here typing this leader in a near-deserted London office, the majority of our team working from home as we try to put this issue to bed, it is a struggle to recall anything that compares to the coronavirus pandemic spreading through the world.

We face unprecedented times – hyperbole typically flung around with abandon until you realise with shock that this time it applies. As I write, London and New York, those famous global cities and the world’s two dominant legal hubs, look within days of total lockdown. Continue reading “For the profession, as the world, the coronavirus is a moment of truth”

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Sponsored profile: Gajski, Grlic, Prka & Partners, Zagreb, Croatia

Gajski, Grlić, Prka & Partners

The team at GGP gives an overview of the firm’s offering including a focus on how it is meeting the needs of clients during the coronavirus crisis

Gajski, Grlić, Prka & Partners Law Firm (GGP) is a Croatian full-service law firm with extensive experience in litigation, corporate and commercial law, M&A, labour law, insolvency law, privatisation and restructuring proceedings, public procurement, competition policy and state aid as well as intellectual property. We have a special department for criminal law with an emphasis on most complex white-collar crimes where we lean on our multidisciplinary approach and a wide knowledge covering criminal, commercial and tax law. Continue reading “Sponsored profile: Gajski, Grlic, Prka & Partners, Zagreb, Croatia”

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Legal 500 Data: Behind the story

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The Legal 500 : Latham & Watkins focus

The success of Latham & Watkins’ expansion globally in recent years is backed up by Legal 500 data. Fifty-seven of its practices have achieved top-tier rankings globally across The Legal 500 in 2019/20, compared to 40 in 2014-15. While only one of these 17 new top-tier rankings is in the UK, the firm’s growing dominance in London is still supported by the UK Legal 500 data. Continue reading “Legal 500 Data: Behind the story”

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Sponsored spotlight: Dispute resolution: Strategic case management with legal acumen

State court litigation and private arbitration proceedings require practitioners to combine legal thoroughness and the management of evidence with strategic ingenuity. Understanding court processes, legal practice and tactical procedural advantages all add up to sound advice in contentious legal matters.

Dispute resolution in all its appearances enjoys a long-standing tradition at Prager Dreifuss. Our attorneys represent parties before local state courts as well as administrative authorities. Debt collection and bankruptcy matters are strong areas of our practice, in particular in disputes involving foreign parties. International arbitration has attained special significance in our firm and a number of our attorneys are regularly appointed as arbitrators in institutional and ad hoc arbitration tribunals. Continue reading “Sponsored spotlight: Dispute resolution: Strategic case management with legal acumen”

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The BT interview – ideas from the bath

Legal Business (LB): Eighteen months in the group general counsel role, what have been some of the key projects since you landed? The wider business has been through a lot of transformation, how is legal keeping up?

Sabine Chalmers (SC), group GC, BT: When I joined, Gavin Patterson was my boss. He’s since left the business and we’ve transitioned to Philip Jansen from Worldpay. During that time the focus has been on learning the company and industry, getting to know and work with a new CEO, new board, my team, and as a result of all that identifying as quickly as possible what the strategic priorities for the function are and how to best support the business. Early on I reorganised my leadership team to mirror the evolving structure of the business, to ensure we had GCs reporting to me that were lined up with each of the business and corporate units: we announced that in June 2018. Continue reading “The BT interview – ideas from the bath”

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The imagination gap – Meet the GCs on the frontline of the climate change battle

Rising temperatures and sea levels, shrinking ice sheets and sea ice, extreme weather events. They’re all mainstays of today’s news cycles with a worrying – and growing – frequency.

‘The more you read about the shape of our planet, it’s inevitable you become concerned, it’s inevitable that you want to do something. The only way you can exist nowadays in an unengaged way, as a non-activist, is by shutting yourself off completely from all this information,’ says Jasper Teulings, general counsel of Greenpeace International. Continue reading “The imagination gap – Meet the GCs on the frontline of the climate change battle”

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‘Universal slowdown’ adds up to a less dynamic year but Kirkland becomes first $4bn law firm

Tamara Box

Thomas Alan finds revenue growth tempered at many US firms with 2019 proving a sterner test for the global elite

It would have been difficult to match the rampant advances of US firms among the Global 100 in 2018 and so it has proven. A handful of the largest players endured quieter years with uncertainty identified as the primary culprit, but the big picture is still one of global growth, as Kirkland & Ellis became the first law firm in the world to hit $4bn, just two years after breaking the $3bn barrier. Continue reading “‘Universal slowdown’ adds up to a less dynamic year but Kirkland becomes first $4bn law firm”

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Corporate losses continue for Freshfields as Latham makes public M&A play in London

Kirkland & Ellis topped M&A rankings for Europe last year, bringing in a total of $224.2bn in deals, while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer came in second at $221.7bn. Little wonder then that rival Latham & Watkins has targeted Freshfields for its most significant London lateral hire in some time, bringing in public M&A rising star Sam Newhouse.

It is inevitable that public M&A work in London – long-considered the preserve of the Magic Circle – has become the latest hunting ground for ambitious US players as an alternative to private equity and funds-driven corporate work. White & Case is well-established in the area and Weil, Gotshal & Manges has made no secret of its desire to find talented company for veteran Mike Francies, as it did with the hire of David Avery-Gee from Linklaters last year. Continue reading “Corporate losses continue for Freshfields as Latham makes public M&A play in London”

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Cranes in the sky: UK real estate market rebuilds

With real estate investment moving out of paralysis post-election, Muna Abdi asks which firms are best prepared to take advantage

The enduring political and economic quagmire in the UK, initially shaped by the 2016 Brexit referendum, provided much of the framework for pessimistic commentary towards the end of the decade on many sectors, not least real estate. But the start of 2020 has brought fresh impetus: ‘The end of Corbynism will encourage most in the real estate market, which is not known for its left-wing leanings. It will also see a return of the uber-rich to London with high-end and luxury residential already experiencing a massive boost,’ predicts Eversheds Sutherland head of London real estate, Bruce Dear. Continue reading “Cranes in the sky: UK real estate market rebuilds”

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Client service uncovered: The best-rated firms revealed

The world’s largest law firms are continuing to get bigger. Last year the combined number of lawyers across the Global 100 rose to almost 150,000, with Dentons – the world’s largest by headcount – housing more than 10,000 globally.

But while these international giants now cater to most commercial legal needs, in most corners of the globe, groundbreaking new analysis of the views of the people these firms care about most – their clients – has found conclusive evidence that smaller, specialist practices are outstripping them on quality of service. Continue reading “Client service uncovered: The best-rated firms revealed”

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In-house: The client perspectives

man wearing gold watch

Dan Webster, group general counsel at Harrods, discusses what it takes to advise one of the world’s most recognisable department stores

I studied law at the London School of Economics and went to law school in Chester. I got a training contract at what is now CMS. I qualified in litigation, stayed a couple of years at CMS and then moved to SNR Denton. I stayed there for a few years and then decided I wanted a change. To my surprise, an opportunity came up to be an in-house litigator at Harrods, where the then-owner was famously very litigious. Once at Harrods, I quickly realised I was meant to be an in-house lawyer and, over time, I’ve evolved into a commercial, corporate, employment, IP all-rounder. Continue reading “In-house: The client perspectives”

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Southern and Eastern Europe – A different hue

Bucharest

Anyone making a business trip to Tirana 20 years ago was in for a surprise if they ventured outside the comfort of the city’s hotels to see what was on offer. There was plenty of interest in the obvious sights – the derelict Piramida, built to honour Albania’s dictator, Enver Hoxha, or Skanderbeg Square, with its stately neo-Renaissance buildings – but there was something else, too. There was colour. And lots of it.

Albania had recently emerged from Hoxha’s repressive, quasi-Stalinist regime and Tirana’s mayor, Edi Rama – now the country’s 33rd prime minister – had celebrated by painting the town pink. And yellow. And lime-green. And, seemingly, just about any other bright colour that was available. Tirana’s buildings were making a statement. The millennium had dawned and the post- Soviet era was over. Continue reading “Southern and Eastern Europe – A different hue”

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A very clear shift – Remaking the Swiss economy

Welcome to Switzerland

After delivering his keynote address at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, President Trump immediately left to catch the plane home. En route to Air Force One, every bridge crossing the highway on which his limousine passed was closed, doing everything to sweep aside potential delays to his exit. Yet despite being the world’s most expensive country to live, few locals ever choose to emigrate from Switzerland – except perhaps to retire in warmer climates.

And why would they? Swiss citizens enjoy a high living standard, low levels of inflation, unemployment and crime and enviable economic and political stability. ‘Even if the cost of living is high, the high salaries, the high quality of life, the beautiful landscape, security – all of that creates an attractive package,’ says Daniel Hochstrasser, managing partner of Bär & Karrer. Continue reading “A very clear shift – Remaking the Swiss economy”