Provider Elevate has purchased in-house consulting and tech company Yerra Solutions, the fourth acquisition to be made by the alternative legal services provider in under three months. The move allows Elevate to expand its offering for clients in the financial service sector. Founded in Basel, Switzerland, around the same time Elevate was first launched, Yerra Solutions […]
Linklaters is the second magic circle firm to report its most recent gender pay gap figures, containing statistics on ethnicity for the first time as well as improvements in its bonus pay. With regards to the gender pay gap. Linklaters’ entire UK workforce, including equity partners, are paid on average 61 per cent less than […]
Morrison & Foerster is set to recruit another partner from Reed Smith to help with the launch of its London real estate practice, The Lawyer understands. Private equity real estate partner Luke Mines will join partner Oliver s’Jacob at MoFo as the firm’s first two City real estate lawyers. s’Jacob’s move was announced last week. The […]
Deloitte has called on Brick Court super silk Mark Howard QC and Taylor Wessing disputes partner Julian Randall to defend it in the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) ongoing Autonomy investigation.
It was previously unclear who would be representing the big four accountancy firm in the FRC’s largest investigation to date, though it emerged that Deloitte has turned to one of the Bar’s biggest names in Howard, who will lead Brick Court colleague and highly respected senior junior Tony Singla.
FRC executive counsel – and former Slaughter and May disputes head – Elizabeth Barrett and FRC senior lawyer Andrew Twomey have instructed 7KBW’s Rebecca Sabben-Clare QC, and Fountain Court’s Henry King QC and Max Evans in the dispute.
The case – one of The Lawyer‘s Top 20 of 2019 – also sees former Autonomy chief financial officer Sushovan Hussain and former vice president Stephen Chamberlain caught up in the dispute, though it is believed that the FRC is focused far more on Deloitte’s auditing practices during Autonomy’s $12bn sale to Hewlett Packard in 2016.
Along with former Autonomy chief executive officer Mike Lynch, the pair were charged with fraud in the US in late November and sources have suggested that the FRC is waiting to see what stance US authorities will take before deciding whether to intensify its own position on Hussein and Chamberlain.
For the FRC, this investigation comes at a pertinent time in its 29-year history following the publication of a report by mathematician Sir John Kingman who called for the FRC to be replaced by a new regulatory body with “a new mandate, new clarity of mission, new leadership and new powers”.
Its allegations against Deloitte partners Richard Knights and Nigel Mercer are understood to be unprecedented in their nature against a big four accountant and include, among others, allegations of a lack of integrity and objectivity.
A nine-week tribunal hearing is scheduled for 7 October with a venue yet to be decided, though it it thought that it will likely take place at the offices of a major City law firm.
FTSE 100 insurance giant Aviva is preparing to review its legal roster, six years after last undertaking a comprehensive analysis of its panel arrangements. The company, which will launch the review in the first quarter of this year, decided a traditional review was not necessary in 2016 and instead ran a ‘desktop review’ of its roster, […]
Calls made to the legal mental health charity LawCare regarding bullying and harassment almost doubled in 2018, the charity has revealed.
In the wake of a series of high-profile allegations of sexual harassment and assault, including some in the legal profession, calls about bullying and harassment rose from 38 calls in 2017 to 68 last year.
Overall the charity received with 932 calls from 624 callers in 2018, a 5 per cent increase on the number of calls in 2017. The most common reason for calling remained stress (26 per cent), followed by depression (19 per cent) and anxiety (11 per cent).
The majority of callers to the helpline were women (64 per cent), while 48 per cent were five years qualified or below.
Solicitors shared their worst experiences of harassment in a survey run by The Lawyer last year. A spate of lawyers have been investigated or dismissed from their firms over the past 12 months after allegations of inappropriate behaviour were made against them.
LawCare CEO Elizabeth Rimmer said: “2018 was our busiest year to date on the helpline since we started over 20years ago. While we are pleased more lawyers are reaching out to us for support, we remain increasingly concerned about the long hours and heavy workload culture in the law which significantly affects wellbeing. We are particularly concerned about the number of callers citing bullying and harassment in the workplace, it is absolutely essential that legal practice organisations take steps to stamp this out and take the wellbeing and treatment of staff seriously.”
The LawCare helpline number is 0800 279 6888 in the UK and 1800 991 801 in Ireland.
Allen & Overy (A&O) has made two senior appointments to its advanced delivery unit in an attempt to coordinate efforts among the firm’s multiple innovation groups. Senior banking partner Andrew Trahair will serve as head of advanced delivery, a unit tasked with developing resourcing strategy and technologies to reboot innovation at the 130-year-old firm. The […]
There is both relief and nervousness in the upper management floors. Relief that 2018 turned out to be a year in which law firms were busier and more profitable than ever, and yet an inescapable feeling that financial stability could be jeopardised by two things: the prospect of a no-deal Brexit and a possible recession next year, both of which are out of any rational human control. What is in managing partners’ control is the set of strategic and operational decisions they take to be competitive: how to fend off pressure from alternative service providers, for example, as well as the perennial operational challenges of technology, which is will be the distinguishing characteristic of a successful organisation.
In early December Intapp, which knows a thing or two about technology and operations, and The Lawyer held a reception for law firm leaders, with the aim of beginning a high-level conversation about strategic technology investment and implementation. (Disclosure: The Lawyer and Intapp have worked together on a research project, which surveyed 300 of the world’s top law firms on their attitudes towards investments in intelligent automation across the client lifecycle, the highlights of which were presented at our Business Leadership Summit in September 2018, and there will be a series of joint thought-leadership events in 2019).
That evening in December, around 30 managing partners, from magic circle and transatlantic elite firms to boutiques, gathered at the Savoy for seasonal drinks. As at all gatherings like these, what emerges are the common issues that all these firms confront. Recapping on the many discussions of the evening, the themes broadly divide into four: AI, operational tech goals, the demands of collaboration and continued financial investment in tech despite a threatening macro-economic picture.
Reed Smith’s Tamara Box and Intapp’s Sanjeev Gandhi
Stepping away from the hype
Claims that technology – particularly artificial intelligence – will have a transformative effect on the legal business are treated with considerable scepticism. For managing partners it’s not about getting a sudden competitive edge but the long game, and educating line partners accordingly. ‘It’s been good to see more intelligent and balanced discussions about AI and its impact,’ says one managing partner. Says another: ‘The hype around legal tech continues to escalate, but it’s been gratifying to see the more innovative firms deploying it. We have!’ Another managing partner notes increasing demand from clients for automation of elements of corporate housekeeping work, such as contract assignments on large group reorganisations.
‘Intelligent automation, AI and other modern technologies have emerged as real drivers of profitability for law firms, and I only expect adoption to grow,’ says Intapp CEO John Hall. Research from Intapp and The Lawyer this year found the that the top three areas where firms prioritise the application of AI were time recording, pricing and identifying opportunities through relationship-mapping.
Freshfields’ Stephan Eilers
A focus on the operational nuts and bolts
Two predictions from managing partners indicate that law firms are expecting the pace of change to speed up. One foresees a fast shift to full cloud hosting. Another predicted broader adoption of blockchain as a method of transacting deals.
‘The adoption of legal tech in and of itself doesn’t mean that you’re innovative,’ commented another managing partner. ‘The conversations will increasingly focus on the ability to collect and analyse data and deliver complete solutions to clients that include process, tech, and legal advice.’
The research undertaken by Intapp and The Lawyer earlier this year revealed that the three top areas in which law firms saw intelligent automation as very important were pricing, capture of time reporting and narratives and conflicts and clearance.
‘Law firms must modernise the way they run and service their clients across the entire lifecycle, not just areas of business acceptance like billing and time reporting or other back-office functions, but client development and delivery,’ warns Hall, who notes that revamping those processes enables firms to improve client retention and boost new business opportunities and conversion.
John Schorah, Weightmans; Lee Ranson and Keith Froud, Eversheds Sutherland
Collaboration
Possibly the biggest organisational and cultural challenge facing private practice operations, collaboration now boasts a respected management theorist in Dr Heidi Gardner and several projects driven by forward-thinking in-house departments, such as National Grid. On the tech side, though, the thinking is nascent. However, predicts one managing partner, the profession will see ‘an increased emphasis in the ability to stitch together multiple legal tech solutions to solve problems. In other words, the successful legal tech vendors understand the importance of being able to integrate with other technology.’
Adds another, echoing many: ‘I expect to see greater collaboration between firms and clients in selecting and deploying legal tech.’
Rebecca Ferguson, Gordon Dadds; Susan Bright, Hogan Lovells; Vidisha Joshi, Hodge Jones & Allen; Tamara Box, Reed Smith
Investment amid macro-turbulence
If you want to wind up your average managing partner, mention the emotionally vexatious topic of Brexit. (The reception took place the week before the news of the delayed vote in Parliament; since then, of course, the UK is contemplating a constitutional cliff edge following the heavy defeat of the May deal.) Many in private admit that Brexit may end up being pretty good for business, for the simple reason that hard-pressed clients often turn to law firms in difficult times.. One managing partner at a litigation-heavy firm confided that he was expecting to benefit from the rise in disputes that he believed 2019 would bring. ‘I hate to say it, but our business does well on the back of uncertainty’.
“Regardless of the outcome of Brexit,’ says Hall, ‘one thing is certain; the complexity of the UK’s legal landscape will only increase. While this may offer some opportunity for law firms – those that can counsel their client on Brexit related issues, it also means that law firms themselves must be nimble in adapting to change. Central to this is the ability to drive greater operational efficiencies.’
Intapp/The Lawyer’s research indicates that the £700m-£1bn revenue firms plan to make the most significant technology investments across the entire client lifecycle. Of those firms, 81 per cent plan to invest in client development, 74 per cent in business acceptance and 70 per cent in client delivery.
A related pessimistic scenario is the prospect of a prolonged economic slump in 2019. ‘The big topic is how well prepared you are for the next recession’, confirms one managing partner who speaks of his relief that his firm has minimal debt. Recession or not, there will be no letting up on tech investment.
Sanjeev Ghandi, Intapp; Segun Osuntokun, BCLPKeith Froud, Eversheds; Jason Butwick, Dechert; Penelope Warne, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang; Catrin Griffiths, The Lawyer; Nigel Wellings, Clifford Chance; Susan Bright, Hogan Lovells; Yun Kriegler, The LawyerRichard Baskerville, Intapp; Ian Jeffery, Lewis Silkin; Yun Kriegler, The Lawyer; Shane Gleghorn, Taylor WessingIntapp’s Claire DarlingJohn Schorah, Weightmans; Lee Ranson, Eversheds Sutherland; Ivor Banim, William Fry
A total of 16 lawyers from Ince & Co’s Hamburg office are to join Clyde & Co, nearly a year after the latter announced it was launching in the German city. The team are joining four former Ince partners, who made the same move to Clydes in February 2018. However, the quartet are understood to […]
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has handed the counsel mandate for PCP Capital Partners’ bitterly contested litigation against Barclays to Essex Court Chambers’ Joe Smouha QC.
Smouha will now lead Blackstone Chambers’ junior Robert Weekes, instructed by Quinn London co-managing partner Richard East who is leading the case opposite Simmons & Simmons partner Stephen Moses, 3 Verulam Buildings’ Ewan McQuater, and One Essex Court juniors Alexander Polloy and Oliver Butler.
Wilberforce Chambers’ John Wardell QC was representing the US firm’s client in one of the biggest claims featuring in The Laywer’s Top 20 cases of 2019.
The case is significant not only for the $1bn claim involved in it, but also for the case’s foundations involving financier Amanda Staveley’s enormous £11.8bn fundraising that saved Barclays from a UK Government bailout during the financial crash of 2008.
That amount was reached with the state of Qatar, though Staveley argues that she would not have set up a parallel fund with an Abu Dhabi-based consortium had she been aware of the Qatar deal.
Barclays has gone on record to describe Staveley’s claim as misconceived and is expected to be heard in the commercial court on 1 October.
The case was scheduled for sooner, though it was postponed so as not to interfere with a Serious Fraud Office investigation into Barclays’ dealings with Qatar.
For Smouha, he will now face a business that he has called a client in the past; he acted for Barclays in its dispute with Italian banking giant UniCredit in 2014.
The legal lineup in full:
For the claimant, (1) PCP Capital Partners LLP & (2) PCP International Finance Limited
Essex Court’s Joe Smouha QC and Blackstone Chambers’ Robert Weekes, instructed by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner Richard East
For the defendant, Barclays Bank PLC
3 Verulam Buildings’ Ewan McQuater QC, and One Essex Court’s Alexander Polley and Oliver Butler, instructed by Simmons & Simmons partner Stephen Moses
Simmons & Simmons is recruiting for new roles to bring its Bristol base to a headcount of over 200, following its move into a new, larger office. This week, the firm moved into a new office in Finzels Reach from its former base in Temple Quay, increasing its office space from 16,000 to 27,000 sq ft. […]
Slaughter and May and Herbert Smith Freehills have been replaced by Clifford Chance and Addleshaw Goddard on The Financial Services Compensation Scheme’s (FSCS) revamped £12.6m panel. The FSCS, the UK’s statutory compensation scheme for customers of authorised financial services firms, has appointed eight firms for a four-year term on its latest legal panel, which is divided into three […]
The Reignite Academy, a programme aimed at bringing former City lawyers who have been out of the workplace back into the fold, has finalised its first intake, with 10 women signing on to work across four different firms. The women have a diverse range of experiences and range from those who have taken a complete […]
The case against Tesco’s former financial director has been dropped, meaning all three individuals accused by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of alleged profit misreporting have been acquitted by the courts.
Norton Rose Fulbright‘s client Carl Rogberg was acquitted today. Rogberg – alongside former Tesco UK managing director Christopher Bush and UK food commercial director John Scouler – was charged with one count each of abuse of position and false accounting after the supermarket chain’s accounts were overstated by £250m five years ago.
Tesco and the SFO signed a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in 2017, in which Tesco was due to pay a £129m fine. However, the acquittal of three former directors raises questions over the nature of the DPA, which is now set to be lifted and will be able to be viewed publicly.
This recent decision comes after a trio of High Court justices rejected an appeal in December from the SFO to reinstate the charges against Bush and Scouler, effectively ending the case before Christmas.
Norton Rose Fulbright dispute resolution partner Neil O’May acted for Rogberg throughout the investigation, instructing Nicholas Purnell QC of Cloth Fair Chambers.
Hickman & Rose partner Ross Dixon advised Bush, instructing QEB Hollis Whiteman’s Adrian Darbishire QC, while BCL Solicitors partner Richard Sallybanks instructed Purnell’s Cloth Fair Chambers’ colleague Ian Winter QC for Scouler.
6KBW’s Sasha Wass QC and Esther Schutzer-Weissman acted for the SFO’s in-house team.
O’May said: “The decision of the trial judge to stop the case against the accused is unprecedented in serious fraud case. Only in exceptional cases will a judge intervene and rule that the prosecution case was not fit to continue. This is more than simply an acquittal by a jury. It is a finding that there was insufficient evidence on which the case could have been brought.
“Mr Rogberg feels the law has let him down. He believes the DPA was agreed for commercial purposes and throws justice and truth to the wind, and him with it.”
Dixon also described the case’s outcome as “unfair and extraordinary” and called for a review of the DPA process.
He said: “The problem stems from the fact that while DPAs are seen as a great outcome for the SFO, there is a risk that in pursuit of this goal, the SFO has little incentive to properly test the assertions on which it is based.
“For individuals caught up in an investigation the prospect of a DPA between the SFO and their company should raise the most serious concerns.”
It has been a baptism of fire for SFO director Lisa Osofsky who has now seen two of the most high-profile cases left over from her predecessor David Green QC‘s era end in defeat.
The SFO’s case against the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation saw it lose its legal privilege hearing though the office declined to appeal that decision, preferring to draw a line under that case.
KPMG has appointed a UK law firm to advise it on the administration of Patisserie Valerie, months after the café chain became embroiled in a scandal over accounting irregularities. Gateley, led by Birmingham restructuring partner Daniel French and Manchester partner Stuart Tait, is working with the Big Four accountant on the process. Patisserie Holdings confirmed yesterday that it has […]
Linklaters and Charles Russell Speechlys have acted together on another of British pub Stonegate’s acquisitions, following on from its takeover of cocktail bar chain Be At One in the summer. Stonegate has snapped up Bar Fever Limited, which operates 32 late night bars in UK towns and cities, under brands such as as Fever, Boutique, Zinc and Moo Moo. Linklaters advised […]
Following a swift exit from Goodwin at the tail-end of last year, the pair have returned to their old stomping ground; acting for management in PE deals.
Digital bank Monzo has finished reviewing its roster of legal advisers, appointing three firms to its panel. The firms which made it onto the roster include longtime advisers Hogan Lovells, Taylor Wessing and Simmons & Simmons. While Hogan Lovells partner Jonathan Chertkow mainly advises the challenger bank on regulatory and compliance issues, Taylor Wessing partner Adrian […]
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has turned to Addleshaw Goddard and Fountain Court to defend it against a claim which could rise to as much as £100m from a property developer who alleges he was targeted by the bank’s restructuring arm.
Developer Oliver Morley alleges that RBS’ Global Restructuring Group (GRG) placed him under “economic duress” during an agreement to sell two-thirds of his portfolio to the bank’s property branch West Register.
Addleshaws global head of litigation Michael Barnett is acting for the bank, instructing Fountain Court barristers Paul Sinclair QC and Natasha Bennett.
Morley has called upon Cubism Law senior lawyer Anjan Patel who is instructing Guildhall Chambers’ Hugh Sims QC and John Virgo as he seeks to have the sale of his assets to West Register overturned, while also seeking damages for a number of allegations.
Among them, he alleges that the GRG intimidated him and breached agreements in their contract.
The bank denies all claims with a spokesperson for the bank saying: “The FCA has confirmed its independent review found no evidence that RBS artificially distressed and transferred otherwise viable SME businesses to GRG to profit from their restructuring or insolvency. Nor did it identify any cases where the purchase of a property by West Register alone gave rise to a financial loss to the customer.”
Documents seen by The Lawyer show that RBS had instructed Dentons at the time of the deal, while Morley had used North West regional firm Kuits to broker the ‘West Sale Agreement’ which forms the foundation of the dispute.
RBS admitted fault in its defence documents, though hedged its fault by saying that a numerical error “did not reflect the bargain which the parties had reached nor the true intention of the parties”.
According to The Lawyer Litigation Tracker, Fountain Court is frequently called on to act for RBS by firms such as Addleshaws and Dentons (as well as legacy Matthew Arnold & Baldwin, which is now part of Dentons). Addleshaws’ Barnett has also acted on cases for banks such as Barclays and Clydesdale Bank in his career at the firm.
Latest accounts reveal that CMS Cameron McKenna acquired assets worth £67m from Nabarro and Olswang, in the first full-year results to be published by the LLP since the merger went live in 2017. The accounts show that Nabarro had assets of £51.3m prior to the merger, while Olswang had assets of £15.4m. At the time of the […]
There is both relief and nervousness in the upper management floors. Relief that 2018 turned out to be a year in which law firms were busier and more profitable than ever, and yet an inescapable feeling that financial stability could be jeopardised by two things: the prospect of a no-deal Brexit and a possible recession next year, both of which are out of any rational human control. What is in managing partners’ control is the set of strategic and operational decisions they take to be competitive: how to fend off pressure from alternative service providers, for example, as well as the perennial operational challenges of technology, which is will be the distinguishing characteristic of a successful organisation.
