Adv Yuval Lazi will participate tomorrow as a judge at the final event of the Startau elite entrepreneurship program “demo day”.

This program is a unique acceleration program intended for young entrepreneurs, whose involvement in the program commences at concept stage. The program gives these young entrepreneurs the tools and knowledge to advance the concept to the point where it is ready for investment within three months.

Among the judges will be Samsung Venture Invesment, Krypton Venture Capital and Deutsce Telekom.

This year, the Chambers&Partners held their Chambers Asia-Pacific Awards 2016 ceremony in Singapore on Friday, April 8th 2016.

GRATA International was represented by its two Partners leading the Uzbekistan office, Bakhodir Jabborov, the Managing Partner and Director of Office in Tashkent, and Nodir Yuldashev, who have attended the event in company of other legal professionals from most prominent law firms in Asia-Pacific and celebrated the winners of the Awards, marking another significant milestone in the development of legal market in this strategic region.

Stratford Magistrates’ Court witnessed the unusual trial of eight protestors, all of whom attempted to prevent traffic reaching the Defence & Security Equipment International arms fair at the Excel Centre in September 2015. The eight protestors targeted the traffic in an attempt to prevent the unlawful sale and export of weapons and law enforcement equipment which would be used against civilian populations overseas.

The result was all eight being charged with obstruction of various stretches of highway in and around London’s Excel Centre. Ian Brownhill of No5 Chambers defended three protestors who laid peacefully in the road, inside a police cordon. Having chained themselves together they were eventually cut loose by the Ministry of Defence Police.

Brownhill, defending, argued that there was effectively a justice gap. The protestors had a credible belief that offences and transactions were taking place which contravened international, European and English law.

During the trial Mr Brownhill called the Director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy who explained to the Court how Bahraini troops used weaponised tear gas against peaceful protestors. And, how Saudia Arabian troops had been deployed in British made armoured vehicles to put down protestors.

Today all of the protestors were acquitted on the basis of their belief, backed by credible evidence, that crimes were being committed at the arms fair.

Ian Brownhill has defended in a number of high profile protest cases, including the recent acquittal of academic Dr Lisa Mckenzie and in protests by Occupy, at the Royal Exchange, in Trafalgar Square and at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet. Brownhill also acts in civil claims arising out of policing of protests and has a continuing caseload of civil harassment claims which involve the police and freedom of expression.

DAC Beachcroft has submitted an application to the Malaysian Bar Council for a licence to form a joint venture (JV) in Malaysia.

The JV, officially known as an international partnership (IP), will be formed between DAC Beachcroft and its existing local association firm Gan Partnership and will focus on insurance and reinsurance matters.

The two firm’s association started in 2012, a year after Gan Partnership was established by a team of lawyers from large Malaysian outlet Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill.

The relationship is led by Singapore-based insurance partner Steven Dewhurst from the international firm side and by founding partner Gan Khong Aik from the Malaysian side.

Gan Partnership currently has four partners and 14 other lawyers. The firm primarily focuses on dispute resolution and intellectual properties.

Partners from both firms confirmed the application. One source said: “Many international insurance companies have expressed concerns about the lack of good local legal advisers in the insurance sector in Malaysia. The joint venture will not only help international firms expand their practices in Malaysia but also boost the expertise in the local legal market. The deal will help fill the gap in the market and provides a choice for the international insurance players.”

The source also unveiled that the international partnership (IP) will enable DAC Beachcroft’s lawyers to work with lawyers from Gan Partnership under one roof for specialised insurance and insurance work and to issue one bill to clients. However, the local firm will remain an independent local entity and all local legal advice needs to be delivered by the local lawyers in the IP.

Malaysia has liberalised its legal services market with three Amendments to the Legal Profession Act, which became effective in June 2014. Under the new regime, foreign firms are allowed to provide international legal services and advice in the country with a Qualified Foreign Law Firm (QFLF) licence or a licence to operate an IP with a Malaysian law firm. Malaysian firms are also able to employ foreign lawyers to provide foreign legal advice.

UK firm Trowers & Hamlins has so far been the first and only firm to have taken advantages of the liberalisation measures. Trowers was granted a QFLF licence in Malaysia a year ago. The licence allows it to advise on international legal issues from its Kuala Lumpur office, without the need for a local associate firm.

It is understood DAC Beachcroft will be the first international firm to operate an IP with a Malaysian firm if its application is successful. The UK firm is in need of rebuilding its Singapore office following the move of office head and insurance partner Ben Nicholson to rival insurance firm Kennedys late last year.

The North West Legal Consortium has revealed the 18 firms that will sit on its £10m panel of advisors, including four firms that have attained partner status.

DAC Beachcroft, Geldards, Hill Dickinson and Weightmans have all been named as partners to the consortium while Addleshaw Goddard and DLA Piper are among those appointed to the wider panel.

The four year panel will provide legal advice to 41 local authorities and public bodies across the North West, including Bolton Council, Preston City Council and the Police & Crime Commissioner for Cheshire.

The panel is split into five lots covering: civil litigation, prosecution, and regulatory; property, planning and environment; corporate governance, ethical standards and information law; projects, procurement and commercial; and adult social care and education.

Sefton Council acted as the lead authority for the consortium. The weighting of the selection criteria for applicant was based on 70 per cent quality and 30 per cent on price.

Large consortiums are becoming more commonplace as local authorities and businesses attempt to lower legal costs. In February the Central Housing Investment Consortium began tendering for its first solicitors’ framework, which is valued at £70m and will cover 173 individual housing associations.

Linklaters has elected 24 to partnership in its latest global promotion round with London and Hong Kong offices seeing the largest number of promotions at 10 and five respectively.

The 24 new partners are based in 10 jurisdictions and from 10 different practice areas.

Only five of the new partners are female (20.8 per cent), missing the target Linklaters set in 2014 for at least 30 per cent of its new partners to be female by 2018.

The 10 London promotions is the biggest batch of new UK partners since 2007, when Linklaters promoted 15 in the City.

Apart from London and Hong Kong, eight lawyers in continental Europe have been made up, including two each in Paris and Munich and one each in Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Munich and Stockholm.

The firm has also promoted one to partner in New York.

In terms of practice areas, six of the new partners focus on capital markets, where the largest number of promotions is from. Banking, mainstream corporate, and dispute resolution practices are also among the popular areas, with three each.

Robert Elliott, Linklaters’ chairman and senior partner, said: “The technical and commercial know-how of this year’s new partner cohort is exceptional. The development of their talents and potential at partner level will bring new strength to the firm, ensuring continued excellence and client satisfaction.”

Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira has opened an office in Mexico and is set to open its doors in Beijing as part of a push to grow its international presence.

The Iberian firm told The Lawyer that its launch in Mexico hinged on its long-standing relationship with Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos), which asked the firm to support it during its privatisation process.

The firm launched with two partners in the Mexico office earlier this year. The plan, according to managing partner Jorge Badía, is to hire more fee-earners in the medium term to expand the firm’s capability to provide legal services to further clients.

The firm’s Beijing office, which is still subject to regulatory approval, will launch with the relocation of one of the firm’s Shanghai partners. The strategic reason behind the launch is to capture inbound Chinese investment into Spain.

The firm is the latest in a string of Iberian firms looking to expand its international presence abroad – in 2014 Uría Menéndez took a 30 per cent stake in Latin American merged firms Philippi and Prietocarrizosa with plans to complete a takeover,while Garrigues embarked on a strategy to open its own offices in the region in 2013, and merged with Colombia player DLP in 2015 and named Argentina and Chile as its next targets.

Garrigues also has a significant presence in China, with offices in both Shanghai and Beijing – the latter opening in 2015 and growing the firm’s international network to 33 offices in 12 countries.

Last year Pérez-Llorca opened an office in New York to act as a hub and gateway to Latin America.

Dentons global chairman Joe Andrew was the keynote speaker at The Lawyer’s Global Collaboration Summit. For more information about next year’s event, click here.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer could become the first magic circle firm to embrace apprenticeships after management revealed plans to bring legal apprentices in to its Manchester office.

The firm is also looking into offering training contracts in Manchester, though said this is unlikely to happen in the short term.

Manchester head Gareth Stephenson said Freshfields hoped to open up apprenticeships as a route to both paralegal work and full qualification in the next 12 months.

“I wouldn’t rule anything out at this stage,” Stephenson told Lawyer 2B. “I want to get apprentices in in the short term and progress them up the ladder.”

He added apprentices were “more likely to stay with the firm for a longer period”.

“Anything we can do to retain people for longer is very beneficial for the firm,” he said.

Final details have yet to be ironed out, with Stephenson unable to comment on final numbers of apprenticeships, start dates or pay, or confirm the level of qualification that will be offered.

Freshfields apprenticeships in Manchester would mark a significant development in the legal market, and provide a career route for juniors at Freshfields in Manchester for the first time.

The magic circle firm opened in Manchester last year, relocating around 300 paralegal and business services roles to the new hub.

Currently based at Arndale House, the team will move to One New Bailey in Salford later this year.

The Manchester base is also set for rapid expansion, with management understood to have set their sights on a final 650-person headcount at the office over the next few years.

So far just one major firm, Eversheds, has launched the Government’s Trailblazer level seven apprenticeship, which leads to qualification as a solicitors after six years of paid training and an assessment by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). ITV’s in-house team has also launched them.

Eversheds will take on eight legal apprentices this year, all of which will be offered a position at the firm on completion. Applicants will be paid a starting salary of £15,200 outside London and £17,200 in London, which will go up each year.

Shell has reduced the number of firms on its global legal panel from around 250 preferred advisers to just six.

The drastically reduced roster follows the oil giant’s first panel review in three years. The old panel arrangements will expire at the end of April.

The new global panel is made up of Allen & Overy, Baker & McKenzie, Clifford Chance, Eversheds, Norton Rose Fulbright and Reed Smith.

It will sit for four years, though panel rates will be revisited in May 2018.

The panel review process lasted six months and was undertaken by associate general counsel for disputes, strategy and coordination Gordon McCue, based in Canada.

Global panel firms will work across all jurisdictions and practice areas for Shell’s operations around the world, though the majority of the work will take place in the US and the UK.

The global panel will be supported by 12 local panels in a number of jurisdictions, each made up of between three and five firms.

“Based on our experience of the last three years we’ve taken the opportunity to reduce the number of firms we have a formal relationship with,” McCue told The Lawyer. “The goal of the new panel is to align our interests better with our law firms and put in place a partnership with them that adds value both ways.”

McCue added the global panel was determined by finding firms that “have a large footprint globally” and that “cover areas around the world where we have our own Shell hubs”.

The review was managed in a number of stages. The first step saw McCue request information from each of its former preferred list of advisers on “data privacy and cybersecurity programmes”, McCue said, as well as details on the availability of free secondees and “advice hotlines” for Shell lawyers to external counsel “without the clock running”.

“We then asked our in-house team about their experiences with different firms and looked at billings to see how much they were currently used by our lawyers,” he added.

The second stage saw all firms pitch for a spot on the panel through an online rate auction. McCue said the bidding war was “a bit counter-intuitive” as Shell has been moving towards “appropriate fee arrangements” (AFAs) and away from hourly rates for the last year.

“We found consistently the way law firms are compensating their lawyers is still based on hourly rates, so having rates in place at a level we’re satisfied with is still important,” he added. “We’ve set up hourly rates with all the firms but there’s a clear expectation we run all our legal matters on AFAs now.”

The global panel will be managed internally by Shell’s eight divisional general counsel who will each take on the role of “relationship general counsel” for one firm.

“That general counsel will be the firm’s window into Shell legal and the wider business,” McCue said. “The idea behind that is to give law firms a greater understanding of what our priorities are so they can be more efficient and effective.”

Shell is also looking into launching a global panel conference for its external advisers to share best practices.

In-house lawyers at Shell will have the flexibility to go off-panel and invite competitive pitches from non-panel firms on specific pieces of work.

“We want to deepen the relationship with the panel but we’re conscious of not increasing the cost for local operating units around the world,” McCue said. “We want to make sure we’re getting the best value for Shell.”

Completion of the review follows Shell’s successful £47bn takeover of BG Group earlier this year. BG Group will now use Shell’s global and local panels.

Shell has been making moves to take control over fees since its last global panel review in 2013. Most recently it hired pricing analyst Vincent Cordo from Reed Smith last May to manage its external legal spend. Group general counsel Donny Ching also introduced AFAs for all panel firms in June 2014 and now no longer instructs any external counsel without such an arrangement in place.

The new model is understood to have contributed to savings of 20 per cent on external spend on litigation last year compared to 2014. Ching said he estimated savings of around £5m by establishing AFAs globally.

International law firm Gowling WLG has advised Pacific Industrial & Logistics REIT plc, the new venture backed by Sir John Beckwith, on its IPO and first property portfolio acquisition.

Kristian Rogers, a partner in Gowling WLG’s corporate team, led and advised on the IPO and £12.2m fundraising, while fellow corporate partner, Michael Lacey, advised on the £27m acquisition, consisting of 11 industrial properties primarily located close to the M1 motorway around the so-called ‘Golden Triangle’ area in the Midlands. Real estate and finance advice was provided by partners Phil Clissitt and Jonathan Lent respectively.

The Gowling WLG team had further support from: director Anna Colley (real estate); senior associates Elizabeth Napier (real estate); Luke Menzies (real estate); and Samantha Myers (corporate); and associates Alice Bucharova (real estate), Rachael Orchard (corporate), and Tom Wilson (corporate).

Non-executive director of Pacific & Logistics REIT, Richard Moffitt said: “We’ve managed to achieve a great deal in the last few weeks and it was very reassuring to have Kristian Rogers and the Gowling WLG team supporting us. They’ve provided excellent legal advice on a number of complex issues.”

Kristian Rogers commented: “We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with Richard and his team. Pacific & Logistics REIT has exciting plans for its growth and investment and we very much look forward to helping them achieve further successes in the future.”

No5 Barrister Emma Edhem CC, Common Councilman of the City of London Corporation is the first representative of the Corporation to be shortlisted from over 100 government leaders this year for the 4th Annual Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Award. She is also the first Chairman of a Chamber of Commerce to be on the shortlist. The award recognises outstanding politicians and diplomats who are representing civilian interests at the highest levels in areas of policy, social and business overall. Ms Edhem is nominated for her work in changing and aligning Chambers of Commerce and Industry to become leading facilitators of bilateral trade and investment and setting up new initiatives to help drive young entrepreneurs and professionals towards economic and social development.

A barrister of over 22 years and Deputy Head of International Law at No5 Chambers, one of the biggest barristers chambers in the UK, Ms Edhem was elected as the first female Chairman of the Turkish British Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TBCCI) in November 2012. In her Chairmanship, as one of the principal facilitators and commentators for bilateral business between Turkey and the UK, the TBCCI has become a leading platform and driving force for business expansion between the two countries and aligned itself more closely with the positive trend of UK-Turkish bilateral relations. This is witnessed by its new initiatives and platforms for trade and investment facilitation services and increased number of TBCCI organised major conferences, forums, networking and sectoral events in Turkey and the UK. In acknowledgement of the TBCCI’s role and progress, during Ms Edhem’s tenure as Chairman, new global institutions have become members of the TBCCI helping to further drive business between the two countries. Under her direct Chairmanship, Ms Edhem has been approached by a number of other countries, including Hungary, to help raise their Chambers of Commerce and Industry to functioning levels and further in improving and leading trade missions to other countries from the UK.

In addition to Ms Edhem’s role with various Chambers of Commerce, she also recognised the real need to mentor and encourage young entrepreneurs to help them gain confidence in business, and consequently founded “The Young Entrepreneurs and Professionals Platform” in September 2015. Upon setting up the Young Entrepreneurs and Professionals Platform, Ms Edhem was determined to tap into the wealth of talent in the City and set up the Young City Financiers Platform. Both initiatives provide platforms for young entrepreneurs, professionals and City Financiers to learn from real life business experience, gain awareness of small business creation and ethical finance. Her vision brings the two groups to the forefront in economic and social development of bilateral relations.

Talyn Rahman-Figueroa, Executive Director of Grassroot Diplomat, said: “All too often, we hear stories of our governments not representing our needs but Grassroot Diplomat looks upon selfless individuals in positions of power, who work tirelessly for their communities. The award seeks to create a culture of positive role models within our governments which encourages others like them to follow suit. Grassroot Diplomat winners go beyond their job descriptions and those shortlisted for the award should be proud to be recognised this far.”

The firm has again been highly ranked in the latest edition of Legal 500.

Leading independent legal ranking publication Legal 500 has again highly ranked a number of our practice areas and solicitors.

LK Shields have been ranked in the following practice areas:

• Banking and Finance – Liam Carney, Richard Curran and Neil O’Keeffe are recommended.
• Capital Markets – Recommended.
• Commercial, Corporate and M&A – LK Shields is noted for its ‘very practical approach to complex issues’. Emmet Scully leads the practice and Gerry Halpenny provides ‘sound and practical advice on complex issues’.
• Dispute Resolution – LK Shields Solicitors provides ‘sound commercial advice’. Michael Kavanagh and Edmund Butler are recommended.
• EU & Competition – LK Shields Solicitors is ‘especially strong on mergers’. Practice head Marco Hickey is ‘a recognised expert’, and ‘a go-to competition lawyer in Dublin’.
• Employment – Michael Kavanagh and his team at LK Shields Solicitors take ‘a practical and straightforward approach’.
• Energy and Natural Resources –  Philip Daly’s team at LK Shields Solicitors has ‘excellent experience in energy contracts’.
• Information Technology – ‘A top class firm’. Deirdre Kilroy is recommended.
• Insurance – Edmund Butler is recommended.
• Intellectual Property – Deirdre Kilroy is recommended.
• Investment Funds – David Williams is recommended.
• Pesions and Employee Benefits – Jamie McConville in recommended.
• Projects and PPP – An ‘extremely commercial’ group. Richard Curran is recommended.
• Real Estate – Gerard Brady and Clair Cassidy are recommended.
• Tax – Emmet Scully is recommended.
• Telecoms – Recommended.

Clyde & Co has made good on its promise to increase gender diversity within its partnership after 50 per cent of those made up in this year’s 18-strong round were women.

The latest promotions round is the largest ever to be carried out by the firm and brings the firm’s total partnership to 375.

The largest intake was made across Clydes’ insurance sector group, which gained 10 new partners. Dispute resolution received four new partners while the firm’s corporate and energy sectors received two and one respectively. A number of the partners work over multiple sector groups.

Clydes’ promotions were also spread across a number of its international offices, although eight of the new partners are based in the UK. The next biggest regions in terms of partner promotions were Asia Pacific and the Middle East which each gained three partners.

All of those promoted will join the firm’s equity partnership on 1 May 2016.

In December the firm revealed it was overhauling its diversity and inclusion programme in an attempt to improve gender and social representation in its partnership. At the end of the 2014/15 financial year female partners accounted for 19.1 per cent of the firm’s partnership.

Last year Clydes promoted 13 lawyers to its equity partnership while making up 11 equity partners to senior equity partner. Of the 13 lawyers promoted five were women, the equivalent of 38 per cent of the round.

Over the last year the firm also made 34 lateral hires across its five core sectors. Insurance picked up 41 per cent (14) of the new hires, while 15 per cent were infrastructure lawyers, 9 per cent transport specialists, 6 per cent energy partners and one partner, or 3 per cent of the hires, works in trade and commodities.

Yesterday, Linklaters announced it was making up 24 lawyers to partner. Of the 24 made up only five of its lawyers were women, or 20.8 per cent. The news means that the firm is expected to fall short of the target it set in 2014 to reach a 30 per cent female diversity rate by 2018.

Khaitan & Co advised Vistra Group on its acquisition of 100% issued and outstanding equity shares of IL&FS Trust Company Limited from the Sellers. Vistra Group, based in Hong Kong is an international trust and corporate service provider specialised in tailored trust and fiduciary services and corporate services.

The core transaction team included Rajiv Khaitan, Partner; Mayank Singh, Associate Partner; Nayantara Kutty, Senior Associate; Abir Sarkar Associate and Anugya Sahai, Associate with assistance from Thomas George, Principal Associate; Harsh Kabra, Senior Associate and Siddharth Anand, Associate.

The following practice areas assisted on the transaction:

Litigation aspects: Sachin Mandlik, Partner; Peshwan Jehangir, Associate Partner and Vishal Shriyan, Principal Associate

Real Estate aspects: Abhiraj Gandhi, Senior Associate and Kshitij Bishnoi, Senior Associate

Direct Tax aspects: Shabnam Shaikh, Senior Associate

Intellectual Property aspects: Shailendra Bhandare, Counsel.

King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) partners Darren Rogers and Patrick Williams are leaving the firm for Ashurst’s real estate practice.

Darren Rogers joined legacy SJ Berwin as an associate in 2001, before being promoted to partner in 2010.

Fellow real estate colleague Patrick Williams is also making the move from KWM to Ashurst, having been one of KWM’s 36 partner promotions announced last year.

Both partners advise on matters concerning commercial real estate, investment transactions and development work. Recent mandates won by the pair include transactions for British Land and Lands Improvement Holdings.

The duo are the latest partners to leave KWM following the firm’s announcement in March that it was cutting 15 per cent of its partnership in the UK, Europe and Middle (EUME).

Earlier this month, KWM saw head of intellectual property David Rose leave the firm for Mishcon de Reya, as well as IP partner Campbell Forsyth who is joining Dentons. Corporate partner Gretchen Scott also announced her departure to Goodwin Procter in a move that will see her reunited with KWM private equity colleagues Simon Fulbrook and Richard Lever.

However, KWM has also been hiring and most recently hired Mayer Brown capital markets partner Greg Stonefield and Sidley Austin US securities partner Bart Capeci.

Dechert has lost its appeal to have a multimillion-pound claim brought against it by mining giant ENRC heard in public.

The Court of Appeal (CoA) on Tuesday (19 April) upheld an earlier judgment by Mr Justice Roth that concluded the case should be heard in private to prevent prejudice to an ongoing Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into ENRC.

Dechert had applied to the court to have the trial heard in public so it could “clear its name”. It is not yet known whether the firm will escalate its appeal to the Supreme Court.

ENRC initially instructed Dechert to advise on various allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption relating to its activities in Kazakhstan and Africa. It later mounted a claim against Dechert, disputing £11m of the firm’s £16m bill.

The claim makes allegations of “systematic and gross overcharging” and of costs having been incurred by Dechert “unreasonably”. ENRC also claims Dechert “failed to comply with its professional obligations”.

Roth J’s judgment, handed down in November 2014, read: “Part of the retainer of Dechert in this case was to assist ENRC in the fraud investigation and its dealings with the SFO, and so some of the privileged documents were created for that very purpose.

“I consider that there is the potential for very real prejudice to ENRC if the matter were heard in public. That is illustrated by the declared position of ENRC that if the order below stands, it will not proceed with its application. The effective protection of ENRC’s rights therefore requires that the matter be heard in private.”

Mounting its appeal, Dechert submitted the judge had “erred” on two points of law and the decision did not comply with the general rule that hearings were to be held in public as a “fundamental principle of open justice”.

Dechert also claimed that by commencing proceedings against its own former solicitor, the client waived any right to privilege in respect of any documents relevant to the determination of his claim.

However the CoA judgment stated: “The CPR expressly allow for hearings in private whenever that is justified.”

It continued: “This was a case where, because of the ongoing criminal investigations into ENRC’s operations, the judge was clearly correct to conclude that the hearing should be in private.”

Dechert retained its instruction of Clyde & Co partner Richard Harrison for the appeal. Harrison turned to Brick Court’s Mark Howard QC, Temple Garden Chambers’ Simon Browne QC and Brick Court’s Tony Singla.

ENRC was represented by an equally heavyweight roster of Blackstone Chambers’ Lord Pannick QC, Outer Temple Chambers’ Richard Lissack QC, 4 New Square’s Benjamin Williams QC and Fountain Court Chambers’ Tamara Oppenheimer, instructed by Signature Litigation partner Graham Huntley.

A group of 28 MPs and one peer have criticised Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in a damning report into ScottishPower’s ‘cashback guarantee’ scandal, released today (20 April).

The report by an all-party parliamentary group (APPG) which looked into the scandal claimed Freshfields worked with ScottishPower to “foster misinformation” relating to its liability over a cashback promise to 625,000 customers.

The group also accused ScottishPower of lying to its customers about its liability to pay £79m in warranty refunds, supported by Freshfields.

The report said: “This group is shocked that a major utility and prominent law firm could act in such a way when the money belonging to 625,000 defenceless consumers was at stake.”

It went on to dub both entities’ behaviour as “very concerning” and accused Freshfields of using “strong arm tactics” in relation to ScottishPower’s sale of the guarantee contracts to now defunct company, Powerhouse.

“To this group the circumstances read as commercial blackmail” on the part of ScottishPower, the APPG said.

The report follows a parliamentary hearing on the scandal in February, in which the magic circle firm was accused of being “dishonest” by a whistleblower before MPs in its reports to regulators over ScottishPower’s multimillion-pound liability to its customers.

Conservative MP for Brigg and Goole Andrew Percy and Scottish National Party MP for Dumfries and Galloway Richard Arkless, who led the APPG, will present the findings to consumer affairs minister Nick Boles next week.

It has also emerged that the SRA has thrown out a complaint filed earlier this year in relation to Freshfields’ role in the ScottishPower scandal.

Whistleblower Alan Campbell asked the SRA to “examine the conduct of ScottishPower’s legal advisers, Freshfields, through this process”, the report revealed.

The SRA responded that “there is no such thing as a ‘true’ or ‘false’ statement of liability until a court has definitely determined the issue”, concluding Freshfields could not be said to have lied to regulators.

The APPG report criticised the SRA’s decision, stating: “Though the SRA’s reasoning on this issue may be technically correct, it only exemplified the backward logic applied to this entire scandal.

“This rationale completely disregards the rights of consumers,” the group added, saying: “This all-party parliament group (APPG) does not believe the SRA’s stance to be morally justifiable.”

In a statement to The Lawyer, a spokesperson for Freshfields said: “The SRA concluded after careful consideration of the evidence that there was no misconduct on the part of Freshfields, and decided they will not be taking any further action.”

A statement by the SRA read: “We now have a copy of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Scottish Power Cashback Mis-selling report and are looking at the detail. We have not been asked to meet with the APPG or contribute to their enquiry, but we are always happy to provide information on how we work.”

Freshfields was instructed by ScottishPower in 2003 on the sale of the warranty scheme to Powerhouse after the Glasgow company left former adviser McGrigor Donald. Freshfields lawyers acting for the client were partners Ian Terry, now at One Essex Court, Neil Golding and then-associate Rachel Couter, who is now a partner at King & Wood Mallesons.

Pinsent Masons acted for Powerhouse at the time of the deal.

February’s APPG hearing was the latest challenge to ScottishPower over concerns it deliberately evaded repaying its customers money owed in the extended-warranty agreements.

ScottishPower is accused of profiting from the collapse of the controversial warranty scheme, which went bust shortly after its sale in 2003. The collapse left 625,000 consumers unable to reclaim funds on ‘cashback’ warranties sold on white goods between 1998 and 2001.

Liquidators to PowerPlan, which launched a legal challenge against ScottishPower last year, say the company was misled when accepting a £6m settlement from the energy giant and claim it was a fraction of the sum that should have been provided to meet money-back promises.

Freshfields advised ScottishPower on the settlement with liquidators.

The liquidators, KSA, have instructed Stewarts Law partner Sean Upson on the claim, which is in the letter before action stage.

Systemic coach and therapist Zita Tulyahikayo and leading barrister James Pereira QC explain the signs of stress related trauma and the need to uncover and challenge norms of working life within the legal profession, in the first of a three part series on improving performance by pro-actively managing stress. 

Stress is everywhere.

A limited amount of stress is okay, perhaps even beneficial. When you are stressed you heart beats faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, your breath quickens and your senses become sharper. This is part of our primitive “fight or flight” response. These physical changes increase strength, speed and stamina and your focus becomes more acute. Stress can therefore help you to rise up to meet a challenge: the critical client presentation, the urgent deadline, or the tough negotiation that extends into the small hours.

However, beyond certain levels, stress can impede your ability to perform. Worse still, it can result in serious damage to your mind and body. What many people do not realise is that the body does not distinguish between life threatening situations causing stress, and work situations causing stress: the fight or flight reaction of the body can be triggered by both. So it is not difficult to see why consistently high levels of stress can be damaging.

Too much stress leaves you in danger of experiencing a more hazardous effect: something therapists call trauma. Many people in demanding jobs are exposing themselves more consistently to this damaging affect of stress. Stress-related trauma leads to a wide array of mental and physical ailments such as impaired judgment, pain, digestive problems, skin conditions, irritability, anger, depression, poor relationships, accelerated aging, chronic illness and disease.

Stress and mental health

The ability to positively and proactively manage your stress levels, rather than merely cope with and react to them, is an indication of the state of your mental health. You can determine the state of your mental health by a few simple parameters. Most notable is the ability to value and accept yourself as you are.

Understanding your relationship with stress

Many readers may be thinking, “That’s all very well, but I don’t have much choice in this. There are certain things that are expected of me as a lawyer.”

Believe it or not, you do in fact have a choice. But in order to make that choice you must first understand where your relationship with stress comes from.

Now here’s the thing. Stress can also be generated by many factors which may be unknown to you, or may sit just within the blind spot of your self-awareness. Early trauma such as bullying, or severe forms of discipline at school can leave their residual imprint on the way you are conditioned to manage stress, without consciously being aware of what pattern of behaviour you are running. How you learnt to handle stress from your parents is often a major influence on your own behaviour. These factors tend to go unnoticed unless you take the time to uncover them, usually through effective therapy or systemic coaching.

But just as your relationship with stress is influenced by early life experiences, it is also influenced by what you learn from your professional education and training.

The legal system itself, from training to qualifying and then meeting the demands of work, engenders stress as being part of the job. Long, stressful hours are a tradition of work in the legal profession.

You excuse it by referring to it as “life in a City firm” or “life at the Bar”. Since you are part of the system, you are naturally prone to adopt these traditions. You feel a strong sense of loyalty towards the rules and expectations of the group to which you belong. You naturally fear exclusion from the group if you do not live up to the group’s expectations. Potentially damaging self-sacrifices are often made to satisfy the primal need to belong.

All this can make managing stress very difficult indeed. If long hours and a prioritisation of work over personal commitments are an expectation of the profession, how can you belong to the profession if you do not meet its expectations?

This means stress is often tolerated without question, regardless of the personal price you pay. This price is not just the cost to your wellbeing. There is also the hidden cost of how much more you might have achieved were stress not such an influential factor in your work practice.

This “systemic stress” in organisations and large institutions matters, because it will ultimately weaken the system by harming the most valuable assets on which the organisation relies: its people. By contrast, if each individual is supported and allowed to take responsibility for maintaining not only a high standard of work, but also a high standard of self-care and well – being, the organization is strengthened and sustained.

Next week…

Next week we explore how you can make choices to address stress by taking some practical steps in your daily life.

The authors welcome any contact on issues arising from this article. Their details are zita@lifetherapywithzita.com and james.pereiraQC@ftb.eu.com

Colibri Law Firm has become one of the first international law firms to establish a dedicated office in Tehran after partnering with one of Iran’s leading local law firms, Gheidi & Associates.

Colibri partner Otabek Suleimanov explains: “We watched the Iranian market for a long time before we even considered entering Iran. It took three years to shape the right entry strategy and another year to finalise negotiations. Iran is the largest market to open up in the post-Soviet era and we see endless opportunities, particularly in the areas of infrastructure, energy, industrials and consumer goods.”

In July 2015, when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was signed, Colibri was already in the final stages of negotiation with a local task force and was therefore even more convinced that the firm’s decision to enter the Iranian market was well-founded.

Ever since the firm’s inception back in 2005, expansion into new jurisdictions has been one of the firm’s major objectives. This regional growth further demonstrates Colibri’s general strategy to focus solely on the emerging markets of Central Asia, which according to UNESCO also includes Iran.

The firm’s local lawyers in Tehran will be fully integrated and will work closely with the relevant practices of Colibri’s five other offices. With the support of all the partners, the Iranian team will be led by partner Otabek Suleimanov, an emerging markets transactional lawyer, Nasim Gheidi, a well-renowned Iranian lawyer and practice head with over twelve years’ extensive legal experience in Iran, and Assel Nassimoldina, a Kazakhstan-based senior managing associate with 10 years’ worth of banking & finance experience.

The Iran team will be able to advise on:

• Traditional corporate products, including due diligences of Iran-based assets, JV agreements, share purchase agreements, and merger control issues, etc.
• Contractual arrangements, trade and regulatory issues.
• Companies’ investment strategies in Iran, including relations with regulators and counterparties. Indeed, we have already advised on such issues in relation to some of the first ground-breaking foreign investments into Iran following the introduction of the country’s Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Act (FIPPA).

The ongoing economic development triggered by the lifting of sanctions will inevitably contribute to the further evolution of the Iranian legal market. Colibri’s early entry into Iran and commitment to participating in the market’s growth demonstrate our ethos of providing cross-border legal services in an accessible, useful and innovative way.