Weekly Update - 29th July 2024
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Market Commentary:
Sarah Tinsley, general counsel of Culture Amp said, "You have a combination of doing the strategy and the management pieces, but also getting your hands dirty. And I really love that".
According to Macrae, partner movements in four key markets have more than doubled from the same period last year in the areas of investment management, funds, and white-collar defense practices.
Data from transnational recruitment agency Macrae shows that there were 100 lateral partner changes at Am Law 50 and Magic Circle companies between January and June 2024. This was higher than it was in 2023, when it was 94, at this time of year. As of December 2023, continues to be the busiest year with 187 moves.
Last year, Kirkland saw another increase in the number of lawyers in Manhattan, rising by 6% to 842, maintaining its position as the biggest firm in the state.
One law firm recruiter noted that, "For a lot of firms, nonequity partners are replacing counsel to a large degree"
Recruiting firm Macrae discovered that lateral partner hires among Am Law 50 and Magic Circle firms in Washington, D.C. decreased by roughly 6% in the first half of the year, despite a spike in partner movements in other regions.
One midsize law firm leader stated that "The idea of growing is not so much triggered by a particular market as a recognition that our clients are becoming more and more national in scope and we need to be in more and more markets, generally”.
23 Am Law 200 legal practices signed leases totalling 2.83 million square feet in New York City between the beginning of 2023 and May 2024.
The corporate firm has been actively seeking partners in an effort to match the best full-service legal firms in the nation.
Out of around 87 partners at the beginning of the year, the firm now only has 75 in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Allgrove, though, stated that the drop doesn't worry her. "We've focused on performance and delivering on our strategy, so those numbers have gone down slightly over the last couple of years," she added, adding that revenue and profitability had increased.
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Financials:
Shows the firmwide gross revenue for the largest law firms with a presence in New Jersey
Shows the revenue per lawyer for New Jersey-based attorneys at the state's top law firms.
"We have always known that this race would be a dog fight to the end," stated Hunter Bates of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which, along with Brownstein, broke lobbying revenue records in the second quarter.
Midsize Texas firms and out-of-state firms accounted for the majority of the 2.1% increase in the total number of lawyer heads for the 100 Texas law firms with the highest lawyer counts in 2023.
Strong financials were the outcome of several popular practices, including a thriving energy practice and litigation work, which helped the majority of Texas-based firms on the 2024 Am Law 200 list increase their income in 2023.
According to Major, Lindsey & Africa's 2024 Global In-House Compensation Survey "The need for high-quality legal talent certainly has not decreased. ... However, current rates of compensation do not necessarily reflect that need, creating an opportunity for those companies willing to recognize the value of premier legal talent."
The company reported that Clifford Chance's U.S. revenue led a string of successful financial outcomes, with increase in all three criteria.
The two law firms, both known for their strength in the technology and life sciences sectors, are the latest to post robust figures.
In a record-breaking year for the company, Macfarlanes' profit per equity partner (PEP) increased by 23.8% to ￡2.6 million. Additionally, the UK company witnessed a 13.7% growth in turnover to ￡309 million and a 23.1% increase in operating profit to ￡174 million.
The company's profits increased 8% to ￡204m from a 2% increase in the previous year's earnings of 7% to ￡574m. Profit per equity partner increased 7% to ￡1,076k in the interim, after remaining unchanged at ￡1m in FY23.
On an annualized basis, turnover increased by 12% to ￡174 million; nevertheless, the company did not reveal its profitability or profit per equity partner.
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Moves:
Team Moves
Launching in Philadelphia, Polsinelli—a raid on Holland & Knight—will offer one of the country's "premier" CEO compensation and employee stock ownership plans, according to the business.
Under the direction of three partners, the Norton Rose Fulbright energy and infrastructure division extends Bracewell's presence across French-speaking Africa and France.
Eight partners and more than fifty other fee earners will be on the team, which will be headed by partner Manan Lahoty, according to insiders.
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EMEA
Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, and UBS are among the firms that Oliver Seiler and David Rath advise.
Greenberg Traurig have added Chadi Salloum as head of their UAE corporate practice, they also added Benjamin D. Jones as a partner in the UAE and Saudi Arabia offices.
To strengthen their regional expertise, Greenberg Traurig, Al-Tamimi & Co., and Addleshaw Goddard have all added fresh personnel to their Middle East teams.
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APAC
Goodwin Procter partner Elyn Xing has departed from the firm to join Latham & Watkins in Singapore.
John Tuck, the previous head of Corrs' labour division, is one of five partners in negotiations.
Brown is going to open a Kain Legal office in Melbourne.
As it seeks to expand on its strategy change with a focus on "New Economy" agreements while maintaining its conventional strengths in capital markets, Linklaters says it has great hopes for the partnership
Withers, an international legal firm, has strengthened its real estate business in Asia by promoting Akinari Nakano to partner in Tokyo and adding a two-lawyer team from Shook Lin & Bok in Singapore, led by partner Chau Hwei Lee (L).
Tokyo-based international disputes attorney Hisaya Kimura joins the company
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UK & Ireland
Liz Osborne, who is leaving Akin after just short of a decade, is set to join the firm as head of European restructuring in London
Fieldfisher announced the appointment of John McElroy as a Banking and Finance Litigation Partner, John joins the firm from Hausfeld and will be based in Fieldfisher's London office.
To grow its debt financing business, A&O Shearman has brought Filippo Crosara, a lawyer specializing in leveraged finance, from Barclays.
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The Americas
Adele Maloney, who will be located in the firm's New York office, has joined Paul Hastings LLP as general counsel.
Katherine Erbeznik has worked on a number of cross-border M&A in Latin America, chairman Steve D'Amore said that this addition is "particularly relevant as Winston continues to grow internationally".
Mark Havens has joined Michael Best's Austin office as a partner in the Regulatory Practice Group and a principal of Michael Best Strategies.
Mark Christy, a partner at Winston & Strawn, stated that Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe's growing renewable energy team drew him in.
David B. Stratton has joined Pashman Stein Walder Hayden's Wilmington office as senior counsel in the practice areas of bankruptcy, restructuring, and creditors' rights.
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Maxwell Breed stated he left 60-lawyer Warshaw Burstein because he "felt like his practice could benefit from a broader platform and a deeper bench."
Sigler worked as an internal assistant general counsel and director specializing in international real estate before coming to Robinson & Cole. He possessed a portfolio of over 70 office buildings and industrial locations worldwide.
Robert D. Caro has joined the practice groups of Eastburn and Gray that handle business, taxation, and wills, trusts, and estates.
Mark Johansen, a trial attorney from Fort Worth, departed from Reed Smith to join the midsize legal firm Egan Nelson as a partner in commercial litigation. He will bolster the firm's trial squad.
In response to predicted growth in demand, Proskauer Rose has appointed Kieran Murphy as a partner in its real estate practice, the company said on Thursday. Murphy leaves his position as special counsel at Milbank to join the firm's New York office.
Michael Sosnowski has joined Margolis Edelstein as a partner at the company's Hollidaysburg office.
Kate Barton, a former global vice chair of Ernst & Young, will take over as Dentons' CEO worldwide.
Greenberg Traurig, LLP expands its Tax-Exempt Organizations & Philanthropy Practice with Shareholder Erika Mayshar, who will chair the group.
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In house
Less than a year after joining the company for the newly established position, Peter Geovanes is leaving to take over as chief innovation and AI officer from Thomas Trujillo.
The revolving door between Brussels-based legal firms and the European Commission has often generated controversy; however, the revolving door between law firms and one of the world's leading antitrust enforcers has garnered far less notice.
Under the shadow of a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit, former New Orleans Times-Picayune writer Katherine Meeks is grabbing the legal reins of the cable news mogul.
As Radar deploys its inventory tracking technology in 500 American Eagle locations, Morgan Levine will be joining the company.
Ed Wheatley has joined as Sky’s Group Head counsel for Ethics and Compliance. In the past he has worked at Linklaters, Ericsson and Rolls-Royce.
As general counsel and senior vice president of human resources for the fashion retailer, Renada Williams claimed that her dual roles enable her "to see around corners and mitigate a lot of the risk the company might otherwise face."
Brandon Nelson, who will continue as an advisor until November, will be replaced by Eileen McCarthy.
Long-distance bus operator Flix North America has hired James Bristow as general counsel, replacing Tricia Martinez, who is departing from the company.
With more than ten years of experience in private practice, notably at Mason Hayes & Curran, Ms. O'Driscoll has advised several well-known international clients over her career.
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Promotions & Appointments:
Directors Mark Collins and Bernie Kelley have been appointed to senior roles within Richards, Layton & Finger.
With effect from July 1, Wisler Pearlstine announced that Justin D. Barbetta has been elected to partnership in the company.
The former Genesis Women's Shelter & Support director of legal services was hired by the Dallas-based company as pro bono counsel. She will be in charge of the business's pro bono initiatives throughout all 19 offices.
As Bodian nears the end of his final term, succession planning will receive significant attention, he stated.
The recently appointed managing partner from California expressed his intention to enhance and broaden Lewis Roca's intellectual property practice, saying, "We do an exceptional job in the IP litigation side, and I'm not sure we are as well-known as we should be."
New co-managing partners have been announced by Reynolds Frizzell. With almost twenty trial attorneys, the boutique trial firm will be led by Elizabeth Wilkerson and Jim Weiss.
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Office Openings & Closing:
The firm's managing partner said, "Big law firms are pricing themselves out of quality work, yet mid-market firms are failing to capitalize on this dynamic due to structural headwinds".
In Philadelphia, Holland & Knight is facing an unclear future after more than 20 partners left to work in Polsinelli's own flagship office.
In addition to its presence in New York and London, Robin AI now has three physical locations: Singapore, New York, and London.
Rosalind Fahey Kruse, the New York offices managing partner, said the firm will be "undergoing a complete overhaul of the space."
After months of selecting partners with significant experience in providing market advice for Japan, Rimon opened an office in Tokyo.
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Technology & Innovation:
With the improvements, Shepard's Citations Service and several other Shepard features are integrated into Lexis+ AI.
Are legal departments' and law firms' IT divisions ready in terms of organization and technology? Although it can be challenging to look in the organizational mirror of IT, it is now more important than ever to make sure that businesses are not merely treading water.
The most recent feature to CoCounsel is intended to help professionals working for law firms and in-house departments discover prospective claims and counterclaims that are relevant to their case's facts more quickly and accurately. It also helps them better comprehend potential responsibility before lawsuits are filed.
While many sectors could benefit from the offensive adoption of AI, the energy sector stands out for ripe opportunities to tap AI.
The move toward artificial intelligence (AI) frees up legal practitioners' time to concentrate on more important facets of their work, freeing them from tedious tasks that eat up valuable time that could be spent developing new strategies or closing deals.
For a year, global lawyers and technologists collaborated to create this handbook, which aims to keep clients up to date on the latest developments in technology for business use.
Henchman's generative AI technology will be incorporated by Lexis into its Lexis+ AI and Lexis Create platforms.
Using AI and its own legal database, Afriwise, the African legal platform that purchased Pythagoria, a provider of AI-based legal software, in 2023, is assembling a compliance toolkit.
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Diversity & Inclusion:
The American Lawyer's most recent Diversity Scorecard rankings show that Troutman Pepper, King & Spalding, and Alston & Bird, the three biggest firms in Atlanta, have all fallen. They weren't alone, either.
Catherine Oswalt and Melissa Anderson of Infinite Global, "Law firms should develop a spokesperson program that encourages organic involvement and reiterates the firm's goal of exemplifying unique attorney perspectives".
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Mergers & Alliances:
Sullivan & Cromwell, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer provided legal counsel for the $8.1 billion purchase of Hitachi and Johnson Controls' residential ventilation assets by Bosch Group.
Some of the biggest transactions in the region in recent months include two deals from Singapore. A&O Shearman and Allen & Gledhill are providing advice on both.
While White & Case is handling ADES' $3 billion facility and Rasan's IPO, Clifford Chance is advising ALAFCO on its $3.3 billion sale to Macquarie.
The firm’s CEO, Christian Bartsch, mentioned that he “would not say no” to the idea of a US merger after the firm surpassed the ￡500 million revenue mark for the first time.
Legal Executive Search Consultant @ Fides Search
3 个月Fascinating insights this week Dashom Addo!