About the Legal 500 series
Published for over twenty years, the Legal 500 Series provides the most comprehensive worldwide coverage currently available on legal services providers, in over 100 countries.
Used by commercial and private clients, corporate counsel, CEOs, FDs and professional advisers - as well as by other referrers of work both nationally and internationally - the series is widely regarded as offering the definitive judgement of law firm capabilities.
Editor's selections from the Legal 500 series...
The Legal 500: United States
FINANCE: Corporate restructuring
Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s restructuring practice group is an ‘awesome team, very responsive, very strategic, giving great input and advice’. With some 110 lawyers in the US and European offices, the restructuring department has the skills and capacity to deal with the most challenging instructions whether national or cross-border, although complement was slightly depleted when seven lawyers in New York and Los Angeles moved to Jones Day in May 2009.
The firm’s deep client base in corporate America, and more recently a strong following of private equity investors, generates a high proportion of the department’s work, which tends to debtor-side representation.
The Legal 500: United States
LITIGATION: Leading trial lawyers
Fred Bartlit, Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP: Clients say that ‘all the good things you hear about Fred Bartlit are true’. Nationally known as ‘an outstanding trial lawyer, particularly for IP’, Bartlit is now in his late 70s, but remains ‘first choice when you really need to win’.
With over 50 major cases (and a vast majority of wins) on his record, Bartlit is not resting on his laurels, and recently appeared in Applied Medical Resources v United States Surgical, winning a complete defence verdict in a five-week patent infringement trial. Given that prior to Bartlit’s engagement, US Surgical had twice previously been found to wilfully infringe the same patent, it seems that Bartlit has not lost his ‘ability to relate well to jurors’ and still ‘makes complex matters simple’.
The Legal 500: United States
MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS AND BUYOUTS: Antitrust
With a plethora of former high-ranking government officials in its ranks, Arnold & Porter LLP is the ‘firm of choice’ for clients seeking representation in high-stakes M&A clearance, agency investigations or private litigation. A ‘great firm’ with a ‘tremendous supporting cast’, the undoubted star of the group is the legendary William Baer, who continues to lead the department from its Washington DC headquarters. ‘Absolutely on top of his game’ and ‘devoid of unnecessary posturing’, Baer is at the heart of many of the firm’s highest-profile mandates, including its ongoing representation of GE on the $30bn sale of NBC Universal to Comcast.
The proposed joint venture has attracted the attention of the FTC, which has concerns that it could potentially leave consumers with lesser content and higher rates.
The Legal 500: United States
TAX: International tax
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP provides exceptionally high standards of cross-border tax advice from the powerhouse New York office, which interacts seamlessly with the accomplished London-based US tax practice and other offices in Europe, Asia and the affiliated office in Argentina. The concentration of international work in M&A transactions declined through the recession although there was some activity as realistic valuations and distressed sales kept buyers in the market.
New York tax lawyers assisted when BNP Paribas acquired 75% of Fortis Bank in mid-2009, and represented Nortel in the bankruptcy auction of wireless infrastructure assets to Ericsson. In Quarter 1 of 2010, the practice was instructed as US counsel to Prudential in the global insurers takeover of the Asian interests of AIG.
The Legal 500: United States
INVESTMENT FUND FORMATION AND MANAGEMENT: Private equity funds
The ‘premier private equity and mezzanine fund practice in the US’, and ‘peerless for fund matters’, Debevoise & Plimpton practice’s has ‘tremendous industry knowledge’ stemming from representations of GP and LP market leaders since the 1970s. ‘Private equity fund formation is Debevoise & Plimpton’s bread and butter’ and the strategic importance of this practice area for the firm ‘is reflected in its service and commitment to clients’. The firm has considerable strength in ancillary areas that are valuable to private equity funds, such as tax, ERISA and M&A.
The Legal 500: Europe, Middle East & Africa
Portugal
Few firms have been in a position to grow, in what has, as expected, been a difficult market. The previous trend for firms to expand and merge at an unprecedented rate has hit the brakes, as the downturn has placed the onus on value and specialisation over size.
The Legal 500: Asia Pacific
Hong Kong
The past year has seen a dramatic change in the fortunes of the Hong Kong legal market. The collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 triggered a sea change in the global financial climate, and within just a few weeks, capital markets activity dropped off a cliff, fundraising ground to a halt, and the size and volume of existing deals was much reduced.
Even as the situation began to show signs of improvement in the spring of 2009, there was still an air of uncertainty, with investors taking a much more conservative approach and focusing on risk management, moving away from highly complex structured products to more straightforward lending.
The Legal 500: Europe, Middle East & Africa
Ukraine
Economics and politics both had a dampening effect on Ukraine’s transactional market in 2009. Since the country was one of the most high profile victims of the global credit crunch, Ukrainian lawyers inevitably saw a precipitous drop in capital markets, finance, corporate and real estate work. In turn, few firms emerged unscathed, with most having to make significant cuts, especially among their real estate teams.
The Legal 500: United Kingdom
London - Finance
The turbulence in the financial markets in 2008 was epitomised by the historic demise of Lehman Brothers; the ramifications of this event were felt throughout the markets and caused a paralysis in the flow of credit. The effect on law firms has been widely reported, with many experiencing widespread redundancies. Firms that have coped best with the implosion in the markets have been those less regimented in their approach to finance, with the flexibility to adapt to the conditions. Against this background, the Magic Circle firms continue to lead the way, with Allen & Overy LLP, Clifford Chance and Linklaters LLP appearing in the top tier of the majority of the categories in this chapter. However, as the value of deals migrates downwards, there is increased competition in the mid-market, and firms with a strong regional base, and the ability to compete on cost have become increasingly attractive propositions to clients facing their own cost pressures.
The Legal 500: Europe, Middle East & Africa
Spain
After a decade of sustained growth, the Spanish market has been hit hard by the financial crisis. The country’s reliance on real estate – construction formerly accounted for 16% of GDP – meant it was dangerously exposed to the global property crash, while a slow-to-react banking sector left the market desperately short of liquidity.
The Legal 500: United Kingdom
Yorkshire and the Humber
Home to the ‘Big Six’, Leeds is a closely fought market which many claim has reached saturation. However, this has not deterred a number of recent new entrants, including Ward Hadaway and DWF LLP. Distance from the capital has afforded the main regional legal centres with little protection, and the downturn continues to bite hard in Yorkshire with redundancy announcements increasingly common. The recession has already claimed its first victims, including Fox Hayes LLP, which folded at the beginning of 2009.
The Legal 500: Europe, Middle East & Africa
Switzerland
Although lateral hiring and mergers were relatively few in 2009, most firms retained their partners, and there were very few redundancies. Some firms do report a slowdown in the number of larger transactions but practices remain very active in M&A generally, particularly mid-sized deals. Restructuring, insolvency and contentious work has been a source of increased business for many firms.
The Legal 500: Asia Pacific
India
India has remained to some extent shielded from the global economic crisis and law firms are consequently reporting a relatively strong year across the board. Although it has dwindled slightly, international investment is still ongoing and the number of corporate deals is steadily on the rise. Many firms have seen the economic crisis as an opportunity to hire talent from the west, with Srinivas Parthasarathy joining Trilegal from Allen & Overy’s Singapore office; Naval Chopra joining Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co in New Delhi from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP; and Manan Lahoty joining Luthra & Luthra from Shearman & Sterling LLP’s London office, to head the capital markets offering.
As international firms are currently prohibited from practising in India, many foreign firms have chosen to establish alliances with domestic counterparts. The past 12 months have seen Clyde & Co LLP announce its association with ALMT Legal; Allen & Overy LLP enter into a non-exclusive referrals relationship with Trilegal; and Clifford Chance declaring its alliance with AZB & Partners. All such associations might be seen as a sign of firms positioning themselves for the potential liberalisation of the legal market. Firms such as Ashurst LLP continue to work from liaison offices on the ground.
The Legal 500: Europe, Middle East & Africa
Belgium
The division of languages remains a distinguishing characteristic of the Belgian market. Flemish is the language spoken in Flanders, to the north, whilst the inhabitants of Wallonia, in the south, speak French, with a German speaking minority in the east. Most lawyers are bilingual or trilingual and the issue of language remains important in the Kingdom as some firms lean naturally towards the Francophone, or Flemish communities.
The Legal 500: United Kingdom
London-Dispute Resolution
Given the counter-cyclical nature of dispute resolution, the current global economic downturn would seem the perfect environment for practices in this area. Certainly the number of reported enquiries has risen, and these are slowly translating into concrete instructions, but the tsunami of litigation that was predicted in some quarters has yet to arrive.
Thus far, the main beneficiaries have been those firms with strong backgrounds in banking and commodities, sectors which were the first victims of the fallout of the credit crunch and the resultant downturn. The former category is largely made up of Magic Circle and major City firms, such as Allen & Overy LLP, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, Linklaters LLP, Herbert Smith LLP, Lovells LLP, Simmons & Simmons, and Slaughter and May, all of which have excellent track records in financial services related disputes. In the latter, firms with strong experience in areas such as shipping, including Clyde & Co LLP, Ince & Co, and Holman Fenwick Willan LLP, have benefited from an uptick in disputes, thanks largely to major fluctuations in commodities prices.
The Legal 500: United Kingdom
Scotland
Edinburgh and Glasgow: The country’s transactional landscape has long been dominated by the so-called ‘Big Four‘, although the gap in turnover between the largest, although the gap in turnover between the largest, Dundas & Wilson CS LLP, and the smallest, Shepherd and Wedderburn, continues to widen. The group is completed by Maclay Murray & Spens LLP & Spens LLP and McGrigors LLP, which opened a new Manchester office in 2008.
While no legal market is immune from the impact of the credit crunch, Edinburgh’s reliance on financial services has seen it suffer more than most. The well-publicised travails of RBS and Bank of Scotland, which collectively employ 15,000 staff in Scotland’s capital and represent key sources of instructions for the country’s legal elite, has been of particular consequence. And with RBS and Bank of Scotland both becoming more London-centric following their respective part-nationalisation and acquisition by Lloyds TSB, concerns remain over the long-term significance of Scotland to each institution.
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The Legal 500: Asia Pacific
Japan
Though the Japanese economy proved more robust in the latter stages of 2008 than some of those in the West, the country’s legal market has not remained entirely unaffected by the global credit crisis. Firms saw renewed activity for insolvency practices that were just beginning to see the tail off of work from the restructuring boom of the ‘lost decade’, while structured finance practices saw a decline in instructions.
Most notably, offshore M&A activity was a huge driver for transactional practices heading into 2009. Japanese corporates and funds set about acquiring foreign assets and companies, particularly those based in the US. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s acquisition of a 20% stake in Morgan Stanley is a deal emblematic of the ambitions of cash-rich Japanese companies to take advantage of the circumstances in order to expand. Meanwhile, interest in emerging markets has also soared, fuelling the need for innovative financing techniques to fund companies’ forays into the energy and technology spaces of these jurisdictions.