The Lex 100: Archives

The trainee retention rate is the percentage of qualifying trainees who have accepted the offer of NQ positions at the firm. These figures refer to those qualifying in spring 2018.

Firm	Number of trainees in qualifying intake	Number of accepted NQ offers	Retention percentage
Mayer Brown	4	4	100%
Slaughter and May	37	35	95%
Allen & Overy	40	32	80%
Macfarlanes	6	6	100%
White & Case	16	13	81%
Clifford Chance	48	44	92%
Hogan Lovells	32	25	78%
Simmons & Simmons	12	11	83%
Baker McKenzie	17	14	82%
Linklaters	51	43	84%
Norton Rose Fulbright	24	18	75%
Trowers & Hamlins	7	6	86%
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer	42	31	74%
Herbert Smith Freehills	37	34	92%
Browne Jacobson	4	3	75%
CMS	40	30	75%
Bristows	10	10	100%

In 2017, CMS UK, Nabarro LLP and Olswang LLP came together in what was the largest ever merger in the UK legal industry. The result? A new kind of global, future-facing law firm with 74 offices in over 42 countries. One that rejects the ‘outdated’ and embraces different ways of working.

Taking place at our CMS London office, this open day is a rare chance to gain an insight into CMS, our people, culture and our opportunities. More importantly, you will learn employability and written exercise skills that will help you achieve your full potential.

To apply, you must either be in your first year of your undergraduate degree, or be in the second year of your undergraduate non-law degree.

Send your CV, along with a brief email explaining why you want to attend to [email protected]. Successful candidates will be invited to complete an online game-based assessment. We use a reliable psychometric assessment alongside other information to help us understand your suitability for the CMS programmes.

Get a head start in your commercial law career and apply now!

If you’re looking to apply for one of our Scotland-based programmes follow us on social media to find out more about upcoming events on your campus and in our Scottish offices.

Applications close on 1 March 2018.

Good luck!

Toys R US announced today (28 February) that its domestic business was going into administration following a failed attempts to secure a new buyer for the UK’s largest toy retailer after sluggish trading hit the industry over the 2017 festive season.

Kirkland also acted for Toys R US on the Chapter 11 filing for bankruptcy of its US business in September 2017, as well as a deal with the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) that temporarily saved the company from collapse in December 2017.

Kirkland restructuring partners Kon Asimacopoulos and Elaine Nolan are advising Moorfields’ joint administrators Simon Thomas and Arron Kendall.

Meanwhile, Eversheds’ team, led by Manchester restructuring partner David Gray, is advising Maplin’s joint administrators at PwC, which is fielding a team under partner Zelf Hussain.

Eversheds in 2014 advised Maplin on the consumer electronics retailer’s £85m sale to investment house Rutland Partners. Taylor Wessing is now advising Rutland, a long-standing client which it acted for in a number of deals last year, including the sale of Brandon Hire, the acquisition of Armitage Pet Care and an investment in Omar Group.

Gray said the Maplin business would continue to trade for a number of weeks in the hope of a sale, given the strength of Maplin’s brand. He added: ‘The high street’s having a tough old time at the moment.’

PwC’s Hussain commented: ‘Like many other retailers, Maplin has been hit hard by a slowdown in consumer spending and more expensive imports as the pound has weakened. Our initial focus as administrators will be to engage with parties who may be interested in acquiring all or part of the company.’

Maplin has annual turnover of £235.8m and employs 2,335 people across 217 stores in the UK and Ireland. Toys R Us, meanwhile, has 105 stores and employs 3,000 people in the UK.

‘It’s only going to get worse,’ notes one Magic Circle partner. ‘Furniture retail, department stores and casual dining are all expected to feature among the high-street casualties over the coming months.’

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Expansive global giant Sidley posted a 14% City revenue hike to £85.7m in a year marked by five headline lateral hires for the firm’s M&A, restructuring and capital markets teams.

London managing partner Matthew Dening told Legal Business of his satisfaction at seeing the firm’s investment paying off.

Sidley grew London headcount 5% to 141, bringing in partners including restructuring rising star Yen Sum from Linklaters ], M&A partner James Wood from Ashurst and private equity specialists Wim De Vlieger and Till Lefranc from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

‘All groups were very busy,’ said Dening. ‘There was broad demand for our services.’ Along with private equity and restructuring, he described the firm’s regulatory team as ‘incredibly busy’ throughout the year.

Sidley acted on Apollo Global Management’s acquisition of a majority stake in insurance specialist Catalina, the restructuring of fashion retailer New Look and the liquidation of offshore driller Ocean Rig. The firm also won a spot on private equity house TPG’s first European panel.

The London office performance came as Sidley also grew both its global top line and PEP 6%, to $2.04bn and $2.26m respectively.

Meanwhile, MoFo’s UK revenue grew 29% to £24.72m in what Europe managing partner Paul Friedman described as a ‘transformational year’ for the London office.

‘We have increased our connectivity with our global and UK-based clients, and with our colleagues throughout the MoFo network,’ said Friedman, pointing to the particularly ‘robust’ performance of the corporate, disputes and investigations teams.

Deals the firm acted on included advising SoftBank Group in its SoftBank Vision Fund’s $4.4bn investment into WeWork Companies. MoFo also acted for Toshiba and Innovation Network Corporation of Japan on their $2.4bn sale of Landis+GYR Group AG.

Globally the firm posted a 12% revenue hike to $1.06bn as its headcount remained virtually unchanged at 960 compared to last year’s 956. PEP surged 23% to a record $1.75m with the firm reducing its equity headcount 4% to 224 partners.

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The deal announced today (15 February) will give the transatlantic giant access to a pool of 1,500 self-employed professionals worldwide to support its UK business. Elevate will provide a group of pre-vetted lawyers to choose from for specific projects, with Hogan Lovells’ paying Elevate for the cover. Hogan Lovells expects to use between 30 and 50 lawyers from the pool every year and will be looking at four to ten-year qualified lawyers across all practice areas.

The deal also gives Elevate access to the Anglo-American law firm’s alumni network and the arrangement will be used to offer a different working model to those who decide to leave the 2,600-lawyer practice.

Hogan Lovells’ head of legal service delivery Stephen Allen told Legal Business: ‘The size of the transactions and matters any law firm is working on are getting bigger. It’s important that we have sufficient skills to meet the clients’ demands, so we feel we needed to expand our capability in particularly busy periods.’ He added that although the deal will initially only involve the firm’s UK operations, the collaborations could be extended globally in future.

Founded in 2011, Elevate provides legal technology, consulting and flexible lawyering to legal departments and law firms. Hogan Lovells is the first major firm to go public with a collaboration with the Los Angeles-based company, which last year generated $40m in revenues.

Elevate, which entered the UK market five years ago, also collaborates with regional law firm asb law and with the in-house departments of BT and HSBC. The much-touted business is unusual among NewLaw competitors in offering a broad range of services, spanning consulting and legal service provision.

Elevate president John Croft told Legal Business: ‘Hogan Lovells realised they needed to offer their clients a flexible service, they realised we already had that, we know how to do it and we do it at scale.’

The move will be seen as further evidence of law firms’ drive to bolster low cost operations coming in the same week that Clifford Chance acquired Carillion’s volume law arm. Changes in the industry have also seen law firms collaborate with other providers with DLA Piper in 2016 signing a deal with Lawyers On Demand to provide flexible cover while Allen & Overy the same year launched the MarginMatrix derivatives business with Deloitte.

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RPC offers first rate training in a supportive working environment. You will work closely with a partner and will be given real responsibility as soon as you are ready to handle it. At least six months will be spent in four areas of our growing Insurance practice. We encourage our trainees to express preferences for the areas in which they would like to train. In addition to the Professional Skills Course we provide a complementary programme of in-house training. When you qualify we hope you will stay with us and we always do our best to place you in the area of law that suits you most.

The deadline for applications is 3 April 2018. Successful candidates will be invited to attend the RPC assessment day held during April.

What do we look for in our trainees?

Although proven academic ability is important (we require a 2.1 degree or above, not necessarily in law) we value energy, enthusiasm, business sense, commitment and the ability to relate well to others just as highly. In order to apply for our 2018 Bristol Training Contract, you will need to have completed the LPC by September 2018 and achieved a commendation or above.

Recruitment process

Applications need to be submitted via our online portal. Please ensure that you select the 2018 Bristol Training Contract vacancy. You must have a demonstrable commitment and motivation both to a career in law and to a career at RPC.

Deadline for applications is 3 April 2018.

Shortlisting

RPC will read all applications and confirm an initial shortlist of candidates who will then be invited to proceed to the next recruitment stage.

Verbal reasoning test and interview

We ask all shortlisted applicants to complete an online verbal reasoning test. Based on these results and the quality of the original application, a number of students will then be invited to an assessment day in April at RPC for a Bristol Training Contract to start in September 2018.

How to apply

Please submit an online application, by 3 April 2018.

Salary

1st year: £35,000
2nd year: £36,000

Post-qualification salary: merit-based

Benefits:

We offer a competitive and creative full package of benefits to all employees at RPC called “Pick ‘n’ Mix”.

RPC’s benefits offer choice and flexibility to employees, complementing our forward-thinking culture and our approach to rewarding everyone who works here.

From health, wellbeing and family-based rewards, to firm discounts and wealth-related benefits, our package covers almost everything.

The Newcastle-based business Carillion Advice Services (CAS) was put up for sale following the collapse of its Wolverhampton-headquartered parent in January in one of the largest UK insolvencies for years. Carillion filed for liquidation after talks with its creditors and the government failed to reach a deal on Carillion’s £1.5bn liabilities.

The transfer was announced today (14 February) for an undisclosed sum, though it is safe to assume it was picked up at bargain rates. CAS has a team of about 60 paralegals who specialise in services such as document review, due diligence, e-disclosure and litigation support. The business will be fully integrated with CC. CAS director Lucy Nixon will report to CC’s client service solutions global head Oliver Campbell, as well as UK managing partner Michael Bates.

Bates said that CAS would provide cost-effective, efficient service on low complexity legal tasks to support its core clients. CC has previously handled support work through its own centre in India or third party providers. Bates added: ‘The addition of the team in Newcastle, with their well-recognised expertise in unbundling, developing processes and applying the latest in legal tech, will enable us to provide clients with another option from within the firm.’ Campbell said: ‘They bring a huge amount of expertise in areas that are already an important priority for the firm, such as legal tech and process-driven service delivery.’

CAS was inherited by Carillion in 2011 as part of its £300m acquisition of energy services company Eaga, providing services to Carillion and external clients. Carillion’s own in-house legal team had about 30 staff.

While the move of one of the City’s largest law firms into Newcastle would once have looked incongruous, recent years have seen many leading firms set up low cost centres in cities like Belfast, Glasgow and Manchester to respond to client pressure for efficiency.

The transfer of CAS follows the sale of Carillion’s UK power framework business for an undisclosed sum last week, to engineering and construction company J Murphy & Sons. Murphy took on 22 former Carillion employees as part of the transaction, in which they were advised by Addleshaw Goddard. DLA Piper acted for the Official Receiver for Carillion in that deal. Dentons’ restructuring partners Nigel Barnett and Neil Griffiths have also been advising the liquidator since Carillion’s collapse.

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Latham advised Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) on the €1.94bn acquisition of Italian railway operator Italo – Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (Ntv). The deal means the only privately-owned high-speed rail operator in Europe has shifted to American control after shelving plans to float on the Milan stock exchange. The Rome-based group is the country’s second-largest railway operator after state-backed Ferrovie dello Stato.

Latham London partner David Walker, Italy managing partner Antonio Coletti and Milan partners Stefano Sciolla and Giovanni Sandicchi acted for the US investment fund as it acquired 100% of the group. Slaughter and May’s local ally BonelliErede advised the seller led by partners Carlo Montagna and Elena Busson.

The deal generated roles for a number of major Italian law firms, with Nctm also advising Italo-Ntv with a team headed by Sante Ricci and Lukas Plattner, while Chiomenti’s Francesco Tedeschini and Andrea Sacco Ginevri acted for shareholder Allegro. Pedersoli advised debt provider Intesa Sanpaolo, fielding a team under Carlo Pedersoli.

BonelliErede had previously advised Italo-Ntv as the company announced plans for an IPO by the end of February. Shearman & Sterling and Italy’s Lombardi Segni & Associati were also advising on the proposed floatation, which had received the backing of the country’s minister of economy and finances Pier Carlo Padoan. However, Italo’s stakeholders decided to accept GIP’s bid after the fund raised its initial €1.9bn offer on Wednesday (7 February) last week.

The deal sees foreign investors return to Italy for big-ticket deals after last year’s €50bn merger of French Essilor International and Italian Luxottica Group. Going the other way, Italy’s Atlantia is involved in a bid battle with Germany’s Hochtief to acquire Spanish toll road operator Albertis.

Moving to Northern Europe, Bakers, CC and A&O have advised on the $6.7bn takeover of Danish phone carrier TDC by a consortium including Australian infrastructure leader Macquarie and three local pension funds.

As interest in telecom assets grows from investors, the consortium aims to restructure TDC to create two separate infrastructure and consumer-facing businesses.

Bakers’ London corporate partners Tim Sheddick and James Thompson acted for longstanding client Macquarie. Plesners provided Danish law advice to the consortium, which also included local pension funds PFA, PKA and ATP. CC advised the consortium on debt financing.

A&O London partner Jonathan Brownson led the team advising the lenders alongside partners Matt Moore and Jake Keaveny. Horten provided Danish law advice to the lenders with its head of banking and financing Claus Bennetsen leading. Danish leader Kromann Reumert advised TDC.

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The sale involves the transfer of 17 partners and 311 staff, giving Keoghs a new presence in Liverpool, where it will sublet premises from Hill Dickinson, as well as adding staff to its offices in London and Manchester. No sale price was disclosed for the deal, which excludes Hill Dickinson’s marine insurance and clinical negligence work.

Both North West-based firms confirmed they had held ‘high-level preliminary discussions’ in August last year, on what was said to be the potential transfer of £23m worth of business. Yesterday’s (12 February) completion of the deal was the third and final phase of the sale process.

In a statement, Hill Dickinson said the sale allowed the firm to focus on strategic areas of growth in its core business areas of health, marine and commercial. Chief operating officer Iain Johnston told Legal Business in August it had become clear the firm needed to find a new home for some of its insurance business as a number of other parts grew very quickly.

The sale follows a challenging few financial years for Hill Dickinson, and the loss of a 24-strong casualty claims team to Kennedys last March. Turnover at the Liverpool-based firm fell 1% to £101.7m in the year to 30 April 2017, continuing a trend which has seen revenue drop 8% since 2011/12.

The firm’s most recent LLP accounts, released to Companies House earlier this month, show the highest-paid member received £367,000, up from £350,000, as member numbers fell from 143 to 138. Key management personnel were paid £3.8m, down from £4.2m.

A business review in the accounts said strong growth in the business services and health business groups was offset by falls in turnover in legal services to the insurance industry and challenging market conditions for legal services in the global shipping markets.

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2017 global revenues for White & Case also saw a substantial boost, standing at $1.8bn, a 10% increase from $1.63bn last year. Profits per equity partner also leapt 10.2% to $2.26m, a 10% rise on $2.05m last year. The number of total equity partners grew by 7% to 319 from 299 the previous year.

London executive partner Oliver Brettle told Legal Business: ‘These results show significant percentage increases, building on already excellent figures. We’ve successfully achieved quality, strong, sustainable growth in 2017 across the board for the firm’s key practice areas, reflecting our investment across those practices.’

‘The results point to the increasing attractiveness of the firm to clients who want to place significant transactions and matters with White & Case’, Brettle added.

Brettle said that among the London office’s standout matters was the £1bn Alfa Financial Software IPO from May 2017, the $10bn refinancing of Wind Tre in November and the $2.73bn Nacala Corridor project in Africa, which was led out of London.

In January last year, White & Case also advised Harbour Energy, the energy investment vehicle managed by EIG Global Energy Partners, on a deal to lead the $3bn acquisition by Chrysaor of a portfolio of oil and gas assets in the North Sea from Shell UK.

Meanwhile 2017 saw three high-profile London hires for the firm in the form of Clifford Chance’s M&A partner Patrick Sarch, capital markets partner Chris McGarry from Ropes & Gray and antitrust partner Marc Israel from Macfarlanes.

The lateral hiring spree in the City has continued in 2018, including disputes partner Hannah Field-Lowes, who joined on 1 February from Weil, Gotshal & Manges where she was co-head of international dispute resolution. Daniel Turgel joined the firm’s global M&A practice in January from Linklaters and corporate partner Dominic Ross is due shortly to join from Ashurst.

Meanwhile, Cooley’s London outpost recorded an eye-catching 22% revenue growth to $57.5m in its third year of life as the firm’s global turnover passed the $1bn mark.

The Palo Alto-bred firm saw profits per equity partner jump 6% to $2.08m in 2017, while global revenue grew 10% to $1.07bn from $974m and revenue per lawyer hit $1.2m.

Its London outpost grew revenue by almost a quarter on last year’s $47m despite a relatively quiet 2017 on the lateral market, with the firm adding only two London partners.

‘It was a very busy year, we had some very nice matters both in the transactional and litigation space that kept the office really busy, particularly in the second half of the year,’ London managing partner Justin Stock told Legal Business.

The firm’s capital markets practice was particularly active and the firm claims it did more than 50% of UK companies’ listings on Nasdaq in 2017.

US clients generated about 25% of the firm’s London revenue and Stock said the office had made a contribution to a number of US mandates: ‘It is an advantage to have both the UK and US expertise.’

The firm’s UK and US teams worked together on the $1.1bn acquisition of Apollo Education Group by investors including The Vistria Group, which closed in February last year. Stock said its office had also made a contribution on the Snapchat IPO .

The firm’s only European base, Cooley made a dramatic entrance in London in 2015 with a team of 55 lawyers including 20 partners from Edwards Wildman and Morrison & Foerster.

It has since grown its City headcount to 28 partners and 52 other lawyers through a number of headline hires from global rivals. Stock said he aimed at bringing the headcount to over 100 lawyers in 2018 and to 150 in the next three years.

Cooley recently recruited cross-border deals specialist Michal Berkner from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Hogan Lovells head of international products Rod Freeman.

It previously recruited Mayer Brown senior finance partner John Clark and prominent Sullivan & Cromwell litigator Louise Delahunty.

Elsewhere, Sidley Austin has grown both global revenue and PEP for the seventh consecutive year. Global fee income at the US giant rose to $2.04bn, a 6% increase on last year’s $1.93bn.

PEP was up 6% to $2.26m and headcount rose 2% to 1,873 lawyers in a year marked by headline deals such as the recruitment of seven partners from Kirkland & Ellis in Munich last February.

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