1. Ashers ‘gay cake’ row: Bakers win Supreme Court appeal [via BBC News]

2. HSBC in $765m settlement with US Department of Justice [via BBC News]

3. Convicted former UBS trader to be freed from UK immigration centre [via The Guardian]

4. Patisserie Valerie parent suspends share trading amid fraud probe [via Sky News]

5. Supreme Court rules hospital negligent over misleading waiting time [via The Law Society Gazette]

The initiative responds to challenges faced by legal professionals with overkill setting in as unconnected products flood the market, forcing lawyers to upload client information and documents on a new platform each time the firm adopts a new tool.

It sees CC’s chief information officer Paul Greenwood and Latham’s Ken Heaps chair a group which will meet monthly to advise newly launched startup Reynen Court on the development of a platform where different tech vendors will be able to sell their products.

The consortium aims at steering the project towards products law firms really need, while also setting common standards for the development of new tools. The ambition is to give firms and vendors a one-stop shop for legal tech, a move which if successful might lead to much-needed consolidation in the sector.

The group also includes the IT heads of US firms Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, Covington & Burling, Cravath Swaine & Moore, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Ropes & Gray, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and White & Case.

‘There is a lot of very interesting new legal tech tools coming out every week, but many law firms are not getting the full value because all of these apps use different platforms and they don’t interact with each other,’ Greenwood told Legal Business. ‘It means every time you use a different product you have to upload client documents on it. Reynen Court will engineer this so that vendors will put all their products on a single platform and each law firm will be able to keep its documents on its own premises or cloud.’

Founded and led by former Cravath, Swaine & Moore associate Andrew Klein, Reynen Court employs around a dozen people and aims to go live with a first group of ten vendors selling their products on its platform within 12 months.

The initial focus will be on contract analysis, discovery, compliance and practice management technologies.

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This is an innovative and exciting opportunity to meet the people who work at the firm in a setting which allows you to ask questions and get an idea of what is expected from a White & Case trainee.

If you would like to attend, please register your interest by submitting a short application via our website www.whitecasetrainee.com.

The application form will require a paragraph of no more than 200 words explaining why you would like to attend.

Dates and deadlines

York – 18 October 2018 (apply by 11 October 2018)

Nottingham – 30 October 2018 (apply by 23 October 2018)

St Andrews – 1 November 2018 (apply by 25 October 2018)

Bristol – 8 November 2018 (apply by 1 November 2018)

Cambridge – 8 November 2018 (apply by 1 November 2018)

Oxford – 15 November 2018 (apply by 8 November 2018)

Warwick – 15 November 2018 (apply by 8 November 2018)

Manchester – 20 November 2018 (apply by 14 November 2018)

Exeter – 22 November 2018 (apply by 15 November 2018)

Durham – 29 November 2018 (apply by 22 November 2018)

The new business, launched today (3 October), will be headed up by the firm’s director of learning and development, Chris O’Callaghan, and will initially focus on Middle Eastern, Asian and Australian clients.

O’Callaghan is currently the only permanent member of staff overseeing the new arm, but relevant partners or business services professionals will be pulled in to advise on certain client matters.

It will offer advice to clients on a broad range of issues, including training programme design, talent management, cyber security, executive coaching, team building, risk, benchmarking, public relations and reputation management.

The firm said it had been providing ad hoc consulting services to ‘several clients for more than a year’ and therefore the new business was simply formalising what it was already doing.

O’Callaghan told Legal Business: ‘It’s true that a lot of firms are looking at doing something like this at the moment, but for us this is the right opportunity to add value to the client relationships we have, particularly outside of Europe where the markets are more mature.’

HFW senior partner, Richard Crump, added: ‘Clients know that we understand their business and their sector, and trust us to provide commercial as well as legal advice. Broadening those relationships to include consulting services is a natural next step, and means that we are even better able to provide clients with the best and most commercially effective advice possible.’

With the launch, HFW has become the latest firm to move into non-legal business, with City outfit Mishcon de Reya announcing last month it had created a brand management arm.

The new business, which Mishcon claimed was the first of its kind to be launched by a ‘leading’ UK law firm, offers advice on brand licensing, IP strategy and reputation management.

To lead the new arm, Mishcon hired Daniel Avener, formerly the chief executive of brand management group CAA/GBG.

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WSHB is much smaller than DWF, with revenue of just $81m and 56 partners across 22 offices in the US, but DWF managing partner and chief executive Andrew Leaitherland says the firms have a number of mutual clients, particularly international insurance businesses.

‘This is a significant move for us which greatly expands our reach in the US,’ he commented. ‘In particular, we both have strong insurance practices and already support some of the world’s largest insurers.’

The top 25 UK law firm added 18% to its top line in the year to 30 April, for revenue of £236m. It did not disclose profit per equity partner (PEP) but this year’s LB100 estimates it rose 9% to £327,000.

In June, DWF confirmed it was considering what would become the largest UK law firm initial public offering (IPO) yet. Its recent history has been marked by a spate of office openings in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific, as well as the acquisitions of legal cost business NeoLaw last June and claims management firm Triton Global.

Leaitherland said DWF had been working on its US growth strategy for some time: ‘We have opened offices or sought association partners where it makes sense strategically and where our clients operate and tell us they need our support.’

Alongside WSHB’s insurance business, the firm provides services in construction, real estate, professional liability, commercial and employment law. It was founded in 1997.

WSHB co-founder and chairman Daniel Berman said the DWF partnership would allow the firm to tap into DWF’s international network and access its Connected Services business: a division of independent businesses which help clients manage risk, reputation, cost, time and resources.

‘Our national platform now provides legal services in almost every state and in the past several years we have recorded double-digit growth of both revenue and lawyers,’ he commented. ‘This will allow us to provide our clients with multidisciplinary teams across different professional and business services in an integrated way.’

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Finance and corporate partners Vince Gordon and Tania de Swart have made the switch, with Gordon previously acting as Reed Smith’s managing partner for the Middle East.

Gordon has over 13 years’ experience in the region and specialises in debt capital markets, M&A, joint ventures and project finance among other areas. De Swart also focuses on corporate and commercial work, and has clients from a broad range of sectors such as defence, aviation, construction, hospitality and education.

HFW senior partner Richard Crump commented: ‘The Middle East is critically important to all of our industry groups and is also establishing itself as a key hub for international dispute resolution. It is one of the fastest-growing parts of our business globally.’

The new Abu Dhabi outpost brings HFW’s Middle East lawyer headcount to 50, including 19 partners. It also brings the firm’s overall international office count to 20.

Tamara Box, Reed Smith managing partner, told Legal Business that the firm was very much ‘still on point’ with its Middle East strategy, and pointed to the hire of former Pinsent Masons regional head Sachin Kerur in July.

She added: ‘We have set out to relaunch what we were doing in the Middle East and everything we have done so far has been part of that strategy. We think that the region is a much bigger play for us going forward.’

Elsewhere, Morgan Lewis & Bockius has also made a double partner hire in Asia, bringing in corporate partners Motonori ‘Moto’ Araki and Mitsuyoshi ‘Mitsu’ Saito to its Tokyo office.

Both partners are transferring from Morrison & Foerster, with Araki being appointed managing partner of the Tokyo hub.

It is a happy return for Araki, who was previously a partner at Morgan Lewis until 2007. His practice primarily involves M&A, IP and international dispute resolution.

Saito has a similar mix of specialisms, offering corporate, dispute resolution and employment advice to both Japanese and non-Japanese clients. In terms of industry sectors, Saito’s clients typically operate in electronics, IT, chemistry, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.

Steve Browne, Morgan Lewis’ global corporate head, commented: ‘Our clients require the services of lawyers who are skilled in handling both local and global matters, and the arrival of Moto and Mitsu perfectly fills those needs.’

Withers has also announced a series of hires both in Tokyo and Hong Kong. A total of six partners have joined the firm, with funds partners Koji Yamamoto and Omori Yoshiyuki joining Withers’ Tokyo base from Deloitte. Junko Shiokawa, another funds partner who is joining from offshore firm Harneys, will split her time between Tokyo and Hong Kong.

A real estate team led by partners Gerald Fujii, Naoki Ueyama and Steven Wheeler has also joined, with Fuji arriving from White & Case’s Tokyo office. Ueyama and Wheeler respectively arrive from local Japanese firms Masuda & Partners and Kaynex.

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A team from Travers Smith will cover practical tips for a successful application and how to impress at interview. This will be followed by an opportunity to chat informally with partners and trainees over drinks and canapés.

The presentations will take place in the following cities on the dates stated below:

Manchester – 3 October
Exeter – 4 October
Durham – 9 October
Bristol – 11 October
Cambridge – 16 October
Oxford – 18 October
Warwick – 25 October
London – 1 November

For information on times, venues and how to apply, click here: https://www.traverssmith.com/careers/graduate-recruitment/university-presentations/

The pair announced today (28 September) that the respective partnerships had overwhelmingly approved the tie-up, which is hoped will propel them into the top 50 of the UK’s law firms. It first announced the plans earlier this month bolstering flagging revenue figures at both firms and align their complementary practice areas.

The merged firm – BDB Pitmans – will take effect on 1 December and will operate from London, Reading, Cambridge and Southampton.

The combination of 80 partners and more than 400 staff will be led by legacy BDB managing partner Andrew Smith and chief operating officer Mark Jones, alongside an executive board including legacy Pitmans managing partner John Hutchinson, deputy managing partner Suzanne Brooker and senior partner David Archer. The board will also include three legacy BDB Partners and will be led by BDB’s Helen Ratcliffe, who will be senior partner of the merged firm.

Smith told Legal Business the firms initially met for introductory talks last November: ‘We took things up again in May and were able to move along quickly because of the support and collaboration on both sides.’

Hutchinson added: ‘The merger will allow for an enhanced offering for our clients in the geographies that work, and in the UK’s tech hubs.’

Historically, core practice areas for Pitmans have been pensions disputes, while BDB counts private wealth, infrastructure and corporate as its forte.

Smith noted: ‘One of the striking things is the number of very complementary practice areas, but there is also the opportunity to build out and grow. Now we can fill in the gaps. Restructuring and insolvency, corporate in all its forms, infrastructure planning and regeneration, as well as high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals, will be the focus.’

BDB recorded a 3% revenue drop in 2017 to £33.7m, while profit per equity partner (PEP) fell by 10% to £222,000. Its revenue has increased by only 8% since 2013. For its part, Pitmans saw its revenue fall 3% in the year to 30 April 2017, down to £18.7m from £19.2m.

The Thames Valley-based Pitmans is no stranger to mergers, having completed a tie-up with City-based Calverts Solicitors in 2015. For its part, BDB has been gearing up for expansion, having last year absorbed the nine-lawyer office of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) in Cambridge with a view to extending beyond its real estate specialism.

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The panel will comprise:

Catherine Bamford – CEO & Founder of Bamlegal
Jenny Beck – Director of Beck Fitzgerald
Aphra Bruce-Jones – Pupil Barrister
Camilla Choudhury – The Women’s Lawyer
Teni Shahiean – Co-Founder of OTS Solicitors

When: Tuesday 2nd October
Where: West Green Building, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2L
Time: 6:00pm

The event is aimed at female law students, LPC graduates, trainees and NQs and is sponsored by Ashurst and Allen & Overy. Tickets are £10 and all proceeds from the event go to support people facing court alone. Get your ticket here. 

About PSU: We are the only charity helping people in court on a daily basis. Over 700 trained volunteers, provide a free service across the country. We provide comfort, support and guidance before, during and after court. We ensure people facing court alone feel prepared and supported to access justice.

The combination, which will operate under the firm’s Swiss Verein structure, gives Fieldfisher access to offices in Barcelona and Madrid under the name Fieldfisher JAUSAS, a long-stated ambition of managing partner Michael Chissick.

JAUSAS was formed 52 years ago and comprises of 60 lawyers, 14 of which are partners. It generated €8.4m in turnover during the last financial year, and is led by managing partner Agustín Bou. Key practice areas are corporate, competition, life sciences, dispute resolution, employment and IP. The firm’s corporate team also branches out into investment management and private equity and boasts a China desk serving Chinese investors.

Chissick told Legal Business: ‘I spent years working on this; it hasn’t been easy to find the perfect Spanish partner. Getting them to take the plunge and give up their independence wasn’t easy. They’re the pre-eminent life sciences firm in Spain.’

The merger, which went live on 26 September, will bring Fieldfisher’s total office count to 24. This comes after a concerted campaign of European expansion: the firm opened offices in both Luxembourg and Frankfurt earlier this year.

Fieldfisher also opened a high-volume hub in Belfast in August, and, more further afield, established its third Chinese office in Guangzhou during the same month.

After a sustained period of expansion, Chissick said it is time for Fieldfisher to cool down: ‘We wanted to be in all the major commercial centres of Europe and we’ve done that now. Now’s the time for integration and bedding down, I wouldn’t expect another major European launch for a while.’

Fieldfisher – named Legal Business Law Firm of the Year in 2018 – has been one of the highest-performing firms in the UK legal market in recent years, and it maintained its form in June by unveiling a 24% uptick in turnover to £207m while profits per equity partner grew by a healthy 17% to £750,000.

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