The decision has wide-ranging implications for businesses and litigators alike as to what information from internal investigations is protected by privilege, after the Court of Appeal today (5 September) ruled the ENRC is not obliged to disclose a series of documents which had been requested by the SFO.

Simmons & Simmons senior partner Colin Passmore told Legal Business: ‘This is incredibly good news for privilege. At long last we have some serious pushback on the previous ruling. Litigators across the City will no doubt be saying “Thank goodness, but why did it take so long?”’

Mining giant ENRC had argued that documents it prepared during an internal investigation should not be disclosed because they were covered by LPP, but a May 2017 High Court judgment from Justice Andrews ruled there was ‘a recognised public interest in the SFO being able to go about its business of investigation and prosecuting crime; and the sort of evidence which one would expect to be found in the disputed documents is likely to be of considerable value to its current investigation.’

At the time, an ENRC spokesperson said the company would appeal the decision ‘because the effect of this judgment is that a party who wishes to consult a lawyer in relation to an SFO dawn raid or criminal investigation is not entitled to the protections afforded by litigation privilege’.

ENRC was subsequently granted a right to appeal in October 2017, which led to today’s judgment in the Court of Appeal.

Also welcoming the decision was Clifford Chance litigation partner and president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, Julian Acratopulo, although he noted that the Court of Appeal passed on the opportunity to make judgment on the separate issue of legal advice privilege. That issue dates back to the 2004 Three Rivers case, and who specifically in a company constitutes “the client” and can therefore be protected by privilege.

He told Legal Business: ‘The ruling on LPP is very important because it underpins the entire legal firmament of this country. While the court has given some useful guidance on the legal advice privilege, ultimately it said it should be left for the Supreme Court to determine.’

Herbert Smith Freehills disputes partner Julian Copeman agreed with Acratopulo’s assessment, commenting: ‘It’s a good judgment but it’s an opportunity missed to put a nail in the coffin of the Three Rivers decision.’

The judgment noted change was needed on the issue of legal advice privilege, but conceded it would be better dealt with by the Supreme Court: ‘In the modern world… we have to cater for legal advice sought by large national corporations and indeed multinational ones. In such cases, the information upon which legal advice is sought is unlikely to be in the hands of the main board or those it appoints to seek and receive legal advice.’

ENRC was represented in the case by Hogan Lovells partner Michael Roberts, who instructed Bankim Thanki QC, Tamara Oppenheimer and Rebecca Loveridge of Fountain Court Chambers. ENRC had previously been represented by Signature Litigation and its founder Graham Huntley, but Hogan Lovells took over the mandate in May 2017.

In addition to the privilege ruling, the case brought to light allegations from ENRC that Dechert partner Neil Gerrard had leaked confidential information to the press in July 2011 to expand the scope of the SFO’s investigation.

ENRC had enlisted Dechert and Gerrard in 2011 to assist in self-reporting ahead of the SFO probe, but the company alledges Gerrard arranged for privileged information to be passed on to The Times, which wrote an August 2011 article which led to the initial approach from the SFO.

ENRC said it was pursuing legal proceedings against Dechert and Gerrard. The relationship between ENRC, Dechert and Gerrard had already been soured after the mining giant claimed to have been overcharged last year.

In February last year, the High Court ruled that the ENRC will be able to have £11.6m bills assessed, after Master Rowley noted that Dechert’s billing estimates were ‘considerably awry on every occasion’.

A Dechert spokesperson said the firm defended its work and denied what it called ‘unfounded’ allegations: ‘We stand by the work we did and look forward to the opportunity of defending it in open court. We note that the criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into ENRC is continuing and deplore ENRC’s attempt to discredit that investigation by seeking now to publicise unwarranted allegations against Dechert and its personnel.’

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Heavyweight litigator Ilya Rybalkin and corporate veteran Suren Gortsunyan have launched Rybalkin, Gortsunyan & Partners (RGP) alongside 11 associates, counsel and paralegals from the US firm – a team which claims to have been involved in transactions cumulatively worth over $80bn.

The move comes as growing tensions between Russia and the West and US sanctions against leading Russian business owners are increasingly hindering western firms from servicing Moscow clients.

‘A team spin-off of this calibre and scale from a leading international firm is unprecedented in the Russian legal market,’ said Rybalkin, who was one of the top earners at legacy Hogan & Hartson before quitting shortly after its 2010 merger with Lovells and is credited with building up Akin Gump’s key Russian dispute resolution and investigations practice.

His clients included investment group Renova, whose owner Viktor Vekselberg was included in the latest US sanctions on 6 April and who saw billions of dollars in foreign assets frozen. The sanction regime also prevents US firms from supporting individuals included in the lists, a clear issue for western law firms with a large Russian client base.

‘At a time when sanctions and other geopolitical measures are distracting law firms from their main goal of serving clients, we expect to attract further senior lawyers from international law firms, added Rybalkin.

Alongside Rybalkin and fellow Hogan Lovells alumni Gortsunyan, former Akin Gump counsel Oleg Isaev will also start as partner at the new firm, which aims to have at least 15 fee-earners by the end of the year.

RGP will work with Akin Gump on a non-exclusive basis, including on current matters.

Once regarded as the western legal elite’s El Dorado, international firms have been on the slide in Russia since the invasion of Crimea in 2014, which prompted the US and EU to publish subsequent lists of sanctioned Kremlin-linked oligarchs and plunged the local economy into financial crisis.

The Russian operations of international firms has been under increased scrutiny lately, with Britain’s foreign affairs select committee criticising Linklaters for its role in the $1.5bn IPO of energy company En+, owned by sanctioned oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

Meanwhile, even New York firms like Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Skadden Arps Meagher & Flom, which built a substantial part of their business on Russian clients, have scaled down their local presence since 2014.

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The investment, announced today (5 September), is the first external backing the AI company has received since its inception in 2011, with ex-Weil Gotshal & Manges associate and co-founder Noah Waisberg and Kira CTO Alexander Hudek initially funding the start-up themselves. The company saw year-on-year revenue growth of more than 100% for 2017.

As part of the deal, Insight’s managing director Peter Sobiloff will join the board at Kira, as the company looks to continue a growth trajectory which has so far seen the team more than double in the last year, from 55 to 115 employees.

The much-touted AI platform already has impressive credentials, with current clients including Clifford Chance (CC), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and DLA Piper.

The investment sees Kira’s machine learning contract analysis system receive the largest backing for a company of this kind.

The fledging legal tech scene has also seen in-house legal fee tracking start-up Apperio secure $10m in funding last month, matching the $10m milestone raised by Luminance in 2017. Meanwhile, AI counterparts Eigen Technologies secured £13m in investment in June this year, as ever-increasing sums are invested into the sector.

Despite the scale of the investment, Waisberg and Hudek will retain a majority stake in the company, which now considers growth the immediate and long-term aim.

Waisberg told Legal Business: ‘We already had significant money to invest in the business and this helps us to make more aggressive investments to create the product we want. There is a lot of investment capital looking for a good home. We will be seeing more and more tech start-ups in the future.’

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Junior lawyers at the firm will now earn £78,000, a 4% increase on the previous NQ salary of £75,000.

Trainee salaries have also been increased. Newbie pay has been upped from £43,000 to £44,000 in the first year and from £48,000 to £49,000 in the second year.

Future Mayer Brown joiners can also rejoice as the LPC maintenance grant has received a healthy £3,000 boost, taking the total from £7,000 to £10,000. The firm is the latest in a string of outfits to increase financial provision to support future trainees whilst they are studying.

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The US firm will now pay its soon-to-be trainee solicitors £11,000 to support them financially while they study for the final stage of their legal academic training. The latest uplift makes Sidley the highest payer in London in terms of maintenance grants.

Sidley joins a raft of London firms who have recently boosted the financial provision awarded to future trainees.

London-based start-up Funding Circle, which provides a loan platform for SMEs in the UK, US, Germany and the Netherlands, announced today (3 September) its intention to issue at least 25% of its share capital to raise around £300m.

Freshfields, led by capital markets partners Mark Austin and Doug Smith, are acting for Funding Circle, while Linklaters’ corporate partner John Lane and capital markets partner Pam Shores are advising joint co-ordinators and bookrunners Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Numis Securities.

Funding Circle was founded in 2010 and has since lent more than £5bn of loans, of which more than £1bn was lent in the first half of 2018. The company has opened up small business lending as an investment asset class to a range of investors including retail, banks, asset management companies, insurance companies, government-backed entities and funds.

Projected investor returns for loans originated in 2017 are expected to range between 4.6%-7.6% across Funding Circle’s geographies, while the company recorded revenue of £94.5m for the year ended 31 December 2017: an 86% uptick on the £50.9m it reported in 2016.

Freshfields’ Mark Austin told Legal Business that the IPO was another shot in the arm for the London listing market, coming so soon after last week’s announcement that upmarket car maker Aston Martin was planning to float.

‘Tech companies planning IPOs can go over to New York, so it’s a good thing that this great home-grown company, which will be another tech unicorn listing, has chosen London instead.’

This is the second London float to be announced since new rules governing IPOs were brought into force on 1 July 2018, requiring unconnected analysts to be involved in the transaction and for the registration document to be published before the prospectus.

While the market is relatively buoyant at present, few advisers are expecting deal activity to continue strongly into next year.

Noted one corporate partner: ‘These deals are great for London considering the geopolitical situation at the moment with Brexit, but I think H1 2019 will be quieter. I can’t see investors flocking when there’s so much uncertainty.’
Meanwhile, Linklaters acted as the adviser to the sponsors of the 860MW Triton Knoll offshore wind farm which last Friday (31 August) made it over the line on a financial close that will see £2bn injected into the UK project.

The Linklaters team was led by partners Richard Coar and John Pickett. The firm also recently advised Innogy Renewables UK on a deal to sell a total 41% of its interest in the project to a subsidiary of Electric Power Development, J-Power (25%), and to a subsidiary of Kansai Electric Power (16%).

A consortium of 15 banks is set to provide £1.71bn of debt for the wind farm, which will be built off the coast of Lincolnshire.

The lenders are: ABN AMRO Bank, Banco Santander, Bayersische Landesbank, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, ING Bank, KfW IPEX-Bank, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Landesbank Hessen Thuringen Girozentrale, Lloyds Bank, MUFG Bank, National Westminster Bank, Natixis, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

MUFG also acted as financial adviser on the deal.

Coar commented: ‘The success of Triton Knoll clearly demonstrates that the appetite of both global equity investors and commercial banks in the UK offshore wind sector remains strong. There is a healthy portfolio of both greenfield and brownfield offshore wind assets in the UK and across the rest of Europe and the ability of the sector to continue to attract both existing and new classes of capital at increasingly competitive rates will be key to its continued success.’

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The Urban Lawyers Careers Conference is an all-day interactive event that provides key information and support to those from diverse backgrounds who are considering a career in law and those who are actively pursuing a career as a solicitor or barrister. 

Last year included inspirational panel discussions with influential Barristers and Solicitors including the likes of: Angela Rafferty QC, Grace Ononiwu OBE, Dr Leslie Thomas QC, His Honour Judge Gregory Perrins and other prominent individuals within the legal sphere.

This year Angela Rafferty QC returns with further prestigious law firm partners and leaders in the legal industry who will be announced shortly.

The Conference will also consist of interactive workshops from industry experts and trailblazers focusing on personal and professional development; including:

• Pupillage and training contract sessions: Interactive sessions led by prominent Solicitors and Barristers providing key guidance and information on how to make your application stand out amongst others.
• Detailed advice on how to perform well on assessment days and interviews: Informative sessions covering all aspects of successful interviews and assessments days for all legal roles.
• Sessions on how to build Commercial Awareness: Practical advice on how to effectively develop commercial awareness and use it to your advantage.
• Personal branding and time management: Key information on how to enhance and take control of your professional brand.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to network and engage with representatives from chambers, law firms and legal institutions providing the perfect opportunity to network with like-minded individuals and build meaningful relationships.

Whether you are a law student, non-law student, studying the BPTC, LPC or working as a paralegal, this conference is for you! We want to make sure you leave the event with all the information that you need to be successful in gaining that elusive training contract or pupillage so please bring your A game!

Breakfast, Lunch and beverages will be provided as well as information from law firms and chambers.

Tickets are selling out quickly so click here to reserve your place.

About Urban Lawyers

Urban Lawyers is an organisation that makes the law (in its academic, practical and career contexts) more accessible to marginalised groups in society. Urban Lawyers aims to provide inspiration and education to all who have or will come into contact with the law and/or legal profession.

It provides inspiration to law students from non-traditional backgrounds through online resources, networking and educational events and initiatives. It also provides support, finance and facilitates the education of young people about their legal rights and civic responsibilities.

Former DLA head of competition José Maria Jiménez Laiglesia has succeeded against four other candidates to join Latham’s Madrid outpost, which has almost doubled its headcount in less than a year since bringing in DLA’s former senior partner Juan Picón.

With a nine-strong team led by real estate partner Rafael Molina joining from Linklaters next month, the move means the US firm will have 50 lawyers in Spain come October, up from just 18 when Picón quit his former shop at the end of 2017.

‘The other candidates that showed interest were also good, but the Brussels office which led the process pointed to José Maria as one of the top antitrust partners in the country,’ Latham’s Spain managing partner Picón told Legal Business.

Jiménez Laiglesia’s practice will support Latham’s core M&A and finance operations and will work closely with the firm’s Brussels team. Picón said the firm didn’t plan to expand the antitrust team much further, although it was on the hunt for one associate to support Jiménez Laiglesia.

He is the latest in a long list of European hires by the $3bn firm. Over the last few months alone, Latham has raided the Magic Circle both in London and Germany to boost its transactional prowess.

The quick expansion in Madrid is all the more impressive considering Spain is usually a quieter lateral market compared to its European neighbours.

As for DLA, the firm has lost several partners since the departure of Picón, arguably its most prominent Spanish lawyer. Fellow DLA corporate partners Ignacio Gómez-Sancha and José Antonio Sánchez-Dafos followed Picón to Latham last year too.

It now comprises 80 lawyers including 18 partners, having appointed Joaquin Hervada as new local head of competition. A spokesperson for the firm said: ‘We would like to thank José Maria for the contribution he has made during his time at DLA Piper and wish him all the best for the future.’

Elsewhere, Kennedys has chosen India to strengthen its innovation capabilities by launching a nine-strong business development operation in Kerala.

Kennedys Kognitive Computing will focus on tech development including machine learning and text analytics. Led by Tony Joseph and reporting to the firm’s head of research and development Karim Derrick, the launch of the new company comes after a year-long exclusive partnership with the Kognitive Computing team.

Derrick told Legal Business: ‘The clear differentiator is that the purpose of this team and my primary objective is to produce client-facing products to remove the need to use lawyers in the first place. It’s not about improving efficiency or margins, it’s about helping our clients using lawyers only when they need to.’ He said clients will pay to use products developed by the team on a per-use basis, a model the firm has already applied with its litigation tool KLAiM.

It makes Kennedys the latest in a long series of firms announcing a substantial investment in innovation, as client pressure on costs keeps efficiency high on BigLaw’s agenda.

Perhaps the most significant move of the year was Clifford Chance’s acquisition of the former Carillion Advice Services team in Newcastle.

Closer to home, globetrotting firm Bird & Bird has expanded its Polish dispute resolution team with the hire of PwC Legal head of litigation Adam Kowalczyk in Warsaw. He leaves PwC after two-and-a-half years and was previously an associate at Weil Gotshal & Manges and DLA.

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The demise of Wonga, the UK’s largest payday lender, was confirmed yesterday (30 August) amidst a flood of compensation claims as the government cranks up the pressure on companies offering high-cost, short-term loans.

Wonga’s overseas businesses will continue to trade, while the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) supervises Wonga in seeking fair treatment of customers. The UK business is not accepting any new loan applications.

Slaughters is advising the company with a team consisting of head of corporate, Andy Ryde, and restructuring and insolvency partners Ian Johnson and Tom Vickers. The Magic Circle firm is also expected to advise the administrators, Grant Thornton.

‘It’s still the very early stages,’ Johnson told Legal Business. ‘I think in this case it’s business-specific issues: they had a number of legacy issues which have led us to where we are now.’

Elsewhere, Slaughters also has a key role in Coca-Cola’s acquisition of the largest coffee company in the UK, Costa. Upon completion, Coca-Cola will acquire nearly 4,000 Costa outlets across the country as it expands its coffee portfolio, which already includes the Georgia brand in Japan among others globally.

Slaughters advised Costa’s owner Whitbread, a long-standing client of the firm. Its team includes corporate partners Martin Hattrell and Simon Nicholls, IP partner Duncan Blaikie, tax partner Mike Lane, real estate partner Jane Edwarde, pensions and employment partners Jonathan Fenn and Phil Linnard, competition partner Anna Lyle-Smythe and finance partner Matthew Tobin.

CC partners Robert Crothers and Gareth Camp advised Coca-Cola on the corporate elements of the deal. Skadden, meanwhile, fielded a team led by London-based tax partner Alex Jupp, with assistance from New York partners David Rievman and Chase Wink, in advising Coca-Cola on the tax aspects of the deal.

Coca-Cola president and chief executive James Quincey commented: ‘Hot beverages is one of the few segments of the total beverage landscape where Coca-Cola does not have a global brand. Costa gives us access to this market with a strong coffee platform.’

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