John Malpas

May 28, 2014 | Legal Week

The Co-operative Bank has appointed former Slaughter and May partner Laura Cartensen to chair its values and ethics committee.

By John Malpas

3 minute read

May 16, 2014 | International Edition

Clifford Chance (CC), Eversheds and Allen & Overy (A&O) were the main law firm winners at the third annual Corporate Counsel Middle East Awards

By John Malpas

4 minute read

April 24, 2014 | International Edition

Herbert Smith Freehills has promoted five partners into its London litigation department in this year's promotion round, which sees the City office gain 11 new partners out of a global tally of 23.

By John Malpas

2 minute read

March 27, 2014 | International Edition

Katten's Joshua Rubenstein on how lawyers are responding to the growth of cross-border Americas private client work

By John Malpas

5 minute read

February 20, 2014 | International Edition

Running an effective in-house legal team across the vast continent of Africa must be a daunting prospect. Take GE. Its 12-strong sub-Saharan African team is based across four countries. But the multinational's operations span 35 sovereign states, and, thanks to Africa's status as one of the world's most economically vibrant regions, that list is likely to grow in the next year. Given that each of the region's 48 countries has its own set of laws and way of doing business and that accurate information about legislation is often hard to come by, Bruce Campbell, general counsel at GE Africa, has his hands full.

By John Malpas

8 minute read

February 12, 2014 | International Edition

Trusts date back to the Middle Ages and continue to form a vital part of the modern private client lawyer's armoury. But has this durable common law legal structure finally had its day thanks to the global crackdown on tax avoidance and banking secrecy that has followed the credit crisis? At the Legal Week Private Client Forum, which was held at Lake Como in Italy last November, two leading barristers locked horns on the future of trusts, which have come under heavy political and, in some cases, judicial fire in recent years. The protagonists were Christopher McCall QC of Maitland Chambers, and Shan Warnock-Smith QC of 5 Stone Buildings in the UK and ICT Chambers in the Cayman Islands, with McCall agreeing to speak against the motion that 'This house believes trusts are able to play an important role in wealth and succession planning well into the future'.

By John Malpas

7 minute read

December 05, 2013 | International Edition

Davis Polk & Wardwell's drive to build an English law practice in London has been endorsed by its clients after they gave it the top ranking for legal advice in the annual Legal Week Intelligence Client Satisfaction Report. News that the Wall Street firm leads the field for quality of legal advice comes hard on the heels of its hiring of a fourth English law partner – Ashurst finance partner Nick Benham – and its launch of a London trainee scheme.

By John Malpas

4 minute read

October 31, 2013 | International Edition

Given Africa's resources and status as one of the few parts of the world with strong economic growth, it is hardly surprising that international law firms have been busily reviewing their Africa strategies. The list of countries identified as targets is long. For example, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is eyeing countries such as Mauritania, Congo-Brazzaville, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Morocco, while Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya and Sudan are on Pinsent Masons' target list. Berwin Leighton Paisner has earmarked, among other countries, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Cameroon and Gabon. So between them, three London-based firms have identified 15 African countries as having the potential to generate decent levels of legal work.

By John Malpas

3 minute read

October 24, 2013 | International Edition

For the second year running, the most hotly contested category in the British Legal Awards has been the Law Firm Innovation Award. There were dozens of submissions. When the judges meet to choose the winner, it is the role of the panel's chair, City of London Law Society chairman Alasdair Douglas, to ensure consensus. It isn't always easy. I remember two general counsel a few years ago debating how far an idea borrowed from another sector could be described as innovative. One GC felt that, because the innovation under discussion was standard practice in other parts of the business world, it should be discounted. The other strongly disagreed, contending that it should be judged in context. It is striking this year how many shortlisted entries go out of their way to explain how they have adapted principles and practices from other sectors to improve client service. Perhaps this reflects a growing acceptance among in-house lawyers that they have to be steeped in the culture of their own organisations. There was a time when some GCs railed against the techniques used by their company's procurement teams, arguing that the law was special. Those days are long gone.

By John Malpas

3 minute read

September 26, 2013 | International Edition

This week Martin Glenn, chief executive of United Biscuits, issued a rallying cry to general counsel. He called on them to build muscular, "solutions oriented" legal teams that understood their companies and had the ability to spot risks and opportunities – especially the kind that may not be on the radar of staff at the corporate coal face. Speaking at the eleventh Legal Week Corporate Counsel Forum, Glenn recognised that UK GCs had already come a long way from the old stereotype of the "chummy non-executive". At the same time, the fallout from the credit crunch has undoubtedly helped push GCs in the UK and Europe closer to the centre of their companies given the avalanche of regulations that followed the banking crisis and renewed rigour about risk.

By John Malpas

3 minute read