Standard Chartered win adds to Simmons' growing roster of top banking clients

Simmons & Simmons may have seen a double-digit fall in revenue in the last financial year, but the prospects look relatively rosy for the firm's upwardly-mobile finance practice. Out of Simmons' four sector groups, financial institutions now count for around half of the firm's international business after the group's income more than doubled between 2005 and 2009.

Since City banking partner Jeremy Hoyland took over the helm of the financial markets practice group from current managing partner Mark Dawkins five years ago, the firm has maintained a low-key but steady ascent up the pecking order of many of the world's leading banking institutions.

Dawkins (pictured), a litigator by trade, comments: "The financial markets practice has grown tremendously under Jeremy's leadership. I do think he has benefited from being a transactional lawyer, which gives him insight on the banking side."

Among Simmons' 25 largest clients globally, 10 are major banks with important relationships including Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, Citigroup Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The firm's roster of clients also expanded last month when Standard Chartered completed its biannual UK panel review with the addition of Simmons, the only new member on the panel. The appointment leveraged an existing relationship Simmons had with Standard Chartered in Asia and came despite some other firms on the panel expecting the review to trim the bank's earlier six-strong UK line-up.

True, some rivals see such appointments as evidence that Simmons is ready to pitch aggressively on rates. However, the firm makes a good case that it has made a long-term and strategic commitment to building its finance practice. On the firm's approach to client-building, Hoyland comments: "We are often selected because we have broadly-based relationships, both in terms of practice groups and geographies. This is something we give a lot of priority to as if you don't have that, you are in danger of becoming a niche adviser. We take a long-term approach to our panels in order to develop enduring relationships."

In addition, the relatively low profile for what is an £80m finance practice can in part be attributed to its broad diversification. While the practice looks solid rather than spectacular in general banking and capital markets, Simmons packs a real punch in specialised areas like structured products and its highly-rated banking litigation team.

While the latter team has unquestionably taken a knock with the departure this year of partner Jonathan Kelly to Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, the practice remains a strong performer with a number of well-regarded partners. The firm also has a strong hedge fund client base, which has generated considerable work advising counter-party clients involved in the European bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.

What is perhaps less clear is how strongly placed Simmons is to develop its finance practice as the firm hauls itself out of a tough period that saw profits fall by 20% to £520,000 in 2008-09 and is set to see its top line down substantially for 2009-10. Good finance partners are notoriously difficult to retain when profits fall. Set against this, with a far-reaching round of cost-cutting under its belt, Simmons pledges that it has emerged from the downturn in lean and healthy shape. All in, the finance practice looks set to keep outperforming rivals' expectations.

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