A&O in talks with clients over expansion of contract law business
Allen & Overy (A&O) is in talks with a number of high-profile clients over deploying lawyers from its contract law business in-house following a successful soft launch period. The magic circle firm introduced its Peerpoint business last year, initially using only its own alumni working directly for A&O. But it has now spoken to around 10 to 12 clients, including high-profile financial institutions, with a view to offering in-house placements before the end of the year.
January 21, 2014 at 06:45 AM
3 minute read
Allen & Overy (A&O) is in talks with a number of high-profile clients over deploying lawyers from its contract law business in-house following a successful soft launch period.
The magic circle firm introduced its Peerpoint business last year, initially using only its own alumni working directly for A&O. But it has now spoken to around 10 to 12 clients, including high-profile financial institutions, with a view to offering in-house placements before the end of the year.
Head of business improvement Ben Williams, who is overseeing the business, told Legal Week: "We're saying it will probably happen within the next 12 months, but I'm sure it will be sooner rather than later given the levels of interest from both lawyers and clients.
"We've almost done the reverse to other consultant lawyer businesses in the market in the sense that we're first setting up to improve our existing business model.
"Before we open it up to clients directly we want to check we are attracting the right people, have a reasonable number of lawyers on our books and that our systems are working well."
Peerpoint initially launched with a small group of around 10 lawyers and has since been adding staff with a view to growing to a headcount of around 30 in the short term.
According to Williams, the business will help to reinforce client relationships as the firm currently receives more requests for lawyers to go on secondment than it can accommodate.
The initiative, which kicked off last November with a team of around 10 alumni lawyers, is also set to expand to bring in lawyers from other top tier firms, as well as general counsel who have been trained at large law firms.
The firm also aims to contract lawyers from outside of the UK who can take on ad hoc cases in countries where A&O has larger offices, such as Asia, the US and parts of Europe.
Williams has spoken to managing partners at some of the firm's larger offices over using the service in the future.
An expanded Peerpoint could challenge Berwin Leighton Paisner's flexible working offshoot Lawyers on Demand, which launched in 2007 and now boasts a roster of 120 lawyers. Last year the business produced turnover of £9m.
Eversheds also entered the contract lawyer market when it launched its Eversheds Agile service in 2011. The firm allocated permanent funding to the business in 2012, when it had a stable of almost 80 lawyers.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
New Frontiers: Gaillard Banifatemi Shelbaya Launches in Cairo and Abu Dhabi
4 minute read
Travers Gives Holiday Bonus, Ropes & Gray Reduces Time Off Allowance
1 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Gibson Dunn Sued By Crypto Client After Lateral Hire Causes Conflict of Interest
- 2Trump's Solicitor General Expected to 'Flip' Prelogar's Positions at Supreme Court
- 3Pharmacy Lawyers See Promise in NY Regulator's Curbs on PBM Industry
- 4Outgoing USPTO Director Kathi Vidal: ‘We All Want the Country to Be in a Better Place’
- 5Supreme Court Will Review Constitutionality Of FCC's Universal Service Fund
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
