JD Journal » Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Freshfields Bolsters U.S. Litigation Practice

joshua — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:42:21 +0000

International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has bolstered its U.S. litigation practice with the addition of three new partners. Marshall H. Fishman and Walter B. Stuart will join the firm’s New York office and Timothy J. Coleman will be stationed in Washington D.C.

Coleman joins Freshfields from Dewey & LeBoeuf, where he was a partner in the firm’s litigation department and co-chair of the white collar criminal defense and investigations practice group. He is a former assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and he also served eight years with the U.S. Department of Justice, where he played key roles in several notable corporate fraud cases, including the investigation of Enron Corp.

Fishman is a former partner and commercial litigator at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel. He represents financial institutions in federal and state courts throughout the U.S., in arbitrations and in regulatory proceedings.

Stuart is formerly a partner at Vinson & Elkins. He focuses his practice on securities and complex financial litigation at both the state and federal level.

Freshfields has more than 2,700 lawyers practicing in 27 locations around the world.

Freshfields Unfreezes Associate Lockstep; Unveils 2010 Rates

sara — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:25:54 +0000

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is the first top U.K. law firm to announce associate salary rates for 2010, with the firm lifting the freeze on associate lockstep put in place last year. The firm told staff yesterday that the freeze would be lifted at the start of the new financial year. Beginning in May associates will move through the pay scale as normal but the pay levels themselves will not be increased. The new qualified rate (reduced last year), will remain at 59,000 pounds ($80,000), while a one year qualified attorney will make 66,000 pounds ($89,500), a lawyer with two years experience will make 73,000 pounds ($99,000) and a three year qualified lawyer will make 86,000 pounds ($116,600).

The firm said in a statement, “We have decided that there will not be a salary freeze for the coming financial year. While the outlook globally is still uncertain, our people have worked very hard to help our clients and the firm through the challenges of the last year or so, and we are grateful for the contribution everyone has made.”

London based Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is a general practice firm with 2,700 attorneys and 27 offices globally.

Gibson Dunn Nabs London Partner from Freshfields

joshua — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:46:21 +0000

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has added Jeff Roberts as a partner in its London office. Roberts, who joins the firm from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, practices corporate law with a focus on international public and private mergers and acquisitions, private equity and equity capital markets.

Roberts practiced at Freshfields since 1988 and was a partner at the firm since 1996. He also managed the firm’s Moscow office from 1996-1999.

Gibson Dunn’s London office was founded more than 30 years ago and offers full-service English law representation. The firm has 15 other offices worldwide and more than 1,000 lawyers.

Freshfields Loses Top Partners

Erik Even — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:41:47 +0000

Freshfields has lost two top partners, both of whom joined the firm from White & Case less than two years ago.

Maurice Allen is one of the UK’s top banking lawyers, having worked at Clifford Chance and Weil Gotshal. He and Mike Goetz joined Freshfields in March 2008.

The firm describes the split as amicable — but Allen has a reputation for problems with management, including publicized friction at White & Case.

London’s Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is an international law firm with offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the US. In 2006 it was the world’s fourth largest law firm by revenues.

Freshfields Reports Revenues Up 9%

Erik Even — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:27:40 +0000

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has reported a 9% rise in revenue for the last fiscal year.

Revenue was £1.29 billion pounds ($2.39 billion), up from £1.18 billion pounds ($2.36 billion) in the previous year.

Profit-per-partner was £1.44 million pounds ($2.68 million), up just under 1%.

London’s Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is an international law firm with offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the US. In 2006 it was the world’s fourth largest law firm by revenues.

Press Slams Freshfields for Trainee Layoffs [Update 2]

Erik Even — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:15:34 +0000

In May, London’s Freshfields announced that only 14 of its class of 48 trainees set to start this Fall would be retained.

Now mainstream press sources are faulting Freshfields for the way it handled the firings. Trainees were telephoned by partners human resources with the news; and if the trainee was unavailable by phone, the message was left by voicemail.

Also, press reports say that those with their offers rescinded have been given a mere £700 ($1,150) in severance pay.

London’s Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is an international law firm with offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the US. In 2006 it was the world’s fourth largest law firm by revenues.

UPDATE

This story has not yet died, although the facts have been updated. Apparently, only four or five trainees were laid off by phone; and the calls were made by human resources, not by partners, who were apparently too busy, important or embarrassed.

UPDATE 2

Freshfields apparently saw the press criticisms and thought, what can we do to make this worse, and keep the story in the news cycle? Hey, let’s rescind our invitations to the remaining trainees for the firm’s team-building retreat this Summer!

The firm sent out an email saying that the attendance for the event had reached its maximum, and that no further employees could attend. But this email was sent only to trainees — including those who had already RSVPed.

K&L Gates Poaches German Team from Freshfields

Erik Even — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:12:19 +0000

K&L Gates has snagged a four-lawyer team from the Berlin office of Freshfields.

Partner Ludwig Hausmann joins the Berlin office of K&L Gates, along with principal associate Annette Mutschler-Siebert, who joins as counsel. They bring along two associates.

K&L Gates’ German offices, in Berlin and Frankfurt, now have 45 lawyers.

K&L Gates LLP employs over 1900 attorneys worldwide, and is ranked as the 7th largest law firm in the world. It was formed in January 2007, by the merger of Pittsburgh-based Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham with Seattle-based Preston Gates & Ellis, co-founded by William H. Gates, Sr.

The Week in Law Firm Layoffs

Erik Even — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:07:12 +0000

This week in law firm layoffs:

LG: 12 lawyers

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: 14 lawyers

Weil, Gotshal & Manges: 79 staff

Snell & Wilmer: 40 staff

Covington & Burling: undisclosed lawyers

Ropes & Gray: 40 lawyers

Total: 66 lawyers, 119 staff

Previously:

Week of May 17th: 40 lawyers, 118 staff

Week of May 10th: 274 lawyers, 499 staff

Week of May 3rd: 274 lawyers, 160 staff

Week of April 26th: 352 lawyers, 220 staff, 70 undisclosed

Week of April 19th: 61 lawyers, 184 staff

Week of April 12th: 67 lawyers, 50 staff, 115 unidentified

Week of April 5th: 144 lawyers, 310 staff

Week of March 29th: 199 lawyers, 474 staff

Week of March 22nd: 455 lawyers, 219 staff

Week of March 15th: 91 lawyers, 177 staff

Week of March 8th: 574 lawyers, 812 staff

Freshfields Will Not Hire 30% of Incoming Trainees

Erik Even — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:36:27 +0000

London’s Freshfields will only hire 70% of its September 2009 trainees.

Fourteen of the class of 48 trainees set to start this Fall in London will not be retained. Those affected have been notified by phone.

The firm deferred start dates in February, and froze associate pay at 2008 levels.

London’s Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is an international law firm with offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the US. In 2006 it was the world’s fourth largest law firm by revenues.

Gleiss Lutz Opens New Office with Baker & McKenzie Partner

Erik Even — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:14:36 +0000

Germany’s Gleiss Lutz will launch a new Dusseldorf office in August, headed by corporate partner Thomas Menke, last of Baker & McKenzie.

Menke handles international mergers & acquisitions and real estate transactions.

He will work with an unnamed associate, formerly of Freshfields’ Dusseldorf office.

Gleiss Lutz is a German law firm founded in Stuttgart in 1949 by Alfred Gleiss. It is one of the biggest independent full-service law firms in Germany, and advises companies and groups in Germany and abroad, as well as public authorities.

Herbert Smith Hiring for Hong Kong Practice

Erik Even — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:04:43 +0000

London’s Herbert Smith is launching a Hong Kong restructuring practice, with a partner recruited from Bermuda’s Appleby Global.

Michael Barker will focus on restructuring and insolvency work.

At Appleby, Barker headed the Hong Kong bank and structured finance team. He was formerly an insolvency partner in the Hong Kong office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

Barker specializes in advising creditors, debtors and investors on non-contentious restructuring and insolvency issues.

Herbert Smith was founded in the City of London in 1882 by Norman Herbert Smith, and today has 230 partners and 1,200 fee-earners. It is widely considered to be the UK’s leading litigation practice.

Freshfields to Add 15 Lawyers to Munich Office

Erik Even — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:55:38 +0000

Freshfields will add at least 15 lawyers to its Munich office, including four partners who will relocate from Frankfurt.

Yorck Jetter, Matthias-Gabriel Kremer, Rick van Aerssen and Markus Fisseler will transfer to Munich at the start of the new financial year.

Senior associate Wessel Heukamp will be promoted to partner and join the office, bringing the total number of partners in the office to 13.

Teams of associates will be hired for each new partner, expanding lawyer count in the office by around 50%. The firm intends to hire locally in Munich, and move associates over from Frankfurt, which has 60 partners and over 500 total staff.

Freshfields’ also has offices in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Hamburg. The firm recently shut its office in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is the fourth largest law firm in the world by revenue, and a component of the UK’s Magic Circle of leading law firms

White & Case Will Not Merge With Singapore Firm

Erik Even — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:03:22 +0000

White & Case, one of six international firms granted a license to practice Singapore law, has canceled plans to merge with local alliance partner Venture Law.

The firm declined to comment further, though a source briefed on the matter confirmed that White & Case’s plans no longer included a merger with the 10-lawyer Venture Law.

The two firms had been in a formal alliance since 2003. Until December, such alliances and joint ventures were the only means through which international firms could practice Singapore law. Prior to its arrangement with 10-lawyer Venture Law, White & Case had participated in a short-lived joint venture with another local firm, Colin Ng & Partners.

Other foreign firms, including Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Shearman & Sterling and Freshfields, also pulled out of Singapore joint ventures, and the Singapore government last year introduced its liberalized Qualified Foreign Law Practice regime partly in response to their complaints.

Along with White & Case, the other foreign firms who received QFLP licenses were Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy, Herbert Smith, Latham & Watkins and Norton Rose.

Freshfields to Close European Office, Lay Off 10

Erik Even — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:54:37 +0000

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is set shutter its office in Bratislava, Slovakia, closing its only Central and Eastern European office outside Vienna and Moscow.

The UK firm will shut its Bratislava office at the end of the financial year. It currently employs four senior lawyers, two associates and four non-legal staff members.

The firm will not offer the Bratislava lawyers a position in the nearby Vienna office.

Freshfields previously had offices in Prague and Budapest, but cut ties with the offices in 2002 and 2007 respectively.

The firm’s decision to close Bratislava comes after Magic Circle rival Linklaters last year decided to close four continental offices.

Many Firms Involved in LyondellBasell Bankruptcy Proceedings

Erik Even — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:06:16 +0000

In the wake of chemical giant LyondellBasell filing for Chaptel 11, several top firms in the United States and the United Kingdom find themselves involved.

Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has secured a leading role for the company in the US, with financial restructuring group heads Deryck Palmer and John Rapisardi leading the team. In the UK, LyondellBasell has procured Clifford Chance for advice. That team is led by the head of restructuring, Mark Hyde.

Creditors involved in the case, both in the US and the UK, have secured firms such as Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Ashurst, Simmons & Simmons, Bingham McCutchen, Latham & Watkins and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy.

Lyondell Chemical, the company’s US arm, filed for Chapter 11 in January. It did not include most of the groups operations in Europe. The decision was made to avoid having the company’s European assets liquidated.

Ashurst head of restructuring Nick Angel said: “As a generalization, an insolvency process almost anywhere in the world is to be avoided because it damages value. This is especially true where you have the prospect of different insolvency processes in different countries but it is less true for the US, where Chapter 11 processes are more readily accepted.

“What has happened here illustrates the difficulty in dealing with international groups because Chapter 11 will not be recognized throughout the world and there is no alternative worldwide process for insolvency.”

Freshfields Delays Start Dates

Erik Even — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:49:13 +0000

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is asking some of its trainees to push back their start dates with the firm.

A number of trainees set to join the firm in August 2010 are being asked to defer the start date of their training contract to February 2011.

Freshfields has 64 trainees due to start in August next year and only 32 set to join the following February. The firm said the decision was prompted by a desire to balance the size of the intakes and was not related to economic conditions.

The August 2009 and February 2010 intakes will not be changed.

Lovells and Simmons & Simmons both approached their March 2009 intake to ask for volunteers to start in 2010.

London’s Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is an international law firm with offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the US. In 2006 it was the world’s fourth largest law firm by revenues.

Freshfields to Freeze Associate Pay

Erik Even — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:45:25 +0000

London’s Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer informed staff yesterday that salaries for associates will be held at 2008 levels.

The pay freeze means associates will not progress through to the next pay band, leaving a newly qualified lawyer at the same salary after one-year post-qualification experience, when they would normally see a 10% rise in salary.

The pay freeze will apply to the firm’s UK, German and Asia offices, and also includes business support staff.

Trainees in the UK are partially exempted from the policy. Trainees qualifying in March will see their pay rise to £59,000 pounds, compared to the current rate for newly-qualified lawyers of £66,000 pounds.

The firm will continue to pay out performance-related bonuses. The pay bands will stay the same for the next 12 months with no mid-year review planned.

Freshfields is the first major UK firm to freeze salaries this year.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP provides business law advice throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States. It is the world’s fourth largest law firm by revenue.

Simmons Relocates Partners to Dubai HQ

Erik Even — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:39:28 +0000

Simmons & Simmons is banishing two finance partners to the firm’s Dubai office.

Banking and restructuring partner Phillip Abbott, and debt capital market specialist Natalie Boyd, have both made the move to the Middle East, bringing the number of Simmons finance partners in the Gulf region to five.

Abott and Boyd’s arrival in the ultra-wealthy, brutal Middle Eastern dictatorship follows the hire of former Clyde & Co corporate partner Vanessa Abernethy, and ex-Freshfields Bruckhus Deringer finance partner Eric Milne, who both joined the firm’s Dubai office in 2008.

Founded in 1896, Simmons & Simmons is an international law firm with over 2,000 employess in 20 offices located in major business and financial centers throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Its largest office is located in London, where almost half its legal staff is based.

UK Firm to Female Lawyers: Try to Dress More Feminine. But Don’t Be a Slut!

Erik Even — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:49:07 +0000

Magic Circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP apparently has a lot of money lying around, a lot of free time, and a complete collection of Mad Men DVDs.

They have hired “image consultants” to give their female employees advice on how to dress more “appropriately” for the workplace. This advice seems to be “don’t dress like a man” but “don’t be a slut.”

The original Daily Mail story link is broken, but on Feministe:

Female lawyers at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have been advised to team their stilettos with skirts rather than trousers to ‘embrace their femininity’.But they can’t embrace it too much.

Necklaces, they have been warned, should be avoided as they could draw undue attention to the bustline.

That’s right, ladies! Enough with the comfort, already. Be prettier and more womanly for us — but not too pretty. No one likes a skank. What, is this advice straight out of the 40s?

But the best advice is actually for the men…

And in a bid to keep everything above board, male employees have been told not to allow their ties to hang below their belts for fear of drawing unwanted attention to their nether regions.

Yeah. Um… does that work?

Via Daily Mail (link broken), via WSJ Law Blog, via Feministe.

UPDATE: The Daily Mail link is back.