Four independent European law firms – Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners, Bonelli Erede Pappalardo, PLMJ and the former Du… read more
Generational tensions continue to blight Europe’s independent law firms. The latest round of partner walkouts, from highly successful firms based in Italy, Portugal and France, are just a few public examples of what happens when – in the struggle to become more modern and institutional – ‘structural contradictions’, as one partner referred to them, leave partnerships in pieces. … read more
European and global companies doing business in Europe take heed: US-style laws and litigation are affecting fundamental aspects of your corporate life. … read more
Building with BRICs: can law firms lean on emerging markets?
While London law firms’ banking and finance departments are suffering significant drops in activity, partners have been quick to project the bright side of the equation: their customary rationalisation in the face of a downturn being that lawyers have work in good times and bad, as demand for legal advice simply shifts to insolvency, restructuring and litigation. However, we are currently seeing a new and even more popular version being talked up – that firms can look to booming developing markets such as BRIC countries Brazil, Russia, India and China, along with the Middle East, to bolster profit levels through the challenges ahead.… read more
Just think of those times you have witnessed someone making a speech or a presentation and became so engaged you did not even notice the time going by, you hung on their every word, there was only one point of focus for the entire room or audience, you laughed at all the right places, and felt disappointed when the speaker sat down. It can and does happen. Some speakers are that good.… read more
When the early signs of problems in the sub-prime credit markets emerged last year, the first tangible markers came with the disposal by banks and large multinationals of senior executives. Difficult times are always accompanied by ritual blood-letting. But this time there was a difference. Not only has there been pressure for senior executives’ pay to be curbed, but the amount they receive when their contracts are terminated has come under severe scrutiny.… read more
This year is unlikely to be remembered by lawyers as a great time for traditional private equity (PE). While 2007 was dominated by PE for many lawyers, from mid-cap to mega-deals, most practitioners in Europe admit they will not see the same volume, nor deal value in the foreseeable future. … read more
When we last looked at Sweden (see issue 66) local law firms were enjoying a boom in private equity work as well as gearing up for the new right-wing government to start a privatisation programme that promised to fill practice coffers. However, by the last quarter of 2007 what had been looking like an ever-growing period of prosperity for Swedish firms threatened to come to an end. First there was the global credit crunch, triggering a dramatic dive in funding of major private equity deals across much of the world. Then came news that the Swedish government’s main adviser on its much-vaunted privatisation project, the Carnegie Bank, was in the middle of a worrying internal crisis that risked killing the sell-offs. … read more
This time last year we highlighted two aspects of the Munich legal market: that many law firms were counting on private equity investment to boost their bottom line and the continued invasion of US players. Back then, partners were not expecting their market to change significantly in only 12 months.… read more
For better or worse, over the last decade, the practise of law for pan-European firms has changed dramatically. To succeed in an increasingly competitive global marketplace, law firms and lawyers have been forced to re-examine and to change their relationships with their partners. Life in a law firm is no longer static; rather it has become fluid and complex as lawyers and entire practice groups often change the venue, nationally and internationally, in which they practise.… read more
The Chinese proverb ‘A family in harmony will prosper in everything’ is (as most proverbs are) somewhat of a truism; it is certainly far better for any family to be at peace and harmony with one another. It is also true that this is the best way for a family to prosper and seek to preserve and enhance its wealth. The concept of the family office has developed to promote harmony, while increasingly enabling successful families to maximise opportunities, while minimising disruptions and conflict.… read more
What are the most prominent outside forces currently impacting on network members?… read more
Polish privilegeAttempts to dilute the privilege right of Polish lawyers – included in a white paper put forward by the last Polish government – were batted away at the annual assembly of the National Council of Legal Advisers, the country’s ECLA member, late last year.… read more
Austrian firm Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati opened three new branches in Sofia, Minsk and Budapest in January. Managing partners Kiro Kirov (Sofia), Sergei Makarchuk (Minsk) and Tamás Polauf (Budapest) will lead the new offices.… read more
Uría Menéndez has acted as Spanish legal counsel for the Morgan Stanley group in the sale of its Spanish private banking business to La Caixa. A purchase price of approximately €600mn has been agreed, which will be adjusted at closing once regulatory authorisations have been obtained. The Uría Menéndez team was led by Gabriel Núñez, Elisabeth González and Ignacio Klingenberg. Linklaters acted as UK legal counsel for Morgan Stanley and co-ordinated the auction process. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted as UK and Spanish legal counsel for La Caixa.… read more
‘If we build it they will come’, is an interesting business concept. In the risk-averse legal industry the tradition has been the opposite: if the clients come (and keep demanding it), we will eventually build it. … read more
The hangover from the epic Microsoft case – which reached its climax at the end of last year – continues to draw headlines. In addition to launching two new investigations into the company in January this year, the Commission clobbered the computer giant with a !900 million fine last month – a penalty for non-compliance with the Commission’s March 2004 decision against the company – bringing the total outstanding debt of Microsoft to the watchdog to almost !1.7 billion. However Microsoft seems to have lost the will to fight after the conclusion of its case last year.… read more
Hedge fund managers tend to their standards
The Hedge Fund Working Group (HFWG) – a consortium of 14 leading hedge fund managers – published in January a set of best practice standards aimed at enhancing levels of disclosure, risk management and governance for hedge fund managers. … read more
Will clinical drug trials induce class actions in Europe?
Members of the jury, this is the story of a once-great pharmaceutical company that has gone astray. A company that at one time had a strong scientific basis and a desire to help people, but which slowly and deliberately began to put profits over patients and sales over safety…” Thus begins the typical pharmaceutical personal injury trial in the United States – these days really more a morality play than a legal proceeding. The jury is asked to see the dispute as one poor injured individual against ‘Big Pharma’: David versus Goliath. Or, if the claimant’s lawyer is extremely skilled, a battle of Good versus Evil.… read more
For a European issuer preparing to raise capital in the United States, US accounting requirements have been a significant hurdle. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has long required that a foreign private issuer provide a reconciliation of its financial statements to US generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP). The reconciliation identifies and quantifies the material differences between the foreign private issuer’s financial statements and the requirements of US GAAP and the SEC’s accounting regulations.… read more
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has recently handed down a series of judgments that go some distance towards clarifying the murky meaning of the concept of ‘state’ in the EU context.… read more
Law firm press release writers often euphemistically use the word ‘merger’ for the fusion of a large and a small law firm, when they actually mean ‘acquisition’. The terms of the joining of 1,200-lawyer Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker and 27-strong Smeets Haas Wolff earlier this year, effecting the US firm’s German start-up, don’t need to be padded, however. … read more
New regulations amending the Television Without Frontiers (TVWF) Directive (89/552/EEC) at the end of last year will for the first time permit the limited use of product placement on our screens. (See also our coverage on this topic in issue 67, page 13). The TVWF Directive (‘rebranded’ as the Audiovisual Media Services Directive), which harmonises member state provisions on television broadcasting activities, has been revised by directive (2007/65/EC) to distinguish the regulation of product placement from that of surreptitious advertising, the latter being clearly and unequivocally prohibited. … read more
It was the task of the haruspex in Roman times to predict the future. First sacrificing a live chicken, the haruspex would then remove the entrails and, by some strange process, receive foreknowledge from the size, shape and disposition of the aforesaid entrails. … read more
Digital tools: from dream to nightmare?
Digital tools like email and internet have started to be regarded as great news by almost everyone, but are quickly becoming a headache, not only for companies but also for employees.… read more
Proposed restrictions on foreign investors acquiring German companies
The German government proposes changes to the German Foreign Trade and Payments Law (GFTPL) which will allow the German Federal Ministry of Economics (‘Ministry’) to review and, as the case may be, prohibit foreign investors from acquiring German companies. These changes will presumably become effective in the first half of 2008.… read more
The Swedish M&A market: present and future
As elsewhere around the world – the business community in the Nordic region including M&A lawyers are trying to look into the future and see where and when the market will land after the current turbulence. Having said that, Sweden and the Nordic region have during the fall not seen that much of a slow down in the number of deals. Thus another question can be added – are these markets coming out better than “others”, or have we just not yet seen the full effect of the turbulence in the region? Although it is too early to draw any conclusions, it can be noted that deal volume in January 2008 is down by more than 50 % as compared to January 2007 both in Sweden and the other Nordic countries. On the other hand, the market seems rather optimistic of the future – private equity funds have continued to raise funds and the industrials, often having been outbidded by private equity players during recent years, now see new opportunities.… read more
Private equity: threats and opportunities
For the worldwide economy, 2007 was the final year of one of the best economic cycles ever experienced. Perhaps the most significant characteristic of this economic cycle was that it was led by Europe for the first time. Furthermore, among the European countries, Spain experienced the most significant economic growth (more than 60% in 7 years), becoming the 8th richest country in the world.… read more
The current situation in the private equity sector is changing, to say the least. The global financial crisis has had an important impact on this sector and has undoubtedly slowed down the number of deals being carried out – nobody argues that there was an enormous slow down during the last quarter of 2007. This situation has not had the same repercussion in all markets, as in mature markets, such as North America, there is a sensation of crisis in the sector, while in southern Europe there is a certain optimism.… read more
Perspectives of private equity activity in Portugal
The marketThe statistical data regarding the private-equity activity developed in Portugal during 2007 has not yet been released by APCRI (Portuguese Private Equity and Venture Capital Association), but it is expected that it will in general terms evidence that the positive progression recorded in past years was maintained last year.… read more
The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive
Are we finally getting an effective harmonisation of the rules concerning marketing law in Europe?… read more
Risks associated with former nationalised immovable assets
Characterized by investment analysts as one of the most profitable European real estate markets, Romania is currently facing an affluence of investments targeted mainly to residential, commercial and office areas. Although a careful analysis of the investment target is a pre-requisite in any type of deal, a thorough investigation of the ownership title is of particular importance, due to specific legal provisions applicable in this respect. … read more
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