Australasian Legal Business (OzLB) Issue 8.3

ISSUE 8.3

Full-service law firms An endangered species?

ALB Special Report: Perth 2010 Arrival of that magic touch

Office space Leasing market offers big savings

2010

Employer of Choice: Top employment brands revealed David Fagan: What now for Clayton Utz?

DEALS ROUNDUP

US, UK REPORTS

industry analySis

Appointments

Capital markets, M&A data

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ISSUE 8.3

EDITORial >>

Full-service law firms An endangered species?

ALB Special Report: Perth 2010 Arrival of that magic touch

Office space Leasing market offers big savings

2010

Cadence in cornflakes; music in M&A

W

ork/life balance – is it a contradiction in terms? ALB has detected a level of industry hostility towards the notion of work/life balance, one of the more important manifestations of the warm and sensitive new corporate conscience.

Part of this may be generational. It is not uncommon for senior lawyers to take a dim view of their “Gen Y” counterparts, commenting that younger lawyers lack firm loyalty and are less prepared to work longer hours. It is the latter observation which has been a driver towards calls for the abandoning of lockstep pay for associates. In this context, “work/life balance” is seen as simply another step in a pervasive rot, another sign that younger lawyers want the rewards but not the hard work associated with a career at a prestigious firm.

However, even those who are more generously disposed towards the younger generation of lawyers have expressed concern over the concept of “work/ life balance”. This concern stems from what is perceived as a false dichotomy between “work” and “life”, as though the two concepts were mutually exclusive.

Does the lawyer with a genuine passion for their vocation really see work as a distinct segment of their life, or is one’s working life an indivisible part of the whole – an inalienable part of one’s identity?

In the 1960s, then-budding poet Clive James applied for a job at a London advertising agency and was knocked back. The agency did not want an aspiring poet in their ranks; they wanted someone for whom the poetry was in the advertising itself, someone who could appreciate the cadence in the cornflakes.

Perhaps law is not dissimilar. Perhaps time will show that the next generation of truly respected lawyers will be those for whom art lies in advice – and not outside the office.

EMPLOYER OF CHOICE: Top employment brands revealed David Fagan: What now for Clayton Utz?

DEALS ROUNDUP

US, UK REPORTS

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

APPOINTMENTS

CAPITAL MARKETS, M&A DATA

www.legalbusinessonline.com

IN THE FIRST PERSON “Top-tier firms were quite prolific in their hiring prior to the financial crisis but when the GFC hit suddenly their clients were taking work to the mid-tiers, so they were left with a lot of lawyers doing very little work” Kellie-Jane McLean, GR Law (pg13)

“Our partners understand that, over time, how they are rewarded must reflect what they put into the firm, not simply in dollar terms but in a holistic sense” David Fagan, Clayton Utz (pg40)

“The key thing to understand is that profit is an opinion, but cashflow is a fact. It is the lifeblood and can actually be more important for growth than profit” Andrew Chen, WKH Horwath (pg 57)

Does the lawyer with a genuine passion for their vocation really see work as a distinct segment of their life, or is one’s working life an indivisible part of the whole – an inalienable part of one’s identity?

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Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

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contents >>

contents

ALB issue 8.3

42

2010

52

COVER STORY 26 Employers of Choice

Lawyers nominate their top firms to work for in 2010

ANALYSIS 10 Full-service law firms What does the arrival of Allen & Overy say about the future of the full-service model for firms in Australia?

11 Office space: on the move As CBD office vacancy rates climb, smart firms are beginning to hunt for savings on rent 13 Hiring freezes continue to thaw After a conservative 2009, law firms are now cautiously dipping their toes into the recruitment waters once again

FEATURES 34 Postgraduate education ALB investigates why higher learning fosters higher earning 42 ALB Special Report: Perth 2010 After a slight lull, Perth firms are set to hit the accelerator again – and they’ll have a Magic Circle newcomer to keep them company 52 Building and construction Will the focus shift from back-end to front-end work in this practice area?

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38

56 Growth matters:

Macquarie Roundtable series 2010 Growth is back on the agenda, but are firms ready for the cash flow challenges?

PROFILES

COLUMNS 15 In-house Q&A 17 US Report 19 UK Report 22 Legal traveller

38 ALB-LexisNexis Managing Partner series:

David Fagan, Clayton Utz How secure is the future for this recently depleted top-tier firm?

62 Capital markets deals data

48

23 New Zealand Buddle Findlay

ALB-Kensington Swan In-house Perspective: Kerry Gleeson, Incitec Pivot Some pertinent insights into the practice of law, and tips for aspiring general counsel

63 M&A deals data

COMMENTARY/PROFILES

25 Employment law Sparke Helmore

REGULARS 6 DEALS 16 NEWS • Clayton Utz scrambles to fill staffing void • NQs offered A$175,000 in London • Property finally shows signs of recovery • Butler steps down as Freehills’ MP • G+T plays winning hand in lottery transfer • Review at last for Clutz lawyers • Norton Rose turns up salary pressure • China ramps up profile of in-house counsel

Copyright is reserved throughout. No part of this publication can be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of the editor. Contributions are invited, but copies of work should be kept, as Australasian Legal Business can accept no responsibility for loss.

australasian legal business ISSUE 8.3

NEWS | deals >>

deals in brief

| M&A |

►► Charter Hall–Macquarie real estate management acquisition A$305m Firm: Allens Arthur Robinson Lead lawyers: Stuart McCulloch, Anna Lenahan, Tom Story Client: Charter Hall Firm: Freehills Client: Macquarie Firm: Mallesons Stephen Jaques Client: Target responsible entities Firm: Blake Dawson Client: underwriters Firm: Kirkland & Ellis Client: Charter Hall • Allens advised on the acquisition, equity raising and legal due diligence for Charter Hall in Australia • Charter Hall has been a client of Allens since 2005 when the company went public • Transaction is being financed by a A$220m placement and an additional placement of A$85m to Macquarie

| Energy & Resources |

| Energy & Resources | ►► Alcoa PPA N/A

Firm: Minter Ellison Lead lawyers: Geoff Carter, Jacinda de Witts, Adrian Varrasso, Bart OudeVrielink, Mitzi Gilligan Client: Alcoa Firm: Herbert Geer Lead lawyer: Andrew Venables Client: smelter participants • Minters advised Alcoa of Australia on corporate, structuring, taxation and regulatory (including carbon Andrew Venables and Australian Herbert Geer financial services) aspects of the transaction • Alcoa of Australia and Loy Yang Power have announced new 20-year base-load electricity contracts to power the Portland and Point Henry aluminium smelters • It was a particularly complex transaction due to the long-term nature of the electricity contracts (which will operate to 2036) and the current uncertainty regarding the shape of any future greenhouse gas emissions trading regime

►► Toho Zinc–CBH investment A$57m

| M&A | ►► Invista Asian property fund US$85m Firm: Mallesons Stephen Jaques Lead lawyers: John Sullivan, Hayden Flinn Client: Invista Real Estate Investment Management Firm: K&L Gates Client: confidential

• Mallesons advised Investa Real Estate Investment Management on the closing of the BOSS Partnership – a new property fund with US$85m capital commitments • Mallesons acted as Invista’s English law counsel on the establishment of the fund and acquisition of the properties • Initial portfolio comprises five properties located in Singapore and Hong Kong

“There are good signs that we will see an increase in new fund activity in the region over the next 12 months” John Sullivan, Mallesons 6

| M&A |

Firm: DLA Phillips Fox Lead lawyer: Eugene Fung Client: Toho Zinc Firm: Clayton Utz Client: CBH

►► Allied Farmers–Hanover/ United acquisition NZ$396m

Eugene Fung DLA Phillips Fox

Firm: DibbsBarker Lead lawyer: Anne Kearney Client: CBH • Toho has been a client of DLA Phillips Fox since 2005 • Clayton Utz advised CBH on corporate-related matters and DibbsBarker advised on the joint venture and offtake matters

Firm: Minter Ellison Rudd Watts Lead lawyers: Paul Foley, Andrew Monteith Client: Allied Farmers Firm: Chapmann Tripp Lead lawyer: Roger Wallis Clients: Hanover Finance and United Finance • This was MERW’s first transaction with Allied Farmers

Roger Wallis Chapmann Tripp

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

NEWS | deals >>

• MERW advised Allied Farmers on all aspects of the transaction including review of the finance assets, structuring of the transaction and the obtaining of various approvals

►► Your month at a glance Firm

Jurisdiction

Deal name

Allens Arthur Robinson

Australia

Timbercorp asset sale

533 Insolvency

Australia

Charter Hall–Macquarie real estate management acquisition

305 M&A

Australia

Devine capital raising

Arnold Bloch Leibler

Australia

Timbercorp asset sale

533 Insolvency

Blake Dawson

Australia

Timbercorp asset sale

533 Insolvency

Australia

Charter Hall–Macquarie real estate management acquisition

305 M&A

Chapman Tripp

New Zealand

Allied Farmers–Hanover/United acquistition

304 M&A

Firm: Ryan Lawyers Lead lawyers: Tony Ryan, Chris Greiner, David Tindale, Sarah Cameron Client: CDL Hospitality REIT

Clayton Utz

Australia

Seven Network–WesTrac merger

N/A M&A

Australia

Toho Zinc–CBH investment

Australia

CDL Hospitality REIT–hotel portfolio acquisition

Australia

Sandfire Resources equity raising

Firm: Clayton Utz Client: Tourism Asset Holdings

Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Australia

Timbercorp asset sale

• Tourism Asset Holdings is Australia’s largest hotel owner

Dibbs Barker

Australia

Toho Zinc–CBH investment

DLA Phillips Fox

Australia

Toho Zinc–CBH investment

Australia/US

Unilife redomiciliation

N/A Capital markets

DLA Piper

Australia/US

Unilife redomiciliation

N/A Capital markets

Freehills

Australia

Charter Hall–Macquarie real estate management acquisition

305 M&A

Australia

Lend Lease SAREO

806 Corporate

Australia

Sandfire Resources equity raising

Australia

Devine capital raising

Australia

Seven Network–WesTrac merger

Australia

Woodside capital raising

Australia

Pacific Equity Partners–Energy Developments acquisition

430 M&A

Gilbert + Tobin

Australia

Pacific Equity Partners–Energy Developments acquisition

430 M&A

Henry Davis York

Australia

Timbercorp asset sale

533 Insolvency

Herbert Geer

Australia

Alcoa PPA

N/A Energy & resources

K&L Gates

Australia/US

Invista Asian property fund

• Consideration of the acquisition was the issue of new shares to Hanover/ United investors

| Property | ►► CDL Hospitality REIT–hotel portfolio acquisition A$175m

• CDL Hospitality REIT – based in Singapore – bought five Australian hotels in Brisbane and Perth • Hotels are leased to Accor who used in-house legal advice

Tony Ryan Ryan Lawyers

| Corporate | ►► Lend Lease SAREO A$806m

Firm: Freehills Lead lawyer: Justin O’Farrell Client: Lend Lease • Freehills team worked closely on the deal with Lend Lease general counsel, William Hara • Entitlement offer is being conducted as a SAREO (single bookbuild accelerated renounceable entitlement offer) • O’Farrell also acted on the Lend Lease stapling deal late last year, and on the launch of its new Lend Lease Real Estate Partners 3 fund

66 Capital markets

58 Energy & resources 175 Property 52 Corporate 533 Insolvency

58 Energy & resources 58 Energy & resources

52 Corporate 66 Capital markets N/A M&A 2,500 Capital markets

93 Property

Kirkland & Ellis Australia

Charter Hall–Macquarie real estate management acquisition

Mallesons Stephen Jaques

Australia

Woodside capital raising

Australia/US

Invista Asian property fund

Minter Ellison

Australia

Alcoa PPA

N/A Energy & resources

Minter Ellison Rudd Watts

New Zealand

Allied Farmers–Hanover/United acquistition

304 M&A

Ryan Lawyers

Australia

CDL Hospitality REIT–hotel portfolio acquisition

175 Property

305 M&A 2,500 Capital markets 93 Property

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NEWS | deals >>

| Corporate | ►► Sandfire Resources equity raising A$52m

• Sales included Timbercorp’s blue-gum plantations to Global Forest Partners for A$345m, its almond assets to Singapore’s Olam International for A$128m and its olive assets to Boundary Bend for A$60m

Firm: Clayton Utz Lead lawyers: Matthew Johnson, Mark Paganin Client: Sandfire Firm: Freehills Client: Goldman Sachs JBWere

Mark Paganin Clayton Utz

• Goldman Sachs JBWere was sole lead manager and sole bookrunner • The institutional placement involved a number of offshore institutions and offers of securities across multiple jurisdictions including Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, France, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, UK, Norway, the US, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and New Zealand • Transaction was structured to enable Sandfire’s cornerstone shareholder, Posco Australia, to maintain its 17.3% shareholding in the company

| Insolvency | ►► Timbercorp asset sale A$533m

Firm: Corrs Chambers Westgarth Lead lawyers: Justin Fox, David Hallam Client: KordaMentha

►► Unilife redomiciliation N/A

►► Seven Network–WesTrac merger N/A Firm: Clayton Utz Lead lawyers: Rod Halstead, Karen Evans-Cullen Client: Australian Capital Equity

Firm: DLA Piper Lead lawyers: Marjorie Adams (New York), Linda Thomas (Baltimore) Client: Unilife

Firm: Freehills Client: Seven Network

• DLA Phillips Fox also advised ASXlisted company HeartWare Ltd on its redomiciliation in the US in 2008 • Last year DLA Phillips Fox also advised Unilife on a medical device deal with the global pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis • Redomiciliation was completed by way of two inter-conditional schemes of arrangement

• All-equity merger will create a new company, Seven Group Holdings, which will be listed on the ASX • WesTrac is controlled by Seven Network’s chairman and biggest shareholder Kerry Stokes, through Australian Capital Equity

| Capital Markets | ►► Woodside capital raising A$2.5bn

| Capital Markets |

Firm: Henry Davis York Client: CBA

Firm: Freehills Lead lawyer: Philippa Stone Client: Devine

• Corrs has advised KordaMentha on a number of matters including Ansett, Walter Construction, Westpoint, the Sydney Cross City Tunnel, Raptis Group and

| M&A |

Firm: DLA Phillips Fox Lead lawyers: David Morris, Catherine Merity Client: Unilife

►► Devine capital raising

Firm: Blake Dawson Clients: BOSI and the bank syndicate of BOSI, ANZ and Westpac

and underwriters on the deal

| Capital Markets |

Firm: Arnold Bloch Leibler Lead lawyers: Leon Zwier, Jane Sheridan Client: liquidators

Firm: Allens Arthur Robinson Client: ANZ

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Timbercorp • Mark Korda of KordaMentha described the Timbercorp transaction as “one of the most complex in Australian corporate history”

A$66m

Firm: Allens Arthur Robinson Clients: underwriters and lead managers • Freehills has advised issuers or underwriters on a number of recent transactions including acting for Prime Infrastructure on its A$1.8bn recapitalisation • Goldman Sachs JBWere and RBS Morgans were joint lead managers

Firm: Freehills Lead lawyers: Philippa Stone, David Gray Client: Woodside Petroleum Firm: Mallesons Stephen Jaques Lead lawyers: David Friedlander, David Eliakim Clients: joint lead managers and underwriters • Capital raising to advance Woodside’s LNG project • Freehills also advised on one of the largest ever rights issues, the A$15.2bn Rio Tinto rights issue • Mallesons advised Citigroup Global Markets, Credit Suisse and UBS as joint lead managers and underwriters of the deal

“We hope to see more raisings in the coming year by strong companies positioning themselves for growth” Philippa Stone, Freehills

| M&A | ►► Pacific Equity Partners– Energy Developments acquisition A$430m Firm: Freehills Lead lawyers: Philippa Stone, Andrew Pike Client: Energy Developments Firm: Gilbert + Tobin Lead lawyers: Andrew Bullock, Gary Lawler, Bryan Pointon, Jason Lambeth Client: PEP

Andrew Bullock Gilbert + Tobin

• PEP acquired 79.6% of the company – shy of the 90% needed to make a compulsory acquisition • Freehills has advised on a number of major takeover defences including acting for Rinker when it was the subject of a A$17bn hostile takeover from Cemex and acting for TAB when Tabcorp made its hostile A$2.5bn takeover bid • PEP has been a client of G+T since 2005 Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

NEWS | deals >>

www.legalbusinessonline.com

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NEWS | analysis >>

Analysis >>

Allen & Overy’s Australian legacy Is time running out for the traditional full-service law firm model?

L

ast month, while Allen & Overy was creating chaos for Clayton Utz, Mallesons’ Robert Milliner issued a courteous, brief statement: “More competition offers clients greater choice,” Milliner wrote.

“We welcome Allen & Overy to the Australian market. [Mallesons] will remain strong competition for any firm in this market, given our full-service capability, breadth of expertise and depth of top-tier legal talent.”

This rather conventional statement nonetheless reflects a sentiment which has been echoed by many top-tier lawyers who have suggested that Allen & Overy’s comparatively smaller size and lack of full-service expertise in Australia is an obstacle to attracting top clients. Others have suggested that the extent of Allen & Overy’s ambitions may have been overstated.

“17 partners are not going to take on 200 – they’re not declaring war on the Australian legal profession,” said Minter Ellison’s CEP John Weber. “It’s a specific decision relating to work in specific cities. It’s a segmented approach which obviously makes sense to them.”

In the short term, it is up to A&O to prove that its model will satisfy client expectations. In the longer term, however, it may be up to toptier firms to reevaluate their own business models Grant Fuzi Allen & Overy – and to possibly implement a few lessons from the A&O experience.

Slimmer model

The defection of insurance partners from national firms in recent years to form successful specialist boutique firms such as Wotton + Kearney and Gilchrist Connell demonstrates the potential of 10

the specialist model, with its cohesive business culture and lower overheads.

The A&O model is a slightly different proposition, but will benefit in the same way from a slimmer structure.

A&O does not purport to provide a full-service model and has built relationships with specialist firms which will advise on the aspects of complex transactions such as IP and employment law in which the firm doesn’t have relevant local expertise.

“The clients will only need to deal with A&O and the service will be seamless – they will not notice any difference from a full-service firm,” said Allen & Overy Australia managing partner Grant Fuzi. He declined to disclose the identity of the specialist firms who the firm will be working with.

If A&O can make such a model work, it raises questions about the future of the full-service model. Could the toptier, perhaps with the help of lucrative inducements from international players, splinter into a series of powerful specialist firms, using the same relationships-based approach to undertake work outside key areas of expertise?

David Fagan of Clayton Utz said that a key benefit of a full-service firm is resourcing. “There will be certain clients that will be very active in a year, and will require a lot of resources.

They then may not be active in the following year or you will sometimes get a year where all of your clients are active. Managing this workflow requires depth in resourcing and quality resourcing.”

Clients have expressed the importance of a rapid response by legal advisers to emergency situations.

Incitec Pivot general counsel Kerry Gleeson, for example, remembered being impressed with a rapid Mallesons response to an urgent situation which arose just before an Easter weekend. These kinds of fluctuating demands on resources, both in the short term and long term, will determine how well firms are able to respond to client needs. The increasing prevalence of fixed-fee retainers will Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

NEWS | analysis >>

only amplify the issue. Sources have told ALB, for example, that Gilbert + Tobin’s recent arrangement with Telstra has caused some internal dissent over the adequacy of resourcing of this work, although it is unclear whether these reports represent the views of a substantial section of the firm.

To be fair, overall firm size and resourcing decisions for each individual matter may be separate issues. At any rate, A&O’s Fuzi is adamant that size will not be an issue in providing the resources needed by top clients. “We will have exactly the same ability to

as “cold-calling”. “It’s appropriate, when you’re opening an office, to speak with [potential] clients and explain what you’re offering,” he said. “We have also had clients approach us.

The response has been universally positive – they are really attracted by the unique combination of the best domestic talent and access to the best internationally.” While there has been conjecture that A&O will charge premium rates, Fuzi said this is “pure speculation” and that fees would be in line with what sophisticated clients would expect to pay at leading local firms.

“In the short term, it is up to A&O to prove that its model will satisfy client expectations. In the longer term, however, it may be up to top-tier firms to re-evaluate their own business models“ move heaven and earth if necessary,” he said. “We are a global firm operating on a regional basis – not just an office basis – and we have a network of expertise at our fingertips.”

Only time will tell if the model will prove to be as seamless as hoped for.

But if it is successful, questions will certainly be asked about the continuing viability of the traditional full-service law firm model.

Status quo

Several large Australian companies have been approached by A&O to discuss what the newcomer has to offer.

Fuzi prefers not to refer to this process

What kind of foothold can the firm expect to gain in the market?

2008 and 2009 have seen a significant sharpening of in-house strategy to improve value from external advisers.

Many general counsels, such as Rashda Rana at Bovis Lend Lease, have looked at measures such as reducing panel size and limiting the duration of panel appointments. Bank panels in particular are slimmer than they once were.

This revision of external advisers creates both opportunities and obstacles for newcomers such as A&O. While a “spill and fill” of panels is an opportunity to gain a foothold, it also

means that GCs who have already been through the time-consuming process of reviewing their panel are unlikely to be receptive to late solicitations from a firm that did not proffer its services the first time around.

A case in point is Woodside Energy, which has recently appointed a new panel. Vice-president Michael Abbott told ALB that he would “have to look at whether A&O would get invited to tender when we revisit the panel in three years.” Other in-house lawyers hold the view that while they are open to using the firm, they have invested too much in their existing relationships to disrupt arrangements at present.

Fuzi pointed out that the challenge is not about simply luring clients away from rivals. He believes that with judicious recruiting of the very best talent and by being able to offer top international advice, A&O will attract interest from the right quarters. This, of course, raises the perennial question of whether clients will follow a partner across to his or her new firm.

Centennial Coal general counsel Louise Baldwin said that the matter is best considered on a “case by case” basis. The original Clayton Utz defections to A&O are a case in point – Baldwin has used Clayton Utz in the past and while she has a high regard for some of the departing partners, she said that none of them were so pivotal to Centennial Coal’s relationship with the firm that she would necessarily follow them to A&O. As with all key aspects of the saga, time will be the ultimate judge. ALB

Analysis >>

Office space: making the move Cooper Grace Ward has recently moved to a new office in Brisbane, while Allens Arthur Robinson, Clayton Utz, and Freehills all have plans to move in the near future. ALB looks at the savings currently available to firms ‘on the move’ www.legalbusinessonline.com

A

fter staffing costs, office leasing is the largest expense for most law firms and many are now taking advantage of low occupancy rates to lock in long-term deals at attractive prices.

But it is not only the opportunity to lock in a good rate that encourages firms to move. Other factors such as environmental concerns, client perception and staff satisfaction also

come into play.

Colliers International managing director of office leasing, Simon Hunt, says that a 6% vacancy rate is considered average – and that rates higher than that provide opportunities to obtain prime real estate at attractive pricing. Of all the capital cities, only Adelaide at 4.7% has a vacancy rate below this; Brisbane, at 11.3%, has the most available office space.

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NEWS | analysis >>

moved into new premises at 400 George Street in Brisbane. Managing partner Chris Ward said that rather than downsizing, the firm needed to move to new premises to provide more space for growth. “It was obvious that space was going to be an issue for us,” Ward said, adding that the new office has ‘huge’ floor plates of 1,400 square metres. The firm takes up three floors for a total workspace of 4,300 square metres.

However, despite moving to brandnew office space in a five-green-star building, the firm was able to reduce the price it was paying per square metre. “It’s fair to say it was a good deal,” Ward said. “The owners of the building were keen to get a major private tenant and it seems that law firms are attractive tenants, so they were very commercial in their offer.”

Ward hired CBRE as an external consultant to help with the firm’s move and said that it was well worth the fee. CBRE lined up four offers and Ward was able to choose between them. Fortunately for him, the best offer came from the building that he had favoured during the process. The

“In some cities like Brisbane and Perth there’s a large supply of office buildings so law firms have plenty of options” Simon Hunt, Colliers International “In some cities like Brisbane and Perth there’s a large supply of office buildings so law firms have plenty of options,” he said. “But firms that have moved are looking at a number of factors, including more efficient workspaces and density levels more in line with the Australian office market.”

The average density of an office in Australia is one person per 15 square metres, Hunt said, but law firms who signed leases in the 1990s and the early 2000s averaged one person per 20 square metres. “Law firms are actually leasing less space but the space they do lease is more efficient,” he explained.

In October, Cooper Grace Ward 12

firm signed a 10-year lease, with the option for a further five years, and moved into the new location 12 days after construction on the building was completed.

While Cooper Grace is getting a good deal on the rent, the move itself was quite expensive. “If you costed every hour spent as well as all the external consultants, the cost of the move was well over A$1m,” Ward said.

Allens Arthur Robinson shunned the option of moving to a brand new building and decided instead to move to 101 Collins Street in Melbourne in the space that was formerly occupied by Blake Dawson. Chief operating officer Craig Wallace said that priorities have

changed in the 15 years since the firm signed its lease with 530 Collins Street and the move was made to ensure proximity to its clients.

“When we first moved to 530 in the early 1990s one of the major considerations then was the need to be very near to the court,” Wallace said. “What’s transpired over the past 15 years is that, while it is still good to be near the courts, electronic data transfer means it’s less important and we would argue that the most important factor now is being in close proximity to our major clients.”

Allens has a lease at its current location that runs until 2012 and will not start its 12-year lease at 101 Collins until July 2011. Wallace says that will provide the opportunity to do the fitout and, ideally, move into the new office by Christmas 2011.

Unlike Cooper Grace Ward, Allens was not looking for more space but wanted to provide its staff with an environmentally friendly office that is conducive to good communication.

“From a staff prospective, 101 Collins offers quite an exciting proposition,” Wallace said. “The design of the new office means that it’s going to create much better communication and a much more collaborative working environment.”

Wallace says that each floor is 60% bigger than what the firm currently has and the total floor space is bigger than what Blakes had.

“It’s the original Blakes space, plus additional floors as well,” he said.

And Allens and Cooper Grace Ward are not the only law firms to take advantage of a favourable office leasing market. Freehills is planning on moving to 163 Castlereagh Street in Sydney when the building is completed in 2013 and Clayton Utz will take 55% of the office space available at 1 Bligh Street Tower in Sydney next year.

Back in Melbourne, Mills Oakley has also signed on for new premises at 530 Collins St.ALB ►► capital city rents CBD market

Premium gross face rents*

Sydney

$895.00

Melbourne

$680.00

Brisbane

$862.00

Adelaide

$437.50

Forecast

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

NEWS | analysis >>

Analysis >>

As economic conditions continue to improve, law firms are reviewing their hiring strategies

W

hile the brakes were applied to recruitment in 2009, signs are now appearing that firms are beginning to relax some of their self-imposed restrictions. The latest manifestation of this trend comes from Queensland firm Carter Newell, which was one of the few mid-tier firms to initiate a hiring freeze during the depths of the economic crisis last year. That freeze has now thawed. “We made the decision to lift the recruitment freeze after talking to our clients and seeing signs of an improving economy,” Carter Newell CEO Peter Ellender told ALB. Hiring freeze is perhaps a slightly misleading term (firms will inevitably make room for genuinely sought-after talent if the opportunity arises) but there is no question that 2009 was a year where hiring was regarded with the utmost caution. This pattern was particularly prevalent at top-tier level. “Top-tier firms were quite prolific in their hiring prior to the financial crisis but when the GFC hit suddenly their clients were taking work to the mid-tiers, so they were left with a lot of lawyers doing very little work, so they had to implement hiring freezes,” says GR Law recruiter KellieJane McLean.

However, many firms which implemented hiring freezes did continue with their graduate intake at traditional levels.

This may have partly been because graduates commenced before the freeze decision was made, but there was also a widespread recognition that the graduate intake was a critical part of a firm’s future. “Graduates and seasonal

Is recruitment back on the agenda?

www.legalbusinessonline.com

“Graduates and seasonal clerks are the foundation and future pipeline of talent for professional service firms” helen McKenzie, Blake Dawson

13

NEWS | analysis >>

14

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

NEWS | analysis >>

clerks are the foundation and future pipeline of talent for professional services firms,” said Helen McKenzie, Blake Dawson’s deputy managing partner. “They are vital to the continued growth and success of the firm in the long term.”

Law firms are now less inhibited in their recruitment activities. Susan Ferrier, director of people & development at AAR, says that the firm is currently making decisions about lateral recruitment on a case-by-case basis. Allens is actively recruiting in Brisbane and Perth and is looking for lawyers of all levels specialising in banking & finance, projects and energy & resources.

However, GR Law’s McLean says that firms are having difficulty recruiting because salaries are lagging behind a pick-up in workload. “Lawyers are staying put in their roles because the reason to leave just isn’t there,” she says.

“They’re not raising salaries and the market rates haven’t changed since the GFC so they’re staying in their roles until such time that the salaries are going to be lifted. In effect it means that if someone leaves, there aren’t that many people who are willing to move into a similar role.”

Minter Ellison says it did not resort to a recruiting freeze during the downturn and that it is currently seeking lawyers for its finance, litigation, employment, planning & environment and corporate teams. McCullough Robertson CEO David Goener says his firm has been on a hiring spree since the start of the year, recruiting professional staff in corporate, construction, insurance, planning & environment and property. The firm is currently looking to hire lawyers in insurance and tax. However, Goener says that most of the positions have been at the junior and midlevels, with only one senior position available – in tax.

In New Zealand, Bell Gully chairman Roger Partridge says the firm made a conscious decision to take the longer-term view and not implement a hiring freeze. The firm is looking for lawyers for its litigation and property teams and relies on its alumni program to recruit seniorlevel candidates. “We have a strong alumni network and program and this plays an important role for us in recruiting good candidates at a senior level,” he says. “In the last few years we have continued to secure our alumni returning after several years at UK and US firms.” ALB ►► recruitment policies of top firms 2009-2010 Law firm

2009 policy

Current policy

Allens Arthur Robinson

General hiring freeze but no deferral of graduate intake

Recruitment decisions to be made on case by case basis. Particular interest in lawyers from banking & finance, projects and energy & resources backgrounds. Brisbane and Perth markets a priority

Bell Gully

No hiring freeze

Currently recruiting with particular interest in litigation and property lawyers

Blake Dawson

Maintain graduate intake at normal levels, cautious approach towards lateral hires

Currently recruiting with particular interest in energy & resources, banking & finance and M&A. Possible expansion of graduate intake flagged for 2011

Carter Newell

General hiring freeze

Recruitment freeze lifted

Freehills

No hiring freeze

Maintain graduate intake at normal levels, cautious approach towards lateral hires

Mallesons Stephen Jaques

General hiring freeze

Limited hiring has recommenced in key practice areas and Perth. 2010 graduate intake reduced by 30%

www.legalbusinessonline.com

>>

In-house Q&A

Sidarth Sondhi

senior legal counsel Degrémont Pty Ltd

1

In your opinion, why have in-house lawyers become an increasingly indispensable part of an organisation?

There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, external legal costs tend to be quite high and law firms and counsel are often used sparingly by firms and usually only for very large transactions or claims. I have noticed that organisations (both public and private) have become a lot more cost-sensitive when it comes to legal fees. However, transactions which would benefit from the involvement of a lawyer are continually increasing.

Secondly, due to the increasingly complexity of tender and contractual documentation and legislative requirements, experienced lawyers are often used more than just as internal solicitors. They are now also utilised as “commercial advisers” who are required to provide expertise across a broad range of disciplines – contracts, legislation, compliance, tenders intellectual property, leases, company secretarial, due diligence and others. Thirdly, the changing nature of businesses (by way of acquisitions, expansion, etc) means that heavy reliance is placed on employees who are able to adapt their commercial acumen to that change. Lawyers often fit that criteria.

2

In recent times, the role of the general counsel has diversified into a multi-faceted role, (where the general counsel can wear the ‘hat’ of lawyer, legal manager, compliance manager, and company secretary). In your opinion, do you believe this has increased your risk profile?

In a word, yes, and for many of the reasons provided in my answer to question 1. In the purest form of the practice of law, lawyers would strictly adhere to providing legal advice which is within their area of expertise and experience. However, as an internal adviser, and therefore an employee of a substantial bus=iness, legal counsel must either posses or develop a much broader skill set. The boundaries of what constitutes “legal” advice and what is actually more general commercial know-how very quickly become blurred when undertaking most tasks and transactions. It is often not possible for an in-house lawyer to shy away from matters which purely commercial. Like all other employees of company, lawyers must also show that they are good value for money and worth the investment.

3

In your opinion, what do you consider to be the main challenges you and your team will face in 2010?

In no particular order: 1. Keeping down legal costs while at the same time providing timely, practical and considered advice which is of a high standard; 2. Continuing to be involved in as much of the commercial activity of the company as possible, without removing our primary focus away from the delivery of legal services; 3. Training staff (either formally or informally) to become more self-reliant when it comes to reviewing more basic contracts, individual clauses and other documentation; 4. Keeping an eye on the impact of the new environmental, greenhouse gas legislation and carbon trading; 5. Ensuring that sufficient time is found for personal learning, development and training.

15

NEWS >>

news in brief >>

JOB MARKET >>

New building, new logo for Mills Oakley Mills Oakley has become the latest in a string of firms to announce a move to new premises. The firm will vacate its current Melbourne CBD offices in William Street and relocate to new digs at 530 Collins St. Mills Oakley CEO John Nerukrer told ALB that the firm had outgrown its old offices, needed more up-to-date facilities for clients, and was able to secure premium premises on favourable terms. “Rumour has it in the profession we have secured particularly good lease terms by signing at the worst possible time,” he said.

Law firms who have also made the move in recent months include Cooper Grace Ward in Brisbane.

Other firms, such as Allens Arthur Robinson in Melbourne and Clayton Utz and Freehills in Sydney, have also flagged their intention to move.

Meanwhile, Mills Oakley will be unveiling a fresh image in more ways than one, having adopted a new corporate logo which the CEO said will give the firm a sharper new look.

Keane appointed as next Chief Justice Justice Patrick Keane has been picked as the newest member of the ‘Pineapple Mafia’ – an affectionate term for Queenslanders in top judicial roles – after Attorney-General Robert McClelland announced his appointment as the next chief justice of the Federal Court.

Keane went to the bar in 1978, took silk in 1988, and was appointed Queensland Solicitor General in 1992. He joined Queensland’s Court of Appeal in 2005, where he was considered as a candidate for the High Court in 2008.

Profits rebound for IHL ASX-listed law firm Integrated Legal Holdings has reported a net profit of A$0.71m for the first half of FY2010 – a marked improvement from the A$0.3m loss the firm recorded in the second half of FY2009.

The firm’s revenue grew by 24% to A$11.6m.

Integrated Legal Holdings managing director Graeme Fowler told ALB the firm’s profit spike in the first half was the result of new acquisitions and organic growth in existing member firms. In the last 18 months, the firm has acquired the Sydney and Melbourne based Argyle Lawyers and Sydney tax specialist firm mda lawyers. “[These] acquisitions more than doubled our business,” Fowler said.

Fowler predicted the firm will achieve revenues of at least A$21m for the 2010 financial year.

Fowler told ALB the firm would continue to look at potential acquisition targets, but would maintain a “selective and incremental approach”.

16

NQs offered A$175,000 in London L ondon has once again emerged as Australia’s main competitor for top legal talent after revelations that Bingham McCutchen is offering newly qualified lawyers £100,000 (A$175,000) salaries.

And while Bingham pays the highest salaries for NQs, it is far from alone in lavishing riches on young lawyers who show promise. Bingham’s fellow US firm Latham & Watkins pays London NQs £96,000 (A$168,000) and Debevoise & Plimpton pays a generous £94,250

(A$165,000).

Many London-based US firms in fact pay far more than their Magic Circle competitors, whose salaries for new lawyers average £65,000 (A$114,000).

However, even those dwarf the A$75,000 starting salary a highly rated NQ practicing in Australia can hope to receive from an Australian top-tier firm.

“The difference between a US and a Magic Circle firm is that you get paid really well but you also give your blood,” said Kellie-Jane McLean, a recruiter

Industry >>

Clayton Utz scrambles to fill staffing ►► Key points

• Clayton Utz fills top roles left vacant by A&O staff defection • Fuzi and Trahair thought to be behind surprise move to international firm

C

layton Utz had to move quickly to fill the void that will be left when 14 partners – including the Perth office chief and a departmental managing partner – leave to join the firm’s newest Australian rival Allen & Overy in May. Litigation specialist Paul Fitzpatrick has taken up the role of acting Perth partner-in-charge from the departing

head, Geoff Simpson. Fitzpatrick will go head-to-head competing for work with his three former colleagues when they establish A&O’s Perth office.

Graham Taylor has also been promoted to acting departmental managing partner, corporate – a role he takes over from Michael Reede.

Steven O’Reilly will become the banking & finance acting departmental managing partner, a role vacated

by Grant Fuzi who left the firm in December. Fuzi is joining A&O as managing partner for its Sydney office.

It is believed he played a key role in the shock departure of the 14 Clayton Utz Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

NEWS >>

for GR Law – an Australian agency that has a London office.

McLean said the expected flood of lawyers returning to Australia during the downturn did not eventuate and those who did return were mainly ones who were towards the end of their overseas stay anyway. There has been an increase recently in candidate interest in moving to London, but McLean said GR Law is advising those looking to move to the UK to be careful at this stage.

“Lawyers who are on the ground are the ones finding roles,” McLean said. “Unless people are willing to go over there and do other things in the meantime it is not going to be worth applying at this time.”

However, McLean said that the situation would change and in the next 12 months she expects to see a candidate shortage in the UK similar to that occurring in Australia at the moment. ALB ►► Earning big money in London Firm Bingham McCutcheon Latham & Watkins

NQ salary (£) 100,000 96,000

Debevoise & Plimpton

94,250

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

94,000

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

92,000

us report Clyde & Co launches new US office UK-based Clyde & Co has announced that its third office in the US will be based in New Jersey.

The office will be headed by insurance partners Daren McNally and Barbara Almeida, who will be accompanied by team of associates, all with backgrounds in insurance.

Latham recruits four Vinson & Elkin partners Vinson & Elkins has lost four partners to Latham & Watkins’ Houston office. Latham – widely known for its lateral recruitment strategy – is building up its local office and focusing on energy transactions.

The firm will bring in William Finnegan IV, Brett Braden, Charles Carpenter and Charles Timothy Fenn, for their background in trade partnerships.

Vinson & Elkins posted a PEP drop of 3%, down to US$1.27m. Latham & Watkins’ PEP, however, actually grew by 5% to US$1.9m for the 2009 financial year.

Greenberg Traurig opens in San Francisco Greenberg Traurig has launched an office in San Francisco, its fifth office in California. IP specialist Samuel Shepherd and litigation lawyer Kenneth Steinthal have joined as managing shareholders of the new office, which is expected to grow to 15 lawyers by March. They will be accompanied by former SugarCRM corporate counsel John Pavolotsky, who joins the firm as ‘of counsel’.

Steinthal said that San Francisco is a key

market for the global finance industry and will allow Greenberg Traurig to target the media, entertainment and technology industries.

Meanwhile, Richard Rosenbaum has been elected the new CEO of the firm.

Winston & Strawn posts 5% revenue decline Revenue for the 2009 financial year at Winston & Strawn was US$40m, or 5% less than for the 2008 financial year. PEP remained steady at US$1.28m while revenue per lawyer declined 2.6% to US$835,000.

Simpson promotes six new partners Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has recently announced the appointment of six new partners as part of its 2010 promotions. All of the new partners are from its New York office – five from the corporate practice and one from the litigation practice.

Davis Polk snares former Arnold & Porter chairman Davis Polk & Wardwell has appointed Michael Sohn, the former chairman of Arnold & Porter, as counsel in its Washington DC office. Sohn is a veteran of Arnold, having started at that firm in 1969 and serving as chairman for a decade (1996-2006). His clientele are major MNCs such as GE, PepsiCo and NASDAQ. Sohn has also served as a general counsel at the Federal Trade Commission.

void partners.

Allen & Overy’s co-head of banking & finance Andrew Trahair used to head up the practice area at Clayton Utz, managing a team that included Fuzi.

Both Trahair and Fuzi left Clayton Utz to join A&O in London in 2001. While Trahair was making his ascent to the top of the Magic Circle firm’s banking & finance practice, Fuzi was stationed in Hong Kong.

By 2005, Fuzi had repatriated to Australia and returned to the Clayton Utz partnership before leaving the firm at the end of last year to help launch A&O’s Australian office. ALB www.legalbusinessonline.com

ROUNDUP

• US law firm mergers dropped by 24% last year, according to consultant firm Altman Weil. There were 53 mergers between US practices, with the biggest merger tracked being the Lovells and Hogan & Hartson alliance • Proskauer Rose’s London managing partner Matthew Hudson has left the firm, after having launched the office in 2007 • Mayer Brown has appointed Josh Cohn, an Allen & Overy New York capital markets partner, as joint head of the firm’s global derivatives and structured products practice. He will be based in the New York office • Jones Day has added four new partners in California, boosting its offering in IP litigation and international transactions in San Diego; health care in San Francisco; and M&A in Silicon Valley. The firm has also transferred a partner from Washington, DC to its Silicon Valley office • Former Patton Boggs lawyer Thomas Russo has been elected as the new general counsel and executive vice president for legal, compliance, regulatory affairs and government affairs for insurance giant American International Group. Russo joins the company from the New York office of Patton Boggs; prior to that appointment he was Lehman Brothers’ vice chairman

17

NEWS >>

news in brief >> WA Law Society councillor appointed to the bench The Law Society of Western Australia is celebrating the appointment of its council member John Staude as a Judge of the District Court of Western Australia.

Staude has been active on the Society’s council, and has been a long-term contributor to the Law Society’s courts committee, LawAsia committee and the professional indemnity insurance management committee.

Staude will replace Robert Mazza, who was promoted to Judge of the Supreme Court after six years spent in the District Court.

“These appointments are well-deserved for two highly experienced and respected legal practitioners who have served the justice system with unwavering integrity and dedication,” said the Law Society’s president Hylton Quail.

Rio Tinto legal chief heads for outsourcing firm Rio Tinto’s managing attorney Leah Cooper is moving from the mining giant to take up a position with the company’s outsourcing firm, CPA Global.

Last year, Cooper made headlines after deciding to outsource Rio Tinto’s low-end legal work to a team of Indian lawyers based in CPA Global’s Delhi office. The move cut the company’s legal costs by an estimated 20%, and also helped boost the image of the global outsourcing industry.

Cooper’s endorsement of the outsourcing industry came in the same year that the Association of Corporate Counsel, an organisation of in-house counsel of which Cooper is a member, sounded another warning bell with its ACC Value Index, ranking firms by the cost and quality of legal services provided. The Index was received with uncertainty from law firms who are increasingly facing pressure from clients for added value.

Cooper will manage CPA’s legal outsourcing portfolio. The company expects to utilise her experience as a general counsel to work with other legal departments in their push to cut legal costs.

That may well herald another market development in the legal services industry, by encouraging more legal departments to request more value from external counsel.

“Joining CPA Global is an opportunity to continue to revolutionise the increasingly competitive legal services market,” she said.

Property >>

Property finally shows signs of ►► Key points

• Recent deals point to recovery in property practices • Property lawyers cautiously optimistic • Foreign funds entering Australian market

R

eal estate lawyers who have had to suffer through reports of the upturn in the general economy finally have reason to join the celebrations as a spate of recent deals points towards a recovery in the beleaguered practice area.

“There’s a resurgence in the property industry and we haven’t seen that for a long time,” said Mallesons Stephen Jaques partner Peter Pether. “Property has turned the corner and that has been a segment of the construction market that has been dead for a long time.”

M&A >>

G+T plays winning hand in transfer of

G&T lawyers and the NSW Treasurer at the signing of the agreement in March

►► Key points

• Gilbert + Tobin won the right to work on novel transaction • Deal documents were without precedent • Tatts Group used in-house counsel

T

atts Group may be the winning bidder for the transfer of NSW Lotteries from the NSW Government but it is Gilbert + Tobin who won the role of principal legal adviser to the government.

The Gilbert + Tobin team had to work together to create bespoke documents – 18

A recent deal that demonstrates such a resurgence was property funds management and development company Charter Hall Group’s A$108m acquisition of Peter Pether, Macquarie Group’s core real estate management Mallesons Stephen Jaques platform. Allens Arthur Robinson advised Charter Hall on the deal, which is keeping 23 of the firm’s lawyers busy (seven are partners). Freehills is advising Macquarie on the deal while Mallesons is acting for the target responsible entities, and Blake Dawson is acting for the underwriters of an associated capital raising.

Freehills’ team has also been advising Aviva Investors Asia on the establishment of the Pioneer

there were no precedents for this type of transaction – and to prepare technical legal advice for the State. “This was a complex transaction and involved a lot of considerations of public law as well as private law because of the regulatory regime,” said Bryan Pointon, partner at Gilbert + Tobin.

Lawyers worked closely with the NSW Government to ensure that stakeholder concerns were addressed and dealt with as part of the transfer. “What made [the transaction] interesting was that Gilbert + Tobin in conjunction with the NSW Treasury, the Crown Solicitors’ Office, OLGR and Goldman Sachs Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

NEWS >>

recovery Clarence Property Trust and the A$30m acquisition of 80 Clarence Street Sydney.

There are signs that Australia’s property market is beginning to attract the attention of foreign investors.

Invista Real Estate Investment Management recently closed a new US$85m property fund, making it one of the first Asian wholesale funds established since the economic downturn.

“After a difficult period, the market now seems to be opening up for real estate funds regionally,” said Mallesons partner John Sullivan, who worked on the deal. “We anticipate continued focus on mature markets with perceived lower risk such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Similarly, we expect continued strong interest in Australia from property investors elsewhere in Asia.” ALB

NSW Lotteries JBWere went through a regulatory consultation process to amend the Public Lotteries Act to provide for this new regime,” said Pointon. “It’s a lot more complex and interesting than a sale.”

Tatts Group made the decision to use in-house counsel, which Pointon said was appropriate given the unique nature of a lottery business and associated regulatory issues. ALB

“What made the transaction interesting was that G&T in conjunction with the NSW Treasury, the Crown Solicitors Office, OLGR and Goldman Sachs JBWere went through a regulatory consultation process to amend the Public Lotteries Act to provide for this new regime” bryan pointon, gilbert & tobin www.legalbusinessonline.com

uk report Freshfields first to list associate salary freeze Freshfields has become the first UK firm to lift associate salary freezes in the current financial year, but newly qualified lawyers’ salaries will remain at their lower rates. The firm, the first among the city firms to unfreeze salaries, originally froze associate salaries in February 2009 and dropped NQ salaries from £66,000 to £59,000. The decision to reverse part of the salary freeze came following a partnership committee meeting held last month.

Eversheds appoints Heaps as new chairman Eversheds has made current litigation head John Heaps the firm’s new chairman, succeeding Alan Jenkins from 1 May this year. Based in London, he will combine his role as litigation head while serving a four year tenure as chairman. Heaps said his priorities as chairman included raising the firm’s international profile.

White & Case loses London banking lawyers White & Case has lost five lawyers from its London banking team this year to Latham & Watkins and Ropes & Gray. Four lawyers from the firm’s bank finance team, headed by partner Chris Kandel, left the firm on 29 January to join rival Latham & Watkins. In February senior associate Tania Bedi departed for Ropes & Gray.

Ashurst rebuilds Milan office Ashurst has gained three new partners for its Milan office, with two partners – structured finance specialist

Ugo Giordano and corporate lawyer Fabio Pizzoccheri – joining from Dewey & LeBoeuf. The third partner, corporate and litigation specialist Ilario Giangrossi, joins the firm from local law firm Pedersoli.

The appointments will help Ashurst rebuild its Italian presence after it lost a number of partners last year, including managing partner Riccardo Agostinelli.

The firm now has eight partners based in Milan.

Salans raids Mayer Brown for Brussels launch Salans has launched a new Brussels office by poaching seven lawyers from US firm Mayer Brown’s local office. The lawyers – who joined Mayer Brown Brussels from Hammonds back in 2006 – are competition partner Edward Borovikov, international trade director Rudi Leleu, ‘of counsels’ Bogdan Evtimov and Charles De Jage, and three associates.

Salans’ Brussels office will open in March and will be the 22nd office for the firm. Meanwhile it has appointed New York partner François Chateau as its new chairman, succeeding Stephen Finch who held the position for five years. Finch will remain on the seven-partner board of the firm.

Clifford Chance, Slaughter and May take on New Look IPO Clifford Chance and Slaughter and May have each landed roles on the £650m IPO of UK fashion chain New Look. Four partners at Slaughter and May are advising New Look on finance and pension issues, while Clifford Chance partner Adrian Cartwright is advising the bookrunners.

ROUNDUP

• Bird & Bird has hired M&A partner Arturo Meglio, founder of SJ Berwin’s Milan office, to work across its Milan and Rome offices • Norwegian firm Wikborg Rein will be Norway’s first firm to offer English law in London, after it appointed three new partners for its office there. The firm is moving to new premises in London • Clifford Chance’s London finance head Mark Stewart has announced he is retiring from the firm. Stewart lost the race to become the Magic Circle firm’s London managing partner last year • European firm Field Fisher Waterhouse has hired former Allen & Overy lawyer Thierry van Innis for its Brussels IP practice. Van Innis will be the third lawyer joining the firm from A&O since September 2009 • Shearman & Sterling posted a 12% drop in fee income in its London office, down to US$99.7m in 2009 compared to 2008, when it was US$113.8m • Claire Fougea, Norton Rose’s partner and head of employment law in Paris, has left to join local French firm Franklin, heading the firm’s employment law department. Three associates have also left Norton Rose • Danish firm Gorrissen Federspiel has appointed transportation practice head Peter Appel as its next managing partner, succeeding Niels Heering who will be the first chairman of the 185-lawyer firm

19

NEWS >>

news in brief >>

Industry >>

Butler steps down F

Slater & Gordon first half profits jump ASX-listed personal injury specialist Slater & Gordon has reported a net profit after tax of A$9.5m for the six months ending 31 December – a 12.1% increase over the same period last year. The firm’s revenue increased by 16.4% to A$58.8m.

Managing director Andrew Grech said the increase in revenue was almost all due to the organic growth of the business, noting that recent acquisitions contributed less than A$1m to the fee growth.

“We had relatively modest additional revenue from acquisitions in the first half and we also continued to invest in other growth initiatives,” Grech said, adding that the strong performance of Slater & Gordon’s personal injuries practices was enabling the company to continue to support the longer-term development of a broader range of legal services.

Chinese lawyers learn from Australia Ten lawyers selected from various government agencies and private law firms in China have travelled to Australia to gain first-hand knowledge of the country’s legal workings. They will participate in the 2010 Australia-China Legal Profession Development program (ACLPDP) – a highly-regarded annual program that commenced in 2007 which allows eight to ten Chinese lawyers to gain direct experience of the Australian legal profession through a three-month placement.

The ten lawyers are able to request areas that they want to work in and are introduced to Australian courts and bodies such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Trade Practices Commission. They then go on a placement, either with a government agency or a private practice.

South Island lawyers to be let go Eight lawyers and eight support staff will likely be made redundant by Dunedin law firm Anderson Lloyd Lawyers. Chairman Stephen Christensen told media the firm was still in negotiations regarding the restructuring and a final decision is still “several weeks” away. He said the firm’s clients had been hit hard by the recession and the restructuring was necessary to ensure Anderson Lloyd is “wellpositioned for the future”.

Christensen said the brunt of the restructuring would be felt by the firm’s head office in Dunedin, but that its other offices would be affected also.

Anderson Lloyd has 31 partners and 14 associates working in offices located in Christchurch, Dunedin, and Queenstown.

20

Peter Butler, Freehills

reehills managing partner Peter Butler has resigned his post after nearly five years leading the firm with co-managing partner Gavin Bell. Butler will transfer to Freehills Sydney-based litigation group and will not be replaced, leaving Bell as the head of the firm.

Bell commended Butler for his dedication to developing the firm and taking lead roles in initiatives such as integration and the rebranding of the firm from Freehill, Hollingdale & Page.

Butler will continue to hold a number of management roles, including chair of the partnership candidate evaluation panel. “I’m still fascinated by the strategy and management of a professional services business and I’m very keen to stay involved in that,” he said. ALB

china >>

China ramps up profile of in-house counsel P

roviding further official recognition of the in-house profession’s rising importance in China, the State Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) – the high-level body that administrates China’s huge national state-owned enterprises – has implemented a four-level framework for classifying and certifying individual inhouse legal roles and their seniority for state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Any SOE in-house counsel can apply for the title of either assistant (junior), level three, level two or level one (most senior) corporate counsel, if all requirements and criteria for the corresponding title are met.

Applications are reviewed and approved by a special panel appointed by the in-house counsel’s employer before the titles are finally authorised by SASAC. The criteria for each level, such as years of practical experience and relevant professional credentials, have been set forth in the measures.

Passing the national corporate counsel examination, administered by the Ministry of Human Resources

and Social Security (MoFRSS), and obtaining corporate counsel certification are the basic requirements.

Having participated in exchange programs regarding in-house legal practice and legal risks management initiated by SASAC, Peter Turner, the CEO of the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association (ACLA), understands that the Commission is putting significant effort into improving the in-house legal profession and legal risk management of SOEs. He can also see the unique difficulties that in-house counsel have to endure in China.

“The fact that in-house counsel’s employers are also their clients creates an in-built conflict-of-interest situation for in-house roles. This is one of the most difficult things for Australia’s inhouse profession. [So] in the context of Chinese SOEs it’s even more difficult, as in-house lawyers there have to ask the question: do they owe their duties to the regime, the party, the enterprise or the directors? It’s difficult to stand back and clearly sort out where their duties lie,” he said. ALB Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

NEWS >>

www.legalbusinessonline.com

21

NEWS >>

Legal Traveller >>

JOB MARKET >>

Review at last for Clutz lawyers ►►Key points

• Clayton Utz brings forward remuneration review • Had been delayed until July but brought forward to April • 83 of the top earners were rewarded with a bonus in January

C

Andrew Horne Minter Ellison Rudd Watts partner, commercial litigation, Auckland

Favourite city to visit on business Paris! It’s a city that gives you everything but still leaves you wanting more!

Best restaurant for business lunch Le Gavroche, London – exquisite food, superb wine, traditional charm. Forget about doing any work in the afternoon.

Worst business travel experience A four-hour taxi ride from central Moscow to the airport, stuck in excruciating traffic in the summer heat, in the company of a chain-smoking driver who had not bathed for some days and whose taste in music sounded like someone in extreme pain pleading for mercy.

Least favourite destination Delhi, India – the filth, the smog, the heat, the stench, the pestilence, the morass of humanity. The little children playing in the street with their clothes covered in filth. My bowels still churn at the thought of it.

Most exotic leisure destination The Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania. Sipping gin and tonic on the veranda of our tent as the sun went down, watching giraffes filing home from the waterhole. Quietly lying awake, listening to the noises of the night through the canvas.

Most dangerous travel experience Clinging to the roof of a bus in Nepal as it thundered along a gravel mountain road, inches from a thousand-foot drop, all the while keeping an eye out for low-lying power lines that drooped menacingly across the road, hoping for a chance to jump clear if disaster struck. The driver aged about 14, hiding his terror behind a frozen grin and impossibly dark sunglasses.

22

layton Utz has brought forward its remuneration review, giving lawyers the opportunity for a raise for the first time in a year. Early in 2009, Clutz made the decision to freeze pay for all staff in anticipation of a drop in demand for legal services in FY10. That decision was reviewed in November, but the salary freeze was kept in place for all but a select few lawyers.

Now all staff will have a remuneration review at the beginning of April. “The legal remuneration review process has been moved forward to 1 April, from 1 July,” a spokesman said.

“This will mean that all performance reviews for lawyers will be brought forward and remuneration set in an accelerated fashion. The shared services remuneration review is occurring as usual on 1 April.”

The decision indicates a sharp turnaround in performance for the firm, whose revenue for November dropped A$12m year-on-year. This drop in revenue resulted in the salary freeze remaining in place for most lawyers, although 83 “consistently high performers” received a bonus in January.

The firm’s move comes almost three months after Freehills made its decision to reintroduce remuneration reviews. ALB JOB MARKET >>

Norton Rose turns up salary pressure

L

awyers at Norton Rose Australia are likely to see an increase in their salaries this year. “We have now undertaken a mid-year review of the firm’s financial performance in the period to December, salary market conditions and the outlook for 2010,” said Don Boyd, managing partner.

“The outcome of the review will result in salary increases for most of our

lawyers.” According to the managing partner, the firm made the decision to freeze salaries in July last year, in response to the continuing effects of the GFC on the Australian economy and, in particular, demand for legal services.

“This difficult decision reflected exceptional circumstances and indeed many of our peers in the industry chose to freeze salaries altogether,” he said. ALB Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

Firm Profile NEWS >>

Buddle Findlay

NZ COMMENTARY

New Zealand’s infrastructure drive key to narrowing wealth gap with Australia

I

n March 2009 we reported that the New Zealand government had announced plans to make significant investment in New Zealand’s infrastructure to stimulate economic activity in the short-term and to achieve higher levels of economic growth that would assist closing the income gap with Australia by 2025.

The government then immediately allocated NZ$7.5b for new capital spending on infrastructure over a 5 year period. The government also appointed a new Minister of Infrastructure and created a special infrastructure unit within Treasury (National Infrastructure Unit) supported by an independent advisory board to advise the Minister.

One of the immediate tasks of the National Infrastructure Unit following its creation was to formulate a 20-year infrastructure plan (Plan) and monitor its implementation. As a result, after almost a year in the making, the first iteration of the Plan was released on 2 March 2010.

Despite subdued media coverage, the overall reaction to the Plan has been positive.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of the Plan is the stock take of New Zealand’s existing infrastructure assets across the transport, energy, communications and social sectors (i.e. health, education and corrections) as well as the cost of maintaining these that has been undertaken as a baseline for future planning. Such a comprehensive review has never been undertaken before and the Plan serves as an important starting point for prioritising future projects.

Having identified the baseline, the Plan then analyses what infrastructure will be needed by 2030 when New Zealand’s population is forecast to exceed 5 million (up from an estimated 4.3 million currently) and identifies the following five immediate infrastructure priorities: • Broadband: the government has committed NZ$1.5b to provide ultra fast broadband to 75% of New Zealanders in the next 10 years. This will be achieved by co-investment www.legalbusinessonline.com

with private sector partners who have indicated they will spend an additional NZ$2.4b in the short-term on broadband and mobile infrastructure • Electricity transmission: Transpower, the state-owned enterprise responsible for transmission of electricity from generation assets to local retail networks, plans to spend NZ$5b on network upgrades. Further reform of electricity transmission is also proposed under a new Electricity Industry Bill currently before Parliament following the government’s review of the electricity sector in 2009 • Regulatory reform: the government plans a number of regulatory changes aimed at removing inefficient and superfluous regulation which it considers has inhibited New Zealand’s productivity performance in recent years. These include introducing greater flexibility into the delivery of water services by local government, improving utilities companies’ access to transport corridors, permitting heavier and bigger vehicles to operate on the state highway network and removing the previous government’s prohibition on private/ public partnerships in relation to some infrastructure activities.

These changes are in addition to the reforms the government has introduced to New Zealand’s pervasive Resource Management Act (being New Zealand’s principal legislation for environmental management) throughout 2009 • Roading: on top of the government’s commitment to invest NZ$11b in New Zealand’s state highway announced in early 2009, the government has identified several highways, under the moniker “roads of national significance”, as priorities for urgent improvement. Many of these improvements are already underway and the government has signalled further spending on these projects will be funded by higher user charges potentially through the additional fuel tax or the introduction of more widespread toll roads

• Rugby World Cup 2011: As one of the largest sporting events ever hosted in New Zealand, ensuring the tournament reflects positively on the country (both internally and externally) is viewed as an important priority by the government. Accordingly, it has contributed NZ$190m to stadium development, has purchased strategic waterfront land to provide a focal point for festivities and has accelerated certain transport investments.

In addition to the above, the government proposes: • To drive better management of its NZ$110b infrastructure asset portfolio in the public sector including making the most of existing assets and improving procurement decisions • To develop a coherent infrastructure investment framework based on a published set of principles.

The Plan has been widely received as an important step in addressing New Zealand’s infrastructure needs which sets the correct priorities while having a good regional spread throughout the country.

In addition, the government’s initiatives are likely to provide an immediate shot in the arm to a wide range of sectors through the immediate increase in funding for a variety of large projects as well as the reduction of regulatory constraints and associated compliance costs. The private sector has also welcomed the greater revenue certainty the Plan provides for new capital projects along with the greater predictability promised through longer term planning and more transparent decision-making by the government.

This article was written by Dominic Lundon, a partner in the Auckland office of Buddle Findlay, one of New Zealand’s leading law firms.

Dominic is a member of Buddle Findlay’s national property team and has extensive experience Dominic Lundon, in corporate and commercial Buddle Findlay transactions in the property and infrastructure sectors. Dominic can be contacted by phone: +64 9 363 0665 or email: dominic.lundon@ buddlefindlay.com

23

NEWS >>

news in brief >> Middletons predicts strong finish to 2010 Middletons managing partner Nick Nichola said he expects the next few months to remain somewhat sluggish before picking up significantly in the second half of 2010.

“I think things will still be reasonably tight until the end of the financial year but I think the last six months of the calendar year is when we’ll see more of an upturn,” Nichola said. “Projecting out, we believe there will be upward movement in the banking & finance space as well as the M&A space and capital markets space.”

Nichola said that, despite a downturn in business over the past 12-18 months, the firm did not need to institute any measures such as salary or hiring freezes.

“We’ve obviously noticed a slowdown in business over the last year or so but we haven’t had to put any artificial measures in place,” he said.

Sydney to capture international dispute resolution market News of a dedicated international dispute resolution centre to be established in Sydney later this year has Australian arbitrators excited, at the prospect of sharing in a booming market for international commercial dispute resolution work.

The importance of this market has already been recognised by Hong Kong and Singapore. Although these cities are presently the leaders in international dispute resolution in the Asia-Pacific region, Commonwealth Attorney-General Robert McClelland is confident that Australia will be able to take its own share. “We enjoy very close ties to Asia and Europe, we have stable and robust economic, political and legal environments, and we boast some of the best legal practitioners in the world,” said McClelland.

The launch of the Australian International Disputes Centre will provide corporations with another option for resolving international disputes.

appointments ►► Lateral hires Name

Practice areas

Organisation coming from

Organisation going to

Robert Franklyn

M&A

Middletons

Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Christian Owen

M&A

Middletons

Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Russell Philip

M&A

Middletons

Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Nicholas Grambas

Infrastructure

Baker McKenzie

Gilbert + Tobin

Antra Hood

Property

Springfield Land

Minter Ellison

Harshane Kahagalle

Property

Freehills

Henry Davis York

Middletons

Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Corrs scores three M&A partners Corrs Chambers Westgarth has strengthened its Perth M&A practice by snapping up three M&A partners from Middletons. The appointees are Robert Franklyn, the founder of Franklyn Legal and fellow ex-Franklyn directors Christian Owen and Russell Philip. Franklyn Legal and boutique firm Salter Power had entered a three-way merger with Middletons in 2008 and the departure of the Franklyn partners therefore comes as something of a surprise.

Franklyn told ALB he was attracted by the opportunities presented by Corrs’ national M&A capability. “The market has had a turn around from last year; now it is looking at growth rather than survival,” Franklyn said. “We see growing international interest in Australia’s resources market, especially the infrastructure and mining projects around Perth.”

The new recruits will bring with them longstanding established clients of Franklyn Legal, which has advised on major transactions including the Murchison Metals’ proposed A$3bn merger with Midwest Corporation.

Oakton

Caseflow expands into NZ by partnering with Swerdlove Software development company Caseflow has recently partnered with consulting and IT software service provider Swerdlove as its New Zealand reseller.

The partnership signifies the first step in Caseflow’s plans to bring their Australian case management system to law firms in NZ, Canada and the US. Caseflow has its company headquarters in Melbourne and specialises in providing law firms and in-house legal teams with advanced case and matter management systems.

Swerdlove’s New Zealand presence and international resources will boost Caseflow’s sales support and provide the platform for marketing Caseflow’s products in the New Zealand market.

24

Griffith Hack

New CEO for Griffith Hack IP specialist firm Griffith Hack has appointed Steve Parker as the firm’s CEO. Parker was the former chief operating officer of ASX listed company Oakton Ltd. Griffith Hack is noted for its ambitious expansion plans for 2010 and Parker said the outlook for intellectual property firms looked very optimistic. “We are seeing firms double their efforts in understanding

their IP assets, and utilising these to their competitive advantage,” Parker said.

Baker & McKenzie

Gilbert + Tobin

G+T raids Bakers to build Melbourne practice Gilbert + Tobin has boosted its Melbourne presence with the signing of one of Australia’s top infrastructure finance lawyers, Nicholas Grambas. Grambas joins G+T from Baker & McKenzie, where he headed up the firm’s banking & finance group.

Gilbert + Tobin has been in expansion mode lately, in the last few months adding six new partners – three of whom are based in the Melbourne office. “What we want to do in Melbourne is build a first-tier corporate practice,” managing Nicholas Grambas partner Danny Gilbert said.

Gilbert said that the firm had not been approaching top talent but had been fielding calls from people interested in the firm now that it has a Melbourne presence. The new office was possible because of G+T’s relationship with Telstra, he said.

Prior to joining Baker & McKenzie, Grambas had an international career spanning both the legal and investment banking sectors. He joined Baker & McKenzie from Macquarie Group, where he was an executive director and head of Macquarie Capital Funds (Middle East) based in Abu Dhabi.

The Business of Law. Online.

The leading one-stop source of in-depth legal industry information.

»» In-depth analysis intelligent, researched discussion of the trends behind the news

»» Live news feed thorough coverage of vital industry news

Bookmark: www.legalbusinessonline.com Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

NEWS >>

Freehills

Henry Davis York

Henry Davis York recruits property partner Henry Davis York has appointed Harshane Kahagalle, a former special counsel at Freehills, as a partner in its property, environment & projects group.

Kahagalle said that he was currently seeing some positive early signs in the planning and property development cycle. “We, on the planning and approval side, are the first to see the pick-up in the development cycle after the financial crisis – though it is not back at boom time levels,” he said.

“Firms are securing approvals and responding positively to the new market developments.” He said the growth in planning work was particularly focused in commercial and larger scale residential development, and mining

Springfield Land

Hood also brings experience from working in a law firm environment, having previously served as a partner of Mallesons Stephen Jaques.

Clayton Utz

Six promoted as Clutz replaces defected partners Clayton Utz has fast-tracked the promotion of six lawyers to the firm’s partnership in response to the defection of 14 partners to Allen & Overy’s new Australian venture. The promotions of Matthew Daley (financial services, Sydney), Rohan Mishra (M&A, Perth), Rory Moriarty (energy & resources, Sydney), Steven Power (government services, Canberra) Toby Ryston-Pratt (M&A, Sydney), Alexander Schlosser (financial services, Sydney) follow on from Scott Sharry’s promotion to partner in the firm’s Brisbane restructuring & insolvency practice

Minter Ellison

Minters boosts property team Minter Ellison has hired former general counsel and company secretary of Springfield Land Corporation, Antra Hood, as special counsel with the national property practice in Brisbane.

Springfield Land Corporation (SLC) is developing a new city – the A$2.2bn Greater Springfield master-planned community – outside Brisbane. Minter Ellison is involved in a number of developments and urban renewal projects.

While working at SLC, Hood managed the relations between SLC’s joint venture partners Antra Hood Mirvac and Delfin and SLC’s external lawyers. Her relationship with Mirvac will be especially beneficial to Minters since the firm has had Mirvac as a client for seven years and recently worked on the A$365m Mirvac REIT acquisition.

Daily. »» Legal jobs thousands of jobs and candidates, not only in Australia/NZ but throughout Asia-Pacific, the Gulf and the world

www.legalbusinessonline.com

Update >>

Employment Law Record fines for workers in bullying case

M

uch media attention to the tragic suicide of a 19 year old waitress, after she endured relentless and systematic bullying from her co-workers.

The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court (the Court) recently imposed record fines on three individuals accused of bullying, the Company who employed them, and its owner.

The facts In 2006, Brodie Panlock tragically committed suicide. At the Inquest into her death (Inquest), the Coroners Court heard how Brodie had been subjected to aggressive and intimidating treatment by her co-workers and management at Café Vamp.

The Law Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) (OHS Act), employers have an obligation to provide so far as is reasonably practicable a working environment that is safe and without risks to the health of its workers. Workers also have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and the health and safety of others in the workplace.

The charges Various

Gilbert + Tobin

G+T signs five partners In addition to the appointment of Nicholas Grambas, Gilbert + Tobin has also welcomed five other partners on board, as the firm ramps up operations in anticipation of a new office opening in Melbourne.

Of the five partners that have been recruited, IT & telecommunications specialists Michael Caplan and Cameron Whittfield are expected to work out of Gilbert + Tobin’s new Melbourne office.

Caplan joins the firm from Blake Dawson and has a strong relationship with Telstra. Whittfield spent his early career working for Russell McVeagh, Vinson & Elkins in London and also Freehills in Sydney, advising on corporate transactions, cross-border M&A, telecommunications reform and commercial Michael Caplan arrangements.

Martyn Taylor has joined the firm’s competition & regulation practice group in Sydney. He previously worked in the competition teams of Mallesons and Freehills. Finally, Catherine Dermody, a regulatory lawyer in the competition & regulation group, and Tim Gole, a lawyer who focuses on large TMT transactions, have both been promoted to partner.

Following the Inquest, WorkSafe Victoria prosecuted: • Brodie’s employer, MAP Foundation (the Company) and owner for failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment; and • the three co-workers accused of bullying for failing to take care of the health and safety of workers.

The Company, its owner, and the three employees all pleaded guilty.

The decision The Court convicted and fined the owner of the business $30,000 and the company $220,000. The three co-workers were convicted and fined between $10,000 and $45,000 each for their roles in the offence.

A recent Productivity Commission Draft Report stated that workplace bullying and harassment are not given the same attention as the management of physical hazards. However, workplace stress claims have increased by 34% since 1998 and that bullying costs Australian employers up to $13 billion dollars a year in lost time, turn over, lost productivity, and workers compensation claims.

What does this case mean for you?

This case shows just how seriously the courts are taking bullying allegations.

Organisations need to have in place systems to eliminate or control bullying and harassment including: • adequate policies dealing specifically with bullying and harassment (including robust IT policies); • induction and training (including refresher training); • appropriate intervention and investigation by supervisors and management when bullying and/or harassment allegations are made or an incident comes to their attention.

Adam Saunders, special counsel Sparke Helmore Lawyers Sparke Helmore will be hosting a national series of Work Health and Safety Workshops covering a range of employment topics. To register your interest in attending these complimentary Workshops, please contact trudi.timms@sparke.com.au

Adam Saunders

25

Feature | Employer of Choice 2010 >>

Employer of Choice:

If there was ever a year when employee satisfaction could be expected to take a battering, 2009 was surely that year. Redundancies, pay freezes and cost-cutting provided a steady source of grist for the industry rumour mill. No matter how sensitively these matters were handled, uncertainty inevitably breeds insecurity. In such an environment, it was a particular challenge for firms to keep lawyers engaged and motivated – as always, however, a tough environment provides an opportunity to shine. ALB is proud to present the results of the 2010 Employer of Choice survey

►►Methodology

The EOC survey aims to gauge industry sentiment about which firms are the best employers, based on industry perception of how firms perform in particular aspects of the employment relationship.

Six criteria Survey respondents were asked to name their top firms for six criteria: • compensation & benefits • quality of work and clients • professional development & training • knowledge management/ IT • work/ life balance • overall firm reputation Firms receiving the most votes for each criteria, as well as the firms with the highest average ratings, were awarded EOC status.

Three categories Clearly larger law firms benefit from having more voting power than smaller firms. For this reason, ALB has divided firms into three categories:

26

• Australian firms with over 500 lawyers • Australian firms with less than 500 lawyers • New Zealand firms Weighting While this division went some way towards ensuring that larger firms did not receive an unfair advantage, some discrepancy in voting power within each bracket still remained. Figures from the 2009 ALB30 law firm survey were therefore used to assess the relative size and voting power of each firm and to adjust results so that smaller firms were not disadvantaged.

Objective ranking A new feature of the EOC for 2010 is the “objective perspective” firm ranking. For the first time, ALB has calculated how a particular firm was perceived only by lawyers outside that firm. This was achieved by assigning a zero score to votes cast for the respondent's own firm. The result was an alternative list of EOC winners based entirely on third-party votes.

Importantly, the final EOC results reflect both the overall voting figures and the “objective” figures and a full

breakdown of those results are provided throughout this article.

ALB does not intend to suggest that the “objective” results are a more valid assessment of a firm’s merits than the overall results – indeed, the fact that lawyers are prepared to vote for their own firm in large numbers can only reflect positively on the strength of the firm’s employment brand. However, in the interests of providing complete coverage and assuaging any perception that the survey can be compromised by block voting, ALB felt it was important to provide both sets of figures.

As well as the official list of EOC firms, ALB has also provided a table which lists the firms performing well for each criterion. The number of firms listed for each category varies according to the number of firms which clearly outperformed the rest in that category.

For example, Australian top-tier firms generally did not perform well in the ‘work/ life balance’ category – accordingly Minter Ellison is the only top-tier listed under that grouping. By contrast, mid-size firms performed better in this category and accordingly ten such firms were listed.

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

Feature | Employer of Choice 2010 >>

GOLD

Employer of Choice

2010

►► GOLD EMPLOYER OF CHOICE Gold Employer of Choice firms performed best across the six survey criteria

• Bell Gully • HopgoodGanim

►► full results by criteria and category*

Australian firms 500+ lawyers

Overall result:

Employer of Choice

2010

►►EMPLOYER OF CHOICE The following firms scored highest for one or more survey criteria, either in the overall results or in the objective perspective

Objective Overall perspective: result:

New Zealand firms

Objective Overall perspective: result:

Objective perspective:

TOP FIRMS BY REPUTATION Mallesons Stephen Jaques

Mallesons Stephen Jaques

HopgoodGanim

McCullough Robertson

Russell McVeagh

Bell Gully

Allens Arthur Robinson

Allens Arthur Robinson

Cooper Grace Ward

HopgoodGanim

Bell Gully

Russell McVeagh

Minter Ellison

Freehills

McCullough Robertson

Gilbert + Tobin

Chapman Tripp

Chapman Tripp

Freehills

Minter Ellison

Hebert Geer

Corrs Chambers Westgarth

• Mallesons Stephen Jaques • Russell McVeagh

Australian firms <500 lawyers

Clayton Utz

DLA Phillips Fox

TOP FIRMS FOR COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS Mallesons Stephen Jaques

Mallesons Stephen Jaques

HopgoodGanim

Gilbert + Tobin

Russell McVeagh

Bell Gully

Freehills

Freehills

Gilbert + Tobin

Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Chapman Tripp

Russell McVeagh

Minter Ellison

Clayton Utz

Herbert Geer

HopgoodGanim

Mayne Wetherell

Buddle Findlay

Allens Arthur Robinson

Allens Arthur Robinson

Thynne & Macartney

Lander & Rogers

Minter Ellison

Mayne Wetherell

Maddocks

TOP FIRMS FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND IT Allens Arthur Robinson

Allens Arthur Robinson

Cooper Grace Ward

Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Russell McVeagh

Bell Gully

Mallesons Stephen Jaques

Mallesons Stephen Jaques

Herbert Geer

McCullough Robertson

Kensington Swan

Chapman Tripp

Freehills

Freehills

HopgoodGanim

DLA Phillips Fox

Chapman Tripp

Russell McVeagh

Minter Ellison

Minter Ellison

Norton Rose

Clayton Utz TOP FIRMS FOR QUALITY OF WORK AND CLIENTS

• Allens Arthur Robinson

Mallesons Stephen Jaques

Mallesons Stephen Jaques

HopgoodGanim

McCullough Robertson

Russell McVeagh

Bell Gully

Allens Arthur Robinson

Allens Arthur Robinson

Herbert Geer

Gilbert + Tobin

Bell Gully

Russell McVeagh

• Buddle Findlay

Freehills

Freehills

Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Chapman Tripp

Chapman Tripp

Minter Ellison

Minter Ellison

HopgoodGanim

• Cooper Grace Ward • Corrs Chambers Westgarth • Gilbert + Tobin

TOP FIRMS FOR WORK/LIFE BALANCE Minter Ellison

Minter Ellison

• Meredith Connell • Minter Ellison • McCullough Robertson

HopgoodGanim

HopgoodGanim

Buddle Findlay

Meredith Connell

Herbert Geer

Henry Davis York

Kensington Swan

Chapman Tripp

Henry Davis York

DibbsBarker

Russell McVeagh

Buddle Findlay

Cooper Grace Ward

Coleman & Greig

Simpson Grierson

Swaab Attorneys

Harmers

Duncan Cotterill

Lander & Rogers

Herbert Geer

TOP FIRMS FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING Mallesons Stephen Jaques

Mallesons Stephen Jaques

HopgoodGanim

HopgoodGanim

Russell McVeagh

Bell Gully

Freehills

Freehills

Herbert Geer

DibbsBarker

Chapman Tripp

Chapman Tripp

Allens Arthur Robinson

Clayton Utz

Cooper Grace Ward

Gilbert + Tobin

Bell Gully

Russell McVeagh

Minter Ellison

Hebert Geer

Allens Arthur Robinson *Firms appear in order of category ranking

www.legalbusinessonline.com

27

Feature | Employer of Choice 2010 >>

GOLD

Employer of Choice

2010

►► What is your daily billable hours target?

Australia <5 hours 5.5 hours 29% <5 hours 11%

7.5 hours 1%

7 hours 7%

5.5 hours

6 hours 28%

6 hours 6.5 hours 7 hours

6.5 hours 24%

7.5 hours

New Zealand 8.5 hours 7.5 hours 2% 3%

7 hours 10%

6.5 hours 48%

5.5 hours 2% <5 hours 14%

<5 hours 5.5 hours 6 hours 6.5 hours

6 hours 21%

7 hours 7.5 hours 8.5 hours

What’s hot…

F

our firms dominated the EOC results comprehensively: Mallesons Stephen Jaques, HopgoodGanim, Bell Gully and Russell McVeagh. These firms performed the most consistently across all six criteria and have been designated as “Gold Employers of Choice”, in order to provide recognition for this particularly strong performance.

The Mallesons result in particular is of interest. The firm had a salary freeze and a voluntary redundancy program last year, provoking predictable industry grumbling of the “profit before people” nature. By contrast, rival Freehills was given favourable media coverage by a number of outlets which praised the firm’s “softly, softly” approach to redundancies. Given this context, Freehills’ ascendancy at the expense of Mallesons would not have been a surprise. However, ALB readers delivered Mallesons an emphatic endorsement, rating it the top firm for pay, professional development, quality of work and reputation. Lawyers outside Mallesons had a very high opinion of the firm, and its results on

both the overall and objective scores were similar. Meanwhile, the results for Freehills were also extremely positive, although not quite at high enough a level to attain “Gold” status.

Brisbane-based HopgoodGanim dominated the mid-size firm category, outranking many of its larger rivals.

This is one firm that has worn its heart on its sleeve during the downturn, declaring from the outset that it would not make redundancies and continuing with social and family functions for staff – gestures that have won the firm considerable goodwill. Another firm which deserves a mention is Herbert Geer, which was consistently rated positively by respondents. However, the firm narrowly missed the cut for Employer of Choice status.

In New Zealand, the survey results emphasised the traditional triumvirate of Russell McVeagh, Bell Gully and Chapman Tripp. However, Chapman Tripp’s results lagged somewhat behind those of the other two firms.

…and what’s not

Being one of the first national firms to take up a redundancy program may have taken its toll on Blake Dawson.

The firm was an EOC in 2009 –

Surfing lessons at the HopgoodGanim staff retreat

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Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

Feature | Employer of Choice 2010 >>

2010 ironically acquiring the title during the same week that it announced its GFC-induced lay-offs – but in 2010 Blakes plummeted from the radar and simply didn’t rate a mention when ALB readers nominated their top firms.

Other “big six” firms fared better: while Clayton Utz was consistently rated below Allens, Mallesons and Freehills, it was clear that the firm still commanded a substantial level of respect from readers, who gave the firm a passable scorecard. Minter Ellison also performed reasonably well, attaining EOC status as a result of a good showing for the work/ life balance criteria.

What makes a happy firm?

The downturn proved to be an opportunity for law firms to demonstrate their true colours.

“Our partners were absolutely determined from day one that we would not go down the path of making redundancies,” says Bruce Humphrys of HopgoodGanim. “We had a simple message: look after your mates. Spend some time training – for example, the younger lawyers so we can upskill them quicker so they can be more flexible. We hung onto what we held dear: people and clients.”

Roger Partridge from Bell Gully oversaw a similar strategy: ‘We held

“We made a decision very early on that yes, there would be a downturn in profits which would affect the owners, but we would make a long-term commitment to our people” Gary McDiarmid

Russell McVeagh

Russell McVeagh graduates at Waiheke Island

www.legalbusinessonline.com

29

Feature | Employer of Choice 2010 >>

GOLD

Employer of Choice

2010

“You can spend a lot of time uttering what the policies are, but we also took time to make sure that policies are working in the way we thought they would” Bruce Humphries

HopgoodGanim

our nerve and invested in our staff – we continued to recruit, we didn’t have a redundancy program and there was no salary freeze for lawyers,” he said.

The firm’s pro bono and client service programs also helped enhance lawyer engagement. “More interaction with clients means more job satisfaction for lawyers,” says Partridge. “If you’re a small cog in the back office, it’s not the same as being in the front line. Pro bono in particular puts junior lawyers at the coal face. It’s a win-win: you retain staff and keep them engaged.”

Russell McVeagh is another firm that had no salary freeze or redundancy program – in fact, the firm even continued with its usual annual intake of 40 graduates in 2009. “We made a decision very early on that yes, there would be a downturn in profits which would affect the owners, but we would make a long-term commitment to our people,” says CEO Gary McDiarmid.

He sees the graduate intake in

particular as a vital part of the “grow your own culture” strategy and regularly oversees independent internal surveys to gauge employee satisfaction.

Another facet which many of this year’s EOC firms have in common is the decision not to cut back on teambuilding activities such as social clubs and Friday drinks. “When times are tough, people tend to go into their shell – these occasions are a great opportunity for people to talk and it would be foolish to trim them,” says McDiarmid.

A culture of being able to listen to, rather than simply prescribe, wisdom relating to staff policy is also important. Bruce Humphrys also points out that there can be a gap between policy and practice.

“You can spend a lot of time uttering what the policies are, but we also took time to make sure that policies are working in the way we thought they

HopgoodGanim/Arrow Energy soccer carnival

30

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

Firm Profile Feature | Employer of Choice 2010 >>

Hughes Castell

Legal industry looks up as Fair Work increases employment opportunities With the introduction of the Fair Work Act and the Modern Awards, the legal industry is receiving a much needed boost that will drive recovery from the economic crisis of 2009.

T

he legal industry, like most, is no stranger to fluctuating levels of employment and environmentstimulated changes to workflow across practice areas.

Like many industries, the market for those skilled in various areas within the legal profession has been impacted by the economic downturn. Employment fell significantly in 2009, due in large part to comparatively high levels of redundancies made in late 2008 and early 2009. At the time, top tier law firms were the hardest hit, however legal professionals across sectors in large and SME businesses alike were impacted as the GFC continued to take hold.

While the outlook for 2010 is much more positive, recovery is slow. The legal industry, following the general trend of most industries, is gradually bouncing back – beginning in November 2009 as various policy shifts saw legal advice again start to became a highly sought after commodity.

“Commercial litigation and insurance are key drivers for fledgling growth in the legal market, particularly for lawyers at the two-to-three year level”, says Karen Waldock, Operations Director of Randstad’s specialist legal employment services business, HughesCastell. “Companies that followed the path of retrenchment in 2008 and 2009 are starting to see improvements in workflow and are re-employing, particularly in the banking and finance sectors.”

While re-employment in industries that suffered staffing losses throughout the most challenging periods of the GFC are contributors to more positive trends, the ongoing improvement to the legal industry can also be partly attributed to the introduction of the Government’s

www.legalbusinessonline.com

Fair Work Act and implementation of the Modern Awards.

“Employment lawyers are busy – the specialisation in employment law started to see a boost in demand late last year, with the trend strengthening this year as companies began to interpret and implement the Government’s Modern Awards,” says Waldock. “Workflow itself has improved in this practice area, with some companies meeting their needs through outsourcing, while others increased their own headcount through additional inhouse legal experts.”

“Where work had decreased due to cost conscious clients, employmentrelated matters, particularly those relating to the Fair Work Act, are ensuring legal advice is again becoming a necessity.”

On January 1, 2010 the introduction of the Modern Awards – a new legislative framework for workplace relations under the Fair Work Act – meant both employees and employers were subject to a range of important reforms. While businesses were affected at varying levels, the reduction of more 1000 old awards to 122 Modern Awards has resulted in some difference of interpretation, meaning effective implementation will rely on wellinformed, expert advice.

“Law firms and inhouse legal teams have both been challenged to find the specialist experience required to fill positions for employment lawyers,” says Waldock. “The concern is that some of these positions will be taken by lawyers who don’t specialise in the area – who are simply brought into a new practice area to fill a need resulting in additional cost to retrain.”

As a legal recruitment specialist, Hughes-Castell’s exposure to the Fair

Work Act has been unique – interpreting and implementing it within their own company and business practices, and also placing employment-related legal professionals that are required as a result of its introduction.

“We have developed a strong knowledge of the skills and experience required by employment law specialists – a depth of knowledge that we are focused on building and maintaining across all practice areas. Our approach has always been to thoroughly assess the needs of both the employer and the position, as well as the challenges and specialist knowledge required within the current market. We are focused on placing professional and skilled legal candidates with relevant experience, who in this case, can provide specialist legal advice in the employment arena.”

While the Modern Awards are only in the early stages of implementation and further refinements are likely to in order to gain a greater consistency in interpretation, one certainty is that specialist experience and advice will be a high priority for businesses going forward.

Hughes-Castell is one of Australia’s leading and longest established legal recruiters, with more than 20 years experience in the local market. With offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne, our specialist consultants deliver quality candidates for both private practice and inhouse requirements.

For more information about Hughes Castell or to contact one of our specialist legal consultants, visit our website www.hughescastell.com.au

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Feature | Employer of Choice 2010 >>

2010 ►► Are my billing targets reasonable?

1%

1%

Australia 8% Excessive Reasonable Too high

90%

Too low

Russell McVeagh lawyers balancing work and life 2%

8%

New Zealand

22% Reasonable Too high 76% 90%

Too low

would,” he said. “We became good listeners. Maternity is an example – there is nothing consistent about the experience of motherhood and parenthood, so you don’t just adopt a set of rules that sound great to males.”

Other findings

As always, the survey also polled respondents on their daily billable hours targets. Targets for New

32

Zealand lawyers were marginally higher than those for their Australian counterparts, but 83% of respondents said that their billing targets had not changed in the past year. For respondents whose targets had increased, the average movement was an increase of one hour.

Interestingly, a strong majority of respondents felt that their targets were reasonable. ALB

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

Feature | Employer of Choice 2010 >>

www.legalbusinessonline.com

33

Feature | postgraduate education >>

Smart move

With the financial crisis now firmly in the rearview mirror, lawyers are bracing themselves for the inevitable upswing in hiring activity.

One way they are looking to stand out from the crowd is through postgraduate education. ALB investigates

“Every unit of every subject seems to have relevance to what I do in practice” Coralie Kenny,

BNP Paribas

34

H

igher education has often been seen as necessary only for those lawyers planning to enter the academic community, but an increasing awareness of the ever-changing nature of law has prompted more lawyers to pursue PhDs and masters’ credentials.

Law schools are recognising this trend, providing the degrees that will help lawyers further their career.

Monash Law School, for instance, offers both a generic LLM and a range of specialised degrees spanning commercial law, IP, international and comparative law, human rights law, workplace and employment law, local government and regulatory studies.

Staff member Professor Justin Malbon says that these courses are available for both law and non-law graduates.

“For our legal practitioners, students are able to earn CPD/CLE points for units of study,” he says. “The faculty prides itself with its global outlook and we strongly believe that students graduating from our programs are able to tackle the broad issues facing the profession in an increasingly global marketplace.”

These specialist skills are what give lawyers an edge in the competitive Australian legal market. Law schools also realise that Australian lawyers operate in a global context and are catering to meet their needs.

“Our programs are based on practising in Australia, but with the additional context of understanding the global marketplace,” says Dr John Nelson, director of applied law programs at the College of Law. “The commercial litigation program emphasises the skills needed in dealing with global corporate clients and the in-house program has a specific subject – the in-house lawyer operating in the global context.”

What to look for

Monash’s Malbon says that many of the students who come to the university’s postgraduate programs have had workforce experience, and have fairly clear objectives in mind when looking for the right law school for them.

He says that Monash relies on its reputation as part of an “elite group of eight universities” to entice students.

“The reputation of the law school is important, along with the range of course offerings,” he says. “Because [students] will often be time-poor and realise the degree will involve a significant commitment, they will be looking for a convenient location and lecture times that suit them.”

Sydney’s College of Law seeks to deliver quality programs in specific niches in the legal education market, Nelson says. “The College of Law’s applied law programs are quite Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

Feature | postgraduate education >>

â&#x2013;şâ&#x2013;ş Leading Australian institutions of higher legal education Name

Dean

Location

Masters specialties

Bond University

Professor Geraldine Mackenzie

Gold Coast, QLD

Business law; jurisprudence; international legal practice; legal practice

College of Law

Neville Carter, principal

national locations, New Zealand

Family law, commercial litigation

Australian National University

Professor Michael Coper

Canberra, ACT

International law, government and commercial law, environmental law, IP, legal practice, migration law, military law

University of Adelaide

Professor Rosemary Owens

Adelaide, SA

Business law; comparative law

Melbourne University

Professor James Hathaway

Melbourne, VIC

Asian law, banking and financial services law, commercial law, communications law, competition law, construction law, dispute resolution, environment, energy and resources law, government law, IP law, labour relations law, sports law, transnational law

Monash University

Professor Arie Freiberg

Melbourne, VIC

Commercial law, human rights law, IP, international and comparative law, workplace and employment law, commercial law

University of NSW

Professor David Dixon

Sydney, NSW

Corporate and commercial law, taxation law, criminal justice and criminology, international law, social justice and human rights law, international business and economic law, media, communications and technology law

University of Sydney

Professor Gillian Triggs

Sydney, NSW

Administrative law and policy, business law, criminology, environmental law, health law, international business law, international law, international taxation law, jurisprudence, labour law and relations, taxation law

University of Western Australia

Professor William Ford

Perth, WA

Commercial and resource law; criminal justice; and public administration

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35

Feature | postgraduate education >>

different from the LLMs offered by the law schools, because they focus on the practical application of the legal principles,” he says. “They target providing a solid foundation to equip the student either to transition into a new area of practice, or to extend the student’s ability to practise in an area in which they are already engaged.”

Nelson says the subjects are based upon what the lawyer would encounter on a daily basis in practice, not just in an interest area or theoretical approach. This view is supported

by BNP Paribas Securities Services general counsel Coralie Kenny who studied at the College of Law. “Every unit of every subject seems to have relevance to what I do in practice,” she says.

The college is looking to expand its offering of specialised subjects based on encouraging feedback it has received.

Nelson says that the postgraduate

36

marketplace is becoming increasingly competitive and the College of Law is responding by establishing its own niche, with programs that offer a differentiation by providing high-level practice-oriented education in focused areas. Currently these programs include commercial litigation, in-house legal practice and family law, with new areas being planned. “To succeed in this educational arena the College needs to provide education in identified growth areas,” Nelson says.

Building relationships

A strong relationship between law firms and postgraduate education providers is vital for enhancing Australia’s reputation for legal excellence. Malbon says Monash benefits from the financial support that practitioners offer its students to assist with various competitions and other activities in which they are involved.

The university also has many highly experienced members of the legal profession lecture its students.

“The profession ultimately benefits from employing graduates who are not only extremely bright, but who have gained relevant knowledge for practice, and who, in many cases, have learnt valuable skills from mooting and other competitions and have gained an international perspective from our international course offerings,” he says.

“We find that members of the profession are extremely generous, Justin Malbon particularly with the time they volunteer for student activities and as members of our course advisory panels. Panel members provide us with valuable insights and feedback about our programs. From this we refine our

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

Feature | postgraduate education >>

course content and offerings.”

Malbon says the university is developing ways to build upon its relationship with the legal profession.

“We aim to hold more joint activities, in part to remind practitioners that we have a [Melbourne] city premises,” he says. “Even though we have [had the campus] for a number of years, it still takes time for the awareness to lock into people’s minds.”

The College of Law has developed co-operative arrangements for its practical legal training programs to offer law firms a core curriculum that can be adapted to each firm’s needs and training cycles. “We are aiming to leverage upon these relationships to expand our applied law programs,” Nelson says. “Furthermore, our graduate diploma of in-house legal practice program is built upon our relationship with the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association, as the

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professional association for corporate and government lawyers.”

Nelson recognises that the college must continually enquire about what employees and employers want and what are the right programs to offer, in order to remain at the forefront of legal education. “We also see that we have a responsibility to alert law firms to the need to support and influence their employers to seek these specific qualifications,” he says.

Sometimes lawyers who study at the College of Law are looking to move jobs and the college provides them with a notice board that offers opportunities, from work experience positions to more than five years of professional experience. Law firms are able to recruit students directly by contacting the college and entering the ‘employment register’ where potential employers are able to request CV’s from students who are seeking positions. ALB

“The profession ultimately benefits from employing graduates who are not only extremely bright, but who have gained relevant knowledge for practice” Professor Justin Malbon,

Monash Law School

37

profile | managing partner >>

38

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

profile | managing partner >>

ALB 2010 MANAGING PARTNER SERIES

David Fagan, Clayton Utz

Frankly speaking…

Clayton Utz chief executive partner David Fagan has never been short of a well-turned phrase or two on what makes the industry tick. He speaks with ALB’s Renu Prasad on what the future holds for the firm

I

t might just be a touch of that fabled Clayton Utz self-assurance, but David Fagan is feeling quietly optimistic.

“We are very confident about the firm.

What we’ve seen is that the partner group has been very energised by what’s happened and is very focused on making sure the firm powers ahead,” he declares.

Confidence, of course, has always been key to the Clayton Utz persona.

That is precisely why February’s raid

by Allen & Overy created such a stir, prompting ironic suggestions that perhaps the hunter had finally become the hunted. But hearing Fagan’s relaxed commentary on the matter, one gets the impression that he is not feeling particularly vulnerable. “We wish the partners that have left all the best – they made a choice about the direction they want to pursue,” he says.

“Frankly we’re not overly concerned by the way in which the resignations happened – better for it to happen quickly rather than to be drip-fed over weeks.”

Clayton Utz grew revenues by about 5% in 2009 to A$490m, but it has budgeted for a small decline for FY2010 to A$470m – a budget which has thus far remained largely on track. “The litigation and major projects group had a stellar year in FY2009,” says Fagan.

“Litigation has been quieter over the last eight months but we predict that the group will be very busy over the

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next six to eight months.” He says that the signs are also positive for transactional activity, although it is still too early to assess the true state of the market.

Hong Kong

March has brought the surprising announcement that Clayton Utz will be opening its first offshore office in Hong Kong. The two-partner office will be led by Glenn Haley, who most recently headed up Deacons’ Hong Kong construction practice, and Clayton Utz partner Colin Dodd, who has been based in Hong Kong for a number of years. The office will focus on construction and major projects and international dispute resolution, although expansion into other areas is not being ruled out.

The situation is not unlike the way Mallesons first entered the Asia market with the recruitment of local construction lawyers David Bateson and Paul Starr, who brought across their teams from Hong Kong firm Denton Hall & Burgin. Mallesons, however, arrived in Hong Kong in 1989, which raises the question of why Clayton Utz has waited 20 years to follow suit. Could this be a shift away from the traditional relationships-based strategy employed thus far?

Fagan says that it isn’t. “This move doesn’t derogate from what we’ve done with Lex Mundi or PRAC – it’s a logical

extension of the construction and major projects work we’ve done in Asia,” he says. “We remain committed to our relationships with local Hong Kong firms. In fact, we expect there will be more opportunities to work with local firms in the region, as the result of our having a presence on the ground in Hong Kong.”

The firm signed off on the Hong Kong office last October after the opportunity presented itself to form an association with Glenn Haley. The decision was driven in part by the growing international focus of the construction and major projects practice. “No doubt in certain sectors clients are globalising and looking for more global solutions,” says Fagan. “Construction and major projects is an area where we do a lot of work internationally and it made sense to take that next step.”

Running a tight ship

Clayton Utz has traditionally had a highly profitable practice, with a margin which is understood to be about 47%. Fagan prefers not to comment directly on this figure, but says that an efficiently run firm should be able to maintain a margin of at least 45% in ordinary circumstances.

Clayton Utz has been able to maintain its margins by generating strong revenue growth and reducing its fixedcost base.

Some of the steps the firm has taken 39

profile | managing partner >>

“We have not allowed the fostering of any culture of entitlement within the partner group – partners are expected to perform and contribute like everyone else. Our partners understand that over time, how they are rewarded must reflect what they put into the firm, not simply in dollar terms but in a holistic sense ” David Fagan

Clayton Utz

40

should prove instructive for others.

Recent reforms to systems for collecting information on disbursement recovery are a case in point. “We realised our system to track disbursement recovery cost more than the amount actually recovered – so we negotiated the cancellation of different [software] licences to ensure that we didn’t incur that cost and we were able to pass that saving on to clients by not charging for certain disbursements,” says Fagan.

Other measures including moving staff performance reviews and some training online, and the firm is always keeping an eye out for new ways to “reengineer” processes.

“We have huge infrastructure in relation to email and document storage systems – should we move to more external Clayton Utz-hosted service providers such as Google mail?” asks Fagan hypothetically. “Obviously there are confidentiality and privilege issues, but over time you expect to see cheaper solutions and firms need to be looking constantly at these kinds of issues.”

As well as ensuring the firm runs efficiently, one of the biggest challenges of the CEP role is effective partner management. Fagan says the firm’s success and ability to remain competitive depends on it. “We have not allowed the fostering of any culture of entitlement within the partner group – partners are expected to perform and contribute like everyone else,” he says. “Our partners understand that over time, how they are rewarded must reflect what they put into the firm, not simply in dollar terms but in a holistic sense.”

And the rewards are there for partners who do perform. Despite a strong increase in revenue, the number of equity points on offer has remained steady in recent years and the firm is a supporter of the lock-step principle of sharing profit equally. “We like the concept of a lock-step and the teamwork between partners that this involves,” says Fagan. Half of the partnership is structured into what is referred to as “black box” teams, which report financially as a single group ranging from two to 15 partners in size.

“The partners in each group have a significant degree of autonomy as to how they manage their practice and

allocate responsibility. We’ve found that’s been a motivator for a more teamoriented behaviour,” says Fagan.

Show me the money

Given increased revenues last financial year, some suggest that the firm’s salary freeze was an inappropriate response to the financial crisis.

However, Fagan points out that the decision to implement the freeze was taken at a time when dire economic predictions were being made for FY2010.

“Obviously we know in hindsight that the outcome was far more benign than anticipated,” he says. “But if you were looking at it in March 2009 there was a high degree of concern as to where the economy was going. We were budgeting for lower revenue and increased competition, and the general view was that it was going to be a rocky road.

I would defy anyone to look at that March 2009 period and say that they were prepared to predict the outcomes that did actually materialise.”

The point was driven home when he visited the US in February 2009. “A number of firms were talking about taking their cash account balances out of the major banks because they feared a collapse,” Fagan recalls. “Now if you’re in an environment like that, common sense dictates you take a prudent approach.”

Fagan says that the firm is conscious of the loyalty and support shown by its lawyers and staff and has announced a thawing of the salary freeze. “Our intention was always that salary freeze would only last for a year and in fact it will have lasted for less – a full three months head of the time we would normally do those reviews.” ALB ►► Time of transition

• After nine years in the CEP role, Fagan will hand over the reins to CEP-elect Darryl McDonough in July.

• Fagan will remain part of Clayton Utz after the handover, focussing on his banking and financial services practice.

• McDonough, currently a partner specialising in corporate and M&A, has been with the firm since 1993.

• The appointment to the CEP role will be for an initial term of three years.

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

ALB special report | Perth 2010 >>

Perth 2010:

hitting the world stage After a brief hiatus, Perth is ready to resume its role as a national and regional powerhouse – and one of the world’s biggest law firms wants a piece of the action

42

P

erth’s time has truly arrived.

Western Australia’s lawyers have been saying it for years and now it seems that some of the industry’s global heavyweights are starting to take notice. Allen & Overy’s decision to establish its second Australian office in the state comes as vindication of the optimism in the Perth legal profession which, in spite of some dubious economic moments in 2009, has never really been absent.

However, there is more than one way to understand the arrival of A&O in Perth. One interpretation is that the

state’s resource-fuelled prosperity and proximity to Asia were simply too good an opportunity to miss. But the other, less charitable, view is that the Magic Circle firm needed some urgent respite from the grim state of the UK economy. Either way, local lawyers are feeling energised, rather than threatened, by the esteemed newcomer.

Some are even predicting that A&O will bring enhanced business opportunity to the market. Michael Blakiston, Blakiston & Crabb “It’s a positive for Perth Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

ALB special report | Perth 2010 >>

Perth, the counterparties may also want to consider using a local firm,” explains Blakiston.

He says that the shift is already starting to happen, with larger organisations such as Sinosteel and BHP upgrading their corporate presence in Perth. There is also a gradual trend towards decentralisation of national mining companies, away from the traditional East Coast bias.

Greg Gaunt of Lavan Legal also believes that the presence of A&O has given “a tick to the Perth market”. Gaunt says the firm would not be competing in the same space as Lavan Legal, and that A&O would more likely be a threat to Greg Gaunt, national firms. While that Lavan Legal may well be the case, as Freehills’ Jason Ricketts points out, A&O’s contingent of exClayton Utz lawyers is a known quantity.

“We know them, we’ve been competing with them for years,” he says. “It’s not very different from other Australian [national] firms which have come here.

Things may change in the future, but we’re used to competition.”

Michael Lishman of Cochrane Lishman agrees. “There isn’t any expansion of the supply [of lawyers] – just more people moving around, and different names on doors.”

Growth

– a real endorsement that a name like A&O wants to establish itself here,” says Michael Blakiston of Blakiston & Crabb. “Perth has long been a centre of excellence in minerals – we just needed to promote it. This puts Perth and Australia on the map.”

It may seem odd that law firms would welcome a competitor, particularly one as well-credentialed as A&O, but the theory is that the presence of the firm will encourage national clients to undertake more of their work in Perth rather than the East Coast.

“If one company starts using A&O in www.legalbusinessonline.com

In keeping with the overall experience of law firms across Australia, Perth lawyers found that 2009 was not the disaster that they had feared. “Things were uncertain 12 months ago so we decided on a cautious approach,” says Jackson McDonald CEO John McLean. “We didn’t have any layoffs and that proved to be the right decision – things weren’t as bad as predicted. There wasn’t a dramatic downturn.”

Revenue patterns were largely flat for FY2009. Cochrane Lishman and Freehills maintained their revenues at 2008 levels, while Jackson McDonald and Blackiston Crabb recorded slight growth. A high-flyer was Lavan Legal, which has consistently recorded 43

ALB special report | Perth 2010 >>

►► number of WA-registered lawyers per firm Freehills Minter Ellison Clayton Utz Jackson McDonald Blake Dawson Lavan Legal Mallesons Stephen Jaques Allens Arthur Robinson Norton Rose Australia DLA Phillips Fox Corrs Chambers Westgarth Talbot Olivier SRB Legal Steinepreis Paganin Allion Legal Jarman McKenna Blakiston & Crabb Downings Legal Hudson Henning & Goodman Middletons Tottle Partners Slater & Gordon Limited Gadens Lawyers Maxim Litigation Consultants McKenzie Moncrieff Lawyers Solomon Brothers Hotchkin Hanly McLeods Dwyer Durack Mony De Kerloy Barristers & Solicitors WHL Legal Pty Ltd Balance Legal Irdi Legal Sparke Helmore Marks and Sands McCallum Donovan Sweeney Paterson and Dowding Price Sierakowski Williams & Hughes Butcher Paull & Calder Friedman Lurie Singh & D’Angelo Gibson & Gibson Landgate Murcia Pestell Hillard Norton & Smailes Bowen Buchbinder Vilensky Cochrane Lishman Carson Luscombe Frichot & Frichot Haynes Robinson McDonald Pynt Lawyers Robertson Hayles Lawyers Pty Ltd Taylor Smart Young & Young

158 101 95 92 84 76 76 56 51 47 45 33 29 26 24 24 23 22 21 21 21 20 18 17 17 17 16 16 14 14 14 13 13 13 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Source: Law Society of Western Australia, collated by ALB Note: Shows WA lawyers only. Firms may have lawyers registered elsewhere

44

between 12-15% growth rates over the past few years and managed to continue that trend in FY2009. While a strong litigation practice helped, Greg Gaunt says that the firm’s corporate advisory and energy and resources practices were also busy.

The 2010 financial year has been more benevolent for law firms and there is a sense of optimism in the air. “When you talk to business people, there’s a sense of confidence in their outlook – people are starting to blow the dust off projects,” says Jackson McDonald’s McLean. “The banks also seem to be more confident about their ability to do deals – that said, time will tell whether talk translates into action.”

Recruitment

Perhaps the best gauge of optimism is the number of firms which have increased their headcount or are in the market for new recruits. Jackson McDonald, for example, increased its headcount by about 5% last year in commercial litigation, construction, infrastructure, workplace relations and energy and resources. And other firms which have been quiet in the recruitment stakes are beginning to stir once again.

At present, Johnson Winter & Slattery’s Perth office has five partners and just three lawyers, which suggests that the firm has some serious recruiting to do. However, JWS traditionally prefers a 1:1 ratio and while the firm is in the market for two more lawyers, the search hasn’t resulted in any offers. “We’ve interviewed, but we’re really picky – we want the best,” says partner Michael Dulaney. “That said, we probably haven’t looked hard enough – we should really get our skates on and try a bit harder.”

He believes the JWS ratio is an important part of the firm’s offering: “Clients love it – they get more partner time and when they get a Michael Dulaney, bill there’s only two names Johnson Winter & on it, not a laundry list of Slattery people they’ve never heard of.”

The Perth employment market for lawyers has, of course, been a perennial source of vexation for firms. While some

easing of the market would have been expected given the economic conditions, it is by no means clear that this has occurred. “We are still finding it difficult.

We thought we would see more hands up from the East Coast,” says McLean.

“We were also hearing of carnage in London and thought [returning lawyers] would consider a few years here but we haven’t seen any deluge – that puzzles me. Perth’s still a bit isolated and there is a view that it’s an expensive place to live – maybe that’s a deterrent. We’re still looking for six to seven lawyers but the phones haven’t been ringing off the hook.”

Laval Legal’s Gaunt is another to describe the market as “tight”, although he says this depends on what particular skills are being recruited. But Cochrane Lishman’s Michael Lishman has a completely different perspective: “It’s been a great market for us. I receive about one good CV unsolicited a week. These are mostly lawyers around the senior associate level who feel trapped in a large Michael Lishman, Cochrane Lishman firm, or lawyers coming home from overseas,” he says.

An interesting trend is that nearly all the local firms interviewed by ALB said that they had recruited lawyers from national firms. Allion Legal, for example, recently recruited six lawyers from national firms. Principal Phil Lucas thinks that top-tier burnout may be a factor in the trend. “Traditionally it’s harder to get people to come to a smaller firm – the younger lawyers have accepted the line that they must go to a big firm to get quality work,” he says.

“The big firms espouse what a great lifestyle they can offer, but the reality is different. We can match expectations [as to work quality], but at the end of the day all our lawyers go home at 6-6.30pm.

That’s a big competitive advantage over the nationals.” Lucas says that to maintain this advantage, smaller firms need to resist the temptation to gravitate to smaller end work, which is easier to win but less attractive to top lawyers.

Dissent within the Perth offices of toptier firms has been suggested as another explanation for lawyers leaving larger firms. There are stories of national firms Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

ALB special report | India 09 >>

servicing major WA work with East Coast partners either because the expertise is too thin on the ground in Perth, or because Sydney and Melbourne partners with not enough work to do are elbowing their West Coast counterparts aside.

However, the majority of managing partners from local firms who had recruited top-tier lawyers were of the view that these lawyers had moved for unique personal reasons. The managing partners say there is no evidence of any widespread disenchantment within the Perth offices of national firms.

Market trends

A pair of familiar brands disappeared from the market last year when Michael Whyte & Co and Pullinger Readhead Lucas merged in July to form Allion Legal. Echoing the sentiments of many East Coast firms which have gone down the merger route, Allion Legal principal Phil Lucas says that the merger was intended to give the firm the size and depth to pursue higher level work while providing a pricing advantage. Lucas estimates that an Allion Legal principal would typically bill at about 70% of the rate applicable at a national firm. He said that the firm was moving away from smaller-end IPO work as this was less challenging for sophisticated lawyers and promoted a “sausage factory” mentality.

The Allion legal merger comes six months after Middletons’ entry into the Perth market via a three-way merger

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with Salter Power and Franklyn Legal (although three of the Franklyn Legal lawyers, –Robert Franklyn, Christian Owen and Russell Philip – have since moved on to Corrs). “People in Sydney and Melbourne are seeing things going on in WA. There’s less prospects for growth on the eastern seaboard so they’re starting to look to Perth – think Middletons, JWS,” observes Lishman.

Still, he sees the possibility of commercial conflicts as a significant potential obstacle to top-tier expansion in Perth.

One of the more interesting additions to the Perth market of late has been secondment-only firm Balance Legal, which has grown from three to 20 lawyers over the past 18 months. The firm has been so successful that it has brought forward plans to open a second office in Melbourne and is also eyeing the Brisbane and Sydney markets.

It is possible that the Balance Legal model is of particular value to the contractor-driven mining industry, where secondment is particularly prevalent.

Junior mining firms which are too small to hire full-time counsel are also likely to be particularly attracted to this model.

“When you talk to business people, there’s a sense of confidence in their outlook – people are starting to blow the dust off projects. The banks also seem to be more confident about their ability to do deals ” John McLean

Jackson McDonald

Resources and mining

According to Freehills’ Ricketts, the WA legal services market has three key strengths: resources, resources and resources. In particular oil and gas projects have been a mainstay: despite the downturn, companies such

45

ALB special report | Perth 2010 >>

►► WA’s largest in-house legal teams by headcount – WA-REGISTERED LAWYERS Firm Legal Aid of Western Australia Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (State) Office of the State Solicitor Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (Inc) Australian Securities & Investments Commission Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Department of Commerce Woodside Energy Office of the Australian Government Solicitor Legal Practice Board Wesfarmers Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation Department of Health WA Rio Tinto Parliamentary Counsel’s Office Department for Child Protection Department for Planning & Infrastructure Australian Taxation Office Landgate Public Trustee University of Western Australia Department for Communities Kimberley Land Council WorkCover WA

Lawyers 146 116 112 38 38 27 25 23 21 20 20 19 17 16 15 14 13 11 11 11 11 10 10 10

Source: Law Society of Western Australia, collated by ALB

“People in Sydney and Melbourne are seeing things going on in WA. There’s less prospects for growth on the eastern seaboard so they’re starting to look to Perth ” Michael Lishman

Cochrane Lishman 46

as Woodside forged on ahead with ambitious projects such as the A$12bn Pluto LNG project and the Browse LNG development, estimated to be worth in the realm of A$30bn.

And while the resources sector did slow down somewhat last year, John McLean describes this as more of a “pause than a screeching halt”. Last September’s announcement of the A$43bn Gorgon natural gas joint venture between Chevron Australia, ExxonMobil and Shell was seen by many firms and businesses alike as the turning point which saw confidence return to the market.

“There are a lot of bigger projects, but it is still a challenging market for the small-to-medium size companies.

But confidence is gradually starting to return,” Cochrane & Lishman’s Michael Lishman observes.

Some lawyers have expressed doubt over the capacity of junior miners to raise funds. While there was a flurry of IPO’s late last year in the sub-A$20m category, the IPO environment has since deteriorated. Law firms are expecting less equity capital markets activity and more M&A, with the iron ore sector in particular tipped for consolidation.

There are divergent views on how junior and mid-size miners are faring.

Michael Blakiston of Blackiston & Crabb, which has a strong client base in the SME space, says that he is very confident about the ability of junior miners to get access to funding, provided they can demonstrate a strong business proposition.

He says that while conditions are still a little tight, they are an improvement on last year. Blakiston & Crabb has already completed two IPO’s this year and while he concedes that conditions are still unpredictable, Blackiston says that there is no reason why an appropriately-timed IPO cannot be successful.

Johnson Winter & Slattery is another firm to have several capital raisings in the pipeline, which include an A$35m two-part raising by Arafura Resources.

“The market is much more buoyant – exploration is happening and people are looking at doing things,” says Dulaney.

Property

Figures from the Property Council

of Australia’s “Office Market Report” indicate that Perth CBD vacancies increased slightly from 8% in July 2009 to 8.2% in the six months to January 2010. However, this was the result of an increase in supply. The Council said that positive demand had returned to the Perth CBD and West Perth office markets for the first time since July 2008. Several ambitious new projects have been mooted, including the Northbridge Link which involves sinking and building over a railway, and a redevelopment of the Swan River foreshore.

All this has meant that property practices are looking beyond the usual back-end-heavy workflow.

“Property work has been busy at both the frontend and back-end,” says Jackson McDonald CEO John McLean. “There are a number of new office blocks John McLean, moving from the drawing board into the construction Jackson McDonald phase and vacant space being picked up for future development.

Funding is available if you have the right project and there’s some certainty around future income streams. However, it’s more difficult to get funding for apartment blocks – we haven’t seen many brand new apartment blocks.”

Freehills’ Jason Ricketts says that work at this stage is more likely to relate to leasing and secondary sales. However, he foreshadows a new wave of work as new projects get underway – provided funding is forthcoming.

“In the medium term, I am confident that they will happen, but there’s an Phil Lucas, element of ‘wait and see’ Allion Legal in terms of whether the funding is available,” he notes.

Allion Legal’s Phil Lucas says that national firms appear to have retreated somewhat from property work, creating opportunities for smaller firms to take their place. While the market has been challenging, he notes that urban renewal project such as those underway at Subiaco, Armadale and East Perth are generating work, particularly for those firms advising government instrumentalities. ALB Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

ALB special report | India 09 >>

www.legalbusinessonline.com

47

Feature | interview >>

In-house perspective

Kerry Gleeson, Incitec Pivot

Fertile shores

Kerry Gleeson has a few titles to juggle – she’s Incitec Pivot’s general counsel, company secretary and also the 2009 ALB In-house Lawyer of the Year. She chats with ALB about the transformation of Incitec Pivot and the lawyers who helped make it happen

I

n-house legal teams always were a highly charged environment, but at Incitec Pivot that description takes on a new meaning. This longstanding Australian fertiliser and chemicals business is also the top supplier of explosive products and services in North America, and a major player in the Australian market. It’s a mantle the company acquired in 2008 when it made an A$3.3bn acquisition of US based Dyno Nobel, under which name Incitec Pivot continues to operate its explosives business.

The acquisition is an example of the way in-house legal teams need to evolve to adapt to the globalisation of business.

“The Dyno acquisition took us from fertiliser in Australia to explosives globally,” says Gleeson. “Dyno had operations not only in the US but also in Canada and Mexico and also joint venture interests in South Africa, Turkey and China. Our team was exposed to many jurisdictional issues which were certainly very challenging.”

As might be expected, multijurisdictional anti-trust issues loomed large and Gleeson estimates that the transaction required coordinated advice from 15 law firms worldwide. Mallesons, which provided much of the core Australian advice, assisted Gleeson with

48

identifying suitable advisers overseas, and she also had some knowledge of the market from her previous work in private practice. Sullivan & Cromwell, which had an existing relationship with Incitec Pivot, also advised on the deal.

Working across many jurisdictions can be daunting, but it is also a reminder of how much of the world shares a common law heritage. Gleeson herself, who studied law and practised in the UK before joining Blake Dawson in 1999, found the transition from UK to Australian law quite straightforward.

“The transactions I worked on at Blakes were really interesting because you could see the similarities between English law and Australian law and it certainly made the transition very easy,” she says. “The more I’ve done international work, I’ve noticed that laws in many jurisdictions have their foundations in some core principles, whether contract or equity, that you can see repeated. It will be the detail where you’ll find there are any differences – but the core or foundation will be very similar.”

External advisers

Gleeson prefers to use a small core of external advisers – which for many years has consisted of Allens Arthur

Robinson, Mallesons Stephen Jaques and Sullivan & Cromwell for US transactions. However, individuals from other firms who have impressed in the past are also retained. For this reason specialists from Minter Ellison and Finlaysons are often given a run.

“Our advisers have shown amazing support to the team. I’m particularly thinking of Mallesons – I remember once phoning them the day before Good Friday because we needed them to work on a matter the entire weekend.

The request was received with absolute support. All our firms have repeatedly shown amazing responsiveness to our needs.” Gleeson remembers feeling apprehensive about making the request. “I’m not a lawyer who makes that call [to work weekends] lightly – I’m a great believer in work/ life balance,” she says.

Gleeson says that having only a small group of advisers allows those firms to cultivate a deep understanding of the Incitec Pivot business. She compares business knowledge to a series of dominos and trying to predict how they will fall. “If you ask an [external lawyer] one particular question on one part of the business, they need to immediately grasp and understand the interdependence with everything else.”

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

Feature | interview >>

www.legalbusinessonline.com

49

Feature | interview >>

“What I loved about Incitec Pivot is that we’re a manufacturing and distribution company with overseas procurement, so a whole range of legal issues come across my desk and make the job very interesting. I never know what I’m going to get on a given day” Kerry Gleeson

Incitec Pivot

While Gleeson feels that her current advisers have a good grasp of the business, she recalls an experience with a previous adviser where commercial acumen was badly lacking: “We had a plant outage many years ago. I remember phoning a lawyer to say that I needed urgently to call force majeure and the response was ‘oh well, it can wait, you can do that another day.’ But if you’ve got a problem with your plant, you’re going to have a problem with your supply and then you’re going to have problems with your customers.”

Gleeson says that the quality of legal advice is connected with the depth of a lawyer’s grounding in law: “I’m very much a person with attention to detail. I like the pursuit of law, so I do like lawyers who understand the core principles and have a really solid grounding in what I suppose you might call jurisprudence, so they really understand how you can make the law work.”

Gleeson remembers being advised during her university days of the value of including jurisprudence in her studies. It’s a piece of advice she stands by to this day: “I felt that repeatedly throughout my career jurisprudence was one of the most valuable things I ever did. It stretches your contract principles, your equity principles and gives them another dynamic.”

Advice for aspiring GCs

When Gleeson originally applied for the general counsel role at Incitec Pivot, she was surprised to learn that there had been over 65 other applicants. “I was very fortunate to get the role. What I realised then was that in Australia there’s not so many GC roles – so if you do want to be one, you need to make a plan on how to achieve that. In that respect, I would never encourage a lawyer to go in-house too early. You need to get a solid training behind you. If you are

KERRY GLEESON – CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Australia • General counsel & company secretary, Incitec Pivot

2004–to date

50

in private practice and if you can get a secondment to a client, that’s a perfect way to see the job on the ground.”

Gleeson says that she would recommend at least five years of private practice experience. “You do some rotations, get years of solid experience with a number of different clients so you can see the different issues that may be occurring.” The other advantage of this approach is that it provides an opportunity for the lawyer to discover what types of companies are of interest and are likely to be a good match.

“For me, even though I have a corporate finance background, I’m not sure I would want to be in a telco or finance institution,” says Gleeson.

“What I loved about Incitec Pivot is that we’re a manufacturing and distribution company with overseas procurement, so a whole range of legal issues come across my desk and make the job very interesting. I never know what I’m going to get on a given day.”

The road ahead

Gleeson says that while she had been expecting the financial crisis to induce more litigation and contract disputes, she has been pleasantly surprised to find that – at least so far – this hasn’t occurred. However, she says that greater attention to detail and tighter contract management is a definite trend. Developing a compliance culture has been a key priority for Gleeson over the past two years, and she expects to continue that work this year, developing compliance programs in areas such as anti-trust and antibribery.

This work will involve face-to-face training and providing detailed manuals which give scenarios which are relevant to the business. The training will be rounded off with an online multiple choice test, which will identify areas for possible further focus. ALB

UK • Admitted as a lawyer, Victoria

2001

• Senior associate, Blake Dawson

1999–2003

• Partner, Halliwell Landau (now Halliwells LLP)

1996–1999

• Senior associate, Hammond Suddards Edge

1993–1995

• Lawyer (including articles 19891991), Eversheds

1989–1993

• Admitted as a lawyer, England & Wales

1991

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

Feature | building & construction >>

Laying the foundation

Building & construction practice groups are picking up work as the effects of the downturn recede. But the continuation of this trend will depend on whether the banks are willing to provide the necessary funding for growth

“The bigger firms tend to still concentrate on winning the court disputes and they’re less interested in capturing the market in adjudication” Doron Rivlin

Herbert Geer

52

A

s expected, construction in the resources sector has remained strong over the past couple of years, providing a lifeline to building and construction practice groups that were surprised by the lack of litigation work that usually accompanies an economic downturn.

Head of Mallesons Stephen Jaques property, construction & environment group, Peter Pether, says he is surprised that there has been a lack of activity in construction litigation, given that the industry is notoriously litigious. “I’ve been expecting it to come in for the last 6-12 months because I thought it would be brought on by the money drying up, but it’s been very slow to take,” he says. “I’m confident it will pick up but I’m just not sure when.”

Big litigation cases usually keep building & construction lawyers busy during downturns, while front-end

work picks up when the economy is heating up. However, Pether says that perhaps the contraction in the debt markets that reduced the ability of developers to pursue major construction projects meant that there were fewer opportunities for litigation. However, mid-tier lawyers are seeing plenty of work on the dispute side, indicating that claimants may be forgoing expensive and lengthy litigation options for the more expedient adjudication disputes.

Herbert Geer’s national practice unit leader of the project & construction group, Doron Rivlin, says that work on construction disputes has remained strong. “We’ve noticed no slowdown at all in the number of disputes,” Doron Rivlin, he says. “What we have Herbert Geer found is an increasing number of adjudication claims in the building and engineering industry and a decrease in the number of court claims simply because claimants see adjudication as a quick Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

Feature | building & construction >>

form of resolution.”

Construction law has compulsory legislation which provides strict time frames for adjudication. This is of major benefit to a claimant who wishes to maintain their cash flow and allows the claimant to lodge with an adjudicator, which puts the onus on the respondent to provide a response within five days. Rivlin says about a third of his practice group’s work is involved in these adjudications.

“It’s an area where there is a lot more activity for the mid-tier firms than the top-tier, simply because the mid-tier tends to be more adaptable to the type of work and the bigger firms seem to be more interested in the bigger disputes,” Rivlin says. “The bigger firms tend to still concentrate on winning the court disputes and they’re less interested in capturing the market in adjudication.”

Front end

Requests for proposals for front-end construction have been coming thick and fast as the banks resume lending

www.legalbusinessonline.com

for projects and developers come out of hibernation. This has also been buoyed by a bounce back in the property sector, which has performed very poorly over the past 18 months. “Front-end construction is quite busy,” Pether says.

“There’s a resurgence in the property industry so there’s a bit of commercial and retail construction happening, and that’s a segment of the construction market at the front-end that’s been dead for a long time.”

Rivlin agrees, saying that the turnaround in this work has provided a positive outlook for the Peter Pether, area for the first time Mallesons Stephen in the past 12 months.

Jaques “We’re just noticing a bit more activity on the front-end development side than what there was even three months ago,” he says. “In particular we’re noticing an increase in joint ventures for developments – for instance from the super funds which are getting more

involved in development.”

Another interesting aspect of the work that Herbert Geer is seeing is that much of it involves projects that were mothballed during the depths of the financial crisis. Those developers were forced to put plans on hold due to a lack of available funds – but now many of the developments are back on track. “A lot of our instructions involve dormant projects where we’ve been advising previously and they went dormant for lack of finance,” Rivlin says. “What we’re noticing is that some of those are being revitalised as credit is becoming more available again. Our clients are looking at those dormant projects and proceed where they left off 6-12 months ago. That being said, people are also looking at new opportunities as well.”

M+K principal Brendan Archer is a little more cautious about the ability of financing to keep pace with the demand from developers.

“I’m getting information regarding new developments but it’s hard to

53

Feature | building & construction >>

“We have to pitch ourselves at the top end work where we can make a difference and people are willing to pay our rate” Peter Pether

Mallesons

read because the banks have really tightened up their lending practices,” he says. “I have a degree of concern of the possible knock-on effect of what’s happening in the US and in particular Europe. To a large extent, any sustained recovery in the construction area will be governed by the ability of developers and builders to obtain finance.”

Kiwi perspective

Minter Ellison Rudd Watts partner Stephen Price says the firm’s building and construction practice area has fared very well Stephen Price, over the past 12 months, Minter Ellison but puts that down to Rudd Watts an increase in disputes rather than an increase in new projects. “There has been a disproportionate focus on construction disputes (payment claims, leaky

54

buildings, etc) as opposed to projects/ procurement type of work, when compared to previous years,” Price says. He says he has had one of his busiest years and expects the next year to continue to provide plenty of work, but that the balance will shift back to new projects and procurement work as construction takes off again.

Minter Ellison Rudd Watts has been adding to its building and construction team over the past year to deal with the demand from disputes. Price says the firm may continue to build up the practice area in the coming months, but that would depend on whether his prediction of an increase in construction work turns out to be accurate.

Quality candidates

Australia has been fortunate to be one of the few developed nations not to suffer a technical recession in the past year. This has meant that construction

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

Feature | building & construction >>

work has not been as subdued in Australia as it has been in the UK and US. The bad news for those countries equates to good news for Australian firms looking to hire quality lawyers. “We’ve noticed quite a high calibre of applicant returning from the UK, which I think derives from the problems that they’re having over there,” Rivlin says. “It’s interesting because at the moment we’re really spoiled for choice.”

However, there is less construction work being outsourced to external legal providers now than there was a decade ago, Pether says. This is due to a trend seen by construction companies building strong in-house teams. “Relevantly for both front-end and back-end work, there are huge numbers of in-house lawyers at the moment,” Pether says. “I was talking to the in-house counsel of a contractor client of ours the other day who said he has 16 lawyers including himself.

That’s going to absorb a huge amount of work before they go to externals.”

Pether described the turnaround as remarkable, saying that 10 years ago the most he would expect of a construction client would be to have a general counsel. In the meantime they have been recruiting heavily and are much more committed to doing work in-house. “We have to pitch ourselves at the top-end work where we can make a difference and people are willing to pay our rate – company litigation or strategic litigation and major project work, particularly project financed work,” Pether says.

“We really aren’t going to get commoditised work coming in the door here because we’re just not going to be able to compete on a cost basis with an in-house team of 16 that can do [that] work.”

Shake-up coming

One development that is sure to shake up the domestic construction scene is the decision by Bilfinger Berger to sell its Australian operations. As one of the two main construction groups operating in Australia, the sale opens the door for foreign investors to gain a foothold in the local market.

“There are some big European contractors who have been sniffing around the Australian market on and off over the years and this would be a strategic opportunity to get in,” Pether says. “This would definitely lead to an increase in work because the market is pretty contained at the moment and the existing set-ups all have their in-house teams. I think if someone new came to town that it would at least involve a period of shaking down and a blip in work for external lawyers.”

The construction contracting market in Australia has traditionally been dominated by Leighton (which owns Leighton Contractors, Thiess and John Holland) and Bilfinger (which owns Abi Group, Baulderstone and Bilfinger Services). If a foreign entrant doesn’t make a play for Bilfinger’s assets, then it could be acquired by some of Australia’s other players such as United Group or Lang O’Rourke.

Whatever happens with the Bilfinger assets, the next 12 months promises to be a busy period for building and construction lawyers who are finally starting to see work pick up as a result of the economic recovery that started almost a year ago. ALB www.legalbusinessonline.com

featured firm Minter Ellison Rudd Watts Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, part of the Minter Ellison Legal Group, is a full-service law firm with one of the largest teams of project and construction lawyers in New Zealand.

Our Auckland and Wellington based commercial property, construction, and environment and planning specialists have advised on a diverse range of construction and engineering projects and related disputes across the commercial, industrial, energy and public sectors.

We service the legal needs of clients through the full life cycle of a project, including initial scoping of project requirements, review and selection of the appropriate contracting method and agreements, and the preparation of tendering and contract documentation. Our experts also provide advice during the construction period, and on strategy and resolution of disputes should they arise.

Our focus is to provide clients with workable, commercial solutions to achieve the best outcome for their project.

Key specialists Stephen Price Partner • Commercial and residential construction • Construction and property/leasing litigation • Leaky building claims • Lease enforcement and landlord/tenant disputes T: 64 9 353 9961 e: stephen.price@minterellison.co.nz Andrew Monteith Partner • Commercial property and construction • Infrastructure • Projects T: 64 9 353 9898 e: andrew.monteith@minterellison.co.nz David Gilbert Partner • Commercial Property • Infrastructure Projects / PPPs • Commercial Leasing T: 64 9 353 9978 e: david.gilbert@minterellison.co.nz Tom Fail Partner • Project finance • Infrastructure / PPPs • Construction T: 64 9 353 9913 e: tom.fail@minterellison.co.nz

www.minterellison.co.nz

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Feature | Macquarie Relationship Banking roundtable >>

Growth matters:

Macquarie Roundtable Series 2010 In March, ALB and Macquarie Relationship Banking held a series of roundtable discussions with small to medium size law firms and industry stakeholders, to find out what the prognosis is for 2010. While cautious optimism was the theme du jour, growth brings challenges of its own, as we found out

►► Funding growth The following types of investment could result in detrimental impacts on law firms’ cash-flow: • Purchase of new equipment (such as IT) • Relocating office space • Succession planning (such as partner retirement) • Acquisition of new practice • Merger with another practice • Recruitment of new staff (associates or partners) • Promotion of associates • Tender pitch for increased business • Organic growth through increased charge-out rates or referrals

56

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

Feature | Macquarie Relationship Banking roundtable >>

Terry Lyons, Macquarie Relationship Banking

W

Paul Etherington, Etheringtons Solicitors

hile business is still keeping a keen eye out for the first sign of that dreaded “double dip” recession scenario, there is growing acceptance of the view that growth just might be back on the agenda for 2010.

That, of course, is a positive for all concerned – but growth comes with its own challenges. In the first of our two-part roundtable series, law firms speak of these challenges: proper cashflow planning and the fact that without such planning, growth can actually increase the working capital needed to run the practice and decrease the amount of money available for partner draws.

Law firms were not impacted by the GFC until relatively late. It was not until mid-2009 that redundancies, salary cuts and reduced partner draws, especially amongst the top-tier firms, became prevalent. The blow, when it came, was two-fold: there was less legal work and clients took longer to pay.

The result was a cash-flow challenge for many firms.

But six months later, the story has changed. A Macquarie Relationship Banking survey of legal clients found that 65% saw positive growth ahead.

And 83% of those clients predicted that growth would be steady or quite rapid.

The participants at the first ALBMacquarie Relationship Banking roundtable discussion were all partners in smaller law firms, ranging from sole practitioners to up-to-ten partners in www.legalbusinessonline.com

Bronwyn Pott, ALPMA

size. For the most part, they held onto their staff during the downturn, and spent much of that time focusing on one critical issue: cash.

Cash flow is king

Andrew Chen, principal of WHK Horwath Legal Enterprise Team, said a common complaint amongst law firm partners was ‘I know I’m making money, but where’s all the cash?’

“The key thing to understand,” Chen explains, “is that profit is an opinion, but cash-flow is a fact. It is the lifeblood of your firm and can actually be more important for growth than profit.”

“There is a rule of thumb for me – the first question I always ask any firm.

What is your gross profit position as a percentage right now? What is your working capital as a percentage of revenue? If your gross profit is less than that [revenue] percentage, your firm will need extra cash-flow as you add fees to your top line.”

Cautious optimism

Around the table, there was a mix of growth strategies for the coming year. From organic growth through lateral hires or cross-referrals from one practice area to another, to acquisitions or bolt-ons where space and infrastructure allow, many saw opportunities coming from the downturn itself. “There is an opportunity for small firms, because clients are reducing their costs and we can be a bit more flexible,” said Paul 57

Feature | Macquarie Relationship Banking roundtable >>

“It’s always a good indication of the client’s ability to pay – if they won’t pay disbursements upfront that’s a potential red flag ” Terry Lyons

Macquarie Relationship Banking

Etherington of Etheringtons Solicitors in Sydney.

Bronwyn Pott, of the ALPMA, agrees. “It depends on the type of work.

Corporate firms are realising that a large chunk of legal work doesn’t need a big brand name, so they’re carving off the lower-value work that big firms can’t manage cost-effectively.” The key issue is that all of these growth strategies require funding cash-flow upfront, or partner draws will be impacted.

Funding your growth

As Chen explains, “funding cash-flow for your firm can only come from two places, the partners or the bank – debt, equity, or a mixture of both?” There are three key factors influencing cash-flow, or the amount of working capital a firm needs: revenue, profit margin, and cash lock-up (the time between starting work on a file and receiving payment on the bill). Unlike many other industries, the legal sector operates in a negative working capital environment. There can often be a long work-in-progress lag, and this has a major impact on cash-flow as you grow.

“If you grow and improve revenue without funding it, you actually reduce the cash amount available in the business,” said Adam Ortmann, senior credit manager, Macquarie Relationship Banking. “If you grow without forward planning, you’ll end up hitting the overdraft. What you need to do is talk to your bank, and allow for that extra funding so you can draw the same level of profit and allow the equity to be retained.”

If lock-up periods are longer, this 58

increase in working capital could actually be higher than the increase in revenue and profit. “It’s a strange thing!” says Ortmann. “Trading too well can be a problem. The key is to talk with your bank and plan ahead so staff costs and partner draws can continue to be met. Working capital won’t change if you increase your profit margin (by increasing fees, for example) but it will ultimately improve your bottom line profit, which in the end becomes cash.”

In the case of an acquisition, a cash injection will be needed to fund the purchase, as well as any additional lock-up period carried over by the new firm. This may take the form of an equity injection from new or existing partners – but as roundtable participants acknowledged, such strategies are not always universally welcomed.

Releasing cash into the firm

The amount of time it takes for debtors to pay is a crucial piece of the puzzle.

How can firms turn their debts into cash more quickly? “This is more important than profitability,” says Chen. “It affects your draws. If you can reduce your work-in-progress time by just 1%, the impact on your cash-flow will be much greater. Especially with some of the horrendous collection times we started to see during the GFC.” The roundtable participants used a wide range of debt management tools, all with varying degrees of success.

“It’s hard to tackle it in hindsight,” says David Atkinson of Atkinson Vinden Lawyers. “When you have a problem, it invariably traces back to Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

Feature | Macquarie Relationship Banking roundtable >>

Adam Ortmann, Macquarie Relationship Banking

David Atkinson, Atkinson Vinden Lawyers

poor engagement. If clients act shocked that you expect them to pay within 15 or 30 days, there is a problem with communication. We ‘red flag’ a file at a certain point: we will only have exposure up to a certain amount, then we stop work if it’s still unpaid.”

There is general agreement that this is a cultural change that needs to happen within firms, and it needs to be clearly communicated to both clients and staff. “Partners need to understand what it costs to produce things, and what it costs to have debtors that far out,” says ALPMA’s Pott. “The reality is, after 90 days you may only recover 80% of the fee.

There’s an opportunity cost there and you’ve lost interest on that money. They aren’t a good client if they pay slowly.”

Some firms insist on fees paid upfront, or at the very least disbursements. “It’s always a good indication of the client’s ability to pay – if they won’t pay disbursements upfront that’s a potential red flag,” says Terry Lyons, head of legal industry at Macquarie Relationship Banking.

“Some law firms began to treat their clients as a third banker during the downturn. It’s important to have processes in place to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

At WHK Horwath, a hard-nosed credit controller joined the firm at the beginning of the downturn. “We managed to get our lock-up down from 120 days to around 95,” says Andrew. “Managing our work-inprogress made a huge difference. You need to be able to analyse management reports properly by seeing that work-inprogress in your balance sheet.” www.legalbusinessonline.com

Andrew Chen, WHK Horwath

Many of the smaller law firms preferred to let their fee-earners take responsibility for chasing debts, rather than using a credit team. One partner commented that it was all part of the client relationship which is critical to smaller firms, and for younger lawyers to develop ideas about the best ways to handle the debtor issue.

This firm also holds regular meetings involving the whole firm to review the work-in-progress, debtors and charge totals, making it part of the overall management practice.

Another Melbourne partner said while it was all very well to have rules, their firm tended to look at it case by case, as the nature of the work defines how long a debtor can be carried. An example is with family law where a firm might need longer working capital than with transactional law.

Andrew Blogg of Aitken Partners says that his firm is about to introduce two new processes to speed up collection. “First, we’re holding a weekend seminar for all fee-earners, including partners, about this theory that we’re all talking about today. We also now automatically send a one-page email document to a client as soon as a new file is opened, explaining our terms of work and how we’ll follow it up,” he explains.

As Heather Cook of Berry Family Lawyers commented, “I just don’t understand why lawyers are so frightened to ask for money!” Perhaps it’s because they’d rather focus on practising law. Yet a little time investment in managing the business and planning ahead for future growth can have very positive benefits. ALB 59

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market data | capital markets >>

Equity Capital Markets TRANSACTIONS List Australia, New Zealand Feb 21-Mar 20 NB: Does not include transactions valued at less than than USD10m, best efforts transactions and private placements Issuer

Proceeds (USDm)

Issue date

Currency

Bookrunner(s)

Sector

Australia Lend Lease Corp Ltd

721.6

26/02/10

AUD

Merrill Lynch Intl Australia, RBS

Real Estate

Greater Asia Investments Ltd

64.0

15/03/10

AUD

Atlas Capital Services LLC

Financials

Whitehaven Coal Ltd

47.2

25/02/10

AUD

UBS Australia Ltd

Materials

Sandfire Resources NL

46.2

26/02/10

AUD

Goldman Sachs JBWere Pty Ltd

Materials

Molopo Energy Ltd

27.1

18/03/10

AUD

Credit Suisse Australia Ltd

Energy and Power

Molopo Energy Ltd

26.3

16/03/10

AUD

Credit Suisse Australia Ltd

Energy and Power

Norfolk Group Ltd

18.6

26/02/10

AUD

Commonwealth Securities

Consumer Products and Services

FlexiGroup Ltd

13.4

23/02/10

AUD

JP Morgan Australia Ltd, UBS Australia Ltd

Financials

Devine Ltd

10.5

23/02/10

AUD

Goldman Sachs JBWere Pty Ltd, RBS Morgans Ltd

Industrials

Swick Mining Services Ltd

10.5

03/03/10

AUD

Euroz Securities Ltd

Materials

Source: Thomson Reuters

DEBT CAPITAL MARKETS TRANSACTIONS LIST Australia, New Zealand Feb 21-Mar 20 Issuer

Proceeds (USDm)

Issue date

Currency

Bookrunner(s)

Sector

Australia Commonwealth Bank of Australia

3,489.7

15/03/10

USD

Citigroup Global Markets Inc, Goldman Sachs & Co, HSBC Holdings PLC, Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Financials

Queensland Treasury Corp

2,216.2

23/02/10

AUD

Deutsche Bank AG (Australia), Westpac Banking, Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Government and Agencies

ANZ Banking Group Ltd

1,706.9

03/03/10

EUR

ANZ Securities, Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings PLC

Financials

Telstra Corp Ltd

1,353.1

15/03/10

EUR

BNP Paribas SA, Deutsche Bank AG, JP Morgan

Telecommunications

National Australia Bank Ltd

1,249.8

23/02/10

USD

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank Securities Corp, Wells Fargo Bank NA

Financials

TORRENS Series 2010-1 Trust

1,015.9

17/03/10

AUD

Deutsche Bank AG (Australia), Westpac Banking

Financials

New South Wales Treasury

952.3

17/03/10

AUD

ANZ Banking Group, National Australia Bank, UBS Investment Bank

Government and Agencies

Bank of Queensland Govt Gtd

897.5

01/03/10

AUD

Royal Bank of Scotland (AUS), Westpac Banking, UBS Investment Bank

Government and Agencies

Wesfarmers Ltd

683.7

03/03/10

EUR

BNP Paribas SA, Deutsche Bank AG, RBS, Societe Generale

Industrials

SMHL 2010-1

610.8

05/03/10

AUD

Westpac Institutional Bank, Credit Suisse Australia Ltd, Macquarie Bank

Financials

Series 2010-1 Harvey Trust

577.1

25/02/10

AUD

Westpac Banking

Financials

Treasury Corp of Victoria

446.6

24/02/10

AUD

ANZ Banking Group, UBS Investment Bank

Government and Agencies

Investec Bank Govt Gtd

276.2

16/03/10

AUD

ANZ Banking Group, RBS, UBS Investment Bank

Government and Agencies

Transurban Finance Co Pty Ltd

228.5

15/03/10

AUD

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Institutional Bank

Financials

Heritage Bldg Society Govt Gtd

181.5

05/03/10

AUD

UBS Investment Bank

Financials

ING Bank(Australia) Govt Gtd

137.8

10/03/10

AUD

UBS Investment Bank

Financials

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

93.3

18/03/10

AUD

RBC Capital Markets

Financials

SPI Elec and Gas Australia

90.2

05/03/10

HKD

HSBC Holdings PLC

Energy and Power

Westpac Banking Corp

45.5

24/02/10

AUD

TD Securities Inc

Financials

ANZ Banking Group Ltd

45.0

26/02/10

AUD

RBC Capital Markets

Financials

National Australia Bank Ltd

27.4

05/03/10

HKD

Standard Chartered Bank (HK)

Financials

National Australia Bank Ltd

25.0

04/03/10

HKD

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Financials

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

19.3

08/03/10

HKD

HSBC Holdings PLC

Financials

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

12.2

16/03/10

HKD

Standard Chartered Bank (HK)

Financials

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

10.3

11/03/10

HKD

Citicorp International Bank

Financials

New Zealand BNZ International Funding Ltd

1,009.1

25/02/10

EUR

Barclays Capital Group, JP Morgan, National Australia Bank

Financials

Westpac Securities NZ Ltd

1,015.3

09/03/10

EUR

HSBC Holdings PLC, UBS Investment Bank

Financials

Meridian Energy Ltd

139.5

26/02/10

NZD

Bank of New Zealand, First NZ Capital Securities

Energy and Power

Fonterra Coop Grp Ltd

102.8

04/03/10

NZD

Bank of New Zealand, ANZ Banking Group (NZ), Westpac Institutional Bank

Consumer Staples

51.6

10/03/10

HKD

ANZ Banking Group

Financials

Transpower Finance Ltd Source: Thomson Reuters

62

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

MARKET DATE | M&A >>

market data | M&A >> In association with

M&A TRANSACTIONS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Top 10 Announced Deals - Australasia (6 February, 2010 - 12 March, 2010) Announcement Date

Target Company

Target/Seller Legal Advisor

Bidder Company

Bidder Legal Advisor

22-Feb-10

WesTrac Holdings Pty Ltd

Advising seller: Clayton Utz

Seven Network Ltd

Freehills

Australian Capital Equity Pty Ltd

12-Mar-10

50Hertz Transmission GmbH

Advising seller: White & Case

Elia NV; and Industry Funds Management Pty Ltd

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Vattenfall Europe AG

885

01-Mar-10

NSW Lotteries Corporation

Advising seller: Gilbert + Tobin

Tatts Group Limited

Clayton Utz

New South Wales Government

850

01-Mar-10

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (2.7% stake)

24-Feb-10

CTP (PNG) Ltd (80% stake)

Advising seller: WongPartnership

New Britain Palm Oil Ltd

10-Mar-10

Aurox Resources Ltd

Blake Dawson

Atlas Iron Ltd

12-Mar-10

Lady Annie project

Advising seller: Freehills

China Sci-Tech Holdings Ltd

12-Feb-10

Macquarie Group Ltd (Fund Mangement Business)

Advising seller: Mallesons Stephen Jaques; Mayer Brown

Charter Hall Ltd

08-Feb-10

Tusker Gold Ltd

Barrick Gold Corporation

23-Feb-10

Australian Consolidated Insurance Limited

Lombard Group Limited

Notes:

Seller Company

Deal Value (AUDm) 2,001

Rio Tinto Plc

258

Linklaters

CTP Holdings Pte Ltd

196

140

Cape Lambert Iron Ore Ltd

135

Allens Arthur Robinson; Freehills

Macquarie Group Ltd

108

Clayton Utz

Indago Resources Ltd

80

70

Based on announced deals, including lapsed and withdrawn bids, from 6 February 2010 to 12 March 2010ǸBased on geography of either target, bidder or seller company being AustralasiaǸIncludes all deals valued over USD N 8IFSF EFBM WBMVF OPU EJTDMPTFE EFBM IBT CFFO FOUFSFE CBTFE PO UVSOPWFS PG UBSHFU FYDFFEJOH 64% Nt"DUJWJUJFT FYDMVEFE GSPN UBCMF JODMVEF QSPQFSUZ USBOTBDUJPOT BOE SFTUSVDUVSJOHT XIFSF UIF VMUJNBUF TIBSFIPMEFSTh JOUFSFTUT are not changedǸLeague tables are ranked by valueǸQ1 10 * = 1 January 2010 to 12 March 2010

League Table of Legal Advisors to Australasian M&A (Jan 01, 2010 - Mar 12, 2010)

League Table of Financial Advisors to Australasian M&A (Jan 01, 2010 - Mar 12, 2010) Value (AUDm)

Deal Count

1

Clayton Utz

2,994

6

1

Goldman Sachs

2,959

3

2

Freehills

2,427

5

2

Deloitte

2,026

4

3

Gilbert + Tobin

850

2

3=

JPMorgan

2,001

2

4

Linklaters

561

3

3=

Grant Samuel

2,001

1

5

NautaDutilh

365

1

5

365

1

6

Fasken Martineau

337

2

6

Macquarie Group

314

5

7

Fraser Milner Casgrain

312

1

7=

CIBC World Markets

312

1

8

Clifford Chance

200

3

7=

Genuity Capital Markets

312

1

9

WongPartnership

196

1

7=

TD Securities

312

1

10

DLA Piper

160

5

10=

AKUR Partners

196

1

10=

ING

196

1

Rank

House

Value (AUDm)

Deal Count

Rank

House

Leonardo & Co

Australasian M&A Activity - Quarterly Trends 200

80,000

180

70,000

140

50,000

120

40,000

100 80

30,000

60 20,000

40

10,000 0

Number of deals

60,000

Value (AUDm)

160

Value (AUDm) Volume

20

Q1 03

Q2 03

Q3 03

www.legalbusinessonline.com

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Q2 09

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Q4 09

Q1* 10

0

Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

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market data | capital markets >>

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Australasian Legal Business ISSUE 8.3

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