Israel has been, and continues to be, a highly desired market for foreigners to invest in. 2017 saw total Israeli exit transactions of approximately $23 billion, including Mobileye for $15.3bn. Though this is down in terms of volume, it is up in terms of value. This is perhaps an indicator that the Israeli market is …
EDF and Co-op overhaul panels Big six energy supplier EDF Energy has almost halved its external advisers in a panel review that cut the number of law firms from 14 to eight. CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) were added, while Baker McKenzie, Herbert Smith Freehills, Pinsent Masons, Eversheds Sutherland, …
Perhaps there are no better words than those above of Paulo Coelho, Brazilian author, to describe how to approach Latin America when exploring investment in the region for the first time. There has been a notable shift in traditional international investment to more exotic locations, where new opportunities meet new challenges. The term Latin America …
Continue reading ““Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.””
Vietnam is a wonderful country, full of wonderful people, with a rapidly developing economy that persistently grows at world-leading rates. Vietnam is also a fascinating, challenging, and rewarding legal jurisdiction for M&A lawyers. There are many things for which Vietnam has made itself noteworthy as a jurisdiction during the last 20 years, but sophisticated competition …
Continue reading “Developments in merger control rules in Vietnam”
To understand the importance of digital trust, particularly in the legal world, one doesn’t have to look far. Recent history is littered with examples of what can go wrong if that trust is misplaced. The most famous being the massive data breaches suffered by the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca and the offshore firm Appleby, …
A lively debate over coffee recently with Axiom founder Mark Harris took me back to the discussion that manifests most frequently in my line of work these days: the extent that legal services are transforming with new providers and tools. While Harris highlights many genuine changes in the industry and buying behaviour we disagree on …
The In-House Lawyer profiles some of the start-ups bringing a fresh perspective to the legal tech industry Daniel van Binsbergen, Lexoo, LB282, May 2018 Daniel van Binsbergen, Lexoo Apperio Founded: 2012 (as Legal Tender) Team size: 17 Investment raised: £3.4m Leaders: Chief executive Nicholas d’Adhemar Key clients: Dentons, Network Rail, Deliveroo, Octopus Investments …
Class actions represent a growing area of risk for UK corporates, with increasing numbers of high-profile and high-value group claims being brought, or threatened to be brought, in the English courts. The principal mechanism used to litigate these claims differs from the ‘opt-out’ class action familiar from the US, where claimants who fall within a …
In a quiet east London street off the bustling Brick Lane, a few doors from a sign tagged ‘Vegan Hair Salon’ is a co-working space. You meet Gaz, the office’s bulldog, and work among Star Wars figurines, gaming consoles and an electric drum kit.
Clichés abound over the stereotypical contrast between stuffy lawyers and progressive tech start-up gurus. Clearly law firms – whose liberal and often misplaced use of the term ‘innovation’ often adds fuel to the fire – have plenty of work to do. At the same time, some clients are far more insistent on innovation from their …
Storyteller. Ninja. Scrum Master. Brand Champion. Evangelist. The modern commercial world has created many new genres of work, but sometimes it’s hard to know what they mean. As the London School of Economics’ headline-grabbing anthropologist David Graeber once wrote, ‘It’s as if someone were out there making up pointless jobs just for the sake of …
To kick off the debate, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) M&A partner Stephen Wilkinson introduced guest speaker Tom White, head of Europe at Global Counsel – who has over a decade of experience working for the UK Government primarily on EU single market negotiations – to give an overview of where the UK is, both in …