Non-Billable

⚖️ Osborne Clarke partner Ashley Hurst has been found guilty of misconduct by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) in the SRA’s closely-watched case against him. On Friday, the tribunal fined Hurst £50,000 and ordered him to pay £260,000 in costs. Hurst was accused of trying to silence tax investigator (and former head of tax at Clifford Chance) Dan Neidle who was probing OC client and former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs. The tribunal found that an email sent from Hurst improperly tried to restrict Neidle’s right to publish the email or discuss its contents in breach of the Solicitors’ Code of Conduct. This was the SDT’s first case involving an alleged SLAPP - but the tribunal said that Hurst’s actions did not in fact amount to a SLAPP. SLAPPs are strategic lawsuits against public participation. Often involving allegations of defamation, they’re typically used to try and silence criticism or investigative reporting of powerful figures. The SRA says they are a misuse of the legal system and the regulator is increasingly trying to crack down on their use.

🍾 Latham, Simpson Thacher and Paul Weiss have advised on one of the last big-ticket European private equity deals of the year. US private equity giant Carlyle has sold Italian component maker Forgital Group to fellow buyout house Stonepeak. The deal values Forgital at around €1.5bn including debt, according to reports. Latham advised Carlyle with a corporate deal team led by Milan partner Stefano Sciolla. On the buy-side, Simpson Thacher advised Stonepeak on the corporate aspects, with a cross-office team led by London M&A partner Paul Foote and New York partner Eli Hunt. Paul Weiss advised Stonepeak on the financing aspects, led by corporate partners Matthew Merkle, Eric Wedel, and star player Neel Sachdev. 

🚨 Simmons & Simmons has won a major victory for client BT. The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has dismissed the £1.3bn class action claim against the telecoms giant. First filed in 2021, the claim alleged that BT had overcharged its landline customers and sought compensation for more than 3 million claimants. In its judgment, the CAT found that the overall prices charged by BT “were not unfair, and therefore there was no abuse of dominant position”. There was therefore no breach of competition law. The case is notable as it is the first to reach trial since the so-called ‘opt-out’ collective action regime was introduced in the UK under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. That allowed US-style class actions for competition law claims to be brought in the UK for the first time. Simmons defended BT with a team led by disputes head Patrick Boylan. Mishcon represented the claimants.

🚨 Simpson Thacher has hit US rival Sidley for two high-profile leveraged finance partners. Bryan Robson, co-head of Sidley’s leveraged finance practice in London, and William Gwyn, a partner since 2022, are making the move. Both are ex-Kirkland. The duo will strengthen Simpson Thacher's sponsor-side capability on private equity mandates. On the corporate side, the firm already has one of London’s best private equity practices. It’s been busy recently, notably on deals for private equity giant EQT. The team advised EQT on its £4bn buyout of UK smart meter provider Calisen this month, and also on its £2.2bn buyout of London-listed video games company Keywords Studios in July.

🚨 Clifford Chance has named employment partner Chinwe Odimba-Chapman as its new London managing partner. She succeeds current London boss Michael Bates, who held the role for seven years. Odimba-Chapman joined CC in 2002 and was made partner in 2018. She currently serves as the firm's global people and talent partner. Global managing partner Charles Adams said: "I would like to congratulate Chinwe on her new role and would like to again thank Michael Bates for successfully leading our UK business for seven years to its current strong and market-leading position."

🚨 DAC Beachcroft has its sights set on the US. The top-25 firms says it will launch in the US in the new year with a team of 30 and offices in New York and LA. It says it will bring together insurance-focused teams from two US firms to launch the practice. The US launch is part of an international expansion drive by DAC Beachcroft. The firm opened in Hong Kong in September, landed in Peru in May, and boosted its footprint in Chile just last week. It had a solid year financially in 2023/24. Revenue was up 9% to £326.5 million, while profits jumped 15%.

🍾 Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP has advised Canal+ on its £2.5bn IPO on the London Stock Exchange. The media company's shares were admitted to trading on the main market yesterday (Monday). The float was the result of a breakup of French media group Vivendi which saw Canal+ spin-off into a separate entity. At £2.5bn, the listing is easily London’s biggest IPO of 2024 and the biggest since Haleon's spin-out from GSK in 2022. It also stands out as one of the first IPOs under the FCA's new listing regime, introduced this summer. Cleary advised Canal+ from both its London and Paris offices. The team was led by London partners Nick Rumsby and Chrishan Raja, and Paris partners Marie-Laurence Tibi and John B.. White & Case LLP acted for Barclays and BNP Paribas as joint sponsors.

🇮🇪 Big news brewing in the Irish legal market. Eversheds Sutherland's Irish arm is reportedly in early talks with WILLIAM FRY LLP - one of Ireland’s biggest firms - over a potential tie-up. The deal would see Eversheds' lawyers join William Fry in a move that would create a new powerhouse in Ireland. Eversheds Sutherland Ireland is thought to have around 100 practising lawyers. Ireland's significance as a legal market is continuing to grow thanks to the presence of a number of huge US multinationals in the country - Google, Meta and Microsoft all site their European HQs in Dublin. Financial institutions have also expanded their operations in Ireland since Brexit. 

📈 Three of Sidley Austin's London lawyers have been promoted to partner. The trio are part of a record 38-strong promotion round for Sidley, and the only lawyers who made the cut outside of the US. The new London partners are: Chris Boyle - Life Sciences and Healthcare Dhevine Chandrapala - Restructuring Christopher Lock - Global Arbitration Sidley is on an expansion drive in London - largely via lateral hires (it's poached 18 finance lawyers from rival Latham in London this year). Its London office broke $200 million in revenue for the first time in 2023. The office marked its 50th birthday this year.

🚨 Litigation funders are warning that government inaction on funding rules is pushing business elsewhere. Since the Supreme Court's ‘PACCAR’ decision last year - which held that many funding agreements are unenforceable - funders have been treading carefully to stay within the law. But the uncertainty is having a material impact on the industry. Neil Purslow, chair of the International Legal Finance Association, told The Times that funders were choosing more favourable jurisdictions to bring claims, while Christopher Bogart, CEO of litigation funder Burford Capital, said that his firm had already moved work from London to Paris, Singapore and New York. The previous government introduced a bill to reverse the PACCAR decision but Labour has parked it until a review is completed next year. Times article link in the comments.