Thursday, September 16

Linklaters

Linklaters profile.


Linklaters
Linklaters
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
No. of offices26
No. of attorneys2,500
Major practice areasGeneral practice
Revenue▲ ₤1.12 billion
Date founded1838 (London)
Company TypeLLP
WebsiteLinklaters.com
The Linklaters LLP is a law firm, which advises business organisations and public entities on transactional and litigation matters. Linklaters has 26 offices in 19 countries, and is one of the five members of the "Magic Circle" of leading English law firms. Over the past decade, Linklaters has undergone a transformation from an English law firm to one of the world's largest multinational law firms. Today, Linklaters has around 500 partners and 2,000 qualified lawyers, more than 60% of whom are based outside the UK.
It is the world's largest law firm by revenues (2009 figures). On 1 May, 2007, Linklaters converted to a Limited Liability Partnership.
Most recently Linklaters has been in the news as the firm appointed to handle the insolvency of the Lehman Brothers companies.  The court appointed auditor's report on Lehman revealed in March of 2010 that Lehman, with no U.S. law firm willing to approve aggressive accounting practices used to hide debt, took advantage of a difference in treatment between English and New York law, and then found Linklaters willing to sign off on the practice so long as the "Repo 105" transactions moved through London. . There is no suggestion Linklaters acted unethically or improperly 


History

Linklaters was founded in 1838 as Dods & Linklater. In 1920, the firm merged with Paine, Blyth & Huxtable, creating Linklaters & Paines.
Ten years ago[when?], Linklaters was predominantly an English law firm with small domestic operations in a number of overseas jurisdictions (Brussels, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Moscow, New York City, Paris, Singapore, and Tokyo). In 1996, the firm pursued a strategy of global expansion to meet the increasing demand for premium, multi-jurisdictional legal advice. Since then, it has built a formidable global practice through organic growth and a series of mergers and joint ventures.
In 1998, Linklaters & Alliance was formed with four other European law firms: De Bandt, van Hecke, Lagae & Loesch; De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek; Lagerlöf & Leman, and Oppenhoff & Rädler.
Over the next five years Linklaters merged with three of these firms in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and Sweden, as well as merging with firms in the Czech Republic and Poland and opening offices in Amsterdam, Bangkok, Beijing, Budapest, Bucharest, Bratislava, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Rome, São Paulo, and Shanghai.
During this period, Linklaters formed a joint venture with the premier Singapore practice, Allen & Gledhill, to create Linklaters Allen & Gledhill, and a co-operation with Brazilian firm Lefosse Advogados.
On April 1, 2005, when new laws came into effect in Japan, permitting multi-national partnerships, Linklaters created Japan’s first fully-merged law firm practising Japanese, English, and US law, meaning that Linklaters found itself among the few global firms in Japan who can provide international and domestic advice from a single source.
Linklaters closed its offices in Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest and Prague in 2007.
Linklaters opened an office in Dubai in February 2006, as its 30th office worldwide.

Main practice areas

Chambers & Partners ranks Linklaters as a top-tier performer in more than 50 practices—more than any other law firm.
Banking
Capital Markets
Competition / Antitrust
Corporate / Mergers & Acquisitions
Employment & Incentives
Environment & Climate Change
Financial Regulation
Insurance
Intellectual Property
Investment Management
Litigation & Arbitration
Pensions
Private Equity
Projects
Real Estate & Construction
Tax
Technology, Media & Telecommunications
Within these practice areas, the firm represents a number of high profile clients. For example, previous clients include Goldman Sachs, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, BAE Systems, Deloitte & Touche and ScottishPower.

Sectors

Linklaters has 20 sector groups operating on the same global basis as its practice area support.
Automotive
Banks
Chemicals
Energy and Utilities
Food & Beverages
Forestry, Paper & Packaging
Healthcare
Industrials
Infrastructure and Construction
Insurance
Investment Managers
IT& Business Services
Media & Leisure
Mining
Private Equity
Real Estate
Retail
Sovereign Wealth Funds
Telecoms
Transport& Logistics
"New World" strategy

Linklaters cut 270 jobs in London, January 2008, in the aftermath of the credit crunch; consisting of around 120 lawyers and 150 business services provider.. This was claimed to be part of Simon Davies, Managing Partner's plan to become a smaller, profitable organisation.
Lehman brothers controversy

Linklaters advised Lehman that a "Repo 105" arrangement to hide $50 billion of loan obligations was legal under UK law, despite Lehman having been unable to receive an opinion from an adviser in America that the move was legal under US law. Linklaters has not been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to its advice to Lehman. 

Linklaters Blue Flag - Online Services

Online subscription products for compliance workers at corporates and financial institutions. Linklaters Blue Flag was established in 1996, it was highlighted that clients had a need for ‘standard’ legal information which could be captured on-line in a database format. There are 5 core online information products, covering jurisdictions in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and the Americas:

Shareholding Disclosure
Linklaters Blue Flag Shareholding Disclosure supports companies and financial institutions that face the challenge of having to comply with detailed shareholding disclosure rules.

Regulatory
Linklaters Blue Flag Regulatory is designed as a cross-border legal risk management tool for legal and compliance professionals working in the financial services sector.

Funds
Linklaters Blue Flag Funds assists in the development of appropriate marketing strategies for the cross-border promotion of funds and the conduct business.

Derivatives
Linklaters Blue Flag Derivatives provides information on the risks involved and the steps required for effective counterparty due diligence on derivatives transactions.
All of the above are updated quarterly and e-mail news alerts are sent to subscribers as and when significant changes occur.

Basel 2 Global Alert Service
Linklaters Blue Flag Basel 2 Global Alert Service is an electronic update service that is designed to assist banks in their compliance with the new Basel 2 credit risk mitigation legal review requirement.

Linklaters Blue Flag also offers three e-Learning courses:
Competition/Antitrust e-Learning Course
Data Protection e-Learning course
Market Abuse e-Learning course
Blue Flag e-Learning courses are available in several languages, can be linked in with an LMS system and customised to fit with the clients brand guidelines.

Awards

At the 2008 ALB SE Asia Law Awards, Linklaters was awarded:
Deal of the Year - Structured Finance & Securitisation Deal of the Year
Deal of the Year - SE Asia M&A Deal of the Year
Deal of the Year - SE Asia Deal of the Year
AT the 2008 ALB China Law Awards, Linklaters was awarded:
Deal of the Year - International Dealmaker of the Year
In 2008 Linklaters was awarded Deal of the Year - Debt Market Deal of the Year at the 2008 ALB Japan Law Awards. They were also awarded Deal of the Year - M&A Deal of the Year at the 2008 ALB Hong Kong Law Awards.






(source:wikipedia)
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