Law firm highlights (October 2020)

• Norton Rose Fulbright announced that Gerry Pecht has assumed the role of Global Chief Executive of Norton Rose Fulbright, effective October 1, 2020. Pecht succeeds Peter Martyr, who led Norton Rose and then Norton Rose Fulbright since 2002. On assuming his role, Pecht has introduced a new global management structure and team. The team will be composed of five senior executives roles: chief client officer Jane Caskey; chief operating officer Rob Otty; chief strategic alignment, innovation and people officer Wayne Spanner; chief information officer and head of shared services Ann-Michele Bowlin; and chief of marketing and communications Laura Shumiloff. Two of the roles – chief client officer and chief strategic alignment, innovation and people officer – are new and designed to reinforce the firm’s focus on delivering client service excellence and aligning its people across its global platform. Pecht, who was elected global chief executive in August, said, “In assuming this important role, I am committed to making a positive impact for our people, our clients and our communities. I have assembled a talented, multinational executive management team to help lead our firm. This management team is diverse in its gender and geographies. Our new global management structure and team will ensure we have a clear focus on the most significant areas for our firm: serving our clients, supporting our people and delivering our vision. Together, we will focus on maximizing the benefits of our global platform and providing superior client service with our diverse teams who understand our clients and can deliver innovative solutions.”
• Clyde & Co has opened an associated office in Nairobi, Kenya. Clyde & Co’s association with Kenyan firm Kangwana & Co complements its three existing Africa offices and further expands its “on the ground” presence in East Africa. Operating as “Kangwana in association with Clyde & Co”, the association will see the firms work together, refer work to one another, and provide a more integrated service for existing clients in the East Africa region and globally. Led by managing partner Jared Kangwana Jr., Kangwana & Co is a full-service commercial law firm with experience and expertise in key segments of the Kenyan economy. Working closely with specialists in Clyde & Co’s other regional offices, the Kenya associated office will advise clients on a broad range of corporate & commercial issues, with a particular focus on projects and construction, corporate/M&A, insurance and dispute resolution. The association builds on Clyde & Co’s reputation as a leading international law firm in Africa where it has an existing operation of over 100 professionals based full time in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam. Clyde & Co is considered by many to be one of the leading insurance firms in South Africa. The association is effective as of October 1, 2020. In the past 18 months, Clyde & Co has expanded internationally with presences in Chile and Dublin.
• Akin Gump has announced that, effective September 20, 2020, the firm has moved into new office space in ICD Brookfield Place in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The DIFC was the location for Akin Gump’s first office in the UAE in 2007. The office’s new address is ICD Brookfield Place, Level 10, Al Mustaqbal Street, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Akin Gump Dubai partner in charge, Mahmoud (Mac) Fadlallahcommented, “In 2007, the DIFC licensed Akin Gump as the first U.S. law firm in what has since become one of the world’s leading financial free zones. This move marks the next exciting chapter for the firm in its original UAE home. We look forward to welcoming our clients and colleagues in what will make an ideal office environment both now and in the future.” Akin Gump’s Dubai office advises public and private sector clients across a range of practice areas including: energy, oil and gas, antibribery and anticorruption, sanctions, export controls and other compliance and investigations matters, debt and equity capital markets, Islamic and conventional finance, corporate M&A, public policy, investment funds and dispute resolution, as well as construction and engineering, cybersecurity, entertainment and other economic activity in the region.
• Clyde & Co has announced a new global private prosecutions service for businesses and individuals as part of its Regulatory & Investigations Group. Private prosecutions, which are criminal prosecutions brought by an individual or a company rather than a public prosecutor, can be raised in relation to a broad range of offences, including fraud, intellectual property and trademark infringements and regulatory offences. They offer businesses a greater amount of control over proceedings, a faster resolution in comparison with public prosecutions, and an approach better tailored to their specific needs. The offering will draw on Clyde & Co’s strong multi-jurisdictional team of litigators and advocates with experience in civil and criminal proceedings, defending and prosecuting, both on behalf of the state and regulators – and complementing the firm’s existing offerings in relation to claimant related civil fraud. The team is aided by the firm’s in-house forensic accountants, investigators and business intelligence department based in the UK which can research open source material and uncover valuable information, as well as its close working relationships with a number of world leading forensic accounting and asset tracing firms. The assembled team has a global reach, with experts based in the UK, Canada, Dubai, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. A number of lawyers behind the offering have worked as prosecutors and regulators in previous roles, including Charles Kuhn, Keith Geurts, David Leckie, Matthew Shanahan, Matthew Lam and Katy Fisher. Clyde & Co’s Regulatory & Investigations Group helps clients build resilience against increasingly complex regulation, both locally and internationally, providing cross-border and multi-jurisdictional support to ensure they achieve and maintain compliance across their organisation. The group has the experience and knowledge to bolster compliance in established regulatory frameworks, and the capability to provide rapid, detailed responses to new regulations and legal requirements.
• Kennedys continues to grow in the EMEA region they have joined with partners and staff of former associate firm Zelichov, Ben-Dan & Co to create a brand-new Kennedys office in Israel. It becomes the firm’s 40th office globally and second new office to open this year. Zelichov, Ben-Dan & Co, one of Israel’s leading insurance law firm, has had an association with Kennedys since November 2018. The move will see Kennedys become the first global law firm to open in Israel with local lawyers practising Israeli law. Former Zelichov and new Kennedys Israel managing partner Zvika Zelichov, partners Chaim Zelichov, Yaron Ben-Dan, Inbal Atias and their team of 14 act for many global and domestic insurers, risk management companies, government organisations and healthcare providers. They specialise in disputes relating to construction and engineering, energy, cyber, D&O, motor, employers’ liability, product liability, professional liability, public liability, medical malpractice, property damage and, recently, COVID-19-related matters. The team have experience in local Israeli insurance related and commercial arbitrations, as well as handling arbitrations in international institutions such as The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and The London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). The new officewill continue to be based in Herzliya, part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan district.