LAWYER OF THE YEAR |
FROM up-and-coming dealmakers to City stalwarts, our shortlisted lawyers represent the vast pool of legal talent that London has to offer both domestic companies and those from further afield.
Our diverse list may appear difficult to compare at first glance, but with their combined talents they represent a group of people who’ve made the most of a tricky business environment – finding opportunities for their clients and negotiating the vast and unknown waters of incoming regulation, both domestic and international.
EDWARD BIBKO,
BAKER & MCKENZIE
A genuine rising star in the lucrative emerging markets sector, Edward Bibko has positioned himself at the forefront of cross border transactions in the City over recent years.
Appointed head of BakerMac’s European capital markets group last year, a snapshot of recent work includes advice to Russian, Turkish, Polish, Qatari, Egyptian, and Kazakh clients – a who’s who of the emerging markets world. Having led the team advising Exillon on its London float in 2009 – the first Russian firm to list in London, Bibko has kept his thumb on the pulse of the IPO market ever since, recently acting for Qatari Aamal on its planned London listing. Though the market may be struggling right now, we’ve no doubt who’ll be leading the charge once it returns.
DAVID CHEYNE,
LINKLATERS
One of the most respected voices in the City’s legal market, it’s no exaggeration to say that when David Cheyne steps down as Linklaters’ senior partner in September, it’ll mark the end of an era at the magic circle firm.
Regularly described as “dynamic and inspirational” by colleagues, Cheyne also has a reputation for his tough and uncompromising style – as head of corporate at the firm from 2000-05 he led a radical reshuffle of the department and upped revenues by 12 per cent in a year.
His tenure as senior partner may have been characterised by a quieter approach, but there’s no doubt that Cheyne remains one of the last of the City’s true corporate legends: incoming senior partner Rob Elliot has some big shoes to fill.
MARIA DA CUNHA,
BRITISH AIRWAYS
When International Airlines Group listed on the London Stock Exchange on 24 January this year, it marked the culmination of almost two years of work for BA general counsel Maria Da Cunha, who became general counsel at the company in April 2009.
Though the merger may have dominated her inbox since she took the top job (and longer still, since she’s been at the airline since 2000), Da Cunha is likely to be even busier in coming months, having recently expanded her role to include employee relations.
With managing relationships with various trade unions now a key part of her role, Da Cunha will be an even more vital piece of the BA jigsaw puzzle going forward, and is a worthy addition to our shortlist.
STEPHEN GRIFFIN,
LINKLATERS
Stephen Griffin may have only been a partner at Linklaters since 2007, but his relationship with key client BP has meant his star has risen quickly at a firm full of corporate talent. His work for the oil giant has certainly kept him busy since last year including leading the team advising on its £4.4bn joint venture with Reliance Industries, one of the largest-ever foreign direct investments into India.
But it’s Griffin’s work for BP’s Russian joint venture TNK-BP that’s really thrown him into the spotlight this year, no doubt helped by the five months he spent seconded in Moscow as a Linklaters trainee.
Griffin led the Linklaters team advising on the £1.1bn sale by BP of Venezuelan and Vietnamese assets to TNK-BP, and worked on the saga of the alliance with Rosneft – one of the most gripping legal stories of the year.
SIR NIGEL KNOWLES,
DLA PIPER
As the architect of DLA Piper’s ambitious expansion plans, Knowles’ leadership since 1996 has seen him steer the firm through a series of mergers to take DLA from a largely UK presence to become the world’s largest law firm by headcount.
His latest endeavour – the merger with DLA Fox Phillips in Australia – was agreed in January this year, with Knowles taking a hands-on role in the partner briefings that followed, with firm-wide approval coming in late February.
Knighted for services to the legal profession in 2009, Knowles has refused to take his foot off the pedal in all of his fifteen years at the top of DLA, cementing his place as one of the City’s true entrepreneurial spirits and a pioneer of the law firm as a business – a rare accolade in an industry often dominated by tradition.