#22 The Legal Profession This Week: Mishcon's Disciplinary Hearing and New Legal Operations Graduate Programmes​

By Dheepa M​
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Summoning Mishcon

Mishcon De Reya (Mishcon) is facing a hearing at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal following an investigation into alleged accounting issues. According to The Lawyer, the investigation concerns an incident from over a decade ago where the firm allegedly failed to prevent payments from being made to and from a client account. The investigation comes at an unfortunate time for Mishcon as it prepares for its initial public offering (IPO).

Listed companies are held to strict transparency accountability standards and must disclose accurate financial information to investors. Allegations surrounding a mishandling of accounts may cause a drop in market confidence and share price valuation later on.

Legal Operations Graduate Programmes

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Slaughter and May have both recently announced the launch of their respective legal operations graduate programmes. While there is no specific information on the HSF scheme yet, the Slaughter and May programme involves rotations in the firm's business intelligence and project management teams. According to HSF’s Director of Legal Operations, there is an increasing demand for an operations skill set specific to the legal industry. The area brings law firms and their clients together through “the common challenges and opportunities for efficiency and service improvement.” These comments highlight that in an increasingly competitive market this is yet another way firms are attempting to differentiate themselves in providing value for their clients.

‘Business as usual’ – the notable deals and cases which went ahead this week:

Magic Circle duo Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Freshfields) are advising on the £6.3bn acquisition of the FTSE 250 aerospace company Meggitt. Meggitt is being acquired by US based Parker-Hannifin as part of the company’s bid to strengthen its position in the aerospace industry (Bloomberg.com). Slaughter and May is advising Meggitt on corporate and competition matters while Freshfields is advising Parker-Hannifin.

For years now, the UK steel industry has been struggling to survive. This week, Addleshaw Goddard and Simmons & Simmons successfully advised Sheffield Forgemasters on its £2.6m acquisition by the Ministry of Defence. The Lawyer reports that a large number of law firms have previously been involved in rescue deals for UK steel companies. In 2019, Clifford Chance advised British Steel on its acquisition by Chinese conglomerate Jingye Group. Jingye Group was advised by Linklaters on the matter while Ashurst acted for the UK Government’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (The Lawyer.)