#5 The Legal Profession This Week - Countercyclical Practice Areas​


By Violet O'Gorman​

Various law firms have reported strong revenue performances and profits per equity partner for the last financial year, with Latham & Watkins reporting a 15% increase in revenue, Sidley Austin “report[ing] double-digit growth for their City operations in 2020, hiking London revenue 10 per cent” (The Lawyer), and Morrison & Foerster reporting that its London revenue has increased by 22% over the past year.

Firms with a balance of litigation and transactional practices appear to have performed well over the past year. This may be due to the rise of disputes arising as a result of Covid-19 uncertainty in the first part of 2020, whilst demand for advice on deals picked up in the latter part of last year, and early 2021.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is the latest in a series of law firms that has announced its intention to bring in an agile working policy. The policy is set to allow UK employees to work from home up to half of the time, and it will be based on client and business demands. The move was the result of feedback from workers, who wanted “more flexibility but also recognise[d] the importance of in-person interaction” (The Lawyer). Due to the decision, the firm is expecting to invest in more “technological support and equipment improvements to ensure the productivity of its workforce” (The Lawyer).

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

Various law firms, including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Bird & Bird, Clifford Chance, Linklaters and DLA Piper (Law.com) are advising on the proposed acquisition of a £365 million stake in the Six Nations Championship by private equity giant CVC Capital Partners. This equates to a 14% stake in the championships, “while the rugby unions of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales will retain the other 86% of the business” (Law.com). For CVC, this deal would be an addition to its sports portfolio, with the firm having previously invested in Premiership Rugby and the International Volleyball Federation.

Freshfields is acting for CVC on the acquisition, whilst Bird & Bird is advising Six Nations. Individual unions are being advised by various firms too; Dickson Minto is advising the Scottish Rugby Union, Linklaters is advising the Welsh Rugby Union, DLA Piper is advising England’s Rugby Football Union, and Clifford Chance’s Paris office is advising the French Fédération Française de Rugby, on the deal.

Law firm RPC has announced the proposed sale of its insurance software and consulting business RPC Tyche, which it acquired in 2015, to US cloud computing firm QOMPLX. RPC Tyche “specialises in financial modelling and insurance technology” (Law.com), and operates in hubs including London, Cambridge, Paris and Chicago. This makes it a good fit for QOMPLX, which specialises in risk analytics for insurance and cybersecurity (Law.com). Law firm King & Spalding is advising QOMPLX on the transaction, whilst Allen & Overy is reportedly acting for RPC (Law.com). RPC’s move to sell a consulting arm whilst various other law firms are focusing on expanding their consultancy offering for clients is an interesting one – but this move will perhaps enable RPC to focus on other growth areas instead.