‘It was fun’ says senior lawyer as he leaves legal profession

‘It was fun’ says senior lawyer as he leaves legal profession
A former managing partner of Allen & Overy in China says he had fun working in the legal profession but is forging a new life as a “late staged entrepreneur.”

Simon Black was most recently a partner in the Tokyo office but was with the firm for more than 25 years in total, most of it in Asia including Hong Kong and Shanghai.

He left the firm last month and is now dividing his time between a battery storage business and a legal technology company.

In a blog post on LinkedIn, Black said his time in Big Law has been “fulfilling and fun” and paid tribute to the colleagues and clients he has worked with over his two decades in the region.

He said that he cannot really remember two transactions being similar, so his time in the profession was never tedious.

Global law firm owed 7-figure sum by collapsed PR company
Herbert Smith Freehills has been named as one of the largest creditors of a collapsed public relations firm.

PR Week says that the global law firm is owed almost £1 million (AU$1.72 million) by the UK business of Bell Pottinger which went into administration in September.

The failure of the firm followed controversy regarding work for a business associated of South African president Jacob Zuma which led to racial tension in the country. HSF was commissioned for a report into the company’s activities in South Africa.

HSF will be lucky to get its payment as Bell Pottinger’s debts run to several million pounds.

The Singapore-based Asian arm of Bell Pottinger is a separate legal entity and has distanced itself from its failed parent by rebranding to Klareco Communications.

CMS advises Macquarie Group unit on novel Nordic project
International law firm CMS has advised Green Investment Group Limited, part of Australian-headquartered Macquarie Group, and GE Energy Financial Services, in a landmark onshore windfarm project.

The two firms were joint sponsors in the acquisition and project financing of 650MW of onshore wind through the Markbygden ETT wind farm in Northern Sweden.

CMS energy finance partner Nicholas Ross-McCall led the team from London.

“We are delighted and privileged to have advised GE and Macquarie on this complex and landmark transaction, which sets a number of firsts in terms of the financing structure, lender group, WTG technology and project documents,” Ross McCall said.