Independent Law Firms Forum 2010 - Speakers
Conference chairman
John Malpas, editor-in-chief and publisher, Legal Week
John was previously editor of Legal Week and was a senior member
of the team that launched the magazine in 1999. Now in its tenth year,
Legal Week is one of the UK’s leading business magazines and remains
the only legal title to have won the coveted PPA Weekly Business and
Professional Magazine of the Year award, an accolade it has secured twice. In
2007, following Incisive Media’s acquisition of American Lawyer Media, Legal
Week joined forces with The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, law.com and a
host of other top legal magazines and newspapers. John is now working closely
with his colleagues in the UK and the US to secure Incisive Legal’s status as
the world’s premier legal publisher.
Speakers
Marc Blom, chairman, NautaDutilh, Netherlands
Marc specialises in banking and securities law. Marc assists banks in banking
and securities litigation, especially prospectus liability litigation. He also
advises banks and other organisations on financing transactions and Tier 1
capital raising transactions, clearing and settlement systems and the custody of
securities. He has advised and drafted legal opinions on the netting and set-off
provisions of the IFEMA and ISDA master agreements.
Des Cahill, director of research, Legal Week Intelligence,
UK
Des is an Oxford law graduate who qualified as a US
Attorney in New York and as an English solicitor before working as a journalist
for Legal Week. He worked for Slaughter and May, Linklaters and Dewey
Ballantine. He became Director of Research in 2005 and analyses the research
findings for law firms in a series of management presentations.
Luis de Carlos, managing partner, Uría Menéndez, Spain
Luis de Carlos has been managing partner of Uría Menéndez together with José
María Segovia since November 2005. He joined the firm in 1983 and became a
partner in 1991. Luis headed up the Barcelona office between 1993 and 1995 and
was responsible for the firm’s professional practice until he was named Managing
Partner. Luis has extensive experience in capital markets and also regularly
advises on corporate governance, M&A, banking and corporate law matters. The
main international legal directories consider Luis the leading lawyer in Spain
for capital markets work.
Jan Hofkens, managing partner, Lydian, Belgium
Jan Hofkens is partner at Belgian independent law firm Lydian. He represents
both companies and executives in the full range of employment counselling and
transactions, with a special focus on company restructurings, negotiation of
severance packages and drafting of HR policies. He is often involved in cases of
employee fraud and is therefore also a Registered Forensic Auditor at the
Belgian Institute for Forensic Auditors.
Alex Holtum, director, International Law Firm Solutions, UK
Alex Holtum is a director of International Law Firm Solutions (ILFS) a company
that specialises in helping independent law firms develop the international part
of their business. Before founding ILFS in 2005 Alex practised as a solicitor in
the UK for 15 years. During that time he worked for Freshfields for 2 years,
Reed Smith Richards Butler for 4 years and was a partner at DLA Piper for 5
years. After obtaining an MBA from one of Europe's leading business schools he
became a director/internal consultant of the co-ordination and support centre
for an international network of law firms consisting of over 3,000 lawyers and
50 law firms in as many countries.
John Kettle, partner, Mason Hayes + Curran, Ireland
A graduate of Trinity College Dublin and Oxford University, John is the London
resident partner of Mason Hayes+Curran. His legal practice focuses on Irish
competition and regulated industries. He is currently chair of the IBA's Public
Law Committee.
Filip Klavins, managing partner, Klavins & Slaidins LAWIN,
Latvia
Filip K. Klavins is a co-founder and managing partner at Klavins & Slaidins
LAWIN. Being a USA attorney of Latvian descent, he began practicing law in
Latvia in 1992. LAWIN are recognised as leaders in the region providing legal
assistance on the most complex and high value projects in the Baltic States.
Peter Lakatos, founding partner, Lakatos, Köves & Partners,
Hungary
Dr. Péter Lakatos started his career in law at Köves & Társai Ügyvédi Iroda
in 1991. He became a partner of Clifford Chance in 1996. Between 2006 and 2009
he was the managing partner of Clifford Chance's Budapest office. From 2009 he
is the founder and managing partner of Lakatos, Köves and Partners Ügyvédi
Iroda.
Christoph Lindinger, managing partner, Schoenherr, Austria
Christoph has been Managing Partner of Schoenherr since 2001. Under his
leadership the firm has expanded into one of the top law firms in Central Europe
with unmatched coverage of the region. Christoph is also still active as M&A
lawyer where he represents Austrian and international corporates, mainly in
transactional work across the region. He is a graduate of the University of
Salzburg (Dr.iur. 1984) and, since 1991, a member of the Vienna Bar. He speaks
German and English.
Filipe Lowndes Marques, partner, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles,
Soares da Silva, Portugal
Filipe Lowndes Marques is a partner in the Banking and Finance group of Morais
Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva, with experience in the area of project
finance and securitisation. He is licensed to practice law in Portugal and in
England, is a director of the British Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and is vice
chair of the Lex Mundi Bank Finance and Regulation Practice Group.
Charles Martin, senior partner, Macfarlanes, UK
Charles Martin is Senior Partner of Macfarlanes and an M&A and private
equity lawyer. He is responsible for a number of the firm’s private equity
client relationships including Alchemy Partners, Lyceum Capital Partners and
Vision Capital. He writes regularly on private equity related issues.
Roger Nightingale, economist
He was educated first at Keele University and then at UCL. He has Bachelors
degrees in Pure Maths and Economics, and a Masters in Statistics.
After leaving the academic world, he worked initially for Hoare Govett. Joining
the company in 1968 as a research economist, he had become a member of the main
board by 1982.
In 1988, after big bang, he set up his own consultancy, serving investment
clients in Europe the Americas and Asia. He also joined a small number of
companies in a non-executive role.
He became a well-known commentator on the global economy and international
securities scene. A frequent guest on TV networks such as Bloomberg, Cnbc, Fox
News and CNN, he wrote regularly for a number of newspapers, magazines and
in-house periodicals.
His speaking career began many years ago—as a by-product of his broking
activities. Presenting initially to clients, he was invited later to address
wider audiences. Before long, he found he’d become a member of the “Conference
Circuit.” These days, he speaks at more than 20-30 events a year.
Vittorio Noseda, managing partner, NCTM
Specialises in mergers and acquisitions and ICT matters. Advises leading
national and multinational groups in M&A, JV and other extraordinary
business transactions.
Education: LL.M. in Business Transactions and International Taxation, McGeorge
School of Law, University of the Pacific, Sacramento, CA. 1989; Diploma of
Advanced International Studies, University of the Pacific in co-operation with
the University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria (November 1988); J.D., University
of Milan, magna cum laude, 1987.
Pedro Pais de Almeida, partner, Abreu Advogados, Portugal
Pedro Pais de Almeida, Partner with Abreu Advogados since 2008, concluded a law
degree from Lisbon’s University Lusíada in 1990. In 1996, he concluded post
graduate studies in Taxation at Instituto Superior de Gestão in Lisbon. Pedro is
recognized by the Portuguese Bar Association as a specialist in Tax Law.
Fernando Quicios, partner, Perez–Llorca, Spain
Fernando is focused on local and cross-border financing matters. In the current
Spanish economic scenario, Fernando has taken part in a number of re-structuring
and pre-insolvency deals. He also has experience in mergers and acquisitions,
both public and private.
Ari-Pekka Saanio, partner, Borenius & Kemppinen, Finland
Ari-Pekka Saanio is a partner at Borenius & Kempinen, one of the largest
business law firms in Finland, and active in the firm's Transactions practice
group. Ari-Pekka was in charge of the firm's brand and marketing development for
many years during which the firm grew fast in size and recognition, including
creation of a joint brand platform for the firm and its Baltic partners.
Charles Vernon, managing partner, Vernon|David, Romania
Charles, a U.S. citizen and a member of the Virginia Bar (1991), graduated from
Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, Georgia (May 1990), and earned his
Masters degree (Honours) in Modern History with International Relations from St.
Andrews University in Scotland (July 1987). He also studied accounting at the
University of Oklahoma, in Norman, Oklahoma, from 1991 to 1992. His experience
includes working for Squire, Sanders & Dempsey as a Senior Associate
(Bratislava, Slovak Republic, 1999 to 2001) as well as working for Taylor
Joynson Garrett in Bucharest as a Senior Associate from 1997 to 1999. From 1995
to 1997, Charles was Managing Attorney of Salah Al-Hejailan law firm’s Jeddah
office in Saudi Arabia. Prior to this position, Charles was the office Managing
Attorney for Saudi American Legal Consultants in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His
professional experience also includes serving Congressman Robert C. Scott as a
Senior Legislative Assistant in Washington, D.C., from January 1993 to March
1995.
Charles specializes in complex corporate matters, mergers and acquisitions,
corporate finance, and real estate law. He has extensive experience in mergers
and acquisitions, telecommunications, corporate finance and real estate
transactions and during the last several years has completed over USD 1.5
billion in such transactions in Eastern Europe.
Carl-Henrik Wallin, managing partner, Hannes Snellman, Finland
Carl-Henrik Wallin acts as the Managing Partner for Hannes Snellman Attorneys
Ltd. He has been a Partner of the firm since 1998. Throughout the years he has
been in charge of a great number of domestic and cross-border transactions,
often in the role of an international lead counsel.
Ori Wiener, consultant, Gara Consulting, Germany
Ori Wiener is a consultant focusing on strategic business development issues for
international law firms and their management. He is also an executive coach for
partners and senior managers within such firms.
Before becoming a consultant Ori was Interim Director of Marketing and Global
Head of Business Development at Linklaters, one of the world’s leading global
law firms. These roles allowed him to take an active leadership role formulating
and implementing the firm’s global business development and marketing strategies
along side the firm’s senior partners. He is one of the key architects of
Linklaters’ efforts to increase client focus and client profitability. This
included client segmentation and prioritisation, pricing and negotiations, CRM
and the establishment of Linklaters’ sector approach. He was also heavily
involved in formulating the firm’s product marketing thinking. All of these
activities involved engaging with senior management and partners across the
firm’s global network to generate the buy-in required for successful
implementation. Ori is based in Germany and travels extensively.
Prior to joining Linklaters, he worked for 16 years as an investment banker for
S.G. Warburg/ UBS and Lehman Brothers.
Anders Worsøe, managing partner, Magnusson, Denmark
Anders Worsøe is a Danish advokat and a founding partner of Magnusson with
offices in Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Minsk, Moscow, Stockholm, Warsaw, and
Wroclaw. His practice areas include employment, corporate and M&A, and
dispute resolution, and he serves on a number of boards of directors of Danish
and foreign corporates. He is recommended by Chambers Europe 2009 and European
Legal Experts 2009 in employment. While heading the Copenhagen office of
Magnusson, Anders is also a driving force in the business development activities
of the firm.
Pav Younis, partner, Weinhold Legal, Czech Republic
Partner at Weinhold Legal, head of the Real Estate Group.
Specialises in real estate and M&A, including: acquisitions, disposals,
privatisations, commercial leasing, real estate development and real estate
finance for banks and borrowers.
Certified with the Czech Bar and is an English qualified Solicitor.
Joanna Day, head of retail legal,
Santander UK plc
Joanna Day heads up the Retail Legal Department for
Santander UK plc and is responsible for providing legal support to Santander UK
(previously Abbey National) covering all Santander’s UK retail and corporate
banking operations. This includes global businesses such as cards, insurance
etc. in a constantly changing market and regulatory environment.
