Speaking in the wake of a series of state interventions and bank rescues that could usher in radical change to the banking industry, most City finance partners told Legal Week they could manage their teams by moving lawyers within the groups.
Finance heads are aiming to transfer lawyers from hard-hit practices in leveraged finance and securitisation to handle predicted rises in bankruptcy work as the economy slows.
Allen & Overy head of banking Michael Duncan said: “We are not reshaping our practice. We are always looking at adapting our structures to reflect changing market conditions but there are no plans right now. A good finance lawyer ought to go from one discipline to another.”
Ashurst international finance head Nigel Ward said: “We believe acquisition finance is not dead. It will be back in 18 months, so there will be no dramatic changes. But there will be a de-emphasis of securitisation and leverage finance and people will [have to] redeploy.”
Linklaters head of finance and projects John Tucker (pictured) commented: “Any firm like ours has to stay close to its clients. We also place a high premium on flexibility - lawyers may do different things in different places. We regularly review and change our practices, and offices, and their staffing.”
However, this stance has been criticised by some rivals who have questioned if the City’s leading finance practices will be able to cope with the expected protracted slump in several key product lines without substantive restructuring.
In contrast, the
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