Novartis appoints A&O, Links and Freshfields to new global panel

Pharmaceutical giant Novartis has concluded a major law firm panel review, with magic circle trio Allen & Overy (A&O), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters winning places on the company's new global line-up.

The other firms on the global panel are Morrison & Foerster and White & Case. Meanwhile, Covington & Burling will provide specialist advice on pharma regulatory matters on a global basis, with McDermott Will & Emery doing likewise for intellectual property litigation.

The company has also set up a number of country panels as part of the shake-up. The UK panel is: White & Case (pharma antitrust), Covington & Burling (pharma), Arnold & Porter (pharma regulatory), Freeth Cartwright (outsourcing, construction), McGrigors (Scots law, restructuring), Clarks (employment), Paris Smith Randall (CibaVision), Stevens & Bolton (animal health), Lawson-Cruttenden & Co (animal rights), SJ Berwin (patent litigation) and Bristows (patent litigation).

Global panel firms A&O, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters will also be used on UK matters.

Novartis, which has an annual global legal spend in the region of $300m (£187m) to $500m (£312m), has set up similar panels in the other key countries in which it is present: the US, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, India, China, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

The review, which was concluded earlier this month, was conducted by the Novartis ‘Legal Leadership Committee'. The committee is chaired by general counsel Thomas Werlen (pictured) and includes the respective Novartis divisional general counsel. The new arrangements will run for approximately 12 months.

Previously Novartis had no published panel, although it had arrangements in place with 19 firms globally, including many of those appointed to the new panel. However, there have been a number of changes. These include US firms Cravath Swaine & Moore, Kaye Scholer, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and WilmerHale, which previously had been instructed on some international matters, now only handling US work.

Commenting on the review, Werlen told Legal Week: "The aim is to bring our legal spend management to the next level in two ways: by involving our country GCs as much as possible in the selection of firms and, secondly, by partnering with a select group of firms to work more closely together."

The review is the culmination of a three-year spell which has seen Werlen, who arrived from A&O in 2006, overhaul the 250-lawyer strong Novartis legal team, splitting it into practice areas and appointing global heads of the various groups.

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