Financial Times Names Dechert Among Top 10 Most Innovative European Law Firms

 
October 06, 2016

For the first time, the Financial Times has ranked Dechert LLP among the top ten most innovative law firms in its 2016 “European Innovative Lawyers” report. The report combines the Financial Times’ journalism with independent research carried out by specialist researcher RSG Consulting. This year, a record 140 firms submitted 600 entries, the highest number ever received.

“We are extremely proud of this honor and that our work has been recognized by the Financial Times,” said Henry N. Nassau, Dechert’s Chief Executive Officer. “Dechert lawyers pride themselves on delivering the highest quality of client service, serving them in ways that are faster and sharper without compromising excellence. These matters in particular show our dedication to providing strong commercial judgment alongside our legal counsel.”

In the “Legal Expertise – Innovation in New Markets and Capital” category, Dechert was “highly commended” for its representation of The Arab Republic of Egypt in connection with the country’s first international bond sale in five years. Led by corporate partners Camille Abousleiman, head of the firm’s capital markets group, and Patrick Lyons, the successful issuance of US$1.5 billion 10-year sovereign bonds, the country’s largest single-tranche issuance ever, represented a landmark transaction for Egypt.

In the same category, work spearheaded by corporate partner Matthieu Grollemund was “highly commended” after Dechert helped change France's accounting rules on equity booking, allowing U.S.-based venture capital firm Accel Partners to fund cloud-based human resources software provider PeopleDoc in France.

In the “Legal Expertise – Innovation in Driving Value for Clients” category, Dechert was “commended” for achieving a partial annulment of an arbitration tribunal’s decision. Led by international arbitration partner Eduardo Silva Romero, a Dechert team secured a reduction in damages the Republic of Ecuador had to pay Occidental Petroleum by US$700 million, by far the largest amount ever annulled in an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes case.

In the “Innovation in Social Responsibility” category, Dechert was “highly commended” for providing a suite of pro bono legal services to the Restoration of Appearance and Function Trust (RAFT), a charity set up by plastic surgeons to help rebuild the lives of those affected by accident, disease or birth defect. Dechert’s efforts, led by corporate partner Jonathan Angell, aided RAFT in its development of new prosthetic limb technology.

Dechert was also “highly commended” for its pro bono representation of France’s IMPACT Partenaires on the establishment of a €50 million private equity fund investing in small- and mid-sized French companies with potential to generate a social impact. Led by financial services partner Olivier Dumas, Dechert developed a standard, replicable mechanism to align fund managers’ financial interests with the social aims of the projects funded.

Read the full Financial Times European Innovative Lawyers 2016 report here.

About Dechert

Dechert is a global specialist law firm with a deep bench of experts focused on sectors with the greatest complexities and highest regulatory demands. We deliver practical commercial insight and judgment to our clients’ most important matters. Nothing stands in the way of giving clients the best of the firm’s entrepreneurial energy and seamless collaboration in a way that is distinctively Dechert.

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