Paul Martenstyn Managing Director

VANNIN CAPITAL

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VANNIN CAPITAL60 SECONDS Q&A WITH RICHARD EAST

Richard East, Partner at Quinn Emanuel talks to Paul Martenstyn, Managing Director at Vannin Capital about his predictions for the interesting times that lie ahead for the legal industry in 2019.

60 SECONDS Q&A WITH RICHARD EAST QUINN EMANUEL

EVERY DISPUTE INVOLVES CHOICES IN WHICH THE COSTS, RISKS AND BENEFITS MUST BE WEIGHED. FUNDING, OF COURSE, IS ONE SOLUTION TO THAT.RICHARD EAST

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VANNIN CAPITAL60 SECONDS Q&A WITH RICHARD EAST

This is a time of great change, and great opportunity. Change we see all around us, ranging from shorter and faster trials, reforms to civil procedure, the introduction of specialised court procedures for big-ticket litigation, a greater emphasis on speed, on cost, on proportionality of litigation.

Clients are more demanding; a recent Oxford University report, by the Said Business School, showed that corporate counsel across a number of countries have found their roles reshaped in the light of recent developments and concerns, with a strong focus on risk control, as well as budgeting and efficiency.

In-house departments are focusing their outside counsel relationships on law firms that understand them and their businesses, and that provide value-added services. Every dispute involves choices in which the costs, risks and benefits must be weighed. Funding, of course, is one solution to that. The need to add value – through acting as a profit centre – has been enhanced. The need to stick to budget – in an age of cost management

– is imperative.

Opportunity is less easy to see, given the current uncertainties over Brexit, and what that might mean for the economy, for legal services, for life in general; but some virtues are constant. London is an important centre for dispute resolution. Cases and hearings will continue to be held here. In the short term, people will need advice, and Brexit will generate commercial disputes, perhaps more if it is no deal, less if it is May’s deal, or the same as now if no Brexit at all. Richard East, Partner at Quinn Emanuel, has been involved with many of those issues, including working with funders like Vannin Capital. Here he tells us more about his experiences and his predictions for the interesting times that lie ahead.

PM: What are the most effective ways in which in-house and external lawyers can work together in large disputes?

RE: I would say that the key to good law firm/GC relations in any dispute is effective communication and honesty and openness in that communication. In any major litigation the relationship between client and lawyer can run for many months, sometimes years and hence, the maintenance of good and open communications is key. 

PM: What do you see as the potential opportunities surrounding the uncertainty over Brexit? Will these arise in arbitration or in litigation?

RE: At this point in time, I don’t see any opportunities – only downside – one of the key interesting downsides arises out of our role in the Banco Popular resolution, which was instigated by the Single Resolution Board. The Chair of that board recently indicated that in the case of a hard Brexit, then bonds issued pursuant to English law, will no longer qualify as relevant regulatory capital for banks.  This is an extremely bad development and will diminish the importance of English law governed bonds.

PM: Is there a need to manage the budgeting process in significant disputes and, in particular, keep the team within budget?

RE: Absolutely, but one of the key difficulties in estimating costs in Litigation, arises from the fact that you cannot control the actions of your opponent.  Whilst one can estimate, with some precision, the costs associated with preparing the client’s case, unfortunately this is not so for the opponent. 

PM: Do you feel that in-house dispute teams are increasingly acting as profit centres, and if so, how?

RE: The pressure on in-house disputes teams to stay on top of budgets and to drive value for the businesses for which they work is more significant than it ever has been. Saying that, the tools to enable them to achieve this are also far more widely used and understood than they ever have been. Pushing their instructed lawyers to work on contingency fees and to use dispute resolution, as well as other forms of costs management, in-house lawyers, whether by design or otherwise are increasingly seeing themselves as profit centres – and recognising that certain claims, structured in the right way, can enhance the balance sheet of the companies they work for.