Herbert Smith’s much-published attempts to dramatically expand its finance practice went some way to justifying the hype with the firm achieving some notable mandates in structured finance and making some promising LBO appointments. Meanwhile, DLA Piper, thanks to effective operators like John Cutler and a nose for young talent, looked every inch the polished mid-market player that City rivals have come to respect.
Linklaters posted another year of confident expansion with the firm’s capital markets practice once again active across the globe, while structured finance is regarded as up there with the very best.
