Cool with clarity Under boss Peter Kalis, K&L Gates is - PDF document

25 MARCH 2013 /£2.95 WWW.THELAWYER.COM City analysis In-house Special reports Special report AIM is proving interview Hot stuff in 84 made the silk a happy hunting Jonathan Waters, Spain and the cut this year. ground for law BMA general litigation scene We meet some fi rms: 10 counsel: 14 in Asia: 26/30 of them: 36 Cool with clarity Under boss Peter Kalis, K&L Gates is revealing all about its fi nancials – unlike many of its rivals TL_250313 1 22/03/2013 16:23

The Lawyer | 25 March 2013 The Lawyer | 25 March 2013 18 19 Feature All c clear Clarity is K&L Gates boss Peter Kalis’s not-so- secret weapon in putting clear blue water between his fi rm and others’ opaque fi nancial l reporting Matt Byrne decided to put as much distance as ($173.7m). And that just scratches converted to LLP status and, conse- fi rms that choose not to provide Times described it as “ground- When K&L Gates posted its fi nan- possible between their fi rm and the quently, most fi le their annual breaking”, while industry commen- the surface – overall there was an data. cial results this February it laid it- soiled image created by a fi rm that unprecedented level of detail that fi nancial statements at Companies Reporters can, of course, also fall tator Bruce MacEwen of Adam- self bare. For the fi rst time ever a US had been found out. House within months of the year- SmithEsq.com called the disclosure immediately had the market asking back on the results of previous years law fi rm had published a level of Typically, the majority of US ‘why?’. end. At that point the accounts are as a guide, although these will also “genius”. detail in its end of year fi nancial fi rms either report no fi nancial re- pored over (and yes, to answer a fre- be guesstimates. The result is a sys- report that was similar to a UK sults at all to magazines such as Bare comparison quently asked question, the legal tem that makes it relatively easy for Video link fi rm’s LLP fi ling. Kalis has long been one of the glob- American Lawyer or, indeed, The Culturally, this level of disclosure is press does go back and retrospec- fi rms to fudge their fi gures if they K&L Gates’ move came less than a Lawyer , or primarily release basic not an easy sell. tively check results). Any anoma- don’t wish to divulge them (and, of al legal market’s most outspoken year after the collapse of Dewey & fi rm leaders. In February, prior to headline information such as total As Pannone fi nance director An- lies, if they exist, should thus be course, Dewey proves that even LeBoeuf, a fi rm that had overstated revenue, average profi t and head- thony Clare puts it: “In any organi- quickly uncovered. providing fi gures is no reliable the publication of his fi rm’s results its fi nal year’s turnover by around and the resulting media storm, The count. In contrast, in February K&L sation there’s a degree of reluctance No such regime exists in the US. guide to honesty). 16 per cent, or some $150m (£99m). Gates went the whole hog. to increasing the level of transpar- Bluntly, US fi rms’ fi nancial results This is not to say fi rms do fudge Lawyer met him in London for a At the time of Dewey’s collapse, prearranged video interview. Its 2012 fi nancial results state- ency if you don’t have to. There’s a are largely taken on trust. Legal their fi gures, simply that the condi- Peter Kalis, the chairman and glob- ment, prepared to Securities & Ex- feeling you’re giving away state market reporters, the primary inter- tions exist to allow it. The primary focus of the ques- al managing partner of K&L Gates, tions back then, for a man who has change Commission reporting secrets, even when 99 per cent of ested parties outside the fi rms, quiz K&L Gates’ decision to lay bare its was reported as commenting, “I standards, revealed all the usual the time you’re not. The feeling is: if current and former partners, re- books may just be the start of the probably negotiated more law fi rm was embarrassed to be part of the mergers than anyone else, was K&L data as well as its level of bank debt I don’t have to, why would I?” cruitment and other consultants end of all that. The Wall Street Jour- same profession and industry as (zero), lines of credit ($75m), US law fi rm fi nancial reporting is and whatever ‘informed sources’ nal said it “could well be the most Gates’ continuing international ex- Dewey & LeBoeuf”. pansion, a trend highlighted by the investments in IT and other over- signifi cantly less transparent than they can fi nd to make a judgement complete picture of a US fi rm’s fi n- This year Kalis and his partners heads ($109.6m) and partner capital the UK’s. Over here most fi rms have call on the fi nancial position of ancial performance”, the New York fi rm’s January merger with Austral- TL_250313 18 22/03/2013 17:13 TL_250313 19 22/03/2013 17:13