“四大”全面进军法律市场；德勤：我们律所特赚钱；PwC: 我们新加坡律所今日开业；

“四大”全面进军律师市场；

德勤：我们律所特赚钱；

PwC: 新加坡律所开业；

继民财经汇评论：“四大”会计公司一直希望成为综合的服务机构，而不是仅仅局限于会计和税务，除了咨询业务之外，律师业务也是“四大”的扩张目标。“四大”涉及律师业务并不是这些年才开始的，而是从大约二十年前就开始，当时的最高峰是在2000年左右， 当时的“五大”会计公司都有自己的全球律师服务机构，而规模最大的是安达信律所 Andersen Legal, 在规模上曾经排名全球律所前列; 安达信律所当时在香港的加盟所是郭叶律师行；在2000年前后的“五大”会计公司，在“新经济”大潮来临之际，已经不满足于审计和税务之外的传统咨询业务，大力向法律市场、投行业务、甚至风险投资领域（有自己的风投公司），拓展业务。后来由于安然事件爆发，华尔街发生了大规模的公司治理丑闻，“五大”会计公司的公信力和独立性遭遇危机，而且同时“五大”会计公司也陷入了多起公司丑闻的诉讼案件中， 所以，曾经兴起的律师业务又一度低调了。不过，最近，据媒体报道，“四大”会计公司又开始全面进军法律市场，提供“一站式”服务。“四大”提供的从会计、审计、税务、企业融资、并购尽职调查、法律在内的全方位“一站式”服务，对客户而言自然是有很大的吸引力。据说，“四大”的法律服务已经开始威胁到传统律所的江湖地位。

传统的审计业务不仅不特别赚钱，而且风险极高，尤其在美国资本市场，“四大”的诉讼风险很高，
赔偿的金额也很大；相比较之下，法律业务则是收费率较高，风险较低。德勤澳洲律所干脆直接宣称：我们的律师业务特赚钱（见下文报道）。“四大”进军法律市场，类似于开展传统咨询业务一样，一方面会计师事务所有先天的客户资源优势，另一方面则是会计税务这些核心财经服务和法律之间总是紧密相连的，二者之间容易形成生态互补关系。但是，“四大”的审计业务毕竟是法律所赋予的，扮演着资本市场守护人的角色，也是经济警察，“四大”所的律师业务所遭遇的挑战，可能会来自于公众和监管机构对其独立性和公信力的质疑。因此，如果管理好独立性风险，是“四大”进军法律市场时候不得不认真考虑的。

接下来的是两则最新消息，第一条是澳大利亚财经媒体所报道的“四大”所开始提供“一站式”法律服务，第二条则是普华永道新加坡律所开业。

KPMG, Deloitte and EY turn into one-stop legal shops

Legal practices in the big four accounting firms are gaining traction with a doubling in team sizes as clients look for a one-stop shop.

Australia Financial Review by

Legal practices in the big four
accounting firms are gaining traction with a doubling in team sizes and a
number of high-profile recruits as clients look for a one-stop shop.

KPMG Law partner in charge David Morris said the firm had seen increasing demand from clients for its
integrated service offerings.

"Our tax dispute resolution and controversy and M&A practices, in particular, are experiencing material growth and we have recently added new partners to our employment and real estate practices and are anticipating strong demand for their services," Mr Morris said.

Although the firm does not publicly release its growth figures, Mr Morris said its strategy was
to develop legal service offerings in those areas that have natural links with KPMG's broader service offerings.

KPMG Law partner David Morris is focused on attracting and retaining Australia's best lawyers. Peter Braig  Mr Morris said the firm was
actively looking for additional high-quality lawyers to further the depth and breadth of the practice.

"We have a very clear strategy and are absolutely focused on executing on it," Mr Morris said.

While the revamped legal arms of accounting firms are relatively small compared to the nation's leading law firms, they are growing fast, poaching lawyers and have ambitious goals. In a recent
survey of law firm managing partners, only 25 per cent wrote them off as no real threat.

According to latest edition of the The Australian
Financial Review's Law Partnership Survey, KPMG has the third highest percentage of female partners of any firm surveyed, with the five female partners making up 38.5 per cent of the practice of 13 partners.

Momentum in past decade

Mr Morris said the firm was building its internal pipeline of female leaders and ran a program in
which male partners "sponsored" up-and-coming women. 

Of the eight partners at Deloitte Lawyers, only one was a woman, with the firm having a higher fee-earner to partner ratio of 3.1 compared to KPMG's ratio of 2.2.

Deloitte Lawyers national leader James Fabijancic said despite the legal arm being established nearly 20 years ago, it has really gained momentum over the last five to 10 years.

"Deloitte Lawyers has grown its revenue base by approximately seven times over this period and has been highly profitable in doing so,"  Mr Fabijancic said.

Mr Fabijancic attributed this growth to the firms focus on key specialisations with the predominant
area of practice remaining tax controversy and litigation.

Approximately two-thirds of work was sourced from the Deloitte network, he estimated, and the  remainder through individual practitioner relationships and reputation. "Once a client has
appointed Deloitte Lawyers, retention rates have proven to be very high," Mr Fabijancic said.

At Ernst and Young, the legal arm is in its second year and has developed six strong areas mbedded within the service lines model of the  ultidisciplinary firm.

Inbound clients

EY Law head of Asia Pacific Howard Adams said the practice's strength came from the corporate, property, digital, government, private equity and private client areas, which has increased following EY's acquisition of Norton and Smailes in Perth.

"We are profitable, growing steadily and have expansion plans," Mr Adams said.

Mr Adams said attracting and retaining top talent was "not as hard as one might think".

He said he would like to see the practice double in size in the next two years, bringing in external partners as well as increasing internal promotions.

"I'm very focused on building a legal team that can compliment other services and clients."

Mr Adams said clients were attracted to the firm's model, especially inbound international clients who
were requiring help with tax restructuring and changes to the Foreign Investment Review Board.

"Inbound work is low-hanging fruit for us," he said.

PwC declined to be involved in the Law Partnership Survey.

PwC launches Singapore foreign law practice

https://www.thelawyer.com

By
5 December 2016 22:00 5 December 2016 15:31

PwC Legal has set up a foreign law practice in Singapore under the banner of PwC Legal International to focus on regional transactions and projects.

The development is led by PwC’s global legal services leader Leon Flavell, who moved to Singapore earlier this year to oversee expansion in Asia Pacific.

The launch comes three months after The Lawyer first reported on the accountancy giant’s hire of two partners from international firms, real estate
partner Natalie Breen from Norton Rose Fulbright and former Ashurst Singapore managing
partner Keith McGuire.

PwC Legal also works with local firm Camford Law, which joined PwC’s global network in August 2014.

Flavell said: “The organic evolution of our business is in response to the growing market demand we are seeing in Asia for integrated business solutions across multiple territories. This is the driver behind this move to enhance our capabilities in the region.

“Moreover, such a move will add to the Singapore legal market in terms of attracting and anchoring talent and work here.”

Accountancy rival EY also previously attempted to offer foreign law advice in Singapore. EY Law set up DA Partners in June 2015, which was headed by former Herbert Smith Freehills’ Singapore managing partner John Dick and former EY Asia Pacific general counsel Evangelos Apostolou. However DA Partners ceased business a year
after it was set up. EY continues to work with network member PK Wong &Associates for Singaporean legal services.

The Lawyer’s Asia Pacific 150 report, published in June 2016, found the Big Four accountants are gaining serious ground in their push to dominate Asia Pacific. The combined lawyer headcount of the Big Four increased by 17.3 per cent to 805 in the region last year, faster than any of their law firm competitors.

PwC, which has the largest legal services offering among the Big Four, continued its strong  expansion this year.

Its Australian arm also recently added six
partners from leading local and international firms,including Clifford Chance Australia co-founder Mark Pistilli and DLA Piper’s
former Australia chief Tony Holland.