MinterEllison to mentor AgTech startups
Minter Ellison is to help startups in Australia’s agriculture technology space to grow their businesses.
As a partner of the SparkLabs Cultiv8 project, the law firm will mentor AgTech firms alongside other industry mentors including KPMG and NSW Department of Primary Industries.
“It’s a unique opportunity for us to witness innovation up close, and play a key role in the next step in technology driven value for the sector,” commented MinterEllison partner Matthew Cunningham.
The hub will launch in the second quarter of 2018 and run for 8 months, based outside of Sydney at the Orange Agricultural Institute in the Global AgTech Ecosystem or GATE Innovation Hub.
Litigation spending to soar, 5 firms are most feared by GCs
After five years of litigation spending falling, it’s set to soar in 2018.
That’s one of the key findings of the BTI Consulting Litigation Outlook which reveals that large US companies are adding U$1 billion of litigation spending to their legal budgets.
That’s because a higher volume of litigation matters is expected by chief legal officers, around a 10% increase. For 2017, there was a similar percentage rise in the number of firms involved in litigation (68.7% in 2017 compared to 57.5% in 2016).
For the first time this year, the outlook includes five firms that top the most feared by general counsel, up from four in the previous 6 years.
The ‘Fearsome Five’ that no GC wants to face are:
Dentons, Gibson Dunn,
Jones Day, Kirkland & Ellis, and Skadden. Overall, 83 firms were named by clients as Most Feared.
Clyde hires international arbitration specialist
Clyde & Co has added new strength to its global arbitration group with the appointment of Alejandro Garcia as a partner.
He joins from Winston & Strawn in London having previously been with
Herbert Smith Freehills, and has more than a decade of experience which includes major arbitral seats in Asia, Latin America and Europe.
One of his particular specialisms is advising on treaty disputes in the renewable energy sector within the European Union (EU).
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