LawFuel – International law firm Eversheds has been appointed by Stiefel Laboratories, Inc. as its preferred European Legal Advisor. Stiefel, headquartered in South Florida, is the world’s largest independent pharmaceutical company specializing in dermatology. Eversheds will be responsible for providing a full range of services for Stiefel’s European legal work.
Stiefel has subsidiaries and local operations in more than 30 countries, including more than 3,750 employees.
Companies are looking for: more control over work and spend; less risk and essentially a team that will effectively work as part of their in-house team. US firms with a large spread of offices across the world are increasingly limiting the amount of legal service providers that they use. Eversheds was appointed following a competitive pitch process.
The Eversheds team was led by Simon Crossley, Commercial partner, who said:
“We offer a distinct project management solution that benefits companies such as Stiefel. This is another significant win for Eversheds and further demonstrates the firms’ success as well as a need amongst clients for a project managed approach. We are looking forward to working with and providing significant advice to Stiefel at their time of growth and expansion.”
Employment law partner Constanze Hewson who was also involved in the pitch process further noted:
“Despite the drive towards conforming EU employment law practices, national laws still predominately apply which can cause a complex compliance burden for organisations like Stiefel that operate in most major EU jurisdictions – by project managing the delivery of employment law advice across Europe, we can offer organisations like Stiefel, a more effective pan-European employment law solution.”
The additional pressures of cross border regulation, corporate governance and an increasingly competitive market place mean that many companies are looking for a very controlled and focused legal delivery. Eversheds’ significant investment in its international project management system called GAMs has been directly aimed at attracting major, dynamic clients like Stiefel.
Commenting on their decision, Devin Buckley, senior vice president and general counsel for Stiefel said:
“It was important for us as a company, with our headquarters in the U.S., to bring our European legal work under one umbrella. Finding a legal services provider who could match our footprint and look after all of our legal requirements across Europe, while providing us with certainty and control was key. We were very impressed by Eversheds’ expertise and their project management system.”
ENDS
