Freshfields' Susan Farmer says that one by-product of consolidation is that more of the core upstream work falls in the hands of private practice, as with fewer players in the industry, the bigger companies such as Shell will bring in external lawyers because there are perceived conflicts of interest. Of course, industry consolidation has had more obvious benefits for City lawyers. For example, over the past two years, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has acted for Amoco in its merger with BP, Monument Oil and Gas when it was bought by Lasmo and Hardy Oil and Gas when it was bought by British Borneo Petroleum. Meanwhile, European offices are busy as the continental energy market is being kick-started into competition by EC directives requiring the liberalisation of both gas and electricity markets. He says that there will no longer be a series of separate geographical monopolies but a small number of international energy companies.
People are to some extent forging a path.
It isn't easy because the laws, the regulatory regime and the infrastructure just aren't there to support what people want to do. He adds that UK lawyers are well-placed to capitalise on 10 years of experience of competition not only because they know the issues but also because they have been advising European companies coming into the market. In the UK, the beleaguered Utilities Bill has finally made it into the statute books. It was meant to be New Labour's solution to the excess of the privatised utilities, such as fat cat salaries and inflated consumer prices. The legislation covers the gas and electricity sectors as the Government dropped water and telecoms from the bill following a barrage of complaints from industry.