Irwin Mitchell has lost five partners from its London real estate practice, with a four-partner team defecting to Dentons and one joining Howard Kennedy.
London real estate head Rob Thompson joins Dentons with partners Lewis Myers, Rupert Dowdell and head of corporate real estate Jayne Schnider. London planning and infrastructure head Martha Grekos is expected to join Howard Kennedy.
Irwin Mitchell’s City real estate practice has been hit by a wave of departures this summer, with partners Jo Footitt and Louise Cartwright moving to Osborne Clarke in June.
Much of the Irwin Mitchell’s real estate team, including Thompson, Myers, Dowdell and Footit, originally left legacy SJ Berwin to join Irwin Mitchell in 2010 as part of a 20 strong team move, while Grekos arrived Irwin Mitchell less than 18 months ago from Eversheds.
Dentons UK managing partner Brandon Ransley said: ‘This is an excellent opportunity for us to acquire four market-leading real estate-focused partners. These partners have worked together for many years, and their arrival will add heavyweight investment expertise to our credentials, while significantly enhancing our existing capacity to deliver the corporate and finance aspects of big-ticket real estate transactions, both in the UK and internationally.’
The international firm also recently strengthened its London corporate practice with the hire of Jonathan Cantor from Nabarro, who specialises in real estate investment.
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk
