It has been a busy couple of days for the City hire market, with leading London tax partner Jonathan Kandel departing Weil, Gotshal & Manges for Kirkland & Ellis while project finance partner Nick Collins is set to join Jones Day from Latham & Watkins.
Kandel, who headed up Weil’s London tax team after leaving Clifford Chance in 2011 as part of a four-partner move, was also a partner in the firm’s private funds group, advising clients on tax issues relating to their fund investments, M&A, restructuring and own-account tax matters.
Commenting on his appointment, Jeffrey Hammes, chairman of Kirkland’s global management executive committee said: ‘Jonathan has a wide range of experience across private equity, fund formation, special situations and real estate investments. His practice will significantly enhance our global tax offering to financial sponsors and credit funds.’
Meanwhile Collins, who joins Jones Day’s projects and infrastructure practice, will be based in the firm’s London office having previously spent over four years in Abu Dhabi. He leaves Latham after the firm announced it was to shut its offering in the Emirate in March this year and instead concentrate its Middle East operations in Dubai and Riyadh.
Collins joined Latham in part of a mass hire from White & Case’s Middle East practice including Villiers Terblanche who is now Latham’s Dubai managing partner in 2010.
‘Nick’s arrival at the firm, right on the heels of Myles Mantle joining in April 2015, strengthens our ability to execute complex, large-scale project development and finance mandates across a range of industries and infrastructure asset classes – whether in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, or the Russian Federation and ex-CIS states,’ said Arman Galledari, head of Jones Day’s projects & infrastructure practice.
kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk