A trio of Pinsent Masons international arbitration partners are set to leave the firm for Greenberg Traurig, Legal Business can reveal.
Jason Hambury, former global co-head of international arbitration at the UK-based firm, is making the move to Greenberg with fellow partners Gurmukh Riyat and Clea Bigelow-Nuttall.
Hambury has been at Pinsents since 1996 after joining from Allen & Overy, while Riyat has also been at the firm for over 20 years, training and qualifying in 2003-05. Bigelow-Nuttall has been at the firm for almost 10 years, making partner in 2022.
All three have significant experience in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Hambury, who is ranked as a leading individual in the Legal 500, has worked for African states and governments, while Riyat’s notable recent work has included defending an international joint venture contractor in ICC arbitration proceedings over claims worth more than $250m.
Bigelow-Nuttall, a Legal 500 next generation partner, previously spent five years as a foreign registered lawyer at the Paris Bar, joining Pinsents from French boutique Derains & Gharavi in 2015 after qualifying at Hogan Lovells.
In a statement, Pinsents said: “We thank Jason, Gurmukh and Clea for their contribution to the firm and we wish them well for the future. We are proud of the progress made in our international arbitration team this year, highlighted this week by the appointment of Sylvia Tonova and Chloé De Jager to the ICC International Court of Arbitration.”
Tonova, who joined Pinsents from Jones Day in March last year, now co-leads the firm’s international arbitration team alongside Doha office head Pamela McDonald.
At Greenberg, the London international arbitration practice is currently led by Mohammed Khamisa KC, who joined from Mishcon de Reya in 2020, and who has a particular focus on the Middle East. He works alongside of counsel Leith Ben Ammar.
The news comes after the US firm announced two weeks ago that it had hired Cadwalader real estate finance partner Duncan Hubbard as a shareholder in its City finance and restructuring practice.