Following last month’s exits to Dentons, Irwin Mitchell has lost a further two partners in London, with Edward Persse and Paul Smith departing the firm to join Osborne Clarke (OC).
Persse was a partner at Irwin Mitchell for the last ten years, where he managed the corporate department in the London office and also headed up the firm’s international strategy group and in-house programme. He has experience in domestic and international private capital, M&A and joint venture transactions and was also previously at Baker & McKenzie.
Smith focuses on domestic and cross-border M&A, investment, joint venture and corporate advisory transactions, acting regularly for SMEs, venture capitalists, investment companies and funds.
Commenting on the hires, Greg Leyshon, head of OC’s corporate department said: ‘In Ed and Paul, we have two very strong additions to the business. As highly regarded practitioners, their broad sector focus and technical and commercial know-how make them a great fit for our clients, our business and our people. We look forward to having them at the firm, and to the contributions they will bring.’
Last month, Dentons took five partners from Irwin Mitchell in London, strengthening its London banking and finance practice with the hire of Simon Tweedle.
The firm also appointed real estate head Rob Thompson, real estate partners Lewis Myers and Rupert Dowdell and head of corporate real estate Jayne Schnider.
Additionally, head of employment Chris Tutton left for boutique Constantine Law in August after his resignation in March, while litigation partner Daniel Brumpton moved to Manchester-based Berg in July.
In November last year, the firm announced a merger with south-east based Thomas Eggar to create what was billed as a £250m firm.
kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk
