Keystone Law has hired into its most senior ranks a former partner from Addleshaw Goddard and SGH Martineau alongside a former general counsel (GC) of Yahoo! to bolster its disputes, corporate and TMT practices.
Robert Harvey has joined Keystone’s disputes team of 32 lawyers after leaving Addleshaw Goddard’s partnership in November last year. He joins as a consultant as Keystone, whose lawyers work from home, has no partners after converting to an alternative business structure (ABS) last year.
Harvey has experience of advising on large-scale commercial litigation and white-collar crime investigations for high-net-worth individuals and companies, including those in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250.
Andrew Stilton joins Keystone after 34 years at SGH Martineau, where he focussed on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. He was previously involved in the consultation process that culminated in the enactment of the Companies Act 2006.
The third appointment is the former GC of Yahoo! UK, Liyen McCoy, who has joined Keystone’s TMT group. She joins with knowledge of the digital and telecommunications sector and sat on the management board of Yahoo! UK, where she was charged with all legal and regulatory matters. She also served as the company’s head of European compliance for three years.
James Knight, managing director of Keystone Law, said: ‘With the economy on the rise again we have seen an increase in client activity across all areas, and we are absolutely delighted that Robert, Andrew and Liyen—three leading industry figures in their respective areas—will be joining the growing teams here at Keystone.’
Keystone operates a performance-based remuneration structure rather than paying conventional salaries. Lawyers receive support from a central London office, which provides meeting rooms and support staff and performs the firm’s administrative functions.
Last year Keystone hired ten lawyers, including six partners, from firms including Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Davenport Lyons and Nokia’s director of legal and IP Stephen McCue.
Addleshaw Goddard, meanwhile, saw DWF last week hire its former national head of employment, Andrew Chamberlain, to take on an identical role at his new firm. This shortly followed the news that global accountancy giant EY had hired Addleshaw’s corporate managing partner Philip Goodstone in a bid to build up its UK legal credentials.
jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk