King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has made another change to its practice management team just months after restructuring its leadership following its merger with SJ Berwin in November. Legacy SJ Berwin partner Craig Pollack was today (7January) named as its new global co-ordinator for dispute resolution replacing Beau Deleuil, who left KWM a month after the merger to join Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan’s Sydney office.
Pollack is already on the international management committee as an alternate and will continue as head of the Europe and Middle East dispute resolution practice. Alex Leitch will take over from Pollack as the new London head of dispute resolution.
The firm also announced that Australia’s Tim Bednall will assist global corporate head and former Clifford Chance partner Rupert Li as the deputy global co-ordinator of the corporate, M&A and securities group. A spokesperson for the firm confirmed that the size and the profile of the corporate practice within the firm necessitated a deputy leader.
Stuart Fuller, global managing partner, said: ‘The global practice co-ordinators are part of our new globally integrated structure. This structure is critical to ensuring we deliver a seamless and commercially focused legal service across the firm, which is completely client-focused.’
The firm originally announced the global practice co-ordinators in November, made up of three partners from each legacy firm to head the groups, as well the management structure of the firm, including the international management committee and the executive committee.
The global practice co-ordinators are responsible for developping business plans into a global strategy for their practice teams. They work together through the business development committee and report to the international management committee. The committee is led by global chairman Wang Junfeng, and includes Stephen Kon, Rob Day, Maxence Bloch and Stefan Kruger.
Rob Day, managing partner of King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin, said of Leitch’s appointment as London head of disputes: ‘Litigation and arbitration are important parts of our business and Alex brings a wealth of experience to the role. Together with Craig, I am confident Alex will continue to deliver outstanding results for our clients as we see the contentious side of our business grow.’
The new list of global practice co-ordinators is:
Antitrust & regulatory – Simon Holmes
Banking & finance – Yuen-Yee Cho
Corporate, M&A and securities – Rupert Li (with Tim Bednall as deputy co-ordinator)
Dispute resolution- Craig Pollack
Projects (Energy & Resources) – Handel Lee
Funds/private equity – Jonathan Blake
Intellectual Property – Zhu Nongfan
Real estate – Bryan Pickup
Tax – Justin Cherrington
david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk