Linklaters has made a statement of intent in New York by hiring Baker & McKenzie’s Manhattan litigation head Douglas Tween, its first lateral hire in the US in almost two years.
Tween leaves his role as global head of Baker & McKenzie’s white-collar practice and New York head of litigation to join the Magic Circle firm as head of its US cartel and government investigations practice, taking the number of partners at Linklaters’ New York office to 22.
He leaves Baker & McKenzie after a decade at the firm, which followed a 15-year stint as a trial attorney in the antitrust unit at the US Department of Justice. He has held a string of senior positions related to the development of US antitrust law and its enforcement, including chairing the American Bar Association’s Cartel and Criminal Practice Committee.
Tween’s practice focuses on fraud, money laundering and cartel behaviour. He is also well known for defending packaging group IFCO Systems in the largest criminal immigration enforcement action in US history, after US authorities arrested more than 1,000 employees across 26 states following the hire of illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America.
He becomes Linklaters’ third competition partner in the US, alongside Thomas McGrath in New York and Jeff Schmidt in Washington. McGrath and the New York antitrust team have handled a number of major merger control matters in recent years, including advising Glencore on its acquisition of Xstrata; BP on the sale of its Southern California refinery and retail assets; and Siemens on its acquisition of Rolls-Royce’s aero-derivative gas turbine and compressor business.
Linklaters head of global competition, Jonas Koponen, said: ‘Doug is a high-quality, experienced cartel lawyer who will strengthen our US practice and further differentiate our global competition practice as one of the few that can genuinely provide top-level cartel advice in all major jurisdictions. His experience in FCPA and other white-collar investigations will prove invaluable to our clients.’
Linklaters was not the only Magic Circle firm to announce a key lateral hire today (28 October), with Clifford Chance landing M&A partner Anselm Raddatz from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Raddatz, who co-headed Freshfields’ global energy and natural resources group, will be stationed at Clifford Chance’s Düsseldorf office and becomes its German corporate co-head, alongside Thomas Krecek.
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk