DLA Piper has bolstered its London financial regulatory capability with the appointment of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe duo Tony Katz and Sam Millar.
Prior to joining the litigation team at Orrick in October 2011, both Katz and Millar, who join DLA today (5 March), worked at financial derivatives trading company Liquid Capital Group, where Katz held the position of group head of compliance and legal adviser, and Millar was general counsel.
Katz also worked for the FSA (now FCA) for a number of years as a manager in its retail policy and conduct risk division covering financial promotions: a priority area of risk for the FSA and a key element of its treating customers fairly initiative.
The new recruits bring with them experience in contentious, non-contentious and complex investigations for clients including banks, brokers, trading firms, funds, trade bodies and payment services and e-money firms, and will work alongside DLA’s non-contentious financial regulatory partner Michael McKee and the banking litigation team.
David Gray, UK head of litigation & regulatory said: ‘In the wake of the financial crisis, demand for financial regulatory and investigations specialists of the calibre of Tony Katz and Sam Millar is high, and having them on-board will significantly increase our ability to service the needs of our current and potential clients in these areas.’
JP Douglas-Henry, London head of litigation & regulatory at DLA Piper, noted: ‘Tony Katz and Sam Millar are first rate regulatory lawyers who have worked in-house, in private practice and in Tony’s case, with the FSA. As a result, they will bring an all-round perspective to the advice we provide our financial services clients.’
The news follows the announcement on Friday (28 February) that DLA has hired three Berwin Leighton Paisner partners, including head of real estate finance Laurence Rogers.
The end of last month saw DLA unveil its highest-ever gross turnover, up 1.7% to $2.48bn, while revenue per lawyer rose 3.3% to $625,000.
Profit per equity partner rose just 1% to $1.325m, as the global firm’s net income slipped 0.3% to $602m, although that still constitutes a significant improvement when compared with 2011 figures of $563m.
Francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk