Leading the latest moves, Paul Weiss hired Kirkland financial regulatory partner Prem Mohan as head of European financial services regulation in London.
Recognised as a Legal 500 leading partner in regulatory/non-contentious financial services, Mohan advises on regulatory issues in structuring private funds and handling M&A and private equity deals. His hire follows the addition of restructuring and special situations partner Kai Zeng who joined in August.
Debevoise has bolstered its London office with the addition of private equity M&A partner James Grimwood, who joins from Goodwin after four and a half years. Grimwood brings a diverse client base, relying on his expertise in leveraged buyouts, minority investments, joint ventures, and venture growth deals.
For its part, Goodwin added DLA Piper real estate finance partners Paul Gray and Lewis Gaut to its London office. The duo specialises in creating innovative finance structures for investment banks, private credit firms, institutional investors, private equity, and real estate teams throughout Europe. Their expertise encompasses funding structures such as securitisation, US private placements, high-yield financing, and debt origination across various asset classes.
Elsewhere in the City, Weil hired Sophie Smith as a partner in its funds group. Smith joins from Cleary Gottlieb, where she was counsel following a five-year tenure at Kirkland & Ellis, which included one year as a partner.
Smith specialises in primary fundraisings and advises managers on carried interest, co-investments, and other incentive structures. She also brings experience on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters, as well as impact and growth investing.
In other notable moves, Sidley Austin welcomed former Latham & Watkins partners Jay Sadanandan, Sam Hamilton, Fergus O’Domhnaill, Joe Kimberling, and Ben Wright to join its global finance practice. Sadanandan and Hamilton will serve as global co-heads of Sidley’s leveraged finance practice.
Across the City, Ashurst appointed Fiona Ghosh, former head of fintech at EY Law, as a partner in its corporate practice.
Ghosh spent eight years at Eversheds, where she was head of payments from 2006 to 2014, and at Addleshaw Goddard, where she led the fintech practice from 2014 to 2022. She brings deep experience advising financial services providers in the retail and investment banking, as well as the insurance sectors, and is a key advisor in the area of retail payments.
The Big Four also saw the departure of Candice Nichol, who joined McDermott Will & Emery’s tax practice in London as a partner after a three-year tenure at KPMG. This move marks her return to big law, having previously spent nearly 15 years at Simmons & Simmons, where she left as a managing associate in July 2021.
McDermott also added M&A partner Sebastian Bonneau to its expanding London office. Bronneau specialises in M&A, private equity, and joint venture transactions, with particular expertise in the data centre sector. He brings with him 20 years of experience, having most recently spent nearly three years at Eversheds Sutherland.
However, the firm saw the departure of its London private client team. Nick Holland, a Legal 500 leading individual for contentious trusts and probate, left for Maples, while Simon Gibb joined Trowers & Hamlins. Holland, currently based in the London office, is expected to relocate to the Cayman Islands later this year.
On his move, he told Legal Business: ‘There were many positive drivers, including Maples’ fantastic and long-established brand. One of my friends in the private client team at Maples mentioned it was a fantastic firm that was very well run and a great firm for private client.’
‘Maples was a no-brainer for a final career move. Maples is a great firm with excellent clients. It has been a top brand for quite some time, making it a perfect fit for me. I believe I am a great fit for them as well,’ he continued.
Other US firms also strengthened their tax practices, with Greenberg Traurig adding shareholder Alex Tostevin from Dentons, where he was a partner for more than seven years. Tostevin brings expertise in VAT, as well as experience in structured finance, real estate, energy, and cryptocurrencies.
He will share an office with tax practice co-chair Sophie Allen, who moved from Morrison & Foerster in May, and London private equity chair Sava Savov, a former Kirkland & Ellis partner who joined the firm in early September.
Covington & Burling’s EMEA co-head of white-collar defense and commercial litigation, Ian Hargreaves, has joined the disputes boutique Quillon Law. Hargreaves, who spent almost eight years at Covington, will be the sixth partner at Quillon, which was founded in October 2021 by former Addleshaw Goddard partners Mark Hastings and Michael Barnett.
Hogan Lovells strengthened its US market capabilities by bringing on partner Alex Parkhouse from Linklaters, where he worked for 13 years, including the last three years as counsel. His practice spans the full spectrum of capital markets and public M&A transactions, along with public company advisory services across various jurisdictions in both EMEA and the US.
Finally, Simmons & Simmons hired digital infrastructure specialist Walter Kulvik from Eversheds Sutherland. Kulvik has joined the firm’s energy, natural resources and infrastructure (ENRI) practice in London. Kulvik spent over two years as a partner at Eversheds and had previously worked as a partner at Ashurst and counsel at Sidley Austin.
Outside of London, Kirkland & Ellis continued its aggressive expansion in Germany, with the hire of private equity partner Sebastian Pitz from White & Case. Pitz is set to join the firm’s new Frankfurt office, opened in August, and arrives hot on the heels of private equity/M&A partners Dr Tobias Larisch and Florian Sippel, and restructuring partners Dr Christian Halàsz and Friedrich Schlott, with the latter a counsel at his previous firm.