Addleshaw Goddard has added Squire Patton Boggs partner Giles Distin to its corporate finance practice as it aims to ramp up its City offering.
Distin has experience advising on UK public company transactions and has been on secondment as assistant secretary at the UK Takeover Panel. Addleshaw Goddard corporate and commercial division managing partner Yunus Seedat said: ‘[Distin] has a stellar client base, an enviable list of contacts amongst the UK financial advisory community and excellent networking abilities.’
Going the other way, Squire Patton Boggs announced it has hired employment partner Ludovic Roche in Paris from Fasken Martineau and corporate partner Georgy Borisov from K&L Gates in Moscow.
Fresh from adding partners to its South African team, Clyde & Co has shifted its attention to the Middle East and has hired energy partner Richard Devine. Devine moves to the firm from Baker Botts which he joined back in 2013 as part of a 14 lawyer group defecting from Norton Rose Fulbright soon after its merger. Clyde & Co said Devine will led the firm’s oil & gas group in MENA, region, having more than a decade of experience in Dubai. Regional corporate practice head Niall O’Toole said: ‘Richard’s appointment will bolster our energy offering and expansion in key areas such as Saudi Arabia, Africa and China, as well as our drive into Iran and other new markets.’
Also in Dubai, Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) has boosted its finance group with the hire of banking and finance specialist Neale Downes. Formerly a partner at SGH Martineau’s London office, Downes is recommended by The Legal 500 for corporate finance work in Bahrain, where he had practised at Trowers & Hamlins.
Meanwhile, Dublin firm William Fry has picked up two new partners as it continues to develop its litigation practice. The firm has appointed Mason Hayes & Curran partner Paul Convery who led the firm’s contentious media team, and the former head of AIB’s banking inquiry unit, Derek Hegarty.
William Fry managing partner Bryan Bourke said since January this year, the firm has appointed eight new partners and over 70 solicitors and business support staff.
Finally, Paul Hastings has made another hire to work in the firm’s São Paulo office, appointing Veirano Advogados partner Roberta Bassegio. Bassegio is a New York and Brazil-qualified energy and infrastructure lawyer who specialises in energy and infrastructure related project development and finance. Paul Hastings has already hired finance lawyers Robert Kartheiser and Cathleen McLaughlin to join the office, which is subject to regulatory approval but is expected to open within two to four months.
Project finance chair Robert Kartheiser said: ‘Our proposed office along with Roberta’s arrival will propel our leading transactional, disputes, and compliance-focused practice areas, and make them more accessible to our Brazil-based clients. In short, we are taking Paul Hastings in Brazil, and in Latin America, to the next level.’
victoria.young@legalease.co.uk
