Despite the dramatic news that Kirkland had lost a London debt finance team to Paul Weiss, it has been another relatively quiet August week for lateral hiring among UK firms.
In Washington DC, Allen & Overy announced that it had appointed Scott Cockerham as a new partner in its projects, energy, natural resources, and infrastructure practice. Cockerham joined A&O from Orrick, where he spent two years as a partner, before which he was a partner for three years at Kirkland. He is in demand by clients for his advice on the tax elements of energy and infrastructure projects, including tax equity financing and tax credit transferability transactions.
In a joint statement, A&O US co-chair Karen Seward and Kent Rowey said: ‘Scott is a critical element in continuing our growth and addressing client needs—both in the US and globally.’
In London, Addleshaw Goddard has strengthened its financial services team through the hire of Lisa Lee Lewis from Norton Rose Fulbright, where she was head of risk consulting EMEA advisory for ten years. Lewis brings to the team a wealth of expertise in regulatory change regarding the UK and EU financial services sector, including the impact of Brexit, crypto asset regulation, and the Edinburgh Reforms. She is sought by a range of clients, such as asset managers, banks, insurers, payment services, cryptocurrencies, and retail and consumer credit firms.
In a statement, partner and head of Addleshaw’s financial services regulation offering, Rosanna Bryant, said: ‘We intend to grow our risk and compliance offering with increased capability in this space. The recruitment of Lisa continues the expansion of our Financial Services Regulation team with the recruitment of partner James Greig at the end of 2022.’
Elsewhere, JMW Solicitors announced that it had appointed two new partners to its London real estate litigation team – Priya Sejpal and Matthew Hearsum. Qualified solicitor-advocate Hearsum recently left his position as head of the property disputes team at Morr & Co, a role which he held for 13 years before joining JMW, while Sejpal was formerly an associate at Clyde & Co.
Meanwhile, Clarke Willmott has appointed Louise Rogers as a new employment partner in its Manchester office. Rogers joins the firm from Prosperity Law, where she spent a year as senior associate before which she spent over a decade at DWFM Beckman/Axiom DWFM. Rogers provides both senior executives and employers with advice across the full gamut of employment work, including severance packages, dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing, breach of contract disputes and post termination restrictions. She is particularly experienced in handling matters within the banking and financial services, technology, and media sectors.
Head of the Clarke Willmott employment team, Marc Long, said in a statement: ‘As well as helping us build our employment offering in Manchester, Louise will play an important role in helping us to continue to grow our employment team nationally.’
In Glasgow, Freeths has announced that Gary Georgeson has joined its real estate team as legal director, a month after the firm launched in Scotland. The ex-CMS senior associate offers expertise across a range of real estate-related matters, with a particular focus on development and investment work.
Georgeson told Legal Business: ‘It is not every day that an established English law firm like Freeths decides to open its first Scottish office. After more than eight years at CMS, a sideways move to another big firm in Scotland just didn’t interest me. Freeths is a new proposition in Scotland, and being given the chance to come in at the beginning and grow its Scottish office is exciting.’
