Taylor Wessing dominated this week’s lateral partner recruitment, with eye-catching expansion both at home and abroad.
In Poland, the firm has taken on a ten-lawyer team from Deloitte Legal. The group is led by partners Łukasz Szymański and Zbigniew Korba, who together will strengthen the firm’s banking and finance and real estate capabilities in the region. As a result of this team hire, Taylor Wessing’s lawyer headcount has swelled to more than 30 in Poland.
Raimund Cancola, Taylor Wessing’s managing partner for Central and Eastern Europe, said: ‘Zbigniew and Łukasz are renowned in the Polish legal market for the calibre of their expertise, and are highly regarded amongst peers. The appointment of this excellent team provides more great opportunities for us and our clients nationally, regionally and globally.’
And in London, the firm has appointed data protection partner Victoria Hordern and pensions partner Anna Taylor, who join from Bates Wells and Linklaters respectively. Hordern advises on all aspects of EU and UK data protection and privacy compliance, including GDPR implementation, employee privacy compliance and online privacy issues.
Taylor on the other hand is a leading name in the pensions market, with substantial experience of advising both trustees and employers on all legal issues concerning pension arrangements.
Mishcon de Reya has continued to rebuild its contentious benches ahead of its planned IPO, hiring white-collar expert Alison Geary from WilmerHale as a partner. Geary’s practice focuses on white-collar and corporate crime, advising individuals and corporations on fraud, bribery, corruption, cartels, market abuse and money laundering matters. She is ranked as a ‘rising star’ in The Legal 500’s white-collar crime category.
Johanna Walsh, a partner in Mishcon’s white-collar crime and investigations team, said: ‘Ali is an impressive practitioner and is well known for her dynamism, ambition and breadth of expertise.’
In an important move at the Bar, Simon Browne QC has swapped Temple Garden Chambers for 39 Essex Chambers. Browne QC is renowned advocate in the fields of commercial costs and litigation funding, catastrophic injury and related areas of clinical negligence, insurance, professional negligence and professional regulation.
Lindsay Scott, chief executive of 39 Essex Chambers, said: ‘His outstanding reputation in the market precedes him and his vast experience in the arenas of costs and personal injury will be a great asset to our existing practices in those areas.’
Crowell & Moring has overseen a significant London expansion this week, hiring a two-partner derivatives team from McGuireWoods. Jennifer Kafcas and Charles Wakiwaka are the arriving partners, and they are joined by counsel Alvino van Schalkwyk and Lauren Blaber.
Kafcas and Wakiwaka have more than two decades of combined experience representing major investment banks, corporations, and private equity funds. They focus on a broad range of derivative products, including fixed income, commodities and power hedging.
‘The team’s reputation and experience in the London and New York markets are of the highest calibre,’ said Philip Inglima, chair of Crowell & Moring. ‘These lawyers have accomplished an impressive array of successes for clients we share, and in areas that directly parallel our current service offerings.’
It was also a productive week for Withers, which appointed a new partner on either side of the Atlantic. In London, the firm has added art and fashion specialist Sarah Barker from Lee & Thompson. Barker is deeply immersed in the art and luxury good industries, typically assisting clients on the sale, consignment and loan of artworks. And in New York, Withers has welcomed trusts and estates partner Caryn Young from Day Pitney.
Young’s work covers the whole range of trusts and estates issues, from advising on estate and gift tax planning, through to dealing with tax audits and managing the administration of estates.
In Dubai, Stephenson Harwood has strengthened its regulatory practice with the hire of partner Philip Clarke. Clarke’s most recent position prior to Stephenson Harwood was senior legal counsel within the legal division of the Dubai Financial Services Authority. He has more than 12 years of experience advising on a range of contentious and non-contentious regulatory matters, internal investigations and disputes with a regulatory element.
‘We’re always on the look-out for outstanding legal talent to join our team and Philip brings just that,’ said Sharon White, Dubai managing partner at Stephenson Harwood. ‘The evolving regulatory environment in the region and a more active regulatory enforcement profile has resulted in an uptick in client demand for financial services regulatory and investigations advice. Philip’s experience complements our existing global practice and enhances the support we can provide to our clients across the region.’
Clyde & Co has also expanded in Dubai, with the appointment of corporate partner Chadi Salloum from Morgan Lewis. Salloum represents sovereign entities, multinational companies, financial institutions, investors, and sponsors in a broad range of transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity, restructurings and projects.
Philip O’Riordan, head of Clyde & Co’s corporate practice in the region, commented: ‘His vast corporate experience and deep understanding of the region will be of huge value to our clients and of particular importance to businesses looking to take advantage of the opportunities becoming available through Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030 framework and the UAE’s strong growth.’
Eversheds Sutherland has continued to build out its Hong Kong practice with the hire of equity capital markets partner Roger Zhou. Specialising in Hong Kong capital market transactions and general corporate law, Zhou has extensive experience in representing issuers and underwriters on all aspects of IPOs. He also provides counsel on foreign direct investments into China. Zhou is another departure from Morgan Lewis.
And in Luxembourg, Goodwin has added private investment funds partner Emmanuel Avice from domestic firm Arendt. Avice advises fund sponsors and managers on the structuring, setting-up and ongoing operations of regulated and unregulated alternative investment funds, including carry vehicles, co-investment structures and tailored managed accounts.
Alexandrine Armstrong-Cerfontaine, head of Goodwin’s Luxembourg practice, said: ‘Emmanuel is an exceptional lawyer whose market knowledge, technical expertise and experience perfectly complement our leading fund formation practice.’