In a final lateral recruitment drive before Christmas, a number of international firms have unveiled notable partner hires.
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has announced the appointment of Jason Marty as its new chief operating officer. Marty, currently global COO at Baker McKenzie, will officially start his new position on 1 March. He will be based in Chicago and play a key role in execution of BCLP’s new business transformation initiative, dubbed Project Advance.
Marty has spent nearly two decades at Baker McKenzie. Before his role as COO he led development of the firm’s Belfast Service Centre and alternative legal services platform, as well as serving as director of marketing and knowledge management.
‘This is a transformative time for BCLP, and Jason is a world-class operations and legal industry executive who will be a great addition to our leadership team and a tremendous asset to our clients,’ said BCLP co-chairs Lisa Mayhew and Steve Baumer. ‘We are excited to have Jason on board to help guide our firm through its next ambitious strategic chapter to become the ‘most admired international firm, built by our people to serve our clients.’
Elsewhere, Alston & Bird continues to deepen its transatlantic corporate and transactional offering with the addition of partner Tamer Bahgat in London. Joining from Ashurst, where he was hired as senior associate from Allen & Overy in 2017 to head up its new European high-yield offering, Bahgat focuses on international capital markets and leveraged finance transactions, with a particular emphasis on complex high-yield debt offerings, refinancings, and leveraged buyouts for corporates, private equity sponsors, and investment banks.
Bahgat is the most recent addition to Alston & Bird’s London finance capabilities. Earlier this year, the firm added several partners in corporate, disputes, and restructuring, including Phil Taylor, Saloni Joshi, and Paul Morris.
‘As one of Europe’s leading high-yield and debt capital markets lawyers, Tamer brings additional expertise and momentum to our London finance capabilities,’ said Matthew Wrysinski, Alston & Bird partner and co-head of the firm’s finance group. ‘Tamer complements and deepens our corporate debt practice as we continue to build out our client offering on both sides of the Atlantic.’
In Europe, Maples and Calder – the Maples Group‘s law firm – has expanded its global tax capabilities with the addition of Jean-Dominique Morelli as a tax partner in its Luxembourg office.
Morelli, a former partner at CMS Luxembourg, brings over 15 years’ experience in international corporate taxation matters where his practice focuses on contentious tax matters, investment funds, cross-border transactions, M&A, project finance, structured finance, securitisations, corporate restructuring, local real estate deals and intellectual property.
Meanwhile, Paul Hastings – which has seemingly been full growth mode, has seen a couple of partners depart. McDermott Will & Emery has expanded its corporate M&A and private equity team with the arrival of Guillaume Kellner as partner in Paris, where he was head of Paul Hastings’ corporate team and a partner there since 2011.
‘We are taking another step forward in our development with Guillaume’s appointment,’ said said Grégoire Andrieux, managing partner of MWE’s Paris office. ‘His track record of excellence and his expertise in regulated sectors in particular, are a perfect fit with the objectives we have set for ourselves. The first of which is to position ourselves as sector experts, backed by leading practices, providing a high value-added response to the strategic needs of our clients.’
In London, Norton Rose Fulbright has announced the hire of Paul Hastings partner Jennie Dorsaint to expand its real estate finance and structured finance practices. She represents lenders, arrangers, investors, administrators, servicers and real estate debt funds in connection with the origination, syndication, securitisation, restructuring and enforcement of real estate debt and commercial loans throughout Europe.
Finally, media, technology and intellectual property specialist Wiggin has announced the expansion of its Brussels office with the arrival of IP practitioners Carina Gommers and Carl De Meyer from leading Benelux boutique Hoyng ROKH Monegier.
Gommers and De Meyer are respected both in the Belgian capital and internationally, acting for some of the best-known and most innovative companies, across all intellectual property rights. Wiggin said the move reflects the continued growth of and investment in its IP practice in the UK and EU, and follows the firm hiring a new telecoms team and expanding its computer games practice in November.
