The beginning of 2018 has brought a further slew of lateral moves both in private practice and in-house, with Fieldfisher, Kennedys, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Dentons, Bird & Bird, Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF), Osborne Clarke (OC) and Aon all making major hires.
In the UK, Kennedys has boosted its London insurance practice by hiring Katherine Proctor as a partner from sector heavyweight Clyde & Co. As well as insurance, Proctor also specialises in construction, energy and negligence matters.
Nick Thomas, senior partner of Kennedys, commented: ‘We are committed to growth, and one of the routes to that is through attracting the best talent. In Katherine’s case this came in the form of client recommendations.’
Staying in the City, NRF has brought in ex-Carbon Holdings general counsel (GC) Poupak Anjomshoaa as a partner.
Anjomshoaa has over 20 years’ experience in the energy, infrastructure and construction sectors, and focuses on both dispute resolution and transactions.
Charles Whitney, NRF’s head of energy, said that Anjomshoaa’s arrival ‘gives us a unique opportunity to quickly expand our practice in Egypt and further strengthen our offering in the MENA region and more widely.’
Also in London, OC has appointed Tamara Quinn as a partner. Quinn, who joins from Berwin Leighton Paisner, is a non-contentious intellectual property (IP) and data protection partner. Quinn has more than 20 years’ experience in IP and is a dual-qualified as a solicitor and a barrister.
Completing the domestic hires, professional services giant Aon has hired former RPC partner Edward Smerdon as head of legal and technical in London. Smerdon, who was also previously the managing partner of Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold, has a practice focusing on financial lines insurance.
On the international front, Fieldfisher has added a nineteenth partner to its Paris office, with Samuel Palloto being hired to lead a new capital markets department.
Palloto joins from local firm Brunswick Société d’Avocats, where he headed the capital markets department from 2012. He has experience in a broad range of sectors such as life sciences, new technologies and aeronautics.
Also in Paris, Dentons has recruited Leïla Hubeaut as a partner from Herbert Smith Freehills. Hubeaut, who will join Dentons’ energy group, has experience in project development, M&A and joint ventures. She will focus on North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Iran.
Elsewhere abroad, Quinn Emanuel has made a major disputes play, hiring Kirkland & Ellis litigation veteran Christopher Landau as a partner in Washington DC. Landau was with Kirkland & Ellis for 25 years and was a founding member of the firm’s appellate litigation practice.
Landau said: ‘The firm’s practice has grown tremendously since Kathleen Sullivan launched it a dozen years ago, and I look forward to helping continue that growth in the years to come.’
Finally, in Düsseldorf, Bird & Bird has hired employment specialist Thomas Hey from Clifford Chance (CC). Hey, who joins with a team of three associates, had been with CC since 1996.
Martin Nebeling, who heads Bird & Bird’s German employment group, commented: ‘He complements our German and international employment law team, which provides comprehensive advice and not exclusively on a transaction-driven basis. Thomas will use his extensive experience to advise our clients in a targeted and profitable manner.’
