Away from the headline laterals last week, Jones Day was the only firm to make moves in London after securing a double hire to bolster its finance offering, while Clifford Chance (CC) lost a London partner to in-house in Hong Kong and Hausfeld strengthened in Berlin.
Jones Day has set about reinvigorating its City offering after an exodus earlier this year, announcing the hires of Lee Federman and Ewen Scott who join the firm’s banking, finance and securities practice. Federman joins from Dentons, where he served as a finance partner having originally joined the firm in 2015 and brings with him experience in cross-border syndicated financing transactions, with particular focus on leveraged finance and corporate lending.
Scott meanwhile joins from Ashurst, where he was partner in the firm’s global loans group, having acted for numerous lenders, borrowers and sponsors on a range of cross-border and bilateral financings. The hires go some way to replenishing losses Jones Day suffered earlier this year after private equity partner Michael Weir decamped to White & Case, while Alex Millar and John Ahern also left for Travers Smith and Katten Muchin Rosenman respectively.
Commenting on the hires Giles Elliott, co-leader of Jones Day’s finance practice, said: ‘Adding Lee and Ewen to our global team sends a very strong message that Jones Day remains committed to providing our clients access to experienced, effective talent in Europe.’
CC has lost partner Alex Erasmus to the in-house legal community, with the corporate partner joining blockchain software company Block.one as chief legal officer. Erasmus will now be based in Hong Kong where he will serve on the company’s executive committee, while reporting to group president Rob Jesudason, who lauded the hire:
‘The regulatory landscape around blockchain technology continues to evolve positively, as a leader in the field, Block.one wants to remain at the forefront of these developments. Alex has extensive experience in advising regulated companies on corporate, capital and compliance matters.’
Meanwhile in Europe, litigation specialist Hausfeld announced the hire of Wolf von Bernuth to its Berlin office. Having previously spent 20 years at Gleiss Lutz, 15 of which were as partner, in 2017 von Bernuth also went on to found his own litigation boutique in Berlin. Now he brings experience representing institutional investors to Hausfeld as the firm enhances its financial litigation practice.
‘We are delighted to welcome Wolf von Bernuth, a renowned, experienced litigator and one of Germany’s leading experts in the field of investor lawsuits,’ said firm chairman Michael Hausfeld. ‘Since our opening in Berlin at the beginning of 2016 and then expansion to Düsseldorf, our German operations have experienced vigorous growth, with our team growing from three to almost 20 professionals.’
thomas.alan@legalbusiness.co.uk