With transactional activity on the rise international firms including Bird & Bird, K&L Gates, Trowers & Hamlins and Reed Smith have bolstered their European corporate and banking capability, while Baker & McKenzie and Mayer Brown have made appointments in the buoyant pharmaceutical and antitrust sectors respectively.
In London, Bakers on Monday (3 February) announced the hire of highly rated pharmaceutical lawyer Julian Thurston, a former partner and consultant at Morrison & Foerster, who joins the firm’s 450-lawyer global pharmaceutical and healthcare industry group as a consultant.Recognised internationally as one of the leading life sciences transactional lawyers, the Legal 500 describes Thurston, who focuses on strategic joint ventures, licensing and collaborations with an emphasis emerging markets such as China Latin America and Russia, as a ‘leading individual’ in the industry.
