The demand for finance, private equity and technology expertise continues to drive London lateral recruitment.
In the most notable coup of the week, Paul Hastings is set to welcome Latham & Watkins’ banking vice-chair Ross Anderson and fellow partners Mo Nurmohamed, Karan Chopra and Rob Davidson. Although a rare group defection from Latham, this continues Paul Hastings auspicious London growth trajectory which saw a 41% surge in City revenue last year as well as the arrival of Jason Brooks to its structured credit team as well as private equity partner Tom Cartwright last month.
Elsewhere, as the private equity boom shows no signs of abating, firms continue to bolster their capabilities. Among them, Willkie Farr & Gallagher has hired Daniel Gendren from Linklaters. A specialist in leveraged finance transactions, special situations and financial restructurings, his arrival marks the third London lateral for Willkie this year following the arrival of insurance partners Melanie James and Timothy Baumgartner in January. For Linklaters, his exit is the fourth partner departure globally in a week, following that of US head of cybersecurity Erez Liebermann to Debevoise in New York and corporate partners Gilbert Li and Iris Yeung in Hong Kong, who departed for Allen & Overy.
Mayer Brown has also boosted its capabilities with the addition of Paul Rosen to its corporate and securities practice in the private equity team. This follows the addition of White & Case’s former head of funds Matthew Griffin in February and the headline hire Charles Malpass in 2021.
Meanwhile, M&A and private equity partner Tony Downes has joined Sidley from Proskauer. Downes combines experience acting for private equity sponsors with advising corporates across the real estate, hospitality, sports, media, technology, and betting and gaming sectors. His arrival follows that of Dan Graham, Paul Dunbar and Emilie Stewart from Vinson & Elkins last August, which went some way to recoup the loses from Goodwin’s 2020 acquisition of a team led by Erik Dahl and Christian Iwasko.
Elsewhere, RPC has boosted its commercial technology capabilities with the addition of Tania Williams from Deloitte. Former Kemp Little partner Williams, who focuses on outsourcing and technology-based transactions, said: ‘RPC has a strong reputation in a number of key sectors including technology, financial and insurance, and within that broader picture the commercial team also has an amazing reputation. The team continues to grow on the back of that to further strengthen the breadth and depth of their expertise commercial team, so for me it is a very exciting time to join a team at the top of its game.’
In the contentious space, Fieldfisher bolstered its cross-border disputes team with the addition of commercial disputes and white-collar crime partner Priyanka Kapoor. She acts for global financial institutions and banks and corporates with expertise spanning from regulatory investigations to litigation and enforcement. Kapoor said: ‘Fieldfisher has provided me with a platform to make the best of my skills and that combines my regulatory practice with my commercial disputes practice. It’s also not just focused on a particular jurisdiction, my international experience means I’m at home whether the dispute related to India or Dubai or Singapore, for example.’
Of her arrival, head of dispute resolution Colin Gibson noted: ‘To complement our busy finance practice, we need people who understand the complicated financial products and understand what a bank needs and can speak to the in-house lawyers and client representatives in a way that they really grasp. It’s easy to hire any old litigator but what we are doing is hiring specialists in the areas that complement what we do.’
Staying on the disputes theme, across the Atlantic, litigation specialist firm Kasowitz Benson Torres has bolstered its team with the addition of Robin Rathmell in Washington DC. Rathmell, who is dual-qualified as an English barrister and US lawyer, joins from Kobre & Kim where he led the international private client team.
Finally, Pinsent Masons has launched its seventh Continental Europe office with the hire of a financial services sector-focused team from Wildgen. Insurance, banking and finance expert Michel Bulach will head the office, which includes Giuseppe Cafiero, who focuses on bank lending, structured finance and securitisation transactions; corporate and commercial partner Isabelle Charlier; corporate and tax specialist David Maria; restructuring partner Yann Payen and banking litigator Eric Perru. Rounding off the seven-partner hire is funds expert Mark Shaw, who will be based in London and focus on developing relationships between UK clients and Luxembourg.