The approaching festive period has not led to a cooling of the recruitment market, with corporate structuring, M&A, tax and IP expertise topping firms’ wishlists.
It was a busy period for Morrison Foerster, with the firm recruiting an IP team in London. The group is led by Steven James, who joins as a partner from Brown Rudnick, where he headed the UK and European IP group. Other members of the team include of counsel Ruth Arkley and senior associate Hattie Chessher.
MoFo European managing partner Paul Friedman said: ‘IP is a core strength of Morrison Foerster globally. Further strengthening and deepening our IP practice in London has long been a strategic priority, and we have been looking for the right, high-calibre team. Steven and the team will be terrific additions to the London office and our powerhouse global IP litigation group. Steven’s experience and established client base strongly align with our sector focus across tech and life sciences, making him the perfect choice to lead our new London contentious IP practice.’
Meanwhile Osborne Clarke (OC) has appointed ex-PwC director Tom Lewis as its new head of corporate structuring and simplification (CSS) in London. Lewis focuses on corporate group structuring in relation to M&A transactions, simplification and rationalisation, and supply chain restructuring.
Lewis commented: ‘In the current economic climate, there is high demand among our clients for specialist CSS advice. I therefore look forward to taking a pro-active and internationally aligned approach to successfully build out this part of the business across the Osborne Clarke network.’
OC also added to its Reading office as Kate New joined as a partner. New was hired from Cellnex Telecom, where she held an in-house role focused on property litigation, having previously worked at Blake Morgan and Foot Anstey. Her expertise spans the retail, investment, telecoms and housebuilding sectors.
Elsewhere in the City, capital markets partner Kieran Stone joined Locke Lord from Memery Crystal. An expert in equity capital markets, Stone has represented UK and international main market and AIM-quoted companies.
Outside London, Burness Paull strengthened its Glasgow offering by hiring Christine Yuill as a partner. Yuill is a tax specialist, advising on the tax aspects of corporate transactions, property tax issues and employee share plans during her 12 years at previous firm Pinsent Masons.
On the continent, White & Case expanded its European M&A group by hiring Woldemar Haering. Haering joins from Allen & Overy, where he was a counsel, and provides expertise in business conduct and governance requirements under various pieces of European legislation.
In the Middle East, Ashurst added to its corporate ranks by hiring UAE-based partner Simon Rahimzada. With over 20 years’ experience in cross-border M&A and private equity, Rahimzada arrived after a ten-year stint at King & Spalding.
David Charlier, Ashurst Middle East managing partner, said: ‘As the Middle East’s transformation accelerates, we are pleased to welcome Simon – whose deep experience, stellar market reputation and sectorial focus make him a powerful fit for our team. His appointment reflects our aim to further invest in and strengthen our corporate practice in the Middle East and we look forward to working alongside him to further enhance our offering.’
The move compounds an already busy week for Ashurst’s international endeavours. On Tuesday (29 Nov) the firm announced a joint venture with South Korean firm HwaHyun, allowing it to practice local law in the jurisdiction.
Finally, it was one in, one out at King & Spalding as the firm brought government investigations and international arbitration partner Richard Sharpe into its Singapore office. A former barrister, Sharpe has advised clients on a range of criminal and civil matters, including anti-bribery and corruption, anti-money laundering, international sanctions and cyber-crime. He joined the firm from Kirkland & Ellis’ Hong Kong office.
