Proskauer and TLT have added to their funds and banking practices in what was a quiet week generally for City lateral hires.
Proskauer has hired regulatory specialist Kirsten Lapham to its global private funds practice. She joins the firm’s London office as partner from Ropes & Gray where she was counsel in the asset management group.
Lapham advises on a range of financial services, regulatory and compliance issues and has a particular focus on the asset management sector, advising on the regulatory issues that arise out of EU directives and M&A transactions.
Co-head of the private funds group, Nigel van Zyl, said: ‘The regulatory landscape for our clients is increasingly complex. Kirsten’s extensive asset management experience further deepens our client offering in this area.’
Joining Lapham is former Linklaters partner Aranpreet Randhawa, who joins the firm as special funds counsel. Randhawa advises fund managers on fundraising and fund structuring, spin-outs, co-investments, secondary transactions, end of life restructurings and fund maintenance.
Elsewhere, TLT has hired banking and finance partner Rich Hughes from Norton Rose Fulbright. Hughes has over 30 years’ experience in banking, and structured, fund, asset and real estate finance and has particular expertise in finance for the hotel and leisure sector.
Hughes’ appointment follows the recent hires of banking and finance partners Marc Gilston from Foot Anstey and Douglas Gourlay from Weightmans.
Meanwhile, Clyde & Co has announced the retirement of global head of the corporate insurance group Andrew Holderness. He established the firm’s corporate insurance practice and leaves after 20 years to set up his own consultancy firm.
Holderness said: ‘Going forward I will be looking to have a handful of consultancy appointments providing strategic advice to those in the (re)insurance market offering my experience of having operated in that market for over 30 years advising both domestic and international clients as they looked to operate/establish/extend their underwriting operations both in the UK as well as internationally.’
Also at Clydes, disputes lawyer Nicholas Lum re-joins the firm’s Shanghai office from Ince where he was a partner. He was also previously head of the Ince China practice group in its Singapore office. He has a particular focus on international trade and commodities, shipping and shipbuilding and general commercial disputes.
Clyde’s Asia managing director Ik Wei Chong said: ‘Nicholas will spearhead our cross-border dispute resolution efforts from our China offices, and spend significant time in Singapore, working with our team across South East Asia. Nicholas will further bolster our common-law capabilities in our China offices, while driving our outbound investment agenda under the Belt & Road Initiative and the Greater Bay Area.’
In Singapore, Addleshaw Goddard has added to its global construction, energy and infrastructure practice with the hire of Chau Ee, who joins from King & Wood Mallesons where he was partner in its Beijing office. He has experience advising on procurement, structuring project development and implementation and dispute resolution.
Ee is the fifth Asia partner hired in the last 12 months and his appointment follows that of Vivien Yang, who joined the firm’s real estate division in Hong Kong from Simmons & Simmons. Ton Van Den Bosch also recently joined the firm’s Singapore office from Ince, where he headed the energy and projects team.
Head of AG’s Asia practice, Bob Charlton, commented: ‘Chau Ee is outstanding in his specialist field and in combination with Vivien Yang and Ton van den Bosch, will add an exciting new dimension in contentious and non-contentious projects and will be a key partner in driving our internationalisation with his experience and network of contacts across Asia-Pacific.’
Finally, in Paris, Fieldfisher has launched a real estate practice with the hire of partner David Bensimon. He joins the firm from Paul Hastings in Paris where he was a senior associate. Bensimon specialises in commercial real estate and broader complex real estate transactions as well as real estate investment, particularly acquisitions, sales of companies and real estate assets, and in the financing and the creation of real estate joint ventures.
muni.abdi@legalbusiness.co.uk
