A return to business as usual this September has brought a wave of lateral hires including 4,000-lawyer Baker & McKenzie’s recruitment of leading M&A partner Mats Sacklén (pictured) from the London office of McDermott Will & Emery, where he was head of the European corporate practice. Sacklén, who joins Baker’s Stockholm office to bolster its European corporate offering, is dual-qualified in Swedish and US law and focuses on cross-border M&A, divestures, joint ventures, privatisations, and debt and equity investments.
Sten Bauer, managing partner in Stockholm, commented: ‘He is very well-known in the market, both in London and Stockholm, and has worked on some of Europe’s largest deals over the past decade.’
Elsewhere, Clyde & Co has made a bold statement of intent in Australia by luring some key partners from global swiss vereins King & Wood Mallesons and Norton Rose Fulbright.
The firm has launched a projects and construction practice in Perth with the appointment of King & Wood construction partner Beth Cubitt, who joins Clyde & Co on 1 November, and Glen Warwick, who arrives from the Perth office of Norton Rose. The move is a return to Clyde & Co for Warwick, who specialises in construction and engineering law with a focus on energy, infrastructure and mining, after he left the firm’s Middle East projects and construction group for Norton Rose in 2011.
Clyde & Co is a recent entrant to the Australian market, only opening last year with a team from top Australian firm Allens. Since opening, the firm’s Australian offices have grown to house nine partners, heading a team of 45 fee earners.
‘We have specifically targeted Glen and Beth in Perth on the basis of their quality and expertise, in addition to the esteem with which they are held in the Western Australian market. We aim to be a force in the market from day one,’ said David McElveney, a construction partner at Clyde & Co, and former national head of construction at Australian firm Deacons.
Cubitt’s departure from KWM after 12 years comes shortly after the firm’s tie-up with the UK’s SJ Berwin. Last month Greg Norman, who was with legacy Mallesons for 22 years, left to join Australian rival Clayton Utz in the first high profile departure in the wake of the merger.
But while in Australia Clydes is hiring, in London the firm lost Manoj Vaghela, a partner in the firm’s City-based insurance group, to Pinsent Masons. Vaghela specialises in Bermuda Form policy disputes, and has acted as lead English lawyer on many such disputes since 2002 on behalf of major international insurers.
Nick Bradley, head of insurance at Pinsent Masons, who only himself joined the firm from Lawrence Graham last year, commented: ‘Manoj’s appointment will help us attract and service more high-profile, complex and cross-border disputes work.’
On the continent meanwhile, Eversheds Bianchini, the Italian offices of Eversheds, has bolstered its corporate practice with the hire of Marco Franzini from Simmons & Simmons, where he was a partner for 15 years and head of private equity as well as country head and a member of the firm’s international board.
Franzini is charged with developing Eversheds’ banking and private equity practice in Italy. ‘His appointment will help us to further grow our practice in Italy and his expertise will significantly add to our capabilities,’ said Giuseppe Celli, Italy managing partner.
Elsewhere, Irwin Mitchell has continued its lateral hiring spree, announcing its twelfth hire in as many months. The firm has boosted its intellectual property (IP) practice with the hire of Georgie Collins from Brown Rudnick.
Collins was the head of IP at Brown Rudnick and before that held the same position at Lawrence Graham. She advises clients on all aspects of IP rights including protection, commercialisation and enforcement.
Niall Baker, partner and chief executive of Irwin Mitchell’s business legal services team, said: ‘Georgie is an important acquisition for Irwin Mitchell and we are confident she has the skills, expertise and entrepreneurial approach to help the firm build and expand its IP practice.’
david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk
