Last week saw a range of firms bolstering key practices areas with a capital markets partner returning to Simmons & Simmons, Nabarro building its disputes resolution group, Jones Day hiring a team in The Netherlands while Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) made a significant appointment.
Targeting disputes work emanating from Eastern Europe, Nabarro added Adam Greaves, a partner specialising in commercial international litigation and arbitration, particularly fraud cases and white collar crime investigations, to its dispute resolution practice. Joining the London office from US firm McGuireWoods, he has focused on cases from the region, particularly Russia and Ukraine, as well as US and British government investigations into alleged corruption abroad. He has also worked on anti-corruption compliance systems.
Jonathan Warne, Nabarro’s head of Dispute Resolution, said: ‘With increased investment from Eastern Europe flowing into South East Asia, there is a clear opportunity for Adam to develop new lines of business for Nabarro with our growing team in Singapore as we look to extend our disputes offering in the region.’
Meanwhile, Simmons & Simmons welcomed back an old partner, expanding its financial markets practice in Hong Kong with David Neuville who left the firm in 2007 for Jones Day. Neuville spent five years at Jones Day as a partner before moving to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in 2012. He specialises in capital markets, both equity and debt, working for issuers and underwriters on global offerings of securities.
Back in Europe, Jones Day announced it was hiring Aldo Verbruggen as a partner in its Amsterdam office along with two lawyers, Hansje van den Noort and Tessa van Roomen, all from Houthoff Buruma. The trio will join the firm’s corporate criminal investigations practice with Verbruggen, who previously served in the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s office, well regarded for his experience in high-profile cases involving corporate criminal law.
Luc Houben, partner-in-charge of Jones Day’s Amsterdam office, said: “Increasingly, companies and financial institutions are faced with highly sensitive internal and external investigations, often with multi-jurisdictional dimensions. Aldo is one of the most prominent lawyers in the Netherlands in the field of corporate investigations and corporate criminal law.’
Finally, BLP announced the appointment of Nathan Willmott as new Departmental Managing Partner of its litigation and dispute resolution team. Willmott joined the firm in 2007 and takes over from Jonathan Sacher who will now lead BLP’s Insurance Sector Group from 1 June. Oliver Glynn-Jones takes over Willmott’s role as head of BLP’s commercial dispute resolution group while Graham Shear is becoming head of international for the litigation team.
michael.west@legalease.co.uk
