A steady pace of lateral hires continued into the second half of 2017, with Squire Patton Boggs and Addleshaw Goddard both taking on partners in the UK, Taylor Wessing in France and Goodwin Procter in Boston.
Addleshaws has hired experienced private equity partner Pete Wood from Pinsent Masons in Leeds. Wood advises clients in private equity and M&A across retail, financial services, manufacturing and consumer goods.
Addleshaws mergers and acquisitions partner Garry Elliott said Wood’s experience and track record will ‘further enhance our team’.
He described Wood’s hire as ‘testament to our ambition to remain as the number one Corporate team operating in the region’ and which would ‘bring further Private Equity experience and capability to our local and national teams’.
Squire Patton Boggs also announced the appointment of partner Simon Jones to its Birmingham office. Jones is the former Eversheds Sutherland’s Leeds head of technology and global head of automotive, and was previously head of technology and sourcing at DLA Piper, also in Birmingham.
Jones advises on a range of IT and outsourcing projects, with a particular focus on the impact of technology on the automotive and manufacturing sectors.
Squire Patton Boggs’ head of intellectual property & technology practice in Birmingham Stuart James said: ‘[Jones] has a very successful track record in advising on high profile IT and outsourcing projects in both the private and public sector.’
Held ‘in high regard by his clients for his commerciality and technical expertise, Simon will be a great asset; we are excited to welcome him to the firm,’ James said.
A rare loss for Latham & Watkins enhanced Taylor Wessing’s corporate capabilities in France. François Mary joins as a partner in the firm’s Paris office, after over 10 years at Latham. He specialises in corporate law, advising on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, restructuring operations and minority investments.
Taylor Wessing Paris managing partner Gilles Amsallem said Mary’s expertise ‘adds to and reinforces the corporate platform of our firm in Paris.’
Meanwhile, Goodwin enhanced its real estate platform in Boston with partner Marc Lazar from Ropes & Gray, where he was co-head of the real estate investments and transactions group.
Lazar is experienced in real estate finance and investments, representing institutional investors, hedge funds, real estate and other private equity funds as well as lenders and developers, throughout the capital stack and across all asset classes.
‘Marc’s arrival deepens the industry reach of our fund formation, transactional, portfolio and public company teams, said Minta Kay, partner and chair of Goodwin’s global real estate.
His ‘strong technical skills and ability to execute multijurisdictional transactions for high-profile European clients will be extremely valuable to our group,’ said Samantha Lake Coghlan, partner and co-chair of Goodwin’s London office.