High-profile City arbitrator Juliet Blanch is set to leave Weil, Gotshal & Manges, while UK hires this week have come for Ince & Co and DAC Beachcroft, and Taylor Wessing strengthened its European tax offering with a double hire.
A major exit this week came for US firm Weil as its London head of international dispute resolution Juliet Blanch left the firm to become an independent arbitrator. Blanch had spent six years at the firm, joining in 2010 from McDermott Will & Emery where she also was head of international disputes resolution. Prior to this, she was a partner at legacy Norton Rose until 2005, the firm she joined as a trainee.
Also in the City, Ince has hired Rebecca Thornley-Gibson to its London office as head of employment. Before joining the national firm, Thornley-Gibson spent more than 26 years partner at ASB Law, where she was a partner and head of employment. She has advised on employment and travel issues and has a client base including low cost airlines, tour operators, cruise firms and travel technology companies.
Thornley-Gibson is cited as a leading individual for travel law in the Legal 500. Her team’s clients have included easyJet, The Travel Network Group and Secret Escapes. Ince global head of corporate Stephen Jarvis said: ‘Having a strong employment practice is key as we continue to strengthen our transactional offering to clients. Rebecca is a highly regarded employment lawyer so we are delighted to welcome her to the firm.’
In Bristol, DAC Beachcroft recruited Joanne Owers into the firm’s Bristol office earlier this month from City practice Fox Williams. Owers joins from the 30 partner firm having previously worked at as partner at legacy Charles Russell and as an associate at Baker & McKenzie.
And in Europe, Taylor Wessing is expanding its international tax practice with the hire of two partners, bringing in Michaela Petritz-Klar as CEE head of tax and international tax partner Michael Jaffe. Petritz-Klar joins the firm’s Vienna office from Schönherr, where she was head of tax. Jaffe joins the firm from PwC Société d’Avocats, where he was managing partner for France.
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk