Leading a quiet week of hires for the new year, White & Case has hired Taurie Zeitzer, the co-head of Paul Weiss’ M&A group in New York.
Recognised as a leading lawyer by the Legal 500, Zeitzer will join White & Case as co-head of the global private equity industry group. Her key clients include private equity house Apollo Global Management where she advised on its $5.2bn acquisition of aluminum products maker Arconic last year. Earlier in her career, she served as a partner at both Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins.
Shearman & Sterling has lost private equity and energy partner Sarah McLean to Willkie in Houston, in advance of its proposed merger with A&O in May. Leaving behind an almost six-year career at Shearman, McLean’s move strengthens Willkie’s corporate and financial services department and private equity group. She brings with her more than 20 years of experience advising private equity funds on high-profile deals in the energy space.
Speaking to Legal Business about her move, she said: ‘I joined Willkie because of its funds and private equity practices and the energy team in Houston. In oil and gas, deal activity has been trending up and I would expect that to continue in the coming months.’
In Hong Kong, A&O faced a departure with Ryan Tou joining White & Case as a partner in its global capital markets practice. Specialising in corporate finance, he advises issuers, underwriters, and investors on capital market transactions, securities, and corporate governance matters in Hong. Tou was previously an associate at both Skadden and Reed Smith.
Back in Europe, Signature Litigation has hired long-time Dechert partner Philip Dunham for its Paris office. Concentrating his practice in international arbitration since 1992, Dunham has several decades of experience covering commercial and investment treaty arbitrations where he has represented clients globally in various industries including construction and engineering, joint ventures and oil and gas. The news comes after the firm recruited former Kirkland arbitration partner Philipp Kurek four months ago.
Speaking to LB about his move, Dunham commented: ‘I considered the pros and cons of different firms, and after exchanging with the Signature partners over the course of several months, I came to appreciate the firm’s entrepreneurial and collegiate culture coupled with the quality of its partners. It is also clear that Signature’s management is committed to developing its existing core into a leading arbitration practice. Being part of a firm which is thriving, in growth mode, with a strong team spirit, coupled with a philosophy to incentivise its non-partners – all these factors contributed to my move and excitement to join Signature.’
Also in the disputes space, Singapore firm Rajah & Tann has recruited international arbitration partner Hew Kian Heong from Kewei Law Firm, the joint operation firm of Herbert Smith Freehills located in Shanghai. He previously served as head of construction and infrastructure disputes and will take up his new role in Shanghai, boosting the firm’s practice in China.
Elsewhere in Asia, Herbert Smith Freehills has welcomed back Benjamin Lohr as a funds and asset management partner in Hong Kong. He initially joined the firm in 2011 as a trainee and left after almost five years to join Clifford Chance where he spent eight years in both associate and counsel roles. Returning to HSF, Lohr has experience of limited partners and general partners representation, secondary transactions, and general asset management matters, and advises both international and regional sponsors on fund structuring and fundraising, as well as secondary transactions.
Finally, Stephenson Harwood has hired two partners in Hong Kong. Dorothy Siron joins the firm after almost nine years at Zhong Lun, where she was co-managing partner of the Hong Kong office. She brings with her more than 35 years of experience advising on international disputes including banking litigation, international trade and commercial disputes, employment law, and trust and probate disputes, with a focus on asset recovery, fraud and cyber crime litigation.
The firm has also strengthened its Asia-Pacific M&A practice with the hire of partner Danny Kan, who joins from Chinese financial services group Ping An where he served in-house as head of legal and compliance. The move also marks his return to private practice, as he has previously served as a managing associate and associate at Linklaters and Sidley, respectively.
