Although last week saw several partner departures from a select few LB 100 players, namely Ashurst and Simmons & Simmons, a quartet of firms including White & Case, Winston & Strawn, Fieldfisher and Bond Dickinson added to their benches.
White & Case continues to make appointments, this time in Boston, with the hire of IP partner Charles Larsen from Ropes & Gray.
Dual-qualified in the US and England and Wales, Larsen specialises in strategic patent advocacy and counselling involving US and European patents, including within the life sciences industry.
His move to the firm follows the hiring of partners Michael Kendall, Kevin Bolan, Lauren Papenhausen and Matthew Turnell to the firm’s Boston office, which opened in April this year.
Fellow US firm Winston & Strawn boosted its London ranks with arbitration partner Matthew Bate from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Bate advises and represents parties in international commercial arbitrations, as well as investment treaty arbitrations.
Ricardo Ugarte, chair of Winston’s international arbitration practice said the hire ‘plays an important role in growing our capabilities across Europe.’
Bate started his career in New York and has practised almost exclusively in international arbitration for over a decade. His practice has a particular focus on complex, high-value disputes involving foreign direct investment, major infrastructure projects, joint ventures, and cross-border transactions in the energy, mining, telecommunications, technology, financial, and transportation sectors.
Meanwhile Fieldfisher tapped boutique litigation firm, The Khan Partnership, for barrister Francesca Titus as a partner in its disputes team. During her time at the boutique, Titus served as head of corporate and financial crime. She specialises in international, multijurisdictional cases and regularly represents individuals and businesses that are being investigated or prosecuted by UK or international enforcement agencies.
Recent work has seen her advising clients on international proceedures such as extradition and mutual legal assistance.
Fieldfisher’s disputes head Colin Gibson said Titus’s experience in cross-border corporate crime will boost the firm’s disputes offering ‘as we look to build on our growth of the last few years and we’re looking forward to welcoming her to the firm.’
Finally, Bond Dickinson appointed employment partner Michelle Chance from Kingsley Napley to its London office to head up the practice.
Chance specialises in employment work across a number of sectors including financial services, insurance, professional services and the media.
At Kingsley she was head of the cross-departmental partnership practice, and acts for SME & PLC employers as well as high-profile senior executives, celebrities and those in the media in complex and sensitive employment and partnership matters, often involving discrimination issues.
September has seen a flurry of lateral hires with firms including Allen & Overy taking on four high-profile IP lawyers Mark Heaney and David Stone from Simmons & Simmons, as well as capital markets partners Lina Lee and Jonathan Hsui from Ashurst.
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk