As it continues its push for US expansion, Allen & Overy (A&O) has appointed two partners to its investigations and litigation practice in Washington DC. Meanwhile, a former A&O partner who had retired has resurfaced at Simmons & Simmons, while a team of four moved to Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Paris this week.
Gregory Mocek and Anthony Mansfield join A&O’s Washington DC office from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. The pair previously served in the Division of Enforcement of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission as the leader of its domestic and international investigations and litigation and its chief trial attorney respectively.
Mocek advises on a broad range of issues, including regulatory, government investigations, internal investigations, the Dodd-Frank Act, litigation, compliance, and operational risk. Mansfield is focused on commodities, securities and related derivatives litigation, complex commercial litigation and regulatory/enforcement matters.
However in the same week A&O has lost the head of its global technology group to Gibson Dunn. Ahmed Baladi joins the US firm with counsel Vera Lukic and associates Emmanuelle Bartoli and Adélaïde Cassanet. Baladi advises on issues relating to information technology and digital transactions, outsourcing, data privacy and cybersecurity. He joined A&O as an associate in 2001 and was made up to partner in 2010.
Simmons has also taken on former London based capital markets partner Jonathan Mellor. Mellor, who had retired at the end of last year, advises a wide range of underwriters and issuers on all types of capital markets issuance with a particular focus on the equity-linked market, building up a significant practice advising a range of issuers and financial institutions.
In November, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer also boosted its US platform with a Cadwalader hire in, taking corporate partner Aly El Hamamsy.