Linklaters has hired Goldman Sachs managing director Sarah Mook into the firm’s restructuring team. Mook joins the global restructuring and insolvency practice at the end of June. Her practice includes expertise in special situations, financing and distressed M&A.
Linklaters global head of banking Tony Bugg told Legal Business: ‘When you have the opportunity to bring someone like Sarah into the team you grab it with both hands. Having been at Goldmans she has very diverse skills to bring to the team, it’s a unique opportunity for us.’
Linklaters has seen recent movement in its banking team, with the exit of restructuring partner Yen Sum along with managing associate Jennifer Brennan earlier this year to Sidley Austin.
The hire comes under Bugg (pictured), who was appointed global head of banking in early 2016 after incumbent Gideon Moore was elected the Magic Circle firm’s managing partner.
Last year, Bugg restructured the banking team appointing four new practice heads for leveraged finance, restructuring and insolvency, global loans and financial structuring.
Mook is the second addition Linklaters has taken from the investment bank, bringing in Susana Cao Miranda into the firm’s disputes division. Before joining Goldman Mook was in private practice with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
In its latest partner promotions round, the firm added four new partners into the banking team, including Ian Callaghan in London, Andrew Jennens in Abu Dhabi, Melinda Perera in Luxembourg and Robert Trust in New York. The firm added 26 new partners, including eight into the London office.
Linklaters has recently been rolling out new artificial intelligence tools for banks, with key clients Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland both using the firm’s LinkRFI ring-fencing technology, which is used to classify thousands of customer names in a fraction of the time it would take a human to complete. The firm’s technology team last night won Legal Technology Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards for the innovation.
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk
For more on Linklaters strategy under Gideon Moore and Charlie Jacobs, see ‘Rain men’.
