Revolving doors: Latham hires Akin duo as firms strengthen finance, disputes and family practices

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Strategic recruitment
Revolving doors: Latham hires Akin duo as firms strengthen finance, disputes and family practices

Latham & Watkins has strengthened its private credit practice in London by adding two partners from Akin. Fergus Wheeler and Paul Yin are set to become part of Latham’s banking practice, having each spent less than 10 months at their previous firm.

The duo brings significant expertise in advising global private credit funds, direct lenders, commercial and investment banks, private equity sponsors, and corporate borrowers on diverse and intricate cross-border debt financing matters, with a specific emphasis on private credit transactions.

Slaughters’ outgoing senior partner Cooke to follow fellow grandees in post-retirement pivot

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Leadership Slaughter and May
Slaughters’ outgoing senior partner Cooke to follow fellow grandees in post-retirement pivot

Slaughter and May’s eminent senior partner Steve Cooke has become the latest law firm leader to embrace a change of direction post-retirement with the news that he is to join PR agency Brunswick Group.

Cooke (pictured) will finish his term as Slaughters’ senior partner on 30 April 2024 after which he will join Brunswick as a partner, tasked with advising clients on matters including M&A, crisis, disputes and litigation.

‘A springboard for greater success’: Johnston elected as next Addleshaw managing partner

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Leadership Addleshaw Goddard
‘A springboard for greater success’: Johnston elected as next Addleshaw managing partner

Addleshaw Goddard has announced that Andrew Johnston has been successful in securing the position of the firm’s managing partner through an uncontested election, serving a four-year term to start on 1 May 2024.

Having joined the firm in 2013 to oversee the firm’s M&A practice in the Middle East, Johnston (pictured) previously worked at Clifford Chance. He became a board member in 2014 and assumed the role of head of Middle East and Asia in 2019, during which time he led the firm’s Middle Eastern business to record financial performances.

Greenberg expands finance team in the City with Weil hire

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Strategic recruitment Greenberg
Greenberg expands finance team in the City with Weil hire

Greenberg Traurig announced today (27 November) that Luke Lado has joined the firm as a shareholder, bolstering its banking and finance practice in London.

He joins from Weil, where he spent two years as counsel, following five years at Latham & Watkins as a senior associate. His legal career began at Clifford Chance, where he started as a trainee and spent six years. Lado has also completed secondments to Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Credit Suisse.

‘The transition is over’: BCLP names Jinal Shah as new UK managing partner

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Leadership Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
‘The transition is over’: BCLP names Jinal Shah as new UK managing partner

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) announced this week that Jinal Shah will become the firm’s UK managing partner from 1 January 2024.

He is taking over from Segun Osuntokun, who served in this role since 2018, with Osuntokun now appointed as BCLP’s first global senior partner, also effective from 1 January.

Revolving doors: Global 100 bolster ranks in Europe, Asia and the Middle East

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Strategic recruitment
Revolving doors: Global 100 bolster ranks in Europe, Asia and the Middle East

Despite losing yet another partner in London this week to Paul Weiss, Kirkland & Ellis has continued to build its London bench with its hire of Macfarlanes tax partner Ceinwen Rees.

The firm brought tax partner James Morgan over from Linklaters earlier this month after losing Timothy Lowe and Cian O’Connor to Paul Weiss in September. Rees’ experience advising investment fund managers on structuring issues plays well to Kirkland’s core private equity focus, and alongside Morgan her hire helps bring the US giant’s London office back to strength. Both Rees and Morgan are Legal 500 leading individuals in corporate tax.

The onslaught continues: Paul Weiss raids Kirkland again to hire City IP partner

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Strategic recruitment Kirkland & EllisPaul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
The onslaught continues: Paul Weiss raids Kirkland again to hire City IP partner

Just when the market thought Paul Weiss had eased up on its hiring spree in the run-up to Christmas, the firm has hired John Patten, a partner in the London technology and intellectual property (IP) transactions practice of Kirkland & Ellis.

The move sees the Wall Street giant continue to pursue with gusto the build-out of the English law practice that has gathered momentum in short order, much to the chagrin of the management of Kirkland and Linklaters, among others.

Government to address PACCAR ruling with amendment to Digital Markets Bill – but litigation funders argue it isn’t enough

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Litigation funding
Government to address PACCAR ruling with amendment to Digital Markets Bill – but litigation funders argue it isn’t enough

An amendment filed to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill last week will allow the use of damages-based agreements (DBAs) for opt-out collective proceedings heard in the Competition Appeal Tribunal, but only for litigation funders. The proposed amendment responds to the Supreme Court’s decision in PACCAR in July this year, which ruled that litigation funding agreements that allowed funders to recover a percentage of damages were prohibited.

The judgment left funders racing to renegotiate existing agreements in order to be able to enforce them, despite remaining adamant that they were optimistic about the industry as a whole. If this amendment is successful, renegotiation will be unnecessary, as litigation funding agreements (LFAs) based on percentages will remain viable.

Revolving Doors: Disputes hiring picks up pace as Global 100 players make key appointments

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Strategic recruitment
Revolving Doors: Disputes hiring picks up pace as Global 100 players make key appointments

Allen & Overy has hired cyber security incident response partners, Ffion Flockhart, and Charlie Weston-Simons, with Flockhart taking on the role of global head of cybersecurity.  The pair previously worked together at Norton Rose Fulbright, where Flockhart was global co-head of information governance, privacy, and cyber security. The team will assist clients with cyber incidents and managing data risks from prevention to response.

Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins has appointed Pamela Reddy as a partner in its white-collar defence and investigations practice in London. Reddy also moves from Norton Rose Fulbright. She advises on domestic and cross-border fraud, market abuse, bribery and corruption, and money laundering investigations, as well as public inquiries, internal investigations, workplace culture reviews and allegations following the #MeToo movement.

SFO opens criminal investigation into Axiom Ince

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Legal regulation Axiom Ince
SFO opens criminal investigation into Axiom Ince

A criminal investigation has been launched into Axiom Ince, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced today (14 November). Seven individuals have been arrested in connection with the investigation and searches have been carried out across nine sites.

More than 80 SFO investigators, alongside Metropolitan Police officers, went to locations across the southeast of England early this morning to search for potential evidence and bring in individuals for questioning.