Mills & Reeve today (24 April) announced that it is to expand its presence in the North through a merger with Manchester-based law firm George Davies, after partners voted in favour of the move.
Public sector and sports law specialist George Davies will add around £7m in revenue to Mills & Reeve’s £69.4m, based on 2011-2012 results, consolidating the national firm’s position in the Legal Business 100 rankings where it currently sits at position 47.
Ropes & Gray is to bolster its City and Hong Kong arms with a two-partner hire from US rival Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson.
In London former Allen & Overy finance partner Mark Wesseldine will join from Fried Frank on 1 May, bringing the City partner and counsel total to 20, while Fried Frank capital markets and M&A partner Victoria Lloyd is to join the Hong Kong office on 13 May.
Norton Rose has promoted 33 lawyers to its global partnership ahead of its merger with US firm Fulbright & Jaworski in June.
That number represents only a marginal drop on last year, when Norton Rose promoted 36 lawyers to its partnership.
Mishcon de Reya has enhanced its real estate finance offering with the addition of former SJ Berwin partner Raji Bartlett.
Bartlett joined Mishcon as a consultant this week, having previously been a partner in the finance department at SJ Berwin for the last 16 years.
Allen & Overy has hired Shearman & Sterling’s corporate partner Hans Diekmann as a partner in its Düsseldorf office.
Diekmann, whose start date at A&O is yet to be confirmed, joined Shearman as a partner in 1999. Before that he worked in the legal department of Deutsche Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt for over seven years. Diekmann will become the sixth partner in A&O’s Düsseldorf office, all of which have been hired in.
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Ashurst have both announced their latest partner promotions today (23 April), with Herbert Smith promoting considerably more associates than last year while Ashurst made up fewer partners this time around.
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has promoted 19 lawyers to its partnership, up from just 10 last year, with the majority of the partners come from the firm’s self professed twin engines of corporate and dispute resolution, with seven partners being made up in each practice areas.
Following the firm’s merger with Australian outfit Freehills last summer, seven partners have been made up in Australia. These include corporate lawyers Paul Branston in Brisbane and Mark Currell in Sydney; disputes specialists Leon Chung and Hugh Paynter in Sydney; Matthew Bull, a competition associate in Brisbane; and projects associate Daniel Zador and finance lawyer Rowen Cross, both based in Perth.
Dentons has hired SJ Berwin corporate finance partner Nicholas Plant to lead its private equity group in the UK, Middle East and Africa.
Plant’s practice focuses on advising private equity houses on domestic and cross-border leveraged buy-outs. He also advises on general M&A and joint ventures. Most recently, he has been particularly involved in acting for US corporates, healthcare sector clients and on deal-by-deal financings.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer continues to boost its disputes practice in Hong Kong with Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF) financial services regulatory partner Tim Mak set to join the firm.
Mak will work alongside Asia head of financial services Royce Miller and contentious regulatory partner Georgia Dawson. Mak is tri-lingual and will specialise in both contentious and non-contentious regulatory matters but has particular experience in civil and criminal proceedings and investigations.
Olswang has concluded an extensive governance review that has seen the creation of an executive committee responsible for the firm’s management and strategy.
The review, led by general counsel Simon Callander, has also resulted in a complete overhaul of the firm’s board, which will now reflect the voice of the partnership and act as a check and balance to the committee’s primary decision-making role.
Pinsent Masons has promoted 14 lawyers to its partnership with a further 11 awarded the position of legal director.
The firm made up 11 partners across its UK offices and a further three in Asia, in the second round of promotions since its merger with Scottish firm McGrigors last May.
