Four sets boast the highest number of successful QC applications
White & Case arbitration partners Dipen Sabharwal and Aloke Ray made up half of the solicitor-advocates taking silk in this year’s Queen’s Counsel (QC) appointments, with 108 making the cut overall.
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White & Case’s expansive London office was responsible for 17% of firm-wide revenue as Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy has a hiring spree to thank for its pace-setting 25% uptick in City turnover.
White & Case’s City revenue was up 7% to $350m, as firm-wide revenue increased 13.7% to break the $2bn mark at $2.05bn. Profit per equity partner grew 6% to $2.40m and revenue per lawyer increased by 7.8% to reach $954,000 from last year’s $885,000.
The 2018 results continue a blistering run for the firm, building on last year’s 13% uptick in City revenue while firm-wide revenue saw a pacey 10% increase to $1.8bn in 2017. Profit per equity partner rose more than 6% to $2.4m and equity partner headcount globally rose by more than 7% to 342 from last year’s 319.
Strong performing practice areas included banking, disputes and private equity, according to Oliver Brettle, member of the global executive committee and London executive partner Melissa Butler.
White & Case in 2018 proved itself to be something of a hiring whirlwind in the City having gone great guns with its NY-London focus and ambitions to go ‘toe-to-toe’ with the Magic Circle in London as part of a 2020 plan led by Brettle.
Sixteen London laterals included high-profile infrastructure partner Simon Caridia from Herbert Smith Freehills in October and the same month, Weil counsel Thomas Falkus as a partner for its thriving capital markets practice.
The firm also added David Robertson, formerly of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, to its arbitration practice, Royal Bank of Scotland’s former head of litigation and investigations Laura Durrant as a partner, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft litigation partner Steven Baker for the firm’s commercial litigation practice.
White & Case also hired from Weil Gotshal & Manges with mixed results. The start of 2018 saw Weil’s co-head of dispute resolution, Hannah Field-Lowes, join White & Case in London while the hire of Weil’s head of banking Mark Donald later in the year proved to be Ill-fated. Donald was prevented from joining because of a historic issue concerning a Weil associate on secondment at JP Morgan sharing confidential documents.
Oliver Brettle is keen to stress the strength of internal partner promotions as well as laterals. Brettle told Legal Business: ‘This is extremely strong growth on top of very high growth in 2017. That growth has been achieved without the lateral hires. With them, we are poised for great things going forward.’
Last October, White & Case announced a bumper promotion round of 41, of which 13 were in the City, up from seven new London partners the previous year. Butler points to 38% of the new partner promotions in London being female and 46% at the firm globally.
Milbank, meanwhile, has celebrated its 40th anniversary in London by posting a substantive 25% revenue hike for its City branch to $156m from $125m. The financials build on last year’s success when the firm posted its highest ever London revenue, a 9% increase on its 2016 performance.
The firm cited London as a key driver of the firm’s global financial performance and points to its financial restructuring group more than doubling in size and its capital markets group almost tripling in terms of headcount.
Milbank kicked off 2018 with a number of lateral hires, including a four-partner restructuring team from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft comprising Cadwaladers’ global financial restructuring co-chair Yushan Ng, Jacqueline Ingram, Karen McMaster and Sinjini Saha. Clients of the team included brand name sponsors Oaktree, KKR, Centerbridge Capital Partners and Blackstone.
Within days of those laterals, Milbank also hired high-yield guru Apostolos Gkoutzinis and his capital markets colleague Rebecca Marques from Shearman & Sterling.
For more on White & Case’s unlikely revolution read: ‘Reborn supremacy‘.
White & Case arbitration partners Dipen Sabharwal (pictured) and Aloke Ray make up half of the solicitor-advocates taking silk in this year’s Queen’s Counsel (QC) appointments, with 108 making the cut overall.
Completing the all-male group of solicitor-advocates taking silk were Allen & Overy partner Mark Levy and Stephen Fietta, founder of disputes boutique Fietta.
Sabharwal is head of White & Case’s EMEA international arbitration practice, and was promoted to partner in 2012. Ray joined the firm in 1999, and was promoted in 2006.
Sabharwal described taking silk as ‘the ultimate badge of recognition’. Ray, meanwhile, told Legal Business: ‘The pleasure and privilege comes from the fact it is associated with the high quality standard of work we do as a firm. Not all clients will react the same, but I can’t see how the extra recognition would hurt.’
The four solicitors appointed in this round marks the third consecutive year of decline, however: five solicitors took silk in 2017, and six the year before.
Solicitors were far more successful on average this year, however, with four out of five succeeding in their applications. Last year, only half of the ten solicitor applicants were successful.
There were also significantly less overall appointments, falling 9% to 108 from 119. There was an even greater fall in applicants, however, to 240 from 272.
Four barristers’ chambers shared the honour of having the highest number of tenants take silk: Brick Court Chambers, 39 Essex Chambers, Red Lion Chambers and Littleton Chambers each had four barristers appointed.
It continues a strong run for Red Lion Chambers, which topped the list outright last year with six barristers taking silk. For elite London set Brick Court Chambers, it is a return to form after only one tenant was made up last year.
Male appointees far outweighed successful female applicants: 78 to 30. Women were more successful on average though, with 55% of female applicants making the cut compared to 42% for men.
Ethnic minority representation remained sluggish, with 13 out of 30 non-white applicants taking silk compared to 18 out of 33 last year.
Sir Alex Allan, chair of the Queen’s Counsel Selection Panel, commented: ‘We remain concerned that the number of female applicants remains comparatively low, but I am pleased that of those women who did apply, well over 50% were successful. I was also pleased to note that the number of BAME applicants appointed was in proportion to their representation amongst applicants, and amongst the relevant cohort of the profession.’
Sabharwal added: ‘The Queen’s Counsel Appointments and the Bar Council have been making strenuous efforts in improving diversity in recent years. Why the needle isn’t moving in the right direction is a complex story, but perhaps it’s a case of laying the groundwork now for a better result in a few years’ time.’
The silk swearing-in ceremony will be held on 11 March 2019.
For a longer read on the pageantry and magic of the ceremony, read ‘The Silk Round: One fine day’.
The full list of appointments (in alphabetical order):
Zubair Ahmad, 2 Hare Court
Narita Bahra, 2 Hare Court
James Bailey, Wilberforce Chambers
Charles Banner, Landmark Chambers
William Bennett, 5RB
Balraj Bhatia, No. 1 High Pavement Chambers
Anna Boase, One Essex Court
Tim Buley, Landmark Chambers
Edmund Burge, Five St Andrew’s Hill
Peter Burns, Byrom Street Chambers
Victoria Butler-Cole, 39 Essex Chambers
John Cammegh, 9 Bedford Row
Giles Cannock, Kings Chambers
Lorraine Cavanagh, St John’s Buildings
Mark Chacksfield, 8 New Square
Richard Chapman, 18 St John Street Chambers
Nicholas Corsellis, QEB Hollis Whiteman
Catherine Cowton, Queen Elizabeth Building
Nicholas Craig, 3 Verulam Buildings
Timothy Cray, 6KBW College Hill
Clifford Darton, Ely Place Chambers
Andrew de Mestre, 4 Stone Buildings
Peter de Verneuil Smith, 3 Verulam Buildings
Katherine Deal, 3 Hare Court
Kevin Dent, 5 St Andrew’s Hill
Thomas Dumont, Radcliffe Chambers
Rory Dunlop, 39 Essex Chambers
David Durose, Furnival Chambers
Nigel Edwards, St Pauls Chambers
David Emanuel, Garden Court Chambers
Stephen Fietta, Fietta
Dean George, 2 Bedford Row
Katherine Goddard, Bank House Chambers
Michael Goodwin, Red Lion Chambers
Nina Grahame, Garden Court North Chambers
Margaret Gray, Brick Court Chambers
Jaime Hamilton, Nine St John Street
Jonathan Hand, Outer Temple Chambers
Mark Harries, Carmelite Chambers
Christopher Harris, 3 Verulam Buildings
Alec Haydon, Brick Court Chambers
Thomas Hickman, Blackstone Chambers
Isabel Hitching, Crown Office Chambers
Fiona Horlick, Outer Temple Chambers
Mozammel Hossain, 187 Fleet Street
Nicola Howard, 25 Bedford Row
Nicholas Isaac, Tanfield Chambers
Sarah Jones, Pump Court Chambers
Robert Kellar, 1 Crown Office Row
Charlotte Kilroy, Doughty Street Chambers
Ronit Kreisberger, Monckton Chambers
Lindsay Lane, 8 New Square
James Leabeater, 4 Pump Court
Mark Levy, Allen & Overy
David Lewis, Hardwicke
Richard Littler, Exchange Chambers
Dale Martin, Littleton Chambers
Jane McCafferty, 11KBW
Constance McDonnell, Serle Court
Nicholas Medcroft, Fountain Court Chambers
Christina Michalos, 5RB
Sian Mirchandani, 4 New Square
Keir Monteith, Garden Court Chambers
Giles Mooney, 9 Gough Square
Alison Morgan, 6KBW College Hill
Aparna Nathan, Devereux Chambers
Michelle Nelson, Red Lion Chambers
Brian Nicholson, 11 South Square
Robert Palmer, Monckton Chambers
Christopher Paxton, Red Lion Chambers
Alan Payne, 5 Essex Court Chambers
Simon Pentol, 25 Bedford Row
Fionn Pilbrow, Brick Court Chambers
Nigel Povoas, 7 Bedford Row
Steven Powles, Doughty Street Chambers
Sarah Pritchard, Kings Chambers
Aloke Ray, White & Case
Jonathan Rees, Churchers Solicitors
Jamie Riley, Littleton Chambers
James Rivett, Pump Court Tax Chambers
James Roberts, 1 King’s Bench Walk
Daniel Robinson, Red Lion Chambers
Dipen Sabharwal, White & Case
Daniel Saoul, 4 New Square
Diya Sen Gupta, Blackstone Chambers
Mohinderpal Sethi, Littleton Chambers
Daniel Shapiro, Crown Office Chambers
Neil Sheldon, 1 Crown Office Row
Nicholas Sidall, Littleton Chambers
Katherine Sloane, Monckton Chambers
Julia Smart, Furnival Chambers
Christopher Smith, Quadrant Chambers
Jessica Stephens, 4 Pump Court
John Thackray, Wilberforce Chambers
David Thomas, 39 Essex Chambers
James Todd, 39 Essex Chambers
Stephanie Tozer, Falcon Chambers
William Upton, Six Pump Court
Guglielmo Verdirame, 20 Essex Street
Jeremy Wainwright, 3 Temple Gardens
Victoria Wakefield, Brick Court Chambers
Robert Walton, Landmark Chambers
David Whittaker, 2 Hare Court
Adam Wolanski, 5RB
Damian Woodward-Carlton, 42 Bedford Row
Richard Wormald, Three Raymond Buildings
David Yates, Pump Court Tax Chambers
Hossein Zahir, Garden Court Chambers
Global players scaled up their investment in continental Europe this autumn, with Dentons launching its fourth German base and White & Case growing its French team. Meanwhile, Weil, Gotshal & Manges has shut its doors in Prague, its second office closure in central and eastern Europe (CEE) in 2018.
Dentons’ fast-growing German branch hired Taylor Wessing’s former head of competition, EU and trade, Andreas Haak, and employment partner Sascha Grosjean to lead the opening of the new outpost in Düsseldorf in January 2019. Germany managing partner Andreas Ziegenhagen told Legal Business the firm aims to have around 30 lawyers in the city in Germany’s industrial heartland, bringing the total headcount in the country to over 200.
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Simmons & Simmons has landed a major Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation mandate at the expense of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Simmons’ crime, fraud and investigations head Stephen Gentle and partner Nick Benwell have been enlisted to defend oil and gas company Petrofac in the SFO probe, taking on the mandate from Freshfields.
The Magic Circle firm had been appointed to advise Petrofac after the SFO confirmed in May 2017 it was investigating the company due to ‘suspected bribery, corruption and money laundering.’ The probe formed part of a wider investigation into Unaoil, which is accused of the same offences.
In addition to Freshfields, Petrofac called on Ashurst’s veteran dispute partner Edward Sparrow in August 2017 to advise as a ‘senior external specialist’.
Freshfields declined to comment. Simmons was approached for comment.
Meanwhile, White & Case’s London lateral hiring spree has continued with the appointment of financial regulatory partner Jonathan Rogers.
Rogers joins from Taylor Wessing, where he had been a partner since 2008. At his time of leaving, Rogers was head of Taylor Wessing’s financial services regulatory group in London.
Carrying 20 years’ experience advising financial institutions on a full range of Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigations, Rogers has a particular focus on asset management, private banks, the payments industry as well as investment and lending platforms.
Eric Leicht, head of White & Case’s global banking practice, commented: ‘Banks continue to demand expert advice on regulatory regimes around the globe. Jonathan is well positioned to step in and assist our large, sophisticated financial institution clients on the most complex regulatory issues they face.’
Rogers’ arrival marks the second major lateral hire White & Case has made this month, following the recruitment of Weil Gotshal & Mages’ well-regarded banking head, Mark Donald.
Other recent laterals at White & Case include high-profile infrastructure partner Simon Caridia from Herbert Smith Freehills in October and in the same month, Weil counsel Thomas Falkus as a partner for its capital markets practice.
White & Case’s City hiring spree continues to go great guns with the recruitment of Weil Gotshal & Manges’ well-regarded head of banking, Mark Donald.
Donald has been at Weil for six years, taking on the head of banking role vacated by Stephen Lucas when he left for Kirkland & Ellis in 2014. Before Weil, Donald had spent 15 years at Hogan Lovells.
A leveraged finance lawyer by trade, Donald is experienced in acquisition finance, advising sponsors and banks on leveraged buyouts and mid-market transactions, as well as real estate acquisition finance and fund financing.
Eric Leicht, head of White & Case’s global banking practice, said: ‘We continue to build our leading banking practice in London, advising sponsors and lenders under both English and New York law on their most important transactions.’
He added: ‘We expect our leveraged finance work to grow as financial markets continue to evolve after the financial crisis, and Mark further strengthens our team, adding real fire power to the brand.’
White & Case has been on something of a whirlwind in the City, having gone full steam ahead with its NY-London focus and ambitions to go ‘toe-to-toe’ with the Magic Circle in London as part of a 2020 plan led by Oliver Brettle, member of the global executive committee and former London executive partner.
Brettle, London-based member of White & Case’s global executive committee, pointed to a strengthening of the banking practice this year, including through the internal promotions to partner of Richard Lloyd and Shameer Shah, and the lateral partner additions of Shane McDonald from Hudson Advisors and Sudhir Nair rom Baker McKenzie.
Other recent laterals at White & Case include high-profile infrastructure partner Simon Caridia from Herbert Smith Freehills in October and in the same month, Weil counsel Thomas Falkus as a partner for its thriving capital markets practice.
White & Case also recently added David Robertson, formerly of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, to its arbitration practice, Royal Bank of Scotland’s former head of litigation and investigations Laura Durrant as a partner, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft litigation partner Steven Baker for the firm’s commercial litigation practice.
Another high-profile move from Weil to White & Case came at the start of the year in Weil’s co-head of dispute resolution, Hannah Field Lowes.
White & Case has promoted 41 lawyers to partner in its largest ever promotion round, with London seeing more promotions than the whole of the US.
The promotion round, effective from January next year, represents a 32% increase on last year, when 31 were minted. London sees 13 promotions, up from seven last year, and ahead of the 12 in the US. The overall round is one up on the firm’s previous record of 40 two years ago.
Speaking to Legal Business, executive committee member Oliver Brettle (pictured) highlighted the firm’s focus on London and the US, which ‘in line with our strategic priorities’, accounted for 61% of the promotions.
London’s promotions include five in M&A, two in finance and two in capital markets. The City’s white collar, international arbitration, litigation and tax will get one new partner each. The promotions in the US include ten in New York and two in Washington.
‘We have a strong global footprint and we have always been very clear about our strategy: our geographic focus is to build further in New York and London,’ said Brettle, who stepped down as London executive partner in May to focus on the firm’s global strategy. He was replaced by US securities partner Melissa Butler.
In Europe, the firm promoted three in Paris, while Frankfurt, Berlin and Brussels got two each; Moscow, Prague and Geneva, just one. In Asia, Hong Kong saw two people promoted, while Abu Dhabi and Dubai had one each.
Women make up almost half of the lawyers promoted at 19.
The largest promotion round in White & Case’s history follows an 11% growth in revenue and 10% rise in profits per equity partner at the US-bred firm, to $1.8bn and $2.26m respectively. The London office outpaced the global revenue growth, hiking income 13% to $328m.
Its promotion round is, however, dwarfed by Kirkland & Ellis’ 122-strong cohort this year, although White & Case promoted more in London than the Chicago bred giant, who minted ten in the City.
marco.cillario@legalease.co.uk
For more on White & Case’s unlikely revolution, see ‘Reborn Supremacy’ (£)
Full list of London promotions:
White & Case’s aggressive sweep on the City lateral market has continued with the hire of Herbert Smith Freehills infrastructure partner Simon Caridia.
The high-profile Caridia joined Herbert Smith as a partner in May 2015 from Magic Circle firm Linklaters, where he worked for nearly ten years, latterly for two years as counsel. He started his career at CMS, and is expected to start at White & Case by the end of the year.
White & Case’s thirteenth lateral this year alone, Caridia advises on both greenfield and brownfield transactions, focusing on debt financings for infrastructure M&A and private equity transactions. He will join the global project finance practice, and counts infrastructure investors Arcus, Goldman Sachs, OMERS and DIF among his clients, as well as major European sponsors including Strabag, Skanska, Acciona and Hochtief.
While at Herbert Smith he worked on some high-profile transactions, including advising the commercial banks and the European Investment Bank on the €800 million financing of the IJmond Sea Lock PPP project in the Netherlands, which reached financial close in October 2015.
At Linklaters he led a team advising the lenders on the £1.2bn financing of the UK’s M25 motorway expansion project, a PFI that made it over the line in 2009 in spite of the financial crisis.
White & Case has been on something of a whirlwind in the City, having gone full steam ahead with its NY-London focus and ambitions to go ‘toe-to-toe’ with the Magic Circle in London as part of a 2020 plan led by Oliver Brettle, member of the global executive committee and former London executive partner.
Already this month, the firm snapped up a Weil, Gotshal & Manges counsel Thomas Falkus as a partner for its thriving capital markets practice and also added David Robertson, formerly of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, to its arbitration practice.
Other recent hires include Royal Bank of Scotland’s former head of litigation and investigations Laura Durrant as a partner, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft litigation partner Steven Baker for the firm’s commercial litigation practice.
nathalie.tidman@legalease.co.uk
For more on White & Case’s expansion strategy, read: Reborn supremacy – inside the unlikely White & Case revolution
White & Case is continuing its bid to add firepower to its London disputes bench with the hire of The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)’s former head of litigation and investigations Laura Durrant as a partner.
Meanwhile, Swiss disputes firm LALIVE is opening an arbitration-focused office in London and Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF) litigation partner Adam Johnson QC has been appointed a deputy High Court judge.
Durrant started her career as an associate with HSF in 2006, before opting to move in-house to RBS in 2010 where she went on to occupy a number of roles. Most recently, she acted as the banking giant’s head of litigation, regulatory and investigations.
For White & Case, Durrant’s arrival continues a recent trend of hiring ex-banking lawyers. The firm brought in fellow litigation partner Chris Brennan in June, after previous spells at Lloyds Banking Group and the Financial Conduct Authority.
It also marks a concerted attempt by the expansive US firm to aggressively hire for its City disputes bench to enable it to contend with the Magic Circle. Last month, the firm enlisted contentious construction and engineering partner David Robertson to its arbitration team from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft litigation partner Steven Baker to its commercial litigation practice.
John Reynolds, White & Case disputes partner, told Legal Business: ‘We have made a concerted effort to bring in the right people for the banking litigation team, we’ve made four laterals in the area this year. The combination between Chris, myself and Laura I feel fantastically optimistic about, we all get on really well.’
Charles Balmain, head of EMEA disputes for White & Case, commented: ‘As we continue to compete toe-to-toe with the magic circle, it’s exciting to welcome an experienced and accomplished lawyer like Laura, who has a strong market profile and excellent relationships with key figures in the banking industry.’
Elsewhere, Withers has taken advantage of the recent exodus at the newly-formed Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, appointing legacy Bryan Cave’s head of arbitration Emma Lindsay.
Lindsay, who will be located in Withers’ New York office, is a dual-qualified international disputes lawyer and typically represents corporates and sovereigns across a range of jurisdictions.
Peter Wood, head of Withers’ disputes division, said: ‘Her arrival at the firm extends our international arbitration capabilities to the US. With Emma in place in New York, we can now offer our clients expert arbitration advice across the US, Asia and Europe.’
After the emphatic endorsement of being appointed to Queen’s Counsel in 2017, HSF litigation partner Adam Johnson QC has now been elected to serve as a deputy High Court judge.
Johnson QC will act on a four-year term and is expected to sit for around 30 days a year, dealing with complex cases which would otherwise be undertaken by permanent High Court judges. He has substantial experience from his time at HSF, joining the firm in 1988 and acting on high-profile mandates such as representing RBS in the litigation arising out of the 2008 rights issue.
Out of a total of 32 deputy High Court judges appointed, only four were solicitors. Picked alongside Johnson QC was Bristows’ competition and regulatory head Pat Treacy, former Powell Spencer and Partners lawyer Margaret Obi, and former Thompsons partner Mary Stacey.
Johnson QC told Legal Business: ‘I have been practising law for over 30 years and the profession has given a lot to me, so there is a sense that it was important for me to give something back. As a solicitor I hope that the expertise I have had in that role will provide a slightly different and valuable perspective.’
Finally, Swiss outfit LALIVE has announced that it is opening an office in London. The new outpost, which will be focused on commercial and investment treaty arbitration, will be led by a two-partner team consisting of Marc Veit and Timothy Foden.
Veit has been with LALIVE since 2014 while Foden has recently joined the firm after previously acting as of counsel at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.
LALIVE has bucked recent fears by placing its faith in the UK as a post-Brexit arbitration hub. Veit commented: ‘We believe that the UK will remain a key location for international arbitration post-Brexit. London’s attractiveness as a seat for international arbitration may actually increase as third parties may see England as being a more neutral venue outside of the EU.’
There are signs the summer hiring lull is coming to an end after Sullivan & Cromwell and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) made significant London plays, while White & Case led an array of firms looking East.
Sullivan & Cromwell broke a five-year duck in the City by hiring Jeremy Kutner from Shearman & Sterling. Kutner, who was made partner in 2012, had headed up Shearman’s technology, media and telecoms (TMT) industry group, advising a plethora of major media companies including Liberty Global, Virgin Media and Vivendi.
Sullivan’s last City lateral before Kutner was restructuring partner Chris Howard, who joined from Linklaters in 2013. The firm claims it is looking to strengthen its City corporate practice further.
A spokesperson for Shearman commented: ‘We can confirm that Jeremy Kutner will be leaving the firm. We wish him all the best for the future.’
BCLP, meanwhile, made an addition with Elizabeth Hicks, who will spearhead the firm’s family asset protection team in London. Hicks joins from Irwin Mitchell, where as partner she acted as head of family law. She previously worked at Kingsley Napley, where she was made partner in 2001.
The move comes as BCLP looks to improve its wider private client capability. Global co-head of the firm’s private client practice, Damian Bloom, commented: ‘Elizabeth’s arrival furthers the family asset protection group’s ambition of seamlessly servicing high net worth clients on complex high value family and asset protection matters. There are growing opportunities in this space across the private wealth sector, and a global commercial law firm with international family disputes capability is an attractive proposition for prospective clients.’
Finishing off the domestic recruitment round, RPC announced the hire of professional indemnity partner Rhian Howell from Beale & Co to the firm’s Bristol office. Howell had previously acted as head of the Bristol office for Beale.
Meanwhile, American heavyweight White & Case kicked off an international recruitment round dominated by appointments in Asia, announcing the hire of Bingna Guo as partner in the firm’s Beijing office. Guo joins from O’Melveny & Myers, where she had spent her entire career and was made partner in 2012.
Guo has experience in international investigations and providing compliance advice on domestic and cross-border matters for multinational companies.
White & Case’s China head Alex Zhang said: ‘China continues to be a key Asia-Pacific jurisdiction in which White & Case is targeting further growth. Bingna, an experienced and highly capable partner with strong client relationships and an excellent market reputation, is an exciting addition to our team who adds further breadth and depth to the firm’s practice in China.’
Elsewhere in Asia, DWF continued its run of hires with the appointment of Jonathan Goacher to its Singapore office. Goacher joins from Kennedys, where he led the firm’s regional corporate insurance practice, and was previously a consultant at DLA Piper’s Bangkok office for more than a decade. Goacher is also a New York-qualified lawyer.
Oommen Mathew, managing partner of DWF Singapore, said: ‘Jonathan will be a very strong addition to our Singapore practice as we look to build our corporate and transactional offering to further capitalise on the opportunities in the market.’
Finishing off the international round, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan joined the Asia hiring spree in securing the services of former Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garret & Dunner partner York Faulkner. Faulkner’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, adding to Quinn’s Tokyo litigation offering, as well as bringing experience from acting as a federal prosecutor in the U.S Department of Justice.
Managing partner, John Quinn, welcomed the hire: ‘We have been looking to add the right person to the Tokyo office for a while now. We are very excited to have York join us.’
