In a second blow to Ashurst’s Paris office this year, the firm last month lost a four-partner team to Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, led by litigation and restructuring partner Jean-Pierre Farges.
Tasked with launching a new French litigation and finance practice at the US firm in Paris, Farges is joined by fellow disputes partners Pierre-Emmanuel Fender and Eric Bouffard, corporate partner Bertrand Delaunay and finance counsel Amanda Bevan, who will be made up to partner in the move.
The team is expected to join the firm this autumn, with between six and nine Ashurst associates.
Gibson Dunn Paris head Bernard Grinspan told Legal Business that the team is the first of a number of hires the firm is planning. It aims to strengthen its litigation, antitrust and real estate capabilities.
On the new team, Grinspan said: ‘I’m sure they’ll bring some clients and they’ll be very impressive. Client reaction has been extremely positive. They have attached clients to their skills more than the firm itself, at least that’s our impression. We will have to wait and see.’
The move came four months after a five-partner Ashurst Paris buyout team quit for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. The team, which took ten associates with it, annually billed around £8m in recent years.
Around the same time, a four-lawyer tax team, including partner Nadine Gelli, left Ashurst’s Paris office for French firm De Pardieu Brocas Maffei.
The departures are expected to considerably dent Ashurst’s French practice, which has billed between £25m and £30m in recent years.
Although both Ashurst and Gibson Dunn are still finalising aspects of the move, some partners told Legal Business the departure of the partner teams from Ashurst to Gibson Dunn and Freshfields could take half of Ashurst’s Paris office’s annual revenues based on previous years’ figures.
‘We have equally as ambitious targets for this financial year as last financial year.’
Paul Jenkins, Ashurst
Ashurst managing partner Paul Jenkins has begun rebuilding the firm’s office in the French capital, hiring former Linklaters finance senior associate Pierre Roux in May and PwC director and tax lawyer Emmanuelle Pontnau-Faure this year, both of whom were made up to partner in the move. The firm also promoted employment lawyer Nataline Fleury to partner in this year’s 19-strong round.
‘We currently have 12 partners across banking and finance, competition, real estate, tax and projects. We are rebuilding the corporate, restructuring and disputes practices,’ Jenkins said.
‘The partners that have remained with us are actively working to rebuild the office in those areas led by managing partner Philippe None. We want to ensure our capability there is better aligned with the rest of the firm, in particular Continental Europe and London,’ he added.
Jenkins declined to comment on the Paris office’s current revenue figures but told Legal Business that he knew of the departures during the financial year.
‘In terms of the budget for that office, as well as the budget both in terms of revenue and profitability for the firm as a whole, it is factored in. We have equally as ambitious targets for this financial year as last financial year,’ he said.
madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk