Hughes’ exit follows spate of departures from international firm
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP)’s head of banking and finance litigation, David Hughes, is set to leave the firm to join the litigation team at King & Spalding.
Described by one former BLP partner as a ‘big-hitting litigator’, Hughes specialises in asset recovery (including ships and aircrafts) and security enforcement involving complicated capital markets products, as well as the enforcement of bond structures and International Swaps and Derivatives Association contracts. He also advises clients on fraud, financial irregularities and money laundering issues.
Hughes, who was previously national head of banking and finance litigation at DLA Piper between 1992 and 2005, is the latest in a series of lateral hires to King & Spalding’s London disputes team, following the arrival of Steptoe & Johnson’s Russia and CIS group co-head Egishe Dzhazoyan; fellow Steptoe partner Tom Sprange, and Bird & Bird duo Jane Player and Sarah Walker.
Hughes is also the most recent high-profile partner resignation from BLP, coming just weeks after real estate finance duo Andrew Flemming and Jo Solomon announced their departure for Hogan Lovells.
Those exits shortly followed BLP’s head of real estate finance Laurence Rogers’ resignation for DLA Piper alongside commercial real estate partner Richard Hopkinson-Woolley and corporate tax partner Neville Wright, who join former BLP corporate partner Patrick Somers.
Other recent departures include banking and capital markets partner Paul Simcock and former head of restructuring Ben Larkin, who joined Jones Day in March and February respectively; and acquisition finance partner Marcus
Jamson, who joined Wedlake Bell in January.
BLP notably moved swiftly to announce the promotion of commercial disputes partner Oliver Glynn-Jones to take over from Hughes as head of its banking litigation practice, which came into effect on 1 May.
A statement from the firm said: ‘Oliver is currently acting in a number of significant and market-leading cases for global investment banks, including, for instance, issues resulting from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, including the Eurosail case which recently went to the Supreme Court, as well as acting for a number of other parties in securitisation programmes in resolving similar issues.’
Lateral hires: key moves in April
- Weil, Gotshal & Manges has significantly bolstered its City restructuring practice with the hire of Goldman Sachs heavyweight Andrew Wilkinson. Wilkinson was one of the City’s most prominent insolvency lawyers, having led the restructuring group at Clifford Chance and pioneered a highly lucrative bondholder-focused practice at the London branch of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.
- Reed Smith is continuing to ramp up its City practice with the hire of King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin litigator Nick Brocklesby. Brocklesby became an SJ Berwin partner in 2008 and has experience of complex commercial litigation and regulatory work, with a financial services focus.
- In a rare partner hire in the City, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has added to its capital markets and US corporate law practice with the hire of former Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton partner Ash Qureshi, who joins from investment group Kingsley Capital Partners.
- Another two departures have hit Field Fisher Waterhouse’s TMT practice with technology and outsourcing specialist Stewart Room leaving for PwC, while head of trade marks Mark Holah is set to join Bird & Bird.