The hot legal recruitment market is showing no sign of cooling down with summer looming, as firms continued to strengthen their benches at home and abroad.
Starting in May, Ropes & Gray took further steps towards its goal of becoming the go-to private equity practice in the City with the addition of partners Dan Oates, Simon Saitowitz and Angela Becker in the London office.
The trio, all of whom joined from Fried Frank, are the latest in a string of London recruits by the Boston-headquartered firm, which has seen a 25% increase in fee-earners in the capital since last year. All three bring expertise in cross-border M&A and private equity transactions.
Jane Rogers (pictured), Ropes’ acting London managing partner, said: ‘Their arrival is another significant step towards our goal of becoming London’s pre-eminent international law firm for private capital and other sophisticated clients.’
Also in May, Squire Patton Boggs added four new partners to its European offering. In Paris, private equity partner Anthony Guillaume and acquisition finance specialist Benjamin Marché joined from DLA Piper and Shearman & Sterling respectively. The firm’s Milan private equity group was also strengthened by the addition 8of partner Sara Belotti from Baker McKenzie as well as commodities and shipping specialist and partner Marco Crusafio, who joined from HFW in Monaco.
Later that month, Greenberg Traurig bolstered its white-collar credentials with the addition of Rebecca Meads from corporate crime boutique Peters & Peters. Meads became head of Greenberg’s London white-collar practice and brought with her senior associates Gavin Costelloe and Alex Swan.
This follows the firm’s hire of Jo Rickards, now co-chair of its global white-collar defence and special investigations practice, as part of a seven-shareholder coup from Mishcon de Reya in October 2021.
Rickards hailed the appointment: ‘Rebecca is a great hire for us. She is first class and brings with her a true understanding of what it is to advise and defend those under investigation by law enforcement. She is highly regarded in the market here and abroad and has a great reputation for fighting her client’s corner.’
Towards the end of the month, White & Case expanded its debt finance capabilities in London with the addition of acquisition and leveraged finance specialist Monica Barton from Winston & Strawn. Barton, who is dual-qualified in England and Wales and France, is the third partner to join the firm’s EMEA banking practice in 2022 following the arrival in March of Paul Yin in London and Neeloferr Roy in Paris.
‘We continue to see strong demand from global clients operating in the private credit space in EMEA and worldwide, and Monica’s addition demonstrates our determination to grow our role advising on these critical mandates,’ said White & Case partner Eric Leicht, head of the firmʼs global debt finance practice.
June kicked off with Latham & Watkins losing energy and infrastructure partner Matthew Brown to Milbank. The highly experienced Brown, who has over 20 years’ background in the sector, has a particular strength in advising clients on energy transition.
Brown said of his move: ‘As increasing amounts of capital flow into energy transition projects, Milbank’s coordinated global reach, collaborative approach and broad product offerings across practice areas will allow me to serve existing and new clients on all aspects of these innovative projects.’
And just before Legal Business went to press, Weil strengthened its City insolvency group with the hire of Akin Gump’s Lois Deasey as a partner. Well-regarded in the market, Deasey’s experience includes multijurisdictional restructuring transactions and insolvencies, as well as distressed and special situations.
Mike Francies, Weil’s London managing partner, said: ‘As the European restructuring team continues to lead on the market’s most significant restructurings and insolvencies, Lois will further enhance our partner bench, and will make a valuable contribution to the continued growth of the restructuring practice and the wider London office.’
Significant moves
- In New York, Clifford Chance (CC) continued its US expansion drive with the recruitment of William Sturman and Kelly Labritz from Covington & Burling. The addition of the pair, who join the investment funds management department, means that the firm has now brought in 11 senior lateral hires across the Americas in the last 12 months.
- Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) pulled in a restructuring duo from Brown Rudnick. Colin Ashford and Richard Obank focus on contentious and transactional restructuring matters respectively and will start at the firm later this year.
- Kirkland & Ellis added a six-partner team from Proskauer into its investment funds group in New York. Nicole Runyan, William Tuttle, Brad Green, Erin Lett, David Marcinkus and Lisa Goldstein all have a registered funds and investment focus, with products designed for high-net-worth and retail investors being a particular specialism.
- DWF brought three new partners into its London office: healthcare specialist Rosie Shapiro joined the insurance group from BLM; employment partner Nick Dent arrived from Locke Lord; and Neal Bhattacharyya joined the real estate practice from Hogan Lovells.
- Osborne Clarke took on a pensions team from BDB Pitmans, which has opted to no longer offer this service line. David Hosford and Chris Netiatis, who will be based in Reading, joined Osborne Clarke on 30 May alongside three lawyers in London.
- The funds offering at Shearman & Sterling in London has been bolstered by the addition of Phil Baynes. Previously at Weil, Baynes brings experience of advising on private investment funds, co-investment schemes, carried interest arrangements and secondaries transactions.
- Adrian Cohen joined the business solutions, governance, restructuring and bankruptcy group at Proskauer. A veteran in insolvency, Cohen spent more than 30 years at CC, where he advised across sectors including real estate, aviation, media and entertainment and energy.