Revolving Doors: Clutch of firms including Bird & Bird, Dentons and Sidley make key hires

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The lateral hires market has over the past week continued to defy an overall drop in activity as Bird & Bird, DWF, Dentons, Sidley Austin and Baker & McKenzie all made strategic hires.

Late last week 234-partner Bird & Bird was joined by Field Fisher Waterhouse (FFW) franchising partners Graeme Payne and Victoria Hobbs – a not unexpected move after the recent hire of high profile FFW IP and IT head Mark Abell, with whom the duo worked on a number of mandates and were widely tipped to follow. Last year the pair advised luxury shirt brand Thomas Pink on a franchise deal leading to the opening of stores across India. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Clutch of firms including Bird & Bird, Dentons and Sidley make key hires”

Comment: A star signing is one thing but who needs a lateral?

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The worlds of business, politics and sport have since the 1970s fallen increasingly under the spell of the star individual and law has been anything but an exception. As partnership mitigates the heaviest excesses of the winner-takes-all compensation cultures seen in banking, sports and plc management, in law the star culture has manifested to a considerable extent via the partner recruitment market.

The emergence and massive expansion of this international bazaar for senior legal talent over the last 25 years has had a profound impact on the profession – often unhappily so. Continue reading “Comment: A star signing is one thing but who needs a lateral?”

Recent spate of lateral hires a blip in a quiet year so far

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Despite the City lateral hire market recently showing few signs of returning to its pre-credit crunch peak, yesterday (1 May) saw a string of key partner hires announced by Allen & Overy (A&O), DLA Piper, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Olswang.

A&O announced the hire of Fried Frank partner Alasdair Balfour to join its City antitrust group, while DLA Piper expanded its London corporate group with the hire of Berwin Leighton Paisner partner Rob Salter and Kirkland & Ellis partner Anu Balasubramanian.

Continue reading “Recent spate of lateral hires a blip in a quiet year so far”

Lateral push sees key UK players switch to US firms

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US firms in the City continue to demonstrate their appetite for big name lateral hires from leading UK firms, with Latham & Watkins and Reed Smith picking up experienced partners from Clifford Chance (CC) recently, while Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan announced the hire of disputes expert Ted Greeno from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF).

Latham & Watkins’ acquisition of CC’s global head of private equity, David Walker, particularly caught the eye last month. This is one of the most significant blows to CC’s corporate practice since the departure of Adam Signy to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in 2009.

Continue reading “Lateral push sees key UK players switch to US firms”

Freshfields Pick ‘outstanding’ energy hire

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Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has demonstrated that US firms in the City are not the only ones to be making high-profile partner hires, announcing the recruitment of respected Shearman & Sterling partner and head of global project development and finance Tim Pick in April.

The arrival of Pick, described as ‘outstanding in all respects’ in the latest edition of The Legal 500, is a significant appointment for Freshfields. He will join as a finance partner in London and will focus on advising clients in the energy and natural resources sector in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Continue reading “Freshfields Pick ‘outstanding’ energy hire”

A star signing is one thing but who needs a lateral?

Posted on |

The worlds of business, politics and sport have since the 1970s fallen increasingly under the spell of the star individual and law has been anything but an exception. As partnership mitigates the heaviest excesses of the winner-takes-all compensation cultures seen in banking, sports and plc management, in law the star culture has manifested to a considerable extent via the partner recruitment market.

Continue reading “A star signing is one thing but who needs a lateral?”

The I in Team – what it takes to turn a lateral into a star player

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Hiring star partners remains the main tactic for firms hoping to move up a division. Legal Business talks to four of the select few who have moved and excelled to find what it takes to drive a new team.

It was just a few disorientating days into his new job at Ashurst Morris Crisp and up-and-coming banking partner Mark Vickers was facing a minor but embarrassing dilemma: with a tight deadline, he had no idea how to order a taxi.

Continue reading “The I in Team – what it takes to turn a lateral into a star player”

Taylor Wessing snares Harbottles IP head Owen

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Taylor Wessing (TW) bolstered its strong IP credentials last month, recruiting the head of Harbottle & Lewis’ IP group Mark Owen into its City TMT team.

The arrival of Owen will add further strength to TW’s leading soft IP practice. The former Clifford Chance lawyer has advised significant media and entertainment clients on copyright, designs, trade mark, database rights and data privacy issues for the last 25 years.

Continue reading “Taylor Wessing snares Harbottles IP head Owen”