Revolving doors: Holiday lull over with spate of lateral hires at home and abroad

Revolving doors: Holiday lull over with spate of lateral hires at home and abroad

In the most significant move of last week, Baker McKenzie has hired Sidley Austin’s former City managing partner Matthew Dening, who re-joins the firm after leaving as partner in 14 years ago.

As co-head of Sidley’s London finance team, the hire is a significant addition for Bakers as it sets about strengthening its structured capital markets offering. Dening will join the firm later this year, and features as part of its wider strategy of enhancing its corporate offering, which has resulted in an array of key lateral hires throughout 2018. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Holiday lull over with spate of lateral hires at home and abroad”

Revolving Doors: Summer recruitment round ends with Global 100 firms hiring in the City and Asia

Revolving Doors:  Summer recruitment round ends with Global 100 firms hiring in the City and Asia

The summer holiday recruitment round officially finished last week, with DLA Piper and Pinsent Masons making significant moves in London, while Eversheds Sutherland  and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan continued the recent wave of Asia hires with additions to their IP and litigation offerings respectively.

DLA Piper announced the hire of construction and infrastructure partner Sarah Thomas, who joins as part of a larger team of lawyers as DLA looks to bolster its practice. Thomas joins from Pinsent Masons, where she had been since 1991, acquiring experience acting on an array of major infrastructure projects in the UK and internationally. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Summer recruitment round ends with Global 100 firms hiring in the City and Asia”

DLA adds ‘practical’ regulatory expertise with hire of former high-ranking SFO lawyer

DLA adds ‘practical’ regulatory expertise with hire of former high-ranking SFO lawyer

DLA Piper has hired a former Serious Fraud Office (SFO) division head in response to multinational clients increasingly demanding ‘expertise on the ground’ with regulators.

DLA announced today (28 August) it had hired corporate crime and regulatory investigations lawyer Patrick Rappo from the London arm of US firm Steptoe & Johnson, which he joined in 2013. Prior to that, Rappo spent five years at the SFO, where he became joint head of bribery and corruption. Continue reading “DLA adds ‘practical’ regulatory expertise with hire of former high-ranking SFO lawyer”

Revolving Doors: Sullivan & Cromwell ends City recruitment hiatus as White & Case lead firms strengthening in Asia

Revolving Doors: Sullivan & Cromwell ends City recruitment hiatus as White & Case lead firms strengthening in Asia

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. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Sullivan & Cromwell ends City recruitment hiatus as White & Case lead firms strengthening in Asia”

HSF’s corporate ambitions take hit after losing seasoned trio to Morgan Lewis

HSF’s corporate ambitions take hit after losing seasoned trio to Morgan Lewis

Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF) rhetoric of improving corporate capabilities has taken a blow after a trio of transactional partners left for the London office of US firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

The departures include HSF’s head of London private equity, Mark Geday, who had been at the firm since 1996, alongside corporate partners Nicholas Moore and Tomasz Wozniak. They will come as a disappointment for HSF, particularly after the firm made concerted efforts to promote the success of its corporate practice over the last year. Continue reading “HSF’s corporate ambitions take hit after losing seasoned trio to Morgan Lewis”

Revolving Doors: Jones Day makes it a brace in the City as Clifford Chance loses partner in-house

Revolving Doors: Jones Day makes it a brace in the City as Clifford Chance loses partner in-house

Away from the headline laterals last week, Jones Day was the only firm to make moves in London after securing a double hire to bolster its finance offering, while Clifford Chance (CC) lost a London partner to in-house in Hong Kong and Hausfeld strengthened in Berlin.

Jones Day has set about reinvigorating its City offering after an exodus earlier this year, announcing the hires of Lee Federman and Ewen Scott who join the firm’s banking, finance and securities practice. Federman joins from Dentons, where he served as a finance partner having originally joined the firm in 2015 and brings with him experience in cross-border syndicated financing transactions, with particular focus on leveraged finance and corporate lending. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Jones Day makes it a brace in the City as Clifford Chance loses partner in-house”

Double whammy for Magic Circle infra as Latham hires CC’s Moylan and A&O’s Andersen

Latham & Watkins has secured the services of two of the highest profile names in the City’s infrastructure private equity space in a double hire at the expense of Clifford Chance (CC) and Allen & Overy (A&O).

CC’s private equity offering took a knock amid one of the firm’s most senior departures in years as infrastructure head Brendan Moylan quit for Latham & Watkins. Continue reading “Double whammy for Magic Circle infra as Latham hires CC’s Moylan and A&O’s Andersen”

Revolving Doors: City laterals slow as Hogan Lovells lose corporate partner to Dechert, while CC and Herbert Smith make moves abroad

In a lull for City recruitment, Dechert made the only significant London hire last week, with Kennedys recruiting in the regions and Clifford Chance (CC) hiring in New York.

Dechert brought in Hogan Lovells M&A and private equity partner Robert Darwin, with the Philadelphia-based firm looking to strengthen its corporate life sciences group. The London-based Darwin had been partner at Hogan Lovells for more than three years. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: City laterals slow as Hogan Lovells lose corporate partner to Dechert, while CC and Herbert Smith make moves abroad”

White & Case doubles up in the City in continued disputes drive

White & Case doubles up in the City in continued disputes drive

White & Case is continuing its aggressive City expansion with two disputes hires, the firm’s eighth and ninth laterals this year.

Contentious construction and engineering partner David Robertson is joining White & Case’s arbitration team from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP), while Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft litigation partner Steven Baker joins the firm’s commercial litigation practice. Continue reading “White & Case doubles up in the City in continued disputes drive”

Revolving Doors: McDermott leads busy City recruitment round as in-house and international hires dominate

City laterals were active last week in a bolstered global recruitment round, as McDermot Will & Emery was joined by Capsticks and Bates Wells Braithwaite (BWB) in making London plays. Meanwhile Eversheds Sutherland was among the firms looking to prise talent away from in-house teams as Kirkland & Ellis and DLA Piper made significant moves abroad.

McDermott led the City recruitment round, hiring structured finance partner Rachel Kelly to the firm’s corporate group. Kelly joins from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner where she specialised in structured finance and debt capital markets during a three-year spell. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: McDermott leads busy City recruitment round as in-house and international hires dominate”