Ashurst taps Mayer Brown’s City office in disputes drive as White & Case adds Macfarlanes rising deal star Jones

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Ashurst taps Mayer Brown’s City office in disputes drive as White & Case adds Macfarlanes rising deal star Jones

The City lateral market has kicked off after an uncharacteristic hiatus in recent weeks, seeing Ashurst recruit disputes partner Tom Duncan from Mayer Brown as Macfarlanes loses private equity rising star Emmie Jones to White & Case’s relentless hiring spree.

Macfarlanes-bred Jones, who featured in Legal Business’ analysis on the female City private equity players to watch in the mid-tier, was made up to partner in 2013. She has joined White & Case’s global M&A and private equity industry group as the firm sallies forth with its 2020 strategy, which includes going ‘toe-to-toe’ with the Magic Circle in London, led by erstwhile London executive partner Oliver Brettle. Continue reading “Ashurst taps Mayer Brown’s City office in disputes drive as White & Case adds Macfarlanes rising deal star Jones”

Revolving Doors: Baker Botts takes Kirkland capital markets partner in Houston as Cooley adds tax partner and DLA makes litigation play in LA

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Revolving Doors: Baker Botts takes Kirkland capital markets partner in Houston as Cooley adds tax partner and DLA makes litigation play in LA

City laterals stayed quiet last week continuing a recent hiatus while the US was the centre of attention internationally with DLA Piper, Baker Botts and Cooley all making hires across the Atlantic.

US laterals defined last week’s international recruitment round, with Baker Botts leading the way with a strategic hire from American powerhouse Kirkland & Ellis. Capital markets partner Justin Hoffman joined the firm in its Houston office, after spending two years as a partner at Kirkland. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Baker Botts takes Kirkland capital markets partner in Houston as Cooley adds tax partner and DLA makes litigation play in LA”

A&O lures FinReg head Penn back from Cleary as White & Case makes City funds play with partner hire

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A&O lures FinReg head Penn back from Cleary as White & Case makes City funds play with partner hire

In a surprise move, Allen & Overy (A&O) has taken back its erstwhile financial services regulation head Bob Penn from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton after only two years away, while White & Case eyes the lucrative funds market with the addition of a new partner to its global banking practice in London.

Penn’s departure in April 2016 from A&O after 17 years to Cleary was a rare high-profile exit for the Magic Circle firm and a rarer-still  acquisition for Wall Street-bred Cleary. Continue reading “A&O lures FinReg head Penn back from Cleary as White & Case makes City funds play with partner hire”

Paul Hastings doubles up in the City as A&O loses global IP head to Kirkland

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Paul Hastings doubles up in the City as A&O loses global IP head to Kirkland

Paul Hastings pulled off two headline lateral hires in London in a week as the US firm strengthens its corporate offering in the City.

Private equity rising star Anu Balasubramanian was the first hire announced, as DLA Piper lost another key dealmaker in the City. The addition will be a major boost to Paul Hastings’ City corporate and private equity practice, with Balasubramanian bringing experience in an array of mid-market work, acting for sponsors such as ABRY Partners, Accel-KKR, Oakley Capital and Aurium Capital Markets. Continue reading “Paul Hastings doubles up in the City as A&O loses global IP head to Kirkland”

Moves of the month

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Moves of the month
  • White & Case maintained its recent hiring spree in its litigation practice with the recruitment of Chris Brennan from Addleshaw Goddard. Brennan is White & Case’s second key City disputes lateral hire this year following the addition of Hannah Field-Lowes from Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Brennan previously headed up Addleshaw’s Financial Conduct Authority investigations and enforcement team as well as serving as head of regulatory at Lloyds Banking Group.
  • As Allen & Overy lost Nicola Dagg, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer strengthened its intellectual property capability with the addition of Christopher Stothers from Arnold & Porter. Stothers is due to work closely with the firm’s patent litigation teams in Germany and the Netherlands.
  • Ashurst has set about rebuilding after a three-partner exodus at the end of 2017, with the hire of Baker McKenzie’s former global co-head of securitisation Jonathan Walsh. Walsh left Bakers after 13 years, having also served as head of international securities at Norton Rose until 2005.
  • Bakers, meanwhile, made additions of its own this last month, with the hire of Kathy Honeywood to its energy, mining and industrials practice. Honeywood was previously at Clifford Chance, bringing with her experience in M&A transactions, corporate finance and joint ventures. She relocated to Singapore in 2015, where she led the Magic Circle firm’s corporate practice in South-East Asia.
  • Dentons strengthened its City presence with the addition of Howard Barrie, who rejoins the firm after a previous 19-year stint with Dentons before leaving for Eversheds Sutherland. Barrie focuses on projects and project finance, in addition to structured trade finance and commodity finance.
  • Mayer Brown was among those to make strategic international additions, securing the hire of Raúl Fernández-Briseño from White & Case. Fernández spent nearly 20 years at White & Case and will now serve as head of M&A for Mayer Brown in Mexico City.

White & Case sets ambitious Chicago growth plans after opening office with corporate and white collar hires

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White & Case sets ambitious Chicago growth plans after opening office with corporate and white collar hires

White & Case is continuing its dynamic growth drive apace as the US vanguard opens an office in Chicago to be spearheaded by Jason Zakia, the head of its disputes practice in the Americas.

The firm has nailed its colours to the mast with a pair of laterals in corporate and white collar, in the form of Gary Silverman and Carolyn Gurland, but plans to expand to more than 100 lawyers in short time. Continue reading “White & Case sets ambitious Chicago growth plans after opening office with corporate and white collar hires”

Revolving Doors: City laterals flat as DLA and Shoosmiths hire in the regions while CMS and CC go global

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Regional and international hires dominated lateral recruitment in the last week as City hiring stalled, with DLA Piper bringing on a corporate partner in Manchester and national firm Shoosmiths adding to its Birmingham bench.

Meanwhile, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang and Clifford Chance (CC)  both made international hires. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: City laterals flat as DLA and Shoosmiths hire in the regions while CMS and CC go global”

Revolving Doors: Paul Hastings lands Bakers FinReg veteran as Reed Smith hires City IP expert and Mayer Brown appoints Fried Frank’s UK finance head

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In what has otherwise been a relatively subdued week for City laterals, Paul Hastings, Reed Smith and Mayer Brown have bolstered their London partner ranks with financial regulatory, intellectual property (IP) and finance hires respectively.

Paul Hastings continued its recruitment spree with the hire, announced today (11 June), of partner Arun Srivastava from Baker McKenzie, where he spent more than 22 years and headed its financial services regulatory group. He has also spent a year with the Financial Services Authority on secondment between 1999 and 2000. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Paul Hastings lands Bakers FinReg veteran as Reed Smith hires City IP expert and Mayer Brown appoints Fried Frank’s UK finance head”

‘Very selective’: DLA goes to Freshfields for rare City corporate hire in wake of London losses

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‘Very selective’: DLA goes to Freshfields for rare City corporate hire in wake of London losses

It has been something of a one-way street out of DLA Piper’s London office recently but the global giant believes it has filled a gap in its corporate practice with the hire of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer veteran Martin Nelson-Jones.

Nelson-Jones had been partner at Freshfields since 2001 and was previously the firm’s co-head of global infrastructure and transport. He specialises in M&A, particularly in the energy and infrastructure sectors. He first joined Freshfields in 1991. Continue reading “‘Very selective’: DLA goes to Freshfields for rare City corporate hire in wake of London losses”

Revolving Doors: DWF and Fladgate bolster City recruitment as Ashurst goes large internationally

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Revolving Doors: DWF and Fladgate bolster City recruitment as Ashurst goes large internationally

City recruitment was strong last week as DWF and Fladgate followed headline laterals at White & Case and Ashurst with London plays. International recruitment, meanwhile, continued a strong run of form.

DWF added to its City insurance practice with the hire of Iftikhar Ali from Simmons & Simmons, where he led the construction all risks practice. Ali will work on construction, power and engineering claims, and has represented clients including Chubb, Aviva, and Zurich. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: DWF and Fladgate bolster City recruitment as Ashurst goes large internationally”