International in-house moves – Total SA, Global Eagle and Environ bring in new GCs

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A clutch of international general counsel moves this week has seen Total bring in oilfield services heavyweight Maarten Scholten as its head of legal while across the Atlantic Jay Itzkowitz has been hired as senior vice president and general counsel (GC) of NASDAQ-listed in-flight entertainment provider Global Eagle and international environmental consultancy Environ has appointed its first-ever general counsel.

At French oil giant Total SA – one of the six ‘supermajor’ oil companies in the world – incumbent senior vice-president and GC Peter Herbel will hand over the reins to Scholten on 1 January after nine years in the role. Continue reading “International in-house moves – Total SA, Global Eagle and Environ bring in new GCs”

Jones Day’s EMEA private equity ambitions grow with hire of BLP’s Weir and McKeeve

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Recognised as a strong choice for UK mid-market buyouts and cross-border transactions, Jones Day’s London private equity team has expansive ambitions with the hire this week of Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) corporate finance partner Michael Weir on the heels of former BLP colleague Raymond McKeeve.

Weir, who was made a partner at BLP in 2012 and specialises in private equity with a particular leaning towards large real estate funds, joins the top 10 Global 100 firm three months after McKeeve, who he worked with on mandates including Dunedin’s £44m buyout of Red Commerce in 2011, and Darwin Private Equity on its £10m acquisition of organic baby food business Plum Baby in 2010. Continue reading “Jones Day’s EMEA private equity ambitions grow with hire of BLP’s Weir and McKeeve”

Bar round-up: St Philips to the City, new heads for Brick and Fountain Court, Wilberforce CEO to Keating, Starmer returns to Doughty

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Leading Birmingham set St Philips Chambers expanded into the City last week, opening in the heart of Bloomsbury on Tuesday (1 October) as it also seeks to finalise its merger with Chancery House Chambers in Leeds.

Already noted by The Legal 500 as a competitor to London sets owing to its ‘strength and depth’, St Philips, led by Kevin Hegarty QC, has established St Philips London in an effort to boost its offering in commercial, employment, regulatory, private funded crime, and family work. Continue reading “Bar round-up: St Philips to the City, new heads for Brick and Fountain Court, Wilberforce CEO to Keating, Starmer returns to Doughty”

Sector switch: Vodafone’s corporate affairs director takes over as GC of British Gas

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Vodafone UK’s corporate and external affairs director Justine Campbell has switched from telecoms to energy, taking on the general counsel (GC) role at British Gas after a revamp of its senior legal team. She will join the company in December after having handed her notice in last month.

The GC title was phased out at British Gas following Melanie Rowland’s departure for Edwards Group last year, since when legal director Jane Forster has headed the legal and compliance function. Continue reading “Sector switch: Vodafone’s corporate affairs director takes over as GC of British Gas”

Lloyds sees knock-on effect of GC for group legal hire

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In-house promotions and moves often have a domino effect across the wider legal function and Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) is no exception. The major British financial institution has recently announced that former corporate M&A head Hugh Pugsley will take over as general counsel (GC) for group legal from Kate Cheetham, who was promoted to deputy GC this January.

Pugsley, a former associate at Allen & Overy, has moved up the ranks of the 60-strong team and will now be responsible for advising the banking giant on financial reporting, M&A, corporate development, HR, and property-related issues.

Continue reading “Lloyds sees knock-on effect of GC for group legal hire”

Status update: Gibson Dunn partner hired as Facebook deputy GC

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Social media giant Facebook has appointed Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s co-head of IT and data privacy Ashlie Beringer as deputy general counsel (GC), just weeks after Twitter announced Vijaya Gadde will take over as GC of the online social networking group.

Beringer takes over from Colin Stretch, who this summer succeeded Ted Ullyot as vice president and GC, following Ullyot’s announcement in May that he would be stepping down. Continue reading “Status update: Gibson Dunn partner hired as Facebook deputy GC”

The Bar: Littleton Chambers QC heads to Kobre & Kim as Ince & Co partner joins Stone Chambers

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The increased fluidity between the various limbs of the legal profession has been in evidence over the past few days as offshore litigation boutique Kobre & Kim hires Littleton Chambers’ Andrew Stafford QC as a partner and high profile Ince & Co partner Jonathan Lux joins Stone Chambers, while Devereux Chambers has also announced the arrival of tax specialist Jolyon Maugham from 11 New Square. Stafford QC, who becomes Kobre’s third QC appointment, specialises in commercial litigation, with a particular emphasis on financial services, pensions and employment related disputes. Continue reading “The Bar: Littleton Chambers QC heads to Kobre & Kim as Ince & Co partner joins Stone Chambers”

Moving in-house: Broker AKJ brings in former LSE-lawyer as first general counsel

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The trend of companies increasingly enhancing their teams to include sophisticated and growing in-house legal departments shows little sign of abating as independent brokerage and financial software group AKJ becomes the latest to boost its legal capabilities, hiring its first general counsel and in-house lawyer, the former legal chief for the London Stock Exchange Tom Mackay.

Announced yesterday (19 Sept), Mackay has acted as an external legal consultant for AKJ for over 12 years however, with the establishment and growth of fund AKJ Accelerator last year, the group has created a senior position for the veteran.

Continue reading “Moving in-house: Broker AKJ brings in former LSE-lawyer as first general counsel”

Asia-Pacific: DLA moves to strengthen Australia offering with double corporate partner hire

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DLA Piper has considerably strengthened its corporate practice in Australia with the appointment of two partners from leading local firms, veteran Bryan Pointon from Gilbert + Tobin and David Ryan from Ashurst Australia.

Private equity specialist Pointon has been a partner in Gilbert + Tobin’s corporate practice since 2007. Prior to that, he was a partner for 10 years at King & Wood Mallesons legacy firm Mallesons Stephen Jacques.

Continue reading “Asia-Pacific: DLA moves to strengthen Australia offering with double corporate partner hire”

In-house: Clifford Chance and Slaughter and May lawyers take senior roles at CMA, Shell and PwC

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Magic circle lawyers have this week filled a number of senior regulatory and in-house positions, with a Slaughter and May partner unveiled as general counsel of the new Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and a former lawyer named Shell‘s UK legal head; while Clifford Chance‘s head of employee benefits has joined PwC as a director in its employee rewards team.

The CMA – the new body which brings together the Competition Commission and and some consumer functions of the Office of Fair Trading- yesterday (12 September) announced the appointment of former Slaughter and May partner Sarah Cardell as GC as it completes its leadership team in time for its official launch on 1 October. Continue reading “In-house: Clifford Chance and Slaughter and May lawyers take senior roles at CMA, Shell and PwC”