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Brussels antitrust partner leave to exit Shearman as European exodus continues

Shearman & Sterling confirmed today (11 October) that Brussels antitrust partner Trevor Soames has resigned from the firm.

Soames joined Shearman in 2011 from Howrey, together with the head of Shearman’s Brussels office Stephen Mavroghenis and EU competition lawyer Miguel Rato.

The trio were in talks with disputes firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan in September, but Mavroghenis and Rato are now staying at Shearman.

Before joining Shearman, Soames was co-chair of Howrey’s worldwide antitrust practice and founded its Brussels office. His practice focuses on contentious cases including mergers, monopolisation, state aid and cartel investigations in Europe and the USA. His experience includes acting for major electronics brands Nokia and Samsung, and airlines such as Olympic Airways and United Airlines.

The resignation is the latest in a string of exits at the US firm, following private equity head Mark Soundy, London tax head Sarah Priestley and the acquisition and corporate finance duo Arnaud Fromion and Frederic Guillox in Paris, all in October.

Shearman and Soames had nothing further to comment at the moment, beyond confirming the resignation. Quinn also refused to comment.

In March Shearman posted global revenue up 2% to $860m, with the firm’s M&A group putting in a strong performance. Shearman’s City office again outperformed the rest of the firm, though only by a small margin this year, with revenue up 3% to $149m.

georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk