JP Morgan’s Europe, Middle East and Africa head of litigation Wilson Thorburn has been appointed by Lloyds Bank as its new litigation chief.
Thorburn, who was a partner at City firm Ashurst before joining JP Morgan in 2011, has been handed the role on an interim basis following Michael Hartridge’s exit earlier this year.
Hartridge, who spent eight years at the legal department of investment bank Morgan Stanley before joining Lloyds, became Lloyds Bank’s general counsel for litigation, regulatory and competition in June 2013.
A big-billing partner at Ashurst, Thorburn is known for his work for what was then Abbey National in the 2009 Supreme Court bank charges case and spent over a decade at the City stalwart. He joined a refreshed looking legal team at Lloyds on 10 August, with deputy general counsel Kate Cheetham stepping into the top job after Andrew Whittaker stepped down in April.
That in-house team will soon be joined by Linklaters’ managing partner Simon Davies, who shocked the Magic Circle firm’s partnership earlier this year to declare he will stand down early to join the bank. A new position has been created for Davies, who will become Lloyds Bank’s most senior lawyer when he joins in January as chief legal, people and strategy officer.
Earlier this year, JP Morgan Chase hired Goldman Sachs counsel John Tribolati as its EMEA general counsel (GC) replacing Piers Le Marchant, who was appointed global head of compliance for corporate and investment banking.
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
