In a busy week for London appointments, Haynes and Boone, Simmons & Simmons and Jenner & Block have all made hires.
Simmons has boosted its capital markets group with the arrival of Simon Ovenden, who will join the firm’s London office as a partner from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton on 1 May 2017. The hire follows the similar appointment of Jonathan Mellor, who joined Simmons’ capital markets group from Allen & Overy in January 2017.
Ovenden has a background in representing financial institutions in jurisdictions ranging from the US to Nigeria and Pakistan.
Haynes and Boone has made a string of simultaneous hires, bringing in Emma Russell, Zoe Connor and Andreas Silcher.
Russell and Connor join Haynes and Boone’s London office as partners, where they will advise on a broad range of finance transactions. Russell joins from Carey Olsen while, Connor, joins from Ashurst where she was a senior associate.
Silcher rejoins the firm after a tenure as general counsel of the liquefied natural gas division of the Cardiff/Dryships group. An expert in oil and gas, Silcher said: ‘Haynes and Boone CDG is extremely well known and respected for its work in the shipbuilding and offshore energy sectors.
‘I’m excited to help build on that reputation and to also be part of a full-service firm that is quickly expanding its English law capability and global reach.’
Also adding to its London capacity is Jenner & Block, hiring Jason Yardley as a litigation partner.
Yardley, who has over two decades of international litigation and arbitration experience, has acted in cases concerning the TMT sector in addition to banking, finance and mining. Yardley joins from White & Case where he spent almost 17 years litigating disputes across Europe, North America, Africa and Asia and sat on the firm’s partnership committee. The move reunites Yardley with his former White & Case colleague Charlie Lightfoot, who is Jenner & Block’s London managing partner.
In South Africa, Bowmans has hired Nicolas Bonnefoy as a partner in its oil and gas sector. Bonnefoy, who will join the firm’s Johannesburg office, had previously been involved in acquisitions and disposals of oil and gas assets throughout Africa.
Previously of Ashurst, Bonnefoy said: ‘I am deeply impressed by the Oil and Gas team, which combines industry expertise, local teams in Africa, as well as African- and English-qualified solicitors. The oil & gas offering is therefore comprehensive and competitive.’
tom.baker@legalease.co.uk
