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Revolving doors: Goodwin appoints BCLP real estate partner as Mayer Brown hires White & Case City projects pair

American players dominated City recruitment last week as Goodwin Procter appointed a real estate partner, Mayer Brown made two hires to its banking & finance practice and Locke Lord recruited to its energy practice.

Goodwin has appointed real estate investment funds partner Justin Cornelius in London. He joined from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner where he was leader of funds and investment management. He focuses on the establishment and operation of unlisted pooled investment funds, private equity funds and joint ventures.

Cornelius is also experienced in advising fund managers on structuring their management businesses, funds, equity raisings, carried interest arrangements, restructurings, investments, co-investments and exits.

Co-chair of the London office Samantha Lake Coghlan told Legal Business: ‘It’s about building out our real estate and funds strategy. At Goodwin, real estate is one of our core focus industries and we make sure we’re covering it globally and from top to bottom. The capital raising side is where Justin comes in; he’s got a phenomenal name in acting for fund managers and investors around raising and structuring capital for real estate. He adds to our credentials there. It’s a case of building out and consolidating what we’ve got and adding to the bench.’

Goodwin has been making notable hires recently, last month adding CMS’ private equity head James Grimwood. In November Goodwin recruited Kirkland & Ellis private equity partner Carl Bradshaw to its London office.

Meanwhile, Mayer Brown hired projects partners Kirsti Massie and Meredith Campanale to its global banking & finance practice in London from White & Case. Massie has experience in energy and infrastructure sectors and experience in power projects while Campanale advises on multi-sourced financings in the energy and infrastructure sectors and has acted for lenders and sponsors on projects across a range of jurisdictions.

Partner and co-head of the global banking & finance practice at Mayer Brown, Dominic Griffiths, commented: ‘We continue to invest for growth across a number of product and industry areas in London, which is also a key financial centre for projects and project finance. Having a strong team dedicated to this market is a strategic priority for us at a time when we are seeing a growth in client demand.’

Elsewhere, Locke Lord added partner Matthew Daffurn to its energy practice group in London. He joined from Linklaters and has experience in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), projects and finance work across all segments of the energy industry, acting for corporations, lenders, sponsors, governments and multilateral agencies.

Managing partner of Locke Lord’s London office David Grant commented: ‘Matthew’s deep and well-rounded knowledge of the energy industry, and particularly his experience in Africa and other emerging markets, complements both our strong London team and our well-regarded team across the firm’s US offices. He is an entrepreneurial lawyer with impressive credentials, and his capabilities will further advance our robust, full-service client offerings in global energy matters and transactions.’

Finally, Brown Rudnick added partners Neil Foster, Tim Davison and Sarah Melaney from Baker Botts.

Foster joined as European head of technology and global co-chair of Brown Rudnick’s technology group and advises on mergers & acquisitions, venture capital & private equity and corporate finance. Davison has experience in corporate finance, M&A, reorganisations and joint ventures while Melaney advises on corporate transactions, including share acquisitions, joint ventures and private and public equity finance.

Brown Rudnick’s CEO Bill Baldiga said: ‘These additions are not only strategically important for our clients in Europe, but key to our firm and to our investor and corporate clients internationally. Europe is a hotbed of innovation and home to some of the most sophisticated pools of capital, and London is the epicentre. We are thrilled that Neil will be joining us in a global leadership role.’

muna.abdi@legalease.co.uk