The first week of April saw no fooling around in the lateral hires market. King & Spalding has continued its six-month long lateral hiring run, bolstering its projects and disputes practices in London with a double hire of project development and financing partner Nikhil Markanday and arbitration and public international law partner Giorgio Mandelli.
Last year the firm made three lateral partner hires in London, including corporate and M&A partner Derek Meilman from Hogan Lovells, and White & Case real estate partner David Cox. Markanday joins the firm’s corporate, finance and investments practice from Ashurst while Mandelli joins the trial and global disputes practice from boutique Volterra Fietta in London.
Elsewhere, DAC Beachcroft hired former Norton Rose Fulbright insurance partner Liam O’Connell – who led its EMEA insurance claim team – to head up its global insurance practice in London, while Withers hired Rachel Hawkins from O’Melveny & Myers as a corporate tax partner in its City practice. Taylor Wessing has appointed a new head of financial services and competition in the form of Charlotte Hill, who joins from Covington & Burling where she was head of EU financial services and regulation for over five years.
Sidley Austin, meanwhile, has hired former Stephenson Harwood partner Sara George as a partner in its securities and derivatives enforcement and regulatory practice in London.
George is experienced in international regulatory and criminal investigations focused on the financial services sector and before joining Stephenson Harwood she served as a prosecutor for the Financial Services Authority.
‘[George] symbolises the premier talent we’ve come to attract in the pursuit of our strategic plan,’ said Tom Thesing, managing partner of Sidley’s London office. ‘Her arrival will strengthen our leading global regulatory and enforcement client offerings as part of our expanding disputes team here in London.’
Moving out of London, Fieldfisher made a double hire in its Manchester office with the appointment of medical negligence partners Claire Horton and Julia Hamilton, who have both moved from Slater and Gordon. Horton specialises in birth injury cases and Hamilton has expertise in advising on brain injury cases.
In the US, former Hogan Lovells tax partner Jeffrey Tolin has been snapped up by Cooley for its New York tax practice. Linklaters, however, has lost three funds partners in New York to Debevoise & Plimpton, including the head of the firm’s investment funds group for New York, Lorna Bowen, alongside partners Justin Storms and Andrew Ford.
In Asia, Akin Gump has added partner Allen Shyu in Beijing from Stephenson Harwood where he was the lead partner in the Beijing office. Shyu has advised on mid-size and large-scale public companies on equity capital markets and corporate M&A transactions. He will work with the firm’s Hong Kong office and across its global corporate and capital markets practices.
