Mishcon de Reya has elected a new managing partner and two executive partners in a new-look leadership team for the firm.
Daniel Naftalin, the chair of the firm’s top-tier employment practice, will take over from current managing partner James Libson this summer after securing what the firm said was ‘a strong mandate’ from partners.
Naftalin, who already has a role on the management board, joined the firm in 1998, making partner in 2004. His clients include a number of FTSE 100 CEOs, alongside hedge fund partners, Premiership football managers and players.
Speaking on the appointment, Naftalin said: ‘I am so delighted and excited that my partners have put faith in me to lead this exceptional firm. I care deeply about Mishcon de Reya, its people, what it stands for, and its place in an increasingly competitive market. I will work tirelessly to ensure that the firm is even stronger at the end of my tenure that it is today.’
He will work alongside an incoming executive partner duo of white-collar crime and investigations head Johanna Walsh, and real estate litigation head Daniel Levy, both of who also sit on the management board.
Walsh and Levy will support Naftalin in the management of the firm and the delivery of its strategic objectives, while also continuing their client work.
The appointments come after the unveiling last autumn of Mishcon’s new five-year strategy, which is built around strategic growth in three key sectors – the innovation economy, private wealth and private capital, and real estate.
The firm also noted in a statement that it would retain its focus on being a ‘disputes powerhouse,’ alongside embracing AI and building on ‘significant international client work’.
Managing partner James Libson said at the time: ‘Our new strategy will give us greater alignment and focus, to concentrate our efforts on strategic sectors, disputes, and firmwide practice excellence, and the ability to deliver at scale.’
Libson has been managing partner since 2020, when he was appointed in an uncontested process. He succeeded Kevin Gold, who subsequently took up a five-year post as executive chairperson, before becoming head of international.
The firm added that it will now begin the process of appointing a new chair for the employment department.
