Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer has begun October with a double partner hire including the head of Sidley’s UK life sciences practice, Marie Manley.
Manley is a Legal 500 Hall of Famer for life sciences and healthcare and advises both development stage and established companies across both contentious and non-contentious matters.
She spent eight years at Sidley as a partner and previously headed the regulatory practice at Bristows, and joins HSF Kramer as head of life sciences regulatory in London.
The firm has also hired private equity partner Alex McCarney from Eversheds Sutherland. McCarney has advised EQT, Ares and Silverlake on multiple transactions.
McCarney’s arrival comes as HSFK looks to replenish its London private equity ranks following a number of departures, including former head of international private equity Eleanor Shanks, who left for Morrison Foerster in November.
CMS has recruited space, satellite and electronic communications specialist Prash Mehta from Amazon where he worked as EMEA legal lead for compliance.
Mehta has joined the firm’s technology team as a partner in London and brings 16 years of in-house experience. Mehta’s arrival comes shortly after CMS’s hire of Legal 500 Hall of Famer for AI John Buyers from Osborne Clarke in July.
Elsewhere, Morrison Foerster has hired tech M&A partner Chris Grey from Ashurst Perkins Coie into its London office.
Grey, who has joined as MoFo’s UK technology sector lead, has moved after almost three years at Ashurst Perkins Coie and prior to that had stints at Clifford Chance and Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier’s Paris office.
His arrival comes as Morrison Foerster rebuilds its London technology bench following the departure of three technology partners to Latham & Watkins in May, including former London managing partner Andrew Boyd.
Ashurst Perkins Coie has also seen the departure of its head of construction, Ben Patton to Greenberg Traurig. Patton spent his entire career at legacy Ashurst, where he joined in 2007 and made partner in 2013.
He retains his role at Greenberg, where he will head the firm’s London construction practice.
Latham & Watkins has continued to grow its real estate offering in London with the addition of Patrick Hennessy, a private equity real estate partner who joins from Gibson Dunn, where he was a partner for eight years.
Hennessy advises PE firms, global investment funds and private companies on corporate real estate and PE transactions. The hire follows Latham’s recruitment of real estate transactional partner Jeremy Kenley from Gibson late last year.
Proskauer has hired Legal 500 Hall of Fame tax partner Adam Blakemore from Hogan Lovells Cadwalader in London. Blakemore had been a partner at legacy Cadwalader for over twenty years and is the sixth lateral hire in Proskauer’s tax team in the last year.
Sidley has hired James Sherlock into the firm’s M&A and private equity team in London. His practice focuses on acquisitions, co-investments, carve-outs and more across sectors such as financial services, technology and infrastructure. Sherlock has joined as a partner and was previously a counsel at Skadden.
Skadden has hired infrastructure investments partner Sam Blake, who was most recently a partner in the legal department at PE firm Antin Infrastructure Partners. Blake spent over eight years at Antin and previously worked in private practice as a member of Weil’s PE M&A team.
Ropes & Gray has hired restructuring partner Edward Downer into the firm’s London office. Downer, who joins from Willkie where he was a partner for six years, focuses on liability management exercises. He advises across sectors including TMT, insurance, oil and gas and financial services.
Sheppard Mullin has hired private equity and M&A lawyer Linda Zeman into its London office from Simmons & Simmons. Zeman joins as a partner after two years at Simmons, where she was a counsel. She had previously spent time at legacy McDermott, Will & Emery and Duane Morris.
Zeman is the first senior hire that Sheppard has made in London since hiring PE partner Gideon Sharp, also from Simmons, as managing partner of its London office in June.
Paul Hastings has continued to build out its fund finance offering with the addition of Daniel Margolis from Stephenson Harwood in London. Margolis spent a decade at Stephenson Harwood and made partner in 2019. The move comes shortly after the firm hired Leon Stephenson from Reed Smith earlier this summer.
Orrick has hired financial regulatory partner Sumit Indwar from Kirkland & Ellis in London.
Indwar spent just over a year at Kirkland, having joined in April 2025 after a 20-year career at Linklaters, where he worked across the firm’s London, Hong Kong and Singapore offices.
Hill Dickinson has formally launched a sports practice with the hire of Richard Bush from Bird & Bird as a partner in its London office.
Bush has moved after 10 years at Bird & Bird, where made partner in 2021. He is also chair of the British Association for Sport and Law and is a solicitor advocate.
Haynes Boone has hired Vinson & Elkins European co-head of international disputes, Louise Wood. London-based Wood will join as chair of the firm’s international disputes practice, following 13 years in her former role.
Leeds-based firm Walker Morris has hired DLA Piper’s former co-head of UK equity capital markets, Martin Penn.
Penn has been at DLA for just under twenty years, where made partner in 2016. The hire will see Penn relocate from London, where he has spent the majority of his career.
In Paris, King & Spalding has added Quinn Emanuel office managing partner Thomas Voisin. An arbitration specialist, Voisin joins after nearly 14 years at Quinn, where he had led the office since 2017. His practice focuses on commercial and investment disputes in the energy and transportation sectors.
K&S has also welcomed commercial disputes lawyer Julie Chapuy as a partner in Paris. She joins the international disputes practice following nine years at Freshfields, where she was counsel.
In Hong Kong, IP partner Jonathan Chu has joined Clifford Chance as APAC head of intellectual property. He joins from CMS where he spent just under seven years, latterly as office head.
A Legal 500 leading partner for data protection: foreign firms in China, Chu advises across the spectrum of IP matters, including prosecution, licensing, commercial agreements, enforcement and disputes.
Italian firm Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici has hired the former managing partner of Freshfields Italy, Franceso Lombardo. Milan-based Lombardo advises asset managers and funds on matters across the capital lifecycle from leveraged financing to hybrid capital solutions and distressed M&A opportunities. He spent nearly two decades at Freshfields and made partner in 2019.
The Freshfields Milan office has also seen the departure of corporate lawyers Luigi Verga and Giulio Politi, who have decamped to Jones Day. Verga’s move follows over two decades at Freshfields, where he made partner in 2010. Politi was a senior associate at Freshfields, having spent a total of seven years at the firm across two stints, separated by a three-year spell at Linklaters. Both join as partners and focus on PE and public and private M&A.
Jones Day has also been active in Australia, adding five senior partners across its Brisbane and Sydney offices. In Brisbane, global disputes partner Dylan McKimmie joined from Norton Rose Fulbright, where he was office head and co-head of the Australia energy practice.
In Sydney, real estate finance partner Leigh De Jong joined the firm’s financial markets practice from MinterEllison, where he most recently led its banking and finance practice. Energy partner Christopher Flynn joined from Gilbert + Tobin, where he headed the firm’s energy, resources and infrastructure practice.
The firm also added corporate partner Lance Sacks from Baker McKenzie and TMT and digital transactions partner Ken Saurajen from Clayton Utz.
In Japan, Freshfields has strengthened its M&A practice with the hire of Gregory Salathé, who joins its Tokyo practice from MoFo where he spent two years. Prior to this Salathé was in-house at a large alternative asset manager in the region and brings experience advising on deals across private equity, real estate, infrastructure and consumer products.
Returning to London, Broadfield has hired Reed Smith lawyer David Brennand as a partner in its London corporate team. Brennand brings more than 20 years’ experience advising financial institutions, investment managers, fund sponsors and institutional investors on investment funds, joint ventures, managed accounts, seed capital arrangements and secondary transactions.
Broadfield’s London office has also seen the departure of employment and immigration partner Tim Hayes to Wedlake Bell. Hayes had been a partner at Broadfield since 2021, where he advised the UK government on immigration, asylum, deportation and bail matters.
Mishcon de Reya has added two partners in London: private wealth disputes partner Elliott Phillips and education-focused equality and human rights barrister Miriam Carrión Benítez. Philips has joined from Signature Litigation; Benitez has joined from VWV Law.
Finally, Mayer Brown has appointed Chris Harvey as London managing partner, where he will succeed Dom Griffiths as of 1 October. Griffiths, who has held the role since 2022, will join the firm’s global management committee.
A real estate partner and co-leader of the global real estate group, Harvey joined the firm in 2012 from CMS. His new role will sit alongside his current practice advising investors, funds and property companies on cross-border investment, development and finance transactions in the UK and international markets.
