As the advance of US players in London continues, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton hired disputes partner James Norris-Jones (pictured) from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) to its office in the capital. Norris-Jones, who was made a partner at HSF in 2012, has a broad practice that encompasses High Court litigation as well as arbitration. His arrival will boost Cleary’s already well-established London disputes team, comprising partners Sunil Gadhia, Jonathan Kelly, Christopher Moore, David Sabel and Romano Subiotto QC.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher also expanded its London operations with the appointment of Jeremy Kenley and Sandy Bhogal, both from US rival Mayer Brown, as well as Sacha Harber-Kelly from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Kenley had previously been Mayer Brown’s global co-head of corporate and securities, while Bhogal was London tax head at the US firm. Harber-Kelly worked at the SFO for ten years, most recently as a prosecutor in the anti-corruption and bribery division.
UK mid-market players were also active this month, with Fieldfisher bringing in veteran Osborne Clarke commercial partner Simon Rendell. He has over 25 years’ experience in giving corporate and commercial advice to digital business clients. He was interim acting head of legal at Vodafone in 2004 and is chair of Pretty Green, Liam Gallagher’s clothing company, as well as the London IP Exchange.
BLM’s London head Jennette Newman joined Clyde & Co along with insurance partner Jonathan Edwards. Newman had joined BLM in 1994 and had led its London operations since 2013. Edwards was part of the firm’s liability risk-managed group. They will work in the shipping firm’s national casualty practice.
Clydes also hired from Kennedys and Womble Bond Dickinson in preparation for a launch in Bristol next year. John Eastlake and Ian Peacock will join the firm’s professional and financial disputes practice from Kennedys’ London office and Womble’s Bristol base respectively. But the shipping firm lost its Manchester head of real estate Liam Buckley, who joined Fieldfisher’s Manchester operations.
Clifford Chance has hired White & Case corporate partner Markus Stephanblome in Frankfurt. A specialist in corporate law, he joined White & Case in 2014 after ten years at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and was appointed partner at the US firm in January 2017.
Two weeks before the firm’s merger with Australia’s Henry Davis York, Norton Rose Fulbright Sydney head of financial institutions Chris Redden left the firm for Ashurst.
Dentons has a new head of its St Petersburg tax practice. Vasilii Markov has joined the global firm from Deloitte, where he was head of technology, media and telecommunications, along with a team of seven tax practitioners.
Baker McKenzie Vienna partner Stefan Riegler is to leave the firm to re-join his former shop Wolf Theiss. He left Wolf Theiss in 2005 to join Bakers, where he was made partner in 2009 in the dispute resolution team.