Three partners exit in two weeks
November was not an easy month for beleaguered Ashurst, with the firm hit by three key partner exits from disputes and corporate in two weeks.
Corporate partner James Wood was the first announced departure to join the London office of Sidley Austin, only two years after joining Ashurst from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer where he had a two-year stint as managing partner of its Tokyo office.
Two weeks later, White & Case recruited another corporate partner, Dominic Ross, just over two years after he was made partner. Ross had been an Ashurst associate since March 2005 and was made partner in April 2015. His start date is to be confirmed.
John Reiss, head of White & Case’s global M&A practice, described Ross’s hire as part of the firm’s ambition to ‘build a truly market-leading public M&A practice in London’.
An Ashurst spokesperson said the firm remained confident: ‘Our London corporate team goes from strength to strength, advising on a roster of fantastic deals for both longstanding and new clients.’
But a few days later the firm saw its partner bench further diminished as disputes stalwart Ben Giaretta announced he was joining Mishcon de Reya, where he will start next year to focus on commercial arbitration.
Giaretta joined Ashurst in 1999 and was made up to partner in 2009. He headed the firm’s Asian arbitration team out of Singapore for seven years and moved back to the firm’s London office last year.
Mishcon head of disputes Kasra Nouroozi said Giaretta’s ‘focus on commercial arbitration is the perfect complement to our existing strength in investor-state work’.
Again, Ashurst reiterated its confidence in the team, with a spokesperson saying: ‘We have a very strong bench of arbitration talent in all regions at all levels and we are confident that the team will continue to achieve great results.’ However, the firm also added that strengthening its international arbitration practice was a key priority.