Paul Hastings, A&O and PwC heap further woe on City stalwart
A beleaguered Ashurst has suffered another wave of partner exits, with ten partners leaving in September to join global competitors.
Paul Hastings was the main beneficiary, taking structured finance partners Michael Smith, Diala Minott and Cameron Saylor. Meanwhile, financial regulatory partner Nicola Higgs left for Latham & Watkins in the City, joining former colleague Rob Moulton, who departed Ashurst for Latham in June.
Finance was the hardest-hit practice area last month, with Allen & Overy also taking on Lina Lee and Jonathan Hsui, who will join its capital markets team in Hong Kong. On the same day it was revealed that Singapore managing partner Shaun Lascelles has also left the firm, along with fellow corporate partner Keith McGuire, who left the Singapore office in favour of PwC Legal.
Although at press time it had not been confirmed where Lascelles will re-emerge, his Abu Dhabi counterpart Alastair Holland, who has also left the firm, is set to join Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, while Brussels managing partner Carl Meyntjens announced his departure for Simmons & Simmons later in September.
The firm’s management team was quick to stress that the leavers included some who had been asked to depart the firm, but refused to specify how many were managed out. Ashurst was also keen to note it has brought in 31 laterals since May last year, including Martin Bünning from Jones Day in Frankfurt last month.
It could have been a worse September for Ashurst with banking heavyweight Nigel Ward also expected to join Paul Hastings alongside the structured finance partners. The US firm revealed the hire in the middle of the month but Ashurst announced Ward had decided to stay almost two weeks later.
The latest batch of exits brings the number of partners that have left the firm to approximately 45 since May 2015. The recent departures follow the publication of another poor year of financial performance in 2015/16, in which the firm posted a 19% drop in profit per equity partner to £603,000 from £747,000 on the back of a 10% drop in global turnover to £505m.
madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk