Former Prime Minister Lord David Cameron has joined DLA Piper as a consultant, becoming the latest politician to take up a role in law.
Cameron, who stepped down as Prime Minister in 2016 after six years in office, will ‘provide guidance on the various geographies in which DLA operates, including on the issue of geopolitical risk’, according to the firm.
He is one of a number of high-profile politicians to have taken up roles at DLA, with Labour peer Lord David Blunkett last year appointed as an adviser on public policy and internal understanding of government and policy development, while in the US, former Republican senators Saxby Chambliss and Richard Burr are members of the firm’s regulatory government affairs practice.
Cameron, who spent a brief period as foreign secretary from during 2023 and 2024, has also taken advisory roles at private equity firm Finback Investment Partners, freight payments business PayCargo and hedge fund Caxton Associates. He is also a visiting professor at New York University Abu Dhabi.
He is not the only former foreign secretary to branch into law. Lord William Hague, who served as foreign secretary from 2010 to 2014, chairs Linklaters’ international advisory group, while other prominent politicians in law include former Justice secretary David Gauke, now head of public policy at Macfarlanes.
‘Lord Cameron’s unique background makes him well suited to advise the firm on the ever-evolving global landscape,’ said Frank Ryan, DLA Piper’s global co-chair. Global co-CEO Charles Severs added: ‘Lord Cameron’s vast experience in global leadership and policy-making will be a tremendous asset to our leadership team.’
Elsewhere, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has become the latest US firm to add a secondaries partner in London, hiring Joanne Mak from Kirkland & Ellis.
Mak has joined after seven years at Kirkland and will work alongside secondaries partners Ed Ford and Sacha Gofton-Salmond, both of whom joined from Travers Smith in 2023.
The secondaries market has seen a flurry of activity in recent years. Among the moves, Simon Saitowitz joined Weil from Ropes & Gray in April, Proskauer added Skadden counsel Delphine Jaugey as a partner in March, while Alexandra Chauvin made the move to White & Case, also from Ropes & Gray, in July last year.
Meanwhile, Pinsent Masons has raided Deloitte Legal for three IP partners – Rachael Barber, Jeremy Harris and Paul Garland – and IP director Richard Reeve-Young. Garland, who was global head of IP and technology at Deloitte Legal, has more than 20 years’ experience in advising technology clients on strategic IP management.
All three partners had previously worked together at boutique technology firm Kemp Little, becoming part of Deloitte Legal when the boutique was acquired in 2020. In leaving, they join a long list of former Kemp Little partners to jump ship from Deloitte, including fintech partners Chris Hill, who left for Fox Williams in February 2024, and Jake Ghanty, who left for Wedlake Bell in November 2023, before departing just nine months later.
Tom Nener, the co-head of Pinsents’ lP practice, hailed the hires, saying: ‘Having Paul, Rachael, Jeremy and Richard join our IP team in London represents a significant expansion of our IP practice, particularly in the brand protection and technology space.’
Meanwhile, LB understand that Blackstone has hired White & Case private equity counsel Joshua Alexander-Passe as head of legal for private equity transactions in Europe, a move first reported by Financial News.
It marks a return to a private equity firm for Alexander-Passe, who joined White & Case in early 2024 following a three-year stint at Providence Equity Partners, including as European legal counsel. He has also spent time at Freshfields and Weil.
Baker McKenzie has hired James Wyatt as a partner in its energy and infrastructure team in London. Wyatt has moved after two years at K&L Gates. He had previously spent time at Slaughter and May, Linklaters and four years at the now-defunct boutique Avonhurst. He has experience advising on project development, project finance, construction, and M&A.
TLT has hired DWF commercial real estate lawyer Neal Bhattacharyya as a partner in its London office. Bhattacharyya has joined after three years at DWF and had previously spent seven years as an associate at Hogan Lovells.
Finally, Shoosmiths has tapped corporate associate Wei Wu from Dentons’ London office. The trilingual, dual-qualified lawyer has joined as a partner following just under 10 years at Dentons.
‘The growth has been tremendous, and we’re very proud of it’, said Meg Catalano (pictured), who last November became Kennedy’s first global managing partner based outside of the UK.
‘My taking the role of global managing partner, as someone from outside the UK, was a reflection of our strategy and vision’, said Catalano. ‘We’re not just a UK firm any more.’
Barbara Zapisetskaya, principal counsel (technology) at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (pictured right), also underlined the need for clarity when defining who has responsibility for driving AI adoption and implementing AI strategy, as opposed to the people responsible for ensuring AI use adheres to governance frameworks.
In terms of the future direction of travel, Fountain Court barrister Jacob Turner (pictured right) – the author of Robot Rules: Regulating Artificial Intelligence – highlighted recent statements from Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer emphasising economic growth in discussions with regulators, and asked whether this implied a tension between regulatory scrutiny and productivity, while also noting that the strength of the heavily regulated financial industry shows that high regulation does not have to be synonymous with low growth.
Matthew Wilson, chief legal officer at Fremantle (pictured right) pointed out that as AI’s impact is constantly evolving, lawyers are well-positioned within businesses to help navigate its uncertainties, including regulatory changes and ethical concerns. Alluding to the wider role that lawyers can and should play, he said: ‘If AI is, in the short term, going to replace 50% or more of what your lawyers are doing today, you probably aren’t set up right, and are not getting the right value from the team.’
