Revolving Doors: lateral hiring market picks up pace again

Revolving Doors: lateral hiring market picks up pace again

The beginning of October has seen the lateral hire market leap back into action following the summer lull, with several high-profile hires across disputes, arbitration, and IP.

Goodwin has strengthened its litigation offering with the appointment of government investigations and enforcement partner Mark Beardsworth.  Beardsworth is a Legal 500 Leading Individual for white-collar crime and will lead the firm’s European investigations and enforcement practice. He carries out internal investigations for corporations and regulators and advises on a range of risk and governance issues.  Alongside this he has been involved in prosecutions by HM Revenue and Customs, the Serious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, and the Financial Reporting Council. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: lateral hiring market picks up pace again”

Revolving Doors: City firms expand finance and restructuring teams

Revolving Doors: City firms expand finance and restructuring teams

RPC has added partner James Channo to its London corporate practice to provide clients with advice on IPOs, secondary fundraisings, cross-border M&A and joint ventures. Channo joins RPC from Ince, where he headed up the corporate practice, before which he was the London managing partner and head of corporate at Locke Lord.

Examples of Channo’s prior transactional experience includes the listings of Supergroup, Adriatic Metals, SolGold, BSF Enterprise and Roquefort Theraputics, as well as advising Derriston Capital on the reverse takeover of S4 Capital. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: City firms expand finance and restructuring teams”

Revolving doors: Firms build up London deal teams as Keystone hires six new partners

Revolving doors: Firms build up London deal teams as Keystone hires six new partners

Amid a recent spate of senior deal lawyer appointments, McDermott has brought former Kirkland & Ellis partner Usman Khan into its transactions practice. Khan specialises in real estate finance, and has experience acting for clients including banking institutions, private equity sponsors, credit funds, and sovereign wealth funds.

Mayer Brown has also grown its London banking and finance practice, with the hire of Victoria Thompson from Morgan Lewis. Thompson focuses on domestic and cross-border secured lending and restructuring transactions and is dual-qualified in New York and England and Wales.

Continue reading “Revolving doors: Firms build up London deal teams as Keystone hires six new partners”

Revolving Doors: Paul Hastings continues infrastructure hiring spree as White & Case strengthens debt finance practice

Revolving Doors: Paul Hastings continues infrastructure hiring spree as White & Case strengthens debt finance practice

Last week saw several hires in the finance sector and numerous lateral hires in the international market, as London calmed down following the shock Paul Weiss moves in August.

Paul Hastings has made its third infrastructure hire in just three months, appointing partner Candice Lambeth to its energy and infrastructure practice. Moving from Weil, Lambeth specialises in domestic and cross-border M&A, joint ventures, and co-investments across the energy and infrastructure sectors. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Paul Hastings continues infrastructure hiring spree as White & Case strengthens debt finance practice”

Revolving Doors: Kirkland, Shearman and Latham hire in New York

Revolving Doors: Kirkland, Shearman and Latham hire in New York

Despite the sluggish summer hiring season, it has been busy in New York. After losing several partners to Paul Weiss, Kirkland announced it had appointed partner Adam Shapiro to its debt finance group. He brings with him a wealth of experience in restructuring, leveraged finance and syndicated lending, having served at Simpson Thacher for 16 years.

Shearman & Sterling announced it has rehired Alejandro Gordano as a capital markets partner for its Latin America group also in New York. He joins from Linklaters, where he spent over three years as counsel, having previously served as counsel at Shearman for two years starting in 2016. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Kirkland, Shearman and Latham hire in New York”

Revolving Doors: A&O grows in Washington as UK regional firms make key hires in real estate, financial services and employment

Revolving Doors: A&O grows in Washington as UK regional firms make key hires in real estate, financial services and employment

Despite the dramatic news that  Kirkland had lost a London debt finance team to Paul Weiss, it has been another relatively quiet August week for lateral hiring among UK firms.

In Washington DC, Allen & Overy announced that it had appointed Scott Cockerham as a new partner in its projects, energy, natural resources, and infrastructure practice. Cockerham joined A&O from Orrick, where he spent two years as a partner, before which he was a partner for three years at Kirkland. He is in demand by clients for his advice on the tax elements of energy and infrastructure projects, including tax equity financing and tax credit transferability transactions. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: A&O grows in Washington as UK regional firms make key hires in real estate, financial services and employment”

Revolving Doors: Two Magic Circle firms reveal major US hires amid quieter week for City firms

Revolving Doors: Two Magic Circle firms reveal major US hires amid quieter week for City firms

Amid the typical August recruitment slowdown, one of the most notable moves of the past week saw Allen & Overy appoint Kfir Abutbul as the head of its energy private equity team in the US. Abutbul joins the firm from Paul Hastings, where he spent nearly five years as co-chair and vice-chair of its energy and infrastructure team, before which he was also a partner at Kirkland and Willkie Farr.

Chair of A&O’s US corporate practice, Bill Schwitter, said in a statement: ‘The addition of Kfir is an opportunity to continue the expansion of our US private equity and M&A practice.’ Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Two Magic Circle firms reveal major US hires amid quieter week for City firms”

Revolving doors: Shake-ups at Kirkland and Paul Weiss, as Fieldfisher picks up competition team hire

Revolving doors: Shake-ups at Kirkland and Paul Weiss, as Fieldfisher picks up competition team hire

Kirkland & Ellis was at the centre of not one but two of the biggest stories in the London lateral hiring market last week . First, the news broke that former Linklaters private equity star Roger Johnson was set to leave. Then, the firm announced its hire of Paul Weiss London managing partner Alvaro Membrillera.

Membrillera’s departure leaves Paul Weiss with only three partners in London, according to the firm’s website: David Carmona and Adam Wollstein, who made partner in December 2018 and January 2021, respectively, and David Lakhdhir, who cofounded the office in 2001 with Mark Bergman, of counsel in Washington DC since 2021. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Shake-ups at Kirkland and Paul Weiss, as Fieldfisher picks up competition team hire”

Revolving Doors: International and domestic firms bolster finance, infra and disputes teams

Revolving Doors: International and domestic firms bolster finance, infra and disputes teams

Leading the high-profile moves last week, Paul Hastings has expanded its energy and infrastructure practice with the hire of Alistair McKechnie after a string of recent prominent hires that include Jessamy Gallagher and Stuart Rowson. McKechnie specialises in infrastructure finance and acquisition finance.

Speaking to Legal Business about the move, McKechnie he said: ‘There is undeniable momentum at Paul Hastings right now, and it’s clear the firm is on an upward trajectory both on a global level and in London. I watched with interest the hires of Jessamy and Stuart at the start of the year: it was clear they were building something unique in the sense that they go to market as a fully integrated energy and infrastructure practice, combining specialist capability across disciplines, and, crucially, covering both M&A and finance.’ Continue reading “Revolving Doors: International and domestic firms bolster finance, infra and disputes teams”

Revolving doors: More departures from Shearman as firms focus on financial services and infrastructure hires

Revolving doors: More departures from Shearman as firms focus on financial services and infrastructure hires

Shearman & Sterling has lost another two partners in London, as infrastructure and projects partners Ben Shorten and Trinh Chubbock moved over to Gibson Dunn, where Shorten will head the firm’s EMEA projects team.

‘Gibson Dunn has a fantastic energy practice,’ said Shorten. ‘When the opportunity came up, it was too good to miss out on.’ Chubbock concurred: ‘The platform speaks for itself.’ Continue reading “Revolving doors: More departures from Shearman as firms focus on financial services and infrastructure hires”