Hogan Lovells expands Latin America footprint with hire of CC partner in Brazil

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Hogan Lovells has expanded its Latin America offering with the launch of its second office in Brazil, with the hire of former Clifford Chance partner Isabel Costa Carvalho.

Its new São Paulo office will operate as a foreign legal consultancy offering services to local and international companies and banks after the Brazilian Bar Association awarded the firm a license to practise in the region in July 2013.

Capital markets partner Costa Carvalho will lead the new team and focus on bolstering the firm’s Latin America-based equity capital markets, corporate and international debt capital markets practices as well as its New York, Washington and London based capital offering focused on Latin America. Continue reading “Hogan Lovells expands Latin America footprint with hire of CC partner in Brazil”

In-house: RFU rejigs legal team as deputy head joins sports firm Couchmans

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The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has reconfigured its in-house legal team recently, promoting in-house lawyer Angus Bujalski (pictured) to lead its legal team following the recent departure of deputy head of legal Polly Handford to become a partner at sports law firm Couchmans.

The RFU has now appointed former Slaughter and May lawyer Bujalski as head of legal, who will report directly to the organisation’s legal and governance director Karena Vleck. While Vleck has oversight of legal as well as other sports-related areas such as player discipline and child safeguarding, Bujalski will have specific responsibility for the legal function. Continue reading “In-house: RFU rejigs legal team as deputy head joins sports firm Couchmans”

Board level appointment for incoming Tui general counsel

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Leading European travel group Tui AG has become the latest major corporate to announce a board level legal appointment as former Clifford Chance (CC) lawyer and Demag Cranes head of legal Hilka Schneider joins as general counsel (GC).

Schneider, who in 2008 took over as head of the legal department at Demag and in 2011 saw the company through its $1.4bn hostile takeover by New York Stock Exchange-listed heavy equipment manufacturer Terex, will join the management board of TUI and will assume responsibility for group legal affairs, governance, risk and compliance.

German-headquartered Tui’s three business sectors are TUI Travel; TUI Hotels & Resorts; and Cruises, with its 2011/12 group turnover standing at €18.3bn.

As of mid-2014 Schneider, a corporate lawyer who started her legal career at CC in 2000 before joining DAX-listed Deutsche Post DHL in 2005, will also head the executive board office of the company. Continue reading “Board level appointment for incoming Tui general counsel”

Asia-Pacific: Clydes eyes further China expansion as it hires Eversheds Asia employment head

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Clyde & Co has further expanded its China operations with the hire of Eversheds’ Asia head of employment Iris Duchetsmann to lead its Shanghai office.

Duchetsmann will focus on expanding the firm’s regional employment law capabilities, its overall China offering and comes with a particular focus on cross-border issues and international human resources management.

Also joining Clyde’s Shanghai office are three employment associates from Eversheds – Lisa Li, Cynthia Zheng and Vivien Xu – bringing the lawyer headcount up to 23 and five partners in total.

Continue reading “Asia-Pacific: Clydes eyes further China expansion as it hires Eversheds Asia employment head”

Asia-Pacific: Pinsents continues expansion with high-profile appointments in Singapore and Shanghai

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Pinsent Masons has continued to develop its Global 100 credentials, this time bulking up its Asia-Pacific corporate capability with the hire of a three-partner team in Singapore from leading local firm KhattarWong and a further senior appointment in Shanghai from SJ Berwin (now part of King & Wood Mallesons). These latest appointments add to a number of key hires made by Pinsents in the region over the course of last year.

In Singapore, partners Perry Yuen, Kelvyn Oo and Bethia Su will join the firm from KhattarWong’s general corporate and commercial advisory practice in early 2014 along with up to five associates.

Continue reading “Asia-Pacific: Pinsents continues expansion with high-profile appointments in Singapore and Shanghai”

In-house: high-profile Pfizer GC steps down while former Dewey chair appointed as a UAE legal adviser

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She has built a reputation as one of the most powerful and influential lawyers in the world but Pfizer has confirmed that its high-profile general counsel and executive leadership member Amy Schulman is to leave the pharma giant just weeks before the in-house lawyer was due to take up a new post.

Schulman had joined Pfizer in 2008 from her position as co-head of mass tort and class actions at DLA Piper. The star litigator, who was reportedly responsible for a $60m book of business, was an equally high-profile general counsel going on to pioneer the Pfizer Legal Alliance, a radical attempt to usher in annually fixed fees for advisers that entirely ditched the billable hour.

The move comes despite Schulman in July being named as head of vaccines, oncology and consumer healthcare business, a post she was expected to assume in the New Year.

Continue reading “In-house: high-profile Pfizer GC steps down while former Dewey chair appointed as a UAE legal adviser”

In-house revolving doors: Senior hires for Co-op, Powa Technologies and Autoliv as BMA loses group legal director

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A series of senior in-house moves and hires has this week seen The Co-operative Group appoint Lloyds Banking Group company secretary Claire Davies as group secretary, Yahoo’s senior legal director Manu Kanwar move to Powa Technologies, Swedish automotive safety systems manufacturer Autoliv appoint Andrew Nellis as interim general counsel and the British Medical Association (BMA) lose its legal director Jonathan Waters. Continue reading “In-house revolving doors: Senior hires for Co-op, Powa Technologies and Autoliv as BMA loses group legal director”

In-house hires – TSB appoints Post Office GC as legal head as Mercedes-Benz fills top spot

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Following its split from Lloyds, TSB Bank has announced the appointment of former Post Office general counsel (GC) Susan Crichton as its new legal chief, leading the newly separated bank’s legal function in the New Year as it moves towards an initial public offering (IPO).

Crichton played a key role in the Post Office’s separation from Royal Mail, before which she was legal, governance and risk director at Skandia International between 2008 and 2010, and GC at General Electric (GE) Money and Consumer Finance between 1999 and 2008. Continue reading “In-house hires – TSB appoints Post Office GC as legal head as Mercedes-Benz fills top spot”

Moscow team hire: Goltsblat BLP take on real estate trio from Akin Gump

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Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has bolstered its global real estate capability with the hire of a rated three partner team from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s Moscow office.

The team, which is set to join Goltsblat BLP in mid-January 2014, includes the current head of Akin Gump’s real estate practice in Russia, Vladislav Sourkov, who will be joined by his colleagues Rustam Aliev and Dmitry Maltsev. Sourkov is described by The Legal 500 as ‘dedicated, experienced, and very driven on client service’. Continue reading “Moscow team hire: Goltsblat BLP take on real estate trio from Akin Gump”

In-house: Transocean finds replacement general counsel after year-long search

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Swiss-based offshore drilling contractor Transocean has appointed a new general counsel (GC) and senior vice president over a year after former legal chief Nick Deeming left the role.

Former GC, vice president legal affairs and secretary of Swedish-American automotive safety systems manufacturer Autoliv, Lars Sjöbring, will join Transocean next year when his current notice period expires.

Prior to joining Autoliv in 2007, Sjöbring – who has master of law degrees in Sweden, the Netherlands and the US – held the role of senior legal counsel and subsequently director legal, M&A at Nokia since joining the telecoms group in 2003.

Continue reading “In-house: Transocean finds replacement general counsel after year-long search”