Move of the week
Pinsent Masons has hired Ashurst insurance partner Hammad Akhtar to lead its corporate offering in the financial services sector. Akhtar’s clients include Royal London, Resolution Life and Swiss Re. He will join Pinsent’s corporate financial services team, which is led by partner Alexis Roberts. Akhtar joined Ashurst in 2012 after spending more than 10 years at Herbert Smith Freehills.
UK
London
Sidley Austin has expanded its corporate restructuring practice in London with the addition of Linklaters managing associate Jennifer Brennan, who has joined the firm as a partner.
Paul Rosen has left Clyde & Co, where he was a legal director, to join Katten Muchin Rosenman. He will join the firm’s corporate practice as a partner.
Bryan Cave has boosted its private client team in London with the addition of David Adler as a partner. He has joined the firm from McDermott Will & Emery.
Robert Lawson QC has left Quadrant Chambers for Clyde & Co. He has joined the firm as a partner within its aviation group.
Osborne Clarke has bolstered its IP offering with the hire of Arty Rajendra as a partner. Rajendra is part of a four-strong team that is set to join the firm in late February from Rouse Legal.
Osborne Clarke has also added Rachel Couter as a partner in its litigation practice. She has joined the firm from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), where she had been a partner since 2010.
Simmons & Simmons has expanded its UK banking team with the appointment of Jen Yee Chan as a partner from KWM. Chan brings with her of counsel Cameron Roper and supervising associate Oleksandr Pankiv.
Also leaving KWM is Africa co-head Cindy Valentine, who has joined Simmons & Simmons as a partner in the firms financial services practice.
Locke Lord has appointed Sean Page as a partner in the firm’s corporate group. He was most recently a partner at Pinsent Masons.
Squire Patton Boggs has strengthened its real estate practice group with the hire of John Danahy as a partner from KWM.
Litigation partner Shaistah Akhtar has left KWM for Mishcon de Reya. Akhtar was responsible for the co-ordination of KWM’s investigations, fraud and compliance group.
Winckworth Sherwood has strengthened its social housing finance team with the addition of Ruby Giblin as a partner. She has joined the firm from Clifford Chance, where she was a senior associate.
Osborne Clarke says consumer finance lawyer Nikki Worden will join the firm in June. She will be moving from Addleshaw Goddard, where she has been a partner since 2013.
Baker Botts has added KWM energy partner James Douglass in London. Douglass has spent the past two years at KWM after joining the firm from Linklaters in 2015.
Addleshaw Goddard has picked up former Pinsent Masons head of healthcare Barry Francis, who left the firm last April. Francis has joined the firm as a consultant in the London-based infrastructure, projects and energy group.
North
Amanda Hurst has joined Hill Dickinson’s health team as a legal director. She has joined the firm’s Liverpool office from Weightmans.
Europe
Dentons announced that Christopher Rose will join the firm as head of the Europe venture technology group. He was previously a partner at Squire Patton Boggs and will divide his time between Moscow, London and Warsaw.
Dentons has also added private equity partners Alessandro Dubini and Simon Vogel in Milan and Munich respectively. Dubini has joined the firm from Biscozzi Nobili, while Vogel has moved over from KWM.
Squire Patton Boggs has hired Sabine Pittrof as a partner in Frankfurt. She has joined the firm’s corporate practice group from Deloitte Legal.
Dutch firm Stek has appointed Jan Bart van de Hel as partner in its litigation team. He has joined the firm from Allen & Overy, where he was a senior associate.
Céline Bey has joined Gowling WLG’s IP team as a partner in Paris. She was most recently counsel at Herbert Smith Freehills.
Jasper Wauters has returned to White & Case as a partner in the firm’s international trade practice in Geneva. Wauters was previously an associate at the firm between 2006 and 2010. He was most recently a partner at King & Spalding.
Allen & Overy counsel Renaud Graas has left the firm to join the partnership of Benelux firm Stibbe. Graas has joined the firm as a funds partner in Luxembourg.
Dechert has hired a four-lawyer competition team from Cadwalader Wickhersham & Taft. The team is led by Brussels managing partner Alec Burnside and includes special counsel Anne MacGregor, who will join Dechert as a national partner.
US
Duane Morris has hired an eight-lawyer team from corporate and banking boutique Horgan Rosen Beckham & Coren. Among those to join the firm in Los Angeles are partners Alan Rosen, Arthur Coren, Jerome Walker, Khoi Dang and Robert Beckham.
White & Case has added Carrie LeRoy as a partner in its Silicon Valley office. She will join the firm’s IP practice from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, where she was counsel.
Promotions
Travers Smith has appointed Simon Skinner to head the firm’s tax practice. Skinner joined the firm in 2006 and became partner in 2007.
German firm Noerr has promoted six of its lawyers to partnership. The firm has also appointed a further 10 lawyers as associated partners and four as counsel.
Dentons has re-elected Evan Lazar as chairman of the board of Dentons Europe. Lazar joined the firm in 2013 and also serves as co-chair of the firm’s global real estate group.
Stibbe has appointed Anna Collignon as partner in its administrative law practice in Amsterdam. She joined the firm in 2005. Her appointment brings the total number of partners at the
firm’s Amsterdam office to 38.
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