Americas
The intensive lateral hiring of November and December continued into the New Year in America, another sign of a rebounding economy and widespread anticipation of strong deal flow in 2015.
First off, Investment funds lawyer Jesse Kanach, who had worked as counsel in Shearman & Sterling’s Washington office, made the transition to Perkins Coie’s office in the capital. Kanach, who joined as a partner, has a growing reputation as an expert on hybrid funds.
Another global powerhouse, Baker & McKenzie, strengthened the tax and deal-making expertise in its New York office. The firm did this not through a lateral hire, but by re-locating international tax planning and transactions partner James Wilson from London to New York.
The tax aspects of transactions are also an area of specialisation for New York-based lawyer Scott Sontag, who joined Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison from Weil Gotshal & Manges, a firm that has been hemorrhaging partners over the last few months. Sontag works on the tax dimensions of M&A, private equity, real estate, and restructuring deals.
Also in New York, Bingham McCutchen welcomed finance, derivatives, and structured transactions lawyer Daniel Budofsky as a partner. Budofsky, formerly with Davis Polk & Wardwell, advises banks, corporations, and asset managers on cross-border derivatives transactions, and understands the Volcker Rule and regulatory capital rules extremely well.
On the West Coast, mid-market firm Dykema recruited corporate finance lawyer Sam Miller as a senior counsel in its Los Angeles bureau. Miller is qualified to practice law in South Africa, England, Wales, and California and worked at an earlier stage of his career in the London office of Berwin Leighton Paisner.
McDermott Will & Emery expanded its West Coast transactional team through the hiring of Lynn Anne Shapiro, who was previously with O’Melveny & Myers. Los Angeles-based Shapiro carries out real estate deals for clients in the energy, healthcare and hospitality sectors.
Also in L.A., Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan lured bankruptcy and restructuring lawyer John Shaffer from the offices of Stutman Treister & Gleit. Shaffer works with clients in the financial services, real estate, healthcare and other industries.
Asia/Pacific
Holiday season clearly didn’t have much of an impact on the laterals market in Asia and hires were seen in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and India.
In Hong Kong, Chinese firms caught their U.S. counterparts napping as Zhong Lun lured Dechert’s veteran Basil Hwang to strengthen its M&A practice. Hwang was managing partner at Dechert for seven years and set up the U.S. firm’s office in Hong Kong in 2007, its first office in Asia. Another Chinese firm Fangda Partners followed suit when it brought in corporate partner Andrew Lui from Edwards Wildman Palmer.
The market was also busy down in Singapore, with a spate of hires by both local and international firms. Pinsent Masons raided KhattarWong’s corporate department to bring in Perry Yuen, Kelvyn Oo, and Bethia Su, while Virtus Law did the same to Colin Ng & Partners, hiring Kong Seh Ping, Allan Tan, and Elaine Beh to boost its M&A and capital markets practice.
Corporate moves have dominated the to-and-fros in the region and one example in Japan saw Takahiro Tsumagari of the independent Atsumi & Sakai leave in January for K&L Gates. Tsumagari is well versed in cross border M&A, international and domestic commercial trade, cross border anti-trust cases and structured finance matters. The U.S. firm also recruited Siew Kam Boon as a partner in its M&A and private equity practices. Boon will work out of K&L Gates’ Singapore and Shanghai offices and joins the firm from O’Melveny & Myers.
Lastly in India, Avirup Nag strengthened HSA Advocates making the move across from Trilegal, but what Trilegal lost in energy it made up for in its corporate department when former AZB partner Yogesh Bhattarai joined after his sabbatical.
Europe, Middle East & Africa
Weil Gotshal & Manges was at the heart of the major lateral hire news in the U.K. as it saw partners both come and go in the broader area of private equity and corporate finance.
In early January the firm lost funds partner Nick Benson to Latham & Watkins. Benson joined Weil from Clifford Chance as part of a broader team hire in 2011 and the move followed Latham’s capture of private equity partners David Walker and Tom Evans from Clifford Chance in 2013.
There was better news for Weil later in the month however as it announced the addition of partner Chris McLaughlin from Hogan Lovells. The U.S. firm has been making a conscious effort to expand its London leveraged finance offering since the arrival of Stephen Lucas in 2012 and in the period since, the firm has also added high yield capacity in the form of Gil Strauss from Freshfields.
Elsewhere in London Ashurst hired Linklaters capital markets partner Francis Kucera to expand its London team. Kucera, who will join the team in March 2014, specialises in securities and derivatives work with a particular focus on Central & Eastern Europe (CEE).
Simmons & Simmons hired Reed Smith’s head of investment funds for Europe and the Middle East Dale Gabbert. Gabbert has been with the U.S. firm since moving from Nabarro in 2005 and was instrumental in setting up the firm’s European funds practice. The move follows Simmons’ hire of DLA Piper funds chief David Williams in 2013.
In other London news, Morgan Lewis & Bockius added investment funds and private equity specialist Tom Cartwright from Taylor Wessing; CMS Cameron McKenna boosted its London corporate team through the hire of wealth management specialist Cathy Pitt from Norton Rose Fulbright; Seyfarth Shaw hired King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin M&A partner Robert Hanley; and Field Fisher Waterhouse brought in Mayer Brown M&A partner Mark Walker.
Across in Paris the biggest news was Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s hire of M&A specialist Olivier Rogivue from Bredin Prat. Rogivue a former Slaughter and May lawyer joins the firm alongside counsel Florent Mazeron and the moves mark the first departures from the premier French domestic for five years.
Elsewhere, boutique firm Dethomas Kopf and a team from Vigiué Schmidt Peltier Juvigny, joined forces to form Dethomas Peltier Kopf Juvigny (DPKJ). The new outfit will focus on corporate work including M&A, restructuring, competition and distressed situations.
August & Debouzy was also busy, adding corporate partner David Malamed from the Paris office of Weil Gotshal. Malamed focuses on private equity, real estate finance, high yield, debt restructuring and debt-for-equity deals.
In the Middle East Dentons added a new partner to its energy practice with the hire of Vinson & Elkins’ Abu Dhabi managing partner Jonathan Nash, who focuses on the energy, water, transportation and infrastructure sectors.
Elsewhere Baker & McKenzie Habib Al Mulla hired Latham & Watkins corporate senior associate Will Seivewright as a partner in Dubai, while recently merged King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin announced that it was entering into a new association in Saudi Arabia with local firm Law Office of Majed Almarshad.
The firm also had developments to report in Benelux as it consolidated its presence in Luxembourg with two new hires. Funds counsel Thomas Chevalier moved across from Clifford Chance, while corporate partner Bertrand Geradin joined the firm as counsel in the corporate department from Allen & Overy.
The firm also saw two departures on the continent with Paris partner Vincent Lassalle leaving for SBKG & Associés and Frankfurt partner Thomas Schrell moving to Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek. Lassalle specialises in business real estate law, and particularly real estate asset acquisitions, disposals, sales and leaseback. Schrell focuses on financing and also has experience in structured finance and in contentious banking work on behalf of financial institutions.
In Africa ENSafrica added another country to its network having secured a merger with Mauritian firm De Comarmond & Koenig. This follows recent openings in Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda.
In Egypt Trowers & Hamlins announced that it was to close its Cairo office. The decision to pull out was taken in December and in January the firm's resident managing partner Sara Hinton, alongside the firm’s fellow fee earners, joined the partnership of Egyptian independent Ibrachy & Partners.
In Sweden Lindhal hired Linklaters banking counsel Dennis Hansson as partner in Stockholm. Further east Ukrainian outfits Danevych Law Firm and Ulysses announced plans to merge forming a new operation Marchenko Danevych. While finally in Spain, Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira corporate partner Ignacio Balañá relocated to the Madrid office of Latham & Watkins.