Partner moves: January 2011

07 Feb 2011

Jump to:
Asia-Pacific
Americas
Global management moves

EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
 Firm’s started the year in a more fluid market than that in which they ended 2010. However, comparing partner moves from the same time last year, it was a marginally more stable beginning. In total, 34 partners switched firms across Europe in January, with notable movements happening in London, Germany and France.

US firms seemed to score one over on their European counterparts. One of the busier firms was Weil Gothsal & Manges, which added three partners to its European offices, including London-based banking specialist James Hogben (banking) from Ashurst and restructuring partner Adam Plainer (restructuring) from Jones Day. In Paris, the firm also hired M&A partner Laurent Faugérolas from Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Meanwhile, Simmons & Simmons lost four partners, including Richard May and Gavin Weir to US firms Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson and White & Case, respectively, and US securities partner Daniel Winterfeldt to CMS Cameron McKenna. The firm did not just shed in London, and its Frankfurt office saw private equity partner Jan Wildberger move to P+P Poellath.

Hogan Lovells bolstered its capital markets teams in London and Frankfurt with the lateral hires of Dennis Dillon from Sidley Austin and Michael Schlitt from Willkie Farr & Gallagher. The Frankfurt moves above added to what was a reasonably active month for German offices, which saw Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe poach two partners, Jens Röhrborn and Jörg Ritter, from Holme Roberts & Owen for its Munich-based corporate team.

In Paris, there were a number of moves in the corporate, M&A and restructuring fields, with Nicolas Bichot moving from Allen & Overy to Bichot & Associés, Phillipe Hameau from Dewey & LeBoeuf to Orrick Rambaud Martel, Robert Follie from Hogan Lovells to Holman Fenwick & Willan and Raphael Chantelot from Gide Loyrette Nouel to Lefevre Pelletier & Associes. All the moves are from large international firms to smaller rivals.

Elsewhere in Europe, the new Brussels’ office of K&L Gates recruited two partners from McDermott Will & Emery: corporate specialist Patrice Corbiau and competition partner Phillip Torbol; while in London the firm hired project finance partner Matthew Kidwell from Shearman & Sterling. And in Italy, Watson Farley & Williams continued its Europe-wide hiring spree with the recruitment of project finance partner Francesco Curreli from Hogan Lovells.

Qatar has been in the news recently for its controversial victory in the race to host the football World Cup, but global sporting events are not the only things coming to the small Gulf nation. As firm’s glance around for new revenue opportunities there is increasing interest being shown in the country and in January Clifford Chance followed the likes of Allen & Overy and Latham & Watkins in establishing a permanent base.

The move will see projects partner Richard Parris and banking specialist Greg Englefield transfer from Dubai to head up the new operation, which is waiting on approval of its license.

It’s a mere few years since the only foreign firms to be found in Doha were the likes of Simmons & Simmons and Eversheds, but recently the situation has transformed into a gold rush for expansive internationals.

Name	From	Location	Practice Area	To	Location
Nicolas Bichot	Allen & Overy	Paris	Corporate	Bichot & Associes	Paris
James Hogben	Ashurst	London	Banking	Weil Gothsal & Manges	London
Tim Cowen	BT	London	Competition/antitrust	Sidley Austin	London
Michele Cicchetti	Carnelutti	Milan	Banking	Pavia e Ansaldo	Milan
Richard Parris	Clifford Chance	Dubai	Projects	Clifford Chance	Doha
Greg Englefield	Clifford Chance	Dubai	Banking & finance	Clifford Chance	Doha
Niall McAlister	CMS Cameron McKenna	London	Corporate	Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge	London
Manuel Castelo Branco	Cuatrecasas Goncalves Perreira	Lisbon	Corporate	-	-
Phillipe Hameau	Dewey & LeBoeuf	Paris	Restructuring	Orrick Rambaud Martel	Paris
Daren Allen	DLA Piper	London	Regulatory	Berwin Leighton Paisner	London
Anna Rizova	DLA Piper	Sofia	M&A	Wolf Theiss	Sofia
Ian Gilthorpe	Eversheds	Newcastle	Corporate	-	Newcastle
Raphael Chantelot	Gide Loyrette Nouel (SA)	Paris	M&A	Lefevre Pelletier & Asscoies	Paris
Hany Kassem	Hani Qurashi	Riyadh	Corporate	Trowers & Hamlins	Riyadh
Alexander Tsakoev	Herbert Smith	Moscow	Banking	Norton Rose	Moscow
Robert Follie	Hogan Lovells	Paris	Corporate	Holman Fenwick & Willan	Paris
Francesco Curreli	Hogan Lovells	Milan	Project finance	Watson Farley & Williams	Milan
Jens Röhrborn	Holme Roberts & Owen	Munich	Corporate	Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe	Munich
Jörg Ritter	Holme Roberts & Owen	Munich	Corporate	Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe	Munich
Adam Plainer	Jones Day	London	Restructuring	Weil Gotshal & Manges	London
Doron Ezickson	McDermott Will & Emery	London	Energy	Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft	London
Phlip Torbol	McDermott Will & Emery	Brussels	Competition	K&L Gates	Brussels
Patrice Corbiau	McDermott Will & Emery	Brussels	Corporate	K&L Gates	Brussels
Neil Miller	Norton Rose	London	Islamic finance	KPMG	London
Saul Sender	Reed Smith	London	Corporate	Mishcon de Reya	London
Boris Durr	RP Richter & Partner	Munich	Corporate	Heuking Kuhn Luer Wojtek	Munich
Eszter Kamocsay-Berta	Salans	Budapest	Projects	Gide Loyrette Nouel	Budapest
Matthew Kidwell	Shearman & Sterling	London	Project finance	K&L Gates	London
Dennis Dillon	Sidley Austin	London	Debt capital markets	Hogan Lovells	London
Richard May	Simmons & Simmons	London	Corporate	Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson	London
Gavin Weir	Simmons & Simmons	London	Corporate	White & Case	London
Daniel Winterfeldt	Simmons & Simmons	London	US Securities	CMS Cameron McKenna	London
Jan Wildberger	Simmons & Simmons	Frankfurt	Private equity	P+P Poellath	Frankfurt
Alberto Morano	SJ Berwin	Milan	Private equity	Dewey & LeBoueuf	Milan
Michael Schlitt	Willkie Farr & Gallagher	Frankfurt	Capital markets	Hogan Lovells	Frankfurt
Laurent Faugerolas	Willkie Farr & Gallagher	Paris	M&A	Weil Gotshal & Manges	Paris
SA - Senior associate

ASIA-PACIFIC
January 2011 marked a quiet start for Asia, revealing a trickle of transfers primarily in Hong Kong and Beijing. Notably SNR Denton affiliate Brandt Chan & Partners announced it would be hiring three new partners for 2011: corporate lawyer Anthony Chan, M&A lawyers Valda Chan and private equity partner Jeffrey Cheung.

London based Weil Gotshal & Manges finance partner Michael Nicklin made the move to Hong Kong to join Ropes & Gray, whose Beijing office incidentally also grew with the hire of investment funds partner Geoffrey Chan from O’Melveny & Myers. Also in Beijing, Chinese firm Jun He poached financial & corporate partner Li Liang from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

There was only one move in Mumbai in January 2011, with M&A partner Rukshad Davar transferring from Bharucha & Partners to Majmudar & Co.

Name	From	Location	Practice Area	To	Location
Kingsley Ong	Mayer Brown (Cn)	Hong Kong	Structured finance	Eversheds	Hong Kong
Ken Hawkes	Hogan Lovells	Singapore	Project finance	White & Case	Singapore
Ping Liu	Baker & McKenzie	Beijing	Corporate & energy	Mayer Brown	Beijing
Anthony Chan	-	Hong Kong	Corporate	Brandt Chan & Partners (SNR Denton)	Hong Kong
Valda Chan	-	Hong Kong	M&A	Brandt Chan & Partners (SNR Denton)	Hong Kong
Jeffrey Cheung	-	Hong Kong	Private equity	Brandt Chan & Partners (SNR Denton)	Hong Kong
Thomas De Muynck	Jones Day	Tokyo	M&A	Jones Day	Tokyo
Michael Nicklin	Weil Gotshal & Manges	London	Finance	Ropes & Gray	Hong Kong
Li Liang	Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton	Beijing	Financial & corporate	Jun He	Beijing
Rukshad Davar	Bharucha & Partners	Mumbai	M&A	Majmudar & Co	Mumbai
K Minh Dang	DLA Piper	Singapore	Corporate	YKVN	Singapore
Ke Geng	Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom (A)	Beijing	Capital markets	O'Melveny & Myers	Beijing
Geoffrey Chan	O Melveny & Myers (C)	Beijing	Investment funds	Ropes & Gray	Beijing
(C) - Counsel
(Cn) - Consultant

AMERICAS
The year kicked off in the Americas with a consistent number of partner moves. In the US alone, top firms saw 17 partners make moves to rival offices.

Among the most notable saw Dewey & LeBoeuf’s Houston office hiring two energy partners, Karl Hopkins and Steven Otillar, from the Baker & McKenzie office across town. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher was active in Dallas with the recruitment of corporate partner Michael Raff and M&A partner Jeffrey Chapman, both from Vinson & Elkins, while its New York office lost corporate partner Stephen Guynn to King & Spalding.

Jones Day scored a hat-trick from Mayer Brown in New York, poaching banking partner and senior associate Michael Butowsky and Michele Gibbons, and private equity partner Olga Loy.

In Toronto, Miller Thompson hired finance and insolvency partner Joanne Foot and Borden Ladner Gervais recruited M&A partner Jeff Barnes from rival Heenan Blaikie.

January 2011 saw a couple of moves in Central and South America, with Rusconi Valdez Medina y Asociados losing finance and corporate partner Benjamin Valdez, who left to set up his own firm: Benjamin Valdez y Asociados. In Peru, corporate partner Victor Ostolaza left Estudio Cantuarias for Rossello Abogados.

Name	From	Location	Practice Area	To	Location
Joanne Foot	-	Toronto	Finance & insolvency	Miller Thompson	Toronto
Jeffrey Nadler		New York	M&A	Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg	New York
Benjamin Valdez	Rusconi Valdez Medina y Asociados	El Salvador	Financial & corporate	Benjamin Valdez y Asociados	El Salvador
Roger Stark	Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle	Washington DC	Energy & project finance	Ballard Spahr	Washington DC
Jonathan Morris	Barclays Wealth Americas	New York	Corporate	Day Pitney	New York
Hemmie Chang	Ropes & Gray	Boston	M&A	Foley Hoag	Boston
Rachel Coan	Katten Muchin Rosenman	New York	Capital markets	Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell	New York
Victor Ostolaza	Estudio Cantuarias	Peru	Corporate	Rossello Abogados	Peru
Benjamin Valdez	Rusconi Valdéz Medina & Asociados	El Salvador	Corporate	-	-
Jeffrey Chapman	Vinson & Elkins	Dallas	M&A	Gibson Dunn & Crutcher	Dallas
Michael Raff	Vinson & Elkins	Dallas	Corporate	Gibson Dunn & Crutcher	Dallas
Stephen Guynn	Gibson Dunn & Crutcher	New York	Corporate	King & Spalding	New York
Karl Hopkins	Baker & McKenzie	Houston	Energy	Dewey & LeBoeuf	Houston
Steven Otillar	Baker & McKenzie	Houston	Energy	Dewey & LeBoeuf	Houston
Ted Kamman	Jones Day	New York	M&A	Sidley Austin	New York
Jeff Barnes	Heenan Blaikie	Toronto	M&A	Borden Ladner Gervais	Toronto
Biran Bradshaw	Fulbright & Jaworski	Houston	Energy	Morgan Lewis	Houston
Stefanie Birkmann	Simpson Thacher	New York	Finance	Ropes & Gray	New York
Charles Horn	Mayer Brown	Washington DC	Financial services	Morrison & Foerster	Washington DC
John Lo	King & Wood	New York	Corporate	Edwars Angell Palmer & Dodge	New York
Michael Butowsky	Mayer Brown	New York	Banking	Jones Day	New York
Michele Gibbons	Mayer Brown (SA)	New York	Banking	Jones Day	New York
Olga Loy	Mayer Brown	New York	Private equity	Jones Day	New York
SA - Senior associate

GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
Possibly the biggest appointment in January 2011 saw corporate partner Robert Ashworth replace Simon Marchant as regional managing partner for Asia for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

In Moscow, Noerr corporate partner Björn Paulsen took was promoted to the office’s managing partner.

Name	Firm/Company	Location	Practice Area	New position	Replacing	Effective from
Scott Dresser	Virgin Media	London	-	General counsel	Bryan Hall	6/1/11
Robert Ashworth	Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer	Hong Kong	Corporate	Regional managing partner Asia	Simon Marchant	10/1/11
Lionel Woodward	Standard Bank Offshore	-	-	Head of legal	-	18/1/11
Björn Paulsen	Noerr	Moscow	Corporate	Managing partner Moscow	-	21/1/11
Stephen Kay	Hogan Lovells	Los Angeles	Los Angeles	Managing partner Los Angeles	-	27/1/11
D Tyler Nurnberg	Kaye Scholar	Chicago	Chicago	Managing partner Chicago	-	27/1/11
Jeery Clements	Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell	New York	Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell	Chairman	-	27/1/11
Peter Burrows	Norton Rose	Moscow	Property	Moscow head	Valentina Gluhovskaya	1/2/11
Taras Dumych	Wolf Theiss	Kiev	-	Managing partner Kiev	Gennady Khareyn	1/2/11
Jonathan Hammond	Simmons & Simmons	London	Capital markets	Head of finance	Jeremy Hoyland	1/2/11