City recruitment was steady last week with Crowell & Moring being the main mover after luring yet more talent from Squire Patton Boggs. Meanwhile Monckton Chambers secured Steven Gee QC from Joseph Hage Aaronson and DLA Piper and Mayer Brown made moves in a busy international round.
Crowell & Moring has emboldened its London strategy lately by recruiting from Squires. Energy partner Robin Baillie joined the firm last week, with Crowell & Moring looking to export its strong US energy practice to the UK.
Baillie had been at Squires since 2014, and brings with him senior associate Stefanie Atchinson who joins as counsel as well as associate Lydia Taylor. Meanwhile, Squires banking and debt finance partner Andrew Knight is also set to join Crowell & Moring at the beginning of April. The exits come after Squires lost a three-partner team to Crowell & Moring in recent weeks, with litigation partner Laurence Winston and insolvency partners Cathryn Williams and Paul Muscutt also decamping. Squires former City litigation head Robert Weekes meanwhile joined the firm in January, while 15 other lawyers left the firm for Morgan Lewis in February.
Monckton Chambers made a law firm play, adding Joseph Hage Aaronson litigator Steven Gee QC to its ranks. Gee returns to the barristers’ chambers after five years at the litigation boutique, having formerly headed up Stone Chambers.
Joint head of Monckton Chambers, Philip Moser QC, welcomed the hire: ‘Steven’s significant experience, both at the Bar and in a law firm, will provide inspiration and impetus further to expand Monckton’s commercial litigation and arbitration work. We believe his addition is a significant milestone in the recognition of Monckton Chambers as a leading set for commercial litigation and arbitration.’
Finishing off the City hires, DAC Beachcroft acquired David Johnson from Weightmans where he led its political and markets advisory group for four years. Johnson focuses on handling large-loss catastrophic injury cases and high-value fatal accident claims.
Eversheds Sutherland, meanwhile, made a hire in the regions, with the addition of corporate partner Michael Birchall, who joins from Addleshaw Goddard. Birchall will now spearhead the firm’s corporate practice in Manchester while also working closely with the firm’s team in Leeds. Birchall had previously been based in both Manchester and London for Addleshaw.
Further afield, DLA Piper led a busy international recruitment round, hiring in Frankfurt and Dublin. In Germany the firm enhanced its litigation and regulatory practice with the hire of Gleiss Lutz associated partner Emanuel Ballo. It marks a return for Ballo, who had worked at DLA Piper between 2011 and 2015, having advised a number of international companies on issues related to white collar crime.
Meanwhile DLA Piper hired tax partner Maura Dineen to the firm’s newly opened Dublin office. Dineen joins from Mason Hayes & Curran, and is DLA Piper’s fifth partner hire in Ireland in a month.
Fieldfisher made a double hire in Madrid, with Jesús Estévez and Elizabeth Malagelada joining the firm’s Spanish offering. Both come from Big Four outfit EY, where Estévez worked in the firm’s banking and finance practice while Malagelada worked in the tax department. Estevez had been a partner at EY For four years and prior to that was a partner at Baker McKenzie; Malagelada meanwhile had been at EY for six years.
Completing the international recruitment round, Mayer Brown expanded its corporate and securities practice in Hong Kong with the hire of former Kirkland & Ellis and Hogan Lovells partner Steven Tran. As a private equity and M&A lawyer, Tran acts for funds and major financial institutions and has been based in Asia for almost 20 years.
‘Steven’s appointment reflects the continued growth of our corporate capabilities in Hong Kong as a service hub for Asia,’ said Jason Elder, co-leader of Mayer Brown’s corporate and securities practice.
thomas.alan@legalbusiness.co.uk
