December/January’s Private Practitioner Moves
February 5 2002
In Australia, Freehills has appointed a new board, with former senior partner Geoff McClellan taking on the role of chairman. Peter Hay, who was previously executive chairman, will become the new chief executive officer, with Gavin Bell as chief operating officer. John Colvin will head the Sydney office, replacing retiring partner Bruce Cutler. Finally, John Atkins, who has been acting managing partner of the Melbourne office since early 2001, will take on the role permanently. Mallesons Stephen Jacques has appointed a new chairperson from inside the firm, while its key corporate partner John Atkin has moved to become the managing partner of rival Blake Dawson Waldron. Robyn Chalmers, who has been a partner at Mallesons since 1984, will succeed David Hoare who has served for six years and is now taking retirement. Allens Arthur Robinson has lost its head of M&A, Peter Cameron, to Credit Suisse First Boston. Cameron joins Credit Suisse as chairman of the Australian investment banking division, a non-legal position. In Europe, two top positions in the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe have been filled by solicitors. Irish solicitor John Fish has taken over as president, while English solicitor Jonathan Goldsmith – formerly the Law Society’s head of international – is its new secretary general. In Germany, US law firm White & Case has taken on corporate partner Christian Jacobs and a team of associates from Hamburg boutique Huth Dietrich Hahn. The firm has also expanded in Paris with the hire of highly-rated litigator Emmanuel Rosenfeld. Elsewhere in Germany, corporate finance partner Dirk Otto moves from Linklaters Oppenhoff & Rädler to UK law firm Norton Rose’s Frankfurt office. Meanwhile, Norton Rose is facing a spate of partner departures in Cologne that will leave it with negligible capability in the area of property and construction. Nine partners are leaving following a disagreement over the future strategy of the firm. The departing partners are insurance and litigation partner Wilfried Rüffer, property and construction partners Jürgen Lauer, Ulrich Leo, Walter Klein and Andreas Fink, intellectual property and IT partners Michael Loschelder, Thomas Schulte-Beckhausen and Thilo Klingbeil, and employment partner Detlef Grimm. The Düsseldorf office of Lovells has hired Christoph Küppers, formerly a partner at KPMG, to join its tax practice. UK firm Simmons & Simmons has recruited corporate lawyer Franz-Josef Schöne to its Düsseldorf office from Haarmann Hemmelrath & Partners. Simmons & Simmons has lost Gerhard Kaiser, the head of its German operation. He will be replaced by UK banking partner Mark Norris, who is already based in Düsseldorf. The Berlin office of German firm Haarmann Hemmelrath & Partners has acquired a new partner with the appointment of Peter Diedrick, formerly a partner with German law firm Quack Rechtsanwälte. In the United Kingdom, Simmons’ capital markets group has hired its first US-qualified structured securities partner in London. Christopher Lewis joins the firm from the New York office of Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett. Landwell, the law firm tied to PricewaterhouseCoopers, has taken on a partner and head of employment from London firm Goodman Derrick. Noel Deans will become the fourth partner in Landwell’s human resources practice. Andrew Sutch will replace Tony Scales as the senior partner of UK firm Stephenson Harwood. Scales, senior partner since April 1999, is due to retire from the firm. UK law firm Hammond Suddards Edge has elected Jane Marshall to be the head of the London office. UK firm Denton Wilde Sapte is taking on the head of rail from Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw. Naomi Horton will join the firm’s energy and infrastructure department as a partner. At UK firm Willmett & Co, senior partner Sandra Miller has announced her retirement and is being replaced by head of litigation Alan Miller. UK firm Martineau Johnson has a new partner and head of tax after bringing in Richard Pincher from national firm Wragge & Co, which has launched a construction department with the recruitment of a three-man team from Merricks, headed by partner Philip Harris. Diana France has left the London office of Manchester firm Halliwell Landau to join Holman Fenwick & Willan as lead partner specializing in non-contentious energy work. City firm Herbert Smith has appointed its head of real estate, Iain Rothnie, as its new executive partner with responsibility for implementing the firm’s strategy. He takes over from Tim Parkes, who moves to become head of Herbert Smith’s Asia region. The London office of Washington DC firm Hogan & Hartson has swooped on US rival LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae and hired two high-profile lawyers. Garry Pegg, co-managing partner of LeBoeuf’s London office, and counsel Hywel Jones will join Hogan & Hartson as partners. Irish law firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice is expanding its London office, to be headed by new partner Emer Hunt, who has been a partner with UK law firm Slaughter and May in London and New York since 1996. Dutch firm Houthoff Buruma is opening an office in London to be run by corporate partner Albert Dreese and two Dutch associates. In Sweden, UK firm Bird & Bird has appointed a new partner to head its communications practice in Stockholm. Johan Tydén was previously with KPMG Legal. In Austria, national firm Wolf Theiss & Partners has hired two new partners. Stefan Stockinger previously worked at Austrian firm Hugel & Partner (specializing in IP and internet law) and Kurt Retter most recently worked at the Austrian base of German insurer Allianz (specializes in public, insurance and banking law). The Paris office of Clifford Chance has appointed Isabelle de Lamotte to its litigation practice. She was previously a partner with Granrut Vatier Baudelot. Following its merger with Stibbe Paris, US firm Latham & Watkins has assigned two senior partners to its Paris office – John Lynch from the Chicago office, and Joseph Bevash from the Hong Kong & Singapore offices. The Paris office of Andersen Legal has recruited leading capital market partner Serge Durox from Coudert Brothers in Paris. In Italy, Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners has hired banking and finance attorney Umberto Mauro, previously a partner with Santilli e Associati. The Milan office of Lovells has hired Marco Rota Candiani, an M&A specialist previously with Grimaldi Clifford Chance. In Russia, the Moscow office of German firm Haarman Hemmelrath & Partner has appointed a new partner. Christia Becker was previously the managing partner of the Moscow office of Knauthe Paul Schmitt. In the United States, following the announcement of its US merger, UK law firm Withers’ New York office will be headed by Ed Granski, joined by London partner Ian Marsh and US partner Dave De Brow. US national firm Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner has emerged as the victor in the battle for defunct New York firm Baer Marks & Upham, taking 46 of the firm’s attorneys and 80% of its partners. Baer fell apart last year after several high-profile departures. West Coast firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati name partner John Goodrich has announced his retirement from the firm. In Canada, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP welcomes Elinore Richardson from Stikeman Elliot as a senior partner in the taxation and corporate finance group, and Mark Lewis who joins as a partner in the communications law group. John Andrade (financial markets and finance) has left Simmons & Simmons in London to join Canadian law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. Faskens also welcomes Charles Higgins (mining) who comes from Macleod Dixon LLP’s Toronto office. Alan Belaiche (litigation) joins Miller Thomson LLP from the Ministry of the Attorney General, where he was counsel to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Lastly, in Mexico, Martinez, Algaba, Estrella, de Haro y Galvan-Duque, SC has announced that Maria de Lourdes Jimenez Codinach and Luis Lavalle Moreno have become partners of the firm, effective as of January 1 2002. Maria de Lourdes Jimenez is based in the firm’s Mexico City office, whereas Luis Lavalle is based in the Monterrey office.
