Withers invests in corporate after hiring department head from Bevan

Withers has hired a new European head of corporate after targeting national outfit Bevan Brittan for the law firm's practice head Adam Duthie.Duthie joined Withers this week (1 October) as a partner after two years at Bevan Brittan, where he was national head of corporate. He replaces Tim Taylor, who is stepping down to return to full-time fee earning after 10 years as head of the European corporate group.Duthie's practice covers general corporate, including mergers and acquisitions, public and private equity, debt finance and Alternative Investment Market transactions. He has particular in emerging markets as well as in the UK leisure and retail sectors.Prior to joining Bevan Brittan in 2006, Duthie also held roles with law firms including Baker & McKenzie and Ashurst, as well as serving as a senior counsel at Guinness/Diageo. Anthony Indaimo, Withers' chairman and international corporate head, said: "Adam is a first-rate corporate practitioner and we look forward to him joining the London team. We act for ambitious entrepreneurs who value commercial acumen and understanding as highly as technical ability."Duthie's departure from Bevan Brittan follows a difficult period at the southwest law firm. Last year profits per equity partner fell to £184,000 from the previous year's figure of £234,000. Meanwhile in May, the firm announced a redundancy consultation which affected six fee earners and 24 support staff. The number was less than the original 40 that were expected to be hit. Commenting on his departure the firm's chief executive, Andrew Manning, said: "Adam is keen to focus on international corporate work, particularly in emerging markets and acting for highly entrepreneurial clients, while we are concentrating on further growing our blue-chip corporate client base. "With this in mind, we have now agreed with Adam that his ambitions will be better met at another firm."Bevan Brittan has yet to decide on a replacement for Duthie as corporate head.

October 02, 2008 at 01:53 AM

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