City firm makes corporate/employment practice tie-up; former litigation head to lead combined grou

Mishcon de Reya has merged its corporate & commercial and employment practices and, in an unusual move, installed former litigation head James Libson to lead the newly-combined group.

The shift gives the combined corporate and employment group 18 partners and 38 other fee earners, of which five partners and around 14 other fee earners come from employment.

The overhaul sees Richard Tyler step down as head of corporate and commercial to take on a position on Mishcons' strategy board. Nick Davis and Joanna Blackburn retain their respective roles as head of corporate and employment but report to Libson.

Mishcons said the change comes as the firm attempts to increase the revenue contribution that corporate makes to the firm from approximately 20% of annual turnover to more than 30% – with the firm hoping to increase referrals between the employment and corporate teams.

Libson, who specialises in employment and media disputes, said: "We were not getting enough cross-referral work between the corporate and employment groups. Our experience is that when you put two areas together it always increases the amount of work between them. This was a board-level decision made following a consultation and with the agreement of the two departments."

High-profile employment mandates for Mishcons  include employment partner Daniel Naftalin advising Avram Grant on his £2.5m a year contract with Chelsea Football Club. Naftalin also provided subsequent advice when Grant was removed from his post just eight months into a four-year contract with the West London club.

Kasra Nouroozi has taken over from Libson as head of the litigation group, which is still the largest group in the law firm.