SJ Berwin has pulled together lawyers from its litigation and corporate practices to create a new private equity and partnership dispute resolution practice.

The new group – formed last month (15 July) – is headed by litigation partner Hilton Mervis and corporate partner Michael Halford.

The group will deal with contentious matters stemming from private equity fund formations as well as disputes at partner, investor and investee level within private equity houses and hedge funds.

In addition to Mervis and Halford, the group includes six partners in London, two in Paris, and one partner each from Munich, Madrid, Hong Kong and Dubai respectively.

The unusual decision to bring together corporate and litigation lawyers comes as the firm predicts an increase in disputes in the private equity sector as a result of the downturn.

Mervis commented: "There has been a significant increase in work and we thought it a good idea to pull the lawyers closer, both for the purpose of dealing with disputes, but also to add value before things go wrong.

"Clients facing these disputes want a seamless service from a team which has a full understanding of how private equity works."

Halford added: "We thought this was a worthwhile move, given that the funds area is quite technical.

"The group provides day-to-day interaction and understanding between lawyers with different specialist understandings."