SNR Denton joint chief of real estate finance exits for rival practice

SNR Denton is to lose a London partner duo to Stephenson Harwood, including its joint head of real estate finance.

The double hire of Andrew Hill and Paul Hayward-Surry comes after real estate finance partner James Linforth joined Stephenson Harwood from SNR Denton in early October.

Hill is the joint head of SNR Denton's real estate finance practice and was also head of the wider real estate practice between 2006 and 2009. Hayward-Surry is also a partner in the real estate group. Both are joining the real estate team at Stephenson Harwood, with a start date still to be confirmed.

Both partners have experience working with banking clients such as the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC, with Hayward-Surry also working with clients including Lloyds Banking Group, BNP Paribas and professional services group PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The pair will work with Stephenson Harwood's existing real estate finance team which includes Linforth, legacy Dentons partner Jayesh Patel, who is also head of banking, Neil Murray, Richard Light, Robert Newman and John Fox.

Commenting on the hire, Stephenson Harwood real estate head Jonathon Wilkes (pictured) said: "They will augment the real estate group's work while also working closely with and supporting our colleagues in the firm's finance group."

SNR Denton has seen a number of partners opting to leave the firm in recent months, with the firm holding many of them to some or all of their notice periods. Junior equity partners typically have a six-month notice period, while senior equity partners have a 12-month notice period. Hill and Hayward-Surry are both understood to fall in the latter category.

Stephenson Harwood, meanwhile, has made a high number of lateral partner hires in London in the past year, most recently adding Squire Sanders Hammonds pensions partner Fraser Sparks earlier this month.