Canada's Gowlings LaFleur Henderson has boosted its London restructuring and insolvency offering with the hires of two ex-Osborne Clarke (OC) partners, including former restructuring and insolvency chief David Wright.

Wright (pictured), who left OC earlier this year to set up dawLaw, a niche litigation, restructuring and insolvency firm, has joined Gowlings as a consultant along with OC restructuring partner Andrew Mace, who joins the Canadian firm as a partner.

Wright's experience includes acting as a UK agent for the US Government in relation to the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, acting on the purchase of a number of the Ramada brand hotels and acting for the creditors in the high-profile MF Global insolvency.

Mace has previously represented Enron counterparties on set-off, valuation and close-out matters, while he also advised the liquidators of Daewoo cars.

Gowlings Toronto restructuring partner Derrick Tay commented: "We are excited to have David and Andrew join our London team. In addition to extensive expertise in restructuring and insolvency matters, their experience in handling multi-jurisdictional mandates is a tremendous asset for our clients in the UK, Europe, Canada and the US."

Osborne Clarke head of restructuring Nigel Boobier said: "We wish Andrew well in his new role. Our fast-growing City based finance group includes a strong restructuring and insolvency practice, and we're actively looking for another partner to further develop that team."

Boobier, who previously co-headed Osborne Clarke's restructuring team with Wright, splits his time between Bristol and London in his leadership role.

The news for Gowlings comes after it hired a six-lawyer team from Cobbetts – comprising four partners and two senior associates – for its London energy, infrastructure and mining practice earlier this year.