The Transfer Window is a weekly round-up of recent legal moves in the UK and abroad. Please send all announcements to [email protected].

Harbottle & Lewis has recruited top-rated defamation and reputation management partner John Kelly from Schillings, in an eye-catching hire for the City firm.

Kelly has acted for a raft of high-profile clients including disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong and former England manager Steve McClaren, as well as other celebrities including Steve Coogan, Madonna, Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie and Matt Lucas.

He joined Schillings in 2005 from Australian commercial law firm Kelly & Co, where he was also a partner.

Benelux firm Stibbe has expanded its six-partner private equity team with a double partner hire from the Brussels arm of White & Case. Corporate partners Stefan Odeurs and Dries Hommez, both of who started their legal careers at Stibbe, are set to rejoin the firm this spring.

Odeurs joined White & Case as a partner in 2004, while Hommez was made up to partner at the US firm in 2009.

Gateley has strengthened its corporate recovery team with the hire of partner Richard Healey and two further lawyers from Howes Percival.

The trio have joined Gateley's Manchester office, with Healey adding expertise in recovering the proceeds of fraud and pursuing tax evaders. His recent work has included advising HM Revenue & Customs on all aspects arising from the administration of Glasgow Rangers Football Club.

K&L Gates has hired highly rated criminal fraud barrister Christine Braamskamp from 3 Raymond Buildings, as a special counsel in the policy and regulatory team of the London office.

A dual English-Dutch qualified lawyer, Braamskamp specialises in financial investigations, money laundering, corruption, fraud and extradition. She regularly represents Dutch nationals who face criminal proceedings in England and advises in respect of criminal proceedings in the Netherlands, where she is also qualified to act.

SNR Denton has added a partner to its London banking and finance practice with the hire of Gide Loyrette Nouel senior associate Sylvain Dhennin.

Dhennin, a New York qualified securities lawyer, joins from Gide's London office, where he has spent the last four years, before which he also worked at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and JP Morgan.

Pannone has promoted Lucy Nicol to lead its court of protection group, replacing the outgoing incumbent Hugh Jones.

The move follows Jones' decision to retire from the practice after 34 years, and to establish his own independent court of protection team. As part of this, Jones has acquired some court of protection business from Pannone.

Clifford Chance's (CC) Turkish law affiliate Yegin Legal Consultancy has hired Herguner Bilgen Ozeke partner Itir Sevim-Ciftci to head up the magic circle firm's corporate practice in Turkey.

Simon Williams, the managing partner of CC's Istanbul office said: "We are extremely pleased to welcome such a highly regarded figure in the Turkish legal sector. Itir has excellent insight into the market and a strong track record in a wide range of transactions for both local and international clients."

Simmons & Simmons has added Hidde Koenraad, a partner from Dutch intellectual property (IP) boutique Vondst Advocaten, to its Amsterdam IP team. His practice includes trade mark, design and copyright law and domain name disputes, as well as plant variety right law.

Norton Rose has bulked up its Australia corporate team with a triple partner hire from Corrs Chambers Westgarth. Richard Lewis, who was Sydney head of corporate advisory at his former firm, is joining alongside equity capital markets and M&A specialist Iain Laughland and corporate partner Steve Johns. The three partners will join Norton Rose's Sydney corporate practice.

Jones Day has recruited Clifford Chance (CC) India M&A co-head Sumesh Sawhney in London. Sawhney, who joined CC from Indian firm Amarchand Mangaldas in 2006, specialises on India-related transactions such as the formation of joint ventures and cross-border investment.

His clients include pharma group Bayer, manufacturer John Deere, mobile network operator Maxis Communications, private equity fund manager SUN Group, the Volvo Car Corporation and employment conglomerate Omzest.

Sidley Austin has hired corporate partner Mark Thompson from King & Spalding (K&S). The US-trained Thompson, who split his time between Moscow and London while at K&S, will now divide his private equity and M&A-focused practice between the City and New York.

Former Squire Sanders litigation partner Chris Caulfield has joined Baker Botts in London, increasing the US firm's partner headcount in the City to 15.

Caulfield, who split his practice between Squire Sanders' London and Leeds offices, focuses on high-value contentious work in both arbitration and the English courts. A specialist in export control, he joins following the appointment of former Baker Botts Moscow head Steve Wardlaw to lead the London office.

The London office of Brown Rudnick has hired WilmerHale partner Tim Matthews for its corporate practice.  With a particular focus on the technology and life sciences sectors, Matthews, who joined WilmerHale in 2009 from Clyde & Co, represents UK-listed, international and private clients in relation on M&A, company reorganisations and LLP conversions.

McDermott Will & Emery has hired a three-counsel team from Fasken Martineau in Paris, in a boost to the US firm's Africa-facing energy, mining and infrastructure practice.

Jean-Claude Petilon, who joins McDermott as senior counsel, has been hired alongside Liliane Doukoure and Matthieu Adam, both of who join as counsel. Petilon has more than 30 years of Africa-related special projects work, acting for governments as well as major mining and petrol companies in restructuring and financing matters.

JMW Solicitors has added to its family team with the hires of solicitors Eleanor Aguirre and Holly Tootill from Pannone and Thomas Eggar respectively.

The new arrivals take the number of fee earners within the family team to 10 and come shortly after the department passed through the £1m fee income milestone for the first time.

Trowers & Hamlins has added Reed Smith European and Middle East commercial disputes partner Alex Burton to its 14-partner dispute resolution and litigation practice. Burton specialises in multi-party claims, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution and is the fifth partner in the practice to focus on commercial litigation.

The news comes after Trowers hired Olswang senior associate Ned Beale for its litigation practice in January.

The London office of Morgan Lewis & Bockius has hired K&L Gates energy partner Matthew Kidwell to its business and finance practice. Kidwell, who moved to K&L Gates just two years ago from Shearman & Sterling, concentrates on project development and finance, including oil and gas exploration and production, and deepwater operations.

Bird & Bird's Netherlands arm has seen Baker & McKenzie Amsterdam lawyer Brian Mulier rejoin the firm's tax and international trade and customs practices as a partner. Mulier, who brings an associate with him, is experienced in handling customs and trade-related matters as well as the application of EU export controls and economic sanctions.

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has hired Garrigues property partner Javier Gomez Ocana to lead its real estate practice in Madrid. Ocana spent 12 years as part of his previous firm's real estate team, and has worked in the legal departments of companies such as IBM and Grupo Flex.