The Transfer Window is a round-up of recent legal moves in the UK and abroad.

King & Wood Mallesons has launched an energy and infrastructure practice in Paris with the hire of French company Bollore Africa Logistics' general counsel Richard Mugni, who is joining alongside an associate.

Mugni, who specialises in African investments, has also worked with Chinese companies on the continent, advising on contracts for the financing and construction of infrastructure projects, as well as on logistics related to mining projects.

Linklaters has named corporate partner Scott Campbell as its UAE managing partner, succeeding Sarosh Mewawalla, who has returned to full-time client work.

Campbell has been based in Linklaters' Dubai office since it was launched in 2006 and is also the magic circle firm's head of corporate for the Middle East.

Ashurst has appointed Bill Reid as co-head of its global competition practice alongside London based Nigel Parr. Reid is based in Sydney and has assumed the position following the departure of former co-head Liz Carver to Herbert Smith Freehills last month.

DWF has sealed the hire of Pinsent Masons London energy partner Chris White to lead its nuclear sector group. White has co-headed Pinsents' nuclear group since he joined in 2011 from EDF Energy. Before joining EDF, he worked as group counsel at uranium manufacturer Urenco.

RPC has hired insurance litigation partner Rebecca Hopkirk from Holman Fenwick Willan. Hopkirk, who trained at Holman Fenwick, covers claims arising from property damage, onshore and offshore energy, oil and gas, and power generation risks. Her practice has particular focus on the Middle East, North Africa, South America and Japan.

The firm has also scooped the hire of a five-lawyer team from Greenwoods Solicitors for its Bristol office, which will join its catastrophic and large loss personal injury group. The team is led by partner Mike Guy and associate partner Claire Gribben, with both joining as director and partner respectively.

Kennedys has turned to BLM for its latest London hire, recruiting senior London professional indemnity partner Caterina Yandell. She joined her former firm in 1991 and was promoted to partner in 1996. Yandell specialises in complex property disputes and professional negligence claims.

Former Linklaters Brussels capital markets partner Jacques Richelle has joined local boutique Strelia. Richelle was a projects and finance partner at DLA Piper for two years after he left Linklaters in 2012. He worked at Linklaters for 14 years having first joined the magic circle firm in 1998.

Pinsent Masons has taken on Allen & Overy senior associate Steven Cochrane as a partner in its financial services team. Cochrane, who spent much of 2013 on secondment to the employment legal team at Barclays, will focus on advising financial services clients on executive level employment law issues and matters with cross-border regulatory aspects.

Barclays has appointed Andrea Delay as its head of professional services. Delay replaces Tom Wood, who has left to join HSBC as its co-head of corporate banking. She previously held the positions of senior relationship director in Barclays' business services team, and was head of industry for the facilities management sector. She also acted as a senior relationship director in the professional services group between 2009 and 2013.

Irwin Mitchell has hired DWF's head of pensions Martin Jenkins. The former Dickinson Dees partner notably acted for pensioners of the Mirror Group during the 'Maxwell pensions scandal' in the early 90s.

Withers has hired group chief executive of Rothschild Trust Group in Switzerland David McLellan as a partner in its Zurich office.

McLellan, a former Baker & McKenzie lawyer, specialises in international tax planning and trust structuring, adding to the wealth management services run out of Withers' Zurich office, launched in 2011 to build on the firm's Geneva base set up six years earlier.

Charles Russell Speechlys has launched a dedicated Islamic finance team in the Middle East after hiring Central Bank of Bahrain general counsel Ashley Freeman earlier this year. The team, which will be active across the 10 international offices of CRS, will also include consultant Wesam Alshafei, who has joined from Bahrain firm Zubi & Partners.

Geoff Simpson has resigned his role as a non-executive director with Australian mining giant Atlas to concentrate on his role as managing partner of Allen & Overy's Perth office. Simpson, who is also the firm's global head of mining, joined the Atlas board in 2012, two years after moving from Clayton Utz to become managing partner at A&O in Perth.

A&O has also signed Shearman & Sterling partner Marc Plepelits to its Frankfurt office. Plepelits will work as part of both A&Os US corporate finance team and its high yield practice in Europe, but his primary focus will be on the German market.
Plepelits, who practice centres on advising Austrian, German and Swiss companies on cross-border transactions, will be the sixth partner in A&O's 35 lawyer German capital markets practice.

Bond Dickinson has hired Dentons banking partner Andrew Barber, who has brought in to develop the team's work in areas such as consumer credit and payment services. Barber worked in house at Barclays Wealth for four years prior to moving to Dentons, and has developed experience in financial crime, money laundering regulations, the Bribery Act and financial sanctions.

The firm has also drafted in former Ashurst partner Jonathan Drake to its commercial insurance team based in London. Band 1 rated in this year's Legal 500 rankings, Drake will advise on solvency capital requirements, corporate restructuring, and cross-border regulation issues.

Pinsent Masons real estate finance lawyer Katie Ridehalgh has joined Addleshaw Goddard as a partner. Ridehalgh, who will make the move in early January, specialises in acting for domestic and international lenders and institutional investors, on development and investment finance transactions.

Dechert has hired Freshfield Bruckhaus Deringer international arbitration specialist Mark Mangan as a partner in its Singapore office. Mangan's practice focuses on complex disputes in the oil & gas, finance, telecommunications, and food and beverage sectors. He regularly works on disputes with a political or governmental involvement.

Squire Patton Boggs has expanded its Prague office with the hire of partner Hana Gawlasova from Kinstellar. Gawlasova led Kinstellar's telecommunications, media and technology, and labour and employment practice groups.

Dentons has hired banking and finance counsel Pascal Jouannic from Allen & Overy to join its Paris office as a partner. Jouannic's practice focuses on banking finance law with a specialisation in structured finance transactions, securitization, factoring and asset financing.