Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has appointed London commercial disputes partner Nathan Willmott as head of its financial regulatory group. He will take over the role from Sidney Myers who will remain at the firm. Willmott joined BLP in 2007 from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. He will continue in his role as head of the commercial dispute resolution practice alongside his new position.

Simmons & Simmons M&A partner Matt Rees is set to leave the firm to join the London office of Proskauer Rose. The hire follows the recruitment of King & Wood Mallesons' former corporate head, Steven Davis, who joined Proskauer in December.

However, Simmons has appointed Alexander Brown as its new head of the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector. He takes over the role from Andrew McMillan. Brown has worked as a TMT partner at Simmons since 2007 and first joined the firm in 1997.

Fox Williams has drafted in finance firm GFI Group's Europe, Middle East and Africa head of legal, Nigel Brahams, as a financial services partner in its London office. Brahams will specialise in non-contentious financial services work at Fox Williams. The hire follows the addition of corporate partner Andrew Woolf, former head of corporate in Irwin Mitchell's City base, in January 2015, and Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co financial technology head Jonathan Segal in November 2014.

Kathy Toon, head of retail at Birmingham firm SGH Martineau, is set to join Shoosmith's real estate team. Toon, who was previously DLA Piper's head of retail real estate, will advise on a range of real estate issues with particular focus on retail, development and portfolio management work. The appointment follows the hire of Geldards head of retail property Ellis Gardner-Browne to the real estate team earlier this year.

Eversheds has lost restructuring and insolvency partner Russell Hill to Squire Patton Boggs (SPB) in Birmingham. Hill has particular expertise in the manufacturing sector and has spent time on secondment at a major clearing bank. He will join a restructuring and insolvency practice at SPB that now has more than 90 lawyers globally.

Linklaters dispute resolution partner Kathryn Ludlow has been appointed chair of Linklaters' corporate responsibility committee. Ludlow, who is based in London, has held the position of global pro bono partner since 2009. Corporate partner Owen Clay will replace her in that role.

Construction and projects partner Paula Boast has returned to Charles Russell Speechlys as head of construction in the Middle East after a nine-year stint at Trowers & Hamlins. The Bahrain-based partner will advise on a booming construction sector in the region, including on contentious matters and disputes.

Hill Dickinson reputation protection partner Magnus Boyd has returned to Schillings, where he started his career as a solicitor in 2001. Boyd has also previously worked at Carter-Ruck.

DWF has appointed real estate partner Moray Thomson to its planning team in Glasgow. Joining from MacRoberts, where he was head of planning, Thomson will be based in DWF's Glasgow office and will use his experience in planning, environmental and roads law and energy infrastructure to build the firm's reputation in the real estate sector.

The firm has also hired corporate banking partner Patrick Eaton. He joins from K&L Gates where he was a senior associate in the corporate practice group.

Greenberg Traurig Maher has hired two of Poland's real estate heavyweights and their teams. Radomil Charzynski, formerly head of real estate at the Warsaw office of Allen & Overy, and Agnieszka Stankiewicz, formerly head of real estate at the Warsaw base of Norton Rose Fulbright, have joined Greenberg Traurig as shareholders, along with two local partners and eight associates.

Cooley is continuing to expand its City office after its London launch in January. Olswang tax partner Natasha Kaye is the latest to be hired by the US firm. Kaye's appointment comes on the back of three others since the office opened: corporate partner Stephen Rosen, also from Olswang, and life sciences partners John Wilkinson and Nicola Maguire from Reed Smith.

Linklaters has appointed Satindar Dogra, the firm's co-head of risk, regulation and governance operational intelligence, to head dispute resolution in London. In a statement Linklaters said Dogra's appointment followed "recent investment to grow the firm's global dispute resolution practice" after promoting two partners into the practice in this year's promotions round.

The managing partner of Taylor Wessing's Brussels office, Christine Flion, is on her way to Osborne Clarke. Flion has led Taylor Wessing's Brussels base for the last six years. She will join the real estate practice at Osborne Clarke, focusing on all aspects of Belgian and foreign real estate investment transactions and real estate finance.