KWM German funds head departs for Clifford Chance
Sonya Pauls becomes the latest partner to leave King & Wood Mallesons in Europe
August 31, 2016 at 07:09 AM
2 minute read
Clifford Chance (CC) has hired high profile funds partner Sonya Pauls from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) in Germany, marking the latest in a string of exits from KWM.
Pauls was German head of funds at KWM and split her time between the Munich and London offices.
She will join CC's Munich office in October, where she will be responsible for the German private equity funds practice, which sits within the corporate practice.
Managing partner of CC's German practice Peter Dieners said: "Sonya's move to Clifford Chance is fantastic news for the firm. For us, she is the market leader in Germany for private equity fund structuring and her skills and knowhow ideally complement our strengths. Together with our existing funds team, this will create a truly unique and outstanding funds practice, which dovetails perfectly with our national and global strategy."
With the addition of Pauls, CC's German investment funds practice will have six partners.
Pauls' hire is the second high profile boost for CC's German offering in the past year.
In November 2015, it hired Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer co-head of global energy and natural resources Anselm Raddatz as the new joint head of its corporate practice in Germany.
CC was hit by several high profile departures from its German offices last year.
In August last year, Latham & Watkins hired German banking and capital markets head Alexandra Hageluken in Frankfurt.
Her move reunited her with leading private equity partners Oliver Felsenstein and Burc Hesse, who joined the US firm in May 2015.
Pauls' departure from KWM follows the loss of a high profile private equity team from the firm's Paris office in March.
Christophe Digoy, managing partner of KWM's Paris office and corporate co-head, joined Goodwin Procter alongside five other partners to launch the US firm's Paris office.
Earlier this month, KWM moved to rebuild the office with the hire of senior associate Guilain Hippolyte from White & Case, who joined KWM as partner.
The firm has also appointed Paris tax head Sylvie Vansteenkiste as the office's new managing partner.
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