Dechert takes Cadwalader Brussels chief in four-strong competition team hire
Former Linklaters partner Burnside joins Dechert after launching Cads' Brussels base five years ago
January 10, 2017 at 06:53 AM
3 minute read
Dechert has hired a four-lawyer team from Cadwalader's Brussels office as it moves to boost its European competition practice, leaving Cadwalader with six lawyers in the city.
The team, which joined Dechert today (10 January), is led by office head Alec Burnside (pictured), who joined Cadwalader from Linklaters in 2011 to launch the Brussels base for the US firm.
He is moving to Dechert alongside special counsel Anne MacGregor, who joins Dechert as a national partner, and associates Marjolein De Backer and Adam Kidane.
The hires significantly boost Dechert's European competition practice, which also counts lawyers in Paris and Germany.
Dechert competition co-leader Michael Weiner said: "Alec is on everyone's shortlist of outstanding competition law practitioners in Brussels. It's a significant addition to the number of people in Brussels, but we will operate as a European team. We're not finished expanding yet as there's a growing need for European advice. The idea is that we need to have at least five first-rate partners in Europe as a minimum."
Burnside is well known in competition circles for work including representing Aer Lingus on the defence of Ryanair's repeated hostile bids and associated appeals. He is currently advising complainants including Getty Images in abuse of dominance proceedings against Google, and previously worked on the mergers that created GlaxoSmithKline and BAE Systems.
He said: "There's a big synergy between us and Dechert's US antitrust practice, which is top rated. Our antitrust practice here is evenly spread across mergers, cartels, abuse of dominance and state aid and all of that is going to come together with Dechert – it's very exciting."
Dechert has been expanding rapidly and internationally in recent months. In November last year, it hired Kirkland finance partner John Markland and White & Case private equity partner Ross Allardice for its City base.
Those hires came after a run of recruitment including Clifford Chance litigation partner Stephen Surgeoner and DLA Piper finance partners Philip Butler and David Miles.
In contrast, Cadwalader has been shrinking outside the US. Last week, Legal Week reported that the firm's former managing partner Rocky Lee and Hong Kong capital markets partner Stephen Chan had found new homes at King & Wood Mallesons and Dechert respectively, following the closure of the firm's Beijing and Hong Kong offices.
Following the Brussels departures, Cadwalader now has one partner, one special counsel and four associates in the Belgian capital, according to the firm's website.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllLikely Next EU Competition Chief Keeps Cards Close to Her Chest in 3-Hour Confirmation Hearing
3 minute read'Significant' Competition Concerns Over £762M GXO Logistics-Wincanton Merger
Intel Secures Hard-Won Victory in Decades-Long Legal Wrangle With EU Regulator
4 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Regulatory Upheaval Is Coming. How Businesses Prepare and Respond Will Separate Winners and Losers
- 2Cravath Elevates 7 to Partnership, Up From Last Year
- 3Kline & Specter Hit With Lawsuit From Another Former Associate
- 4USPTO Director Kathi Vidal Announces Resignation Ahead of Administration Change
- 5As Gen AI Acceptance Grows, Lawyers Race to Mitigate Risks
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250