Finance heavyweight Maurice Allen has left his role as a consultant at Ropes & Gray, to focus on his new position at DLA Piper. Allen retired from Ropes' partnership at the end of 2016 and took up consultancy positions at both firms. However, Ropes has now confirmed he will no longer hold a role at the firm and said: "Maurice's consultancies with ourselves and DLA could not operate on a sufficiently conflict-free basis." Allen founded Ropes' London office in January 2010 with long-time colleague Mike Goetz, when the pair joined from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. He also set up Weil Gotshal & Manges' City office in 1996.

Dentons has expanded its German offering with a number of new hires. Intellectual property and technology partner Stefan Dittmer has joined the firm's Berlin office from DLA Piper, alongside a team of three lawyers including one associate. Dittmer has experience advising on intellectual property, competition law, licensing law and press law, in the technology, media and sport sectors. Meanwhile, counsel Amy Klaesener has joined Dentons' international arbitration practice in Frankfurt as a partner. She joins from Shearman & Sterling and has a focus on engineering and construction.

Simmons & Simmons has boosted its London capital markets group with the hire of Simon Ovenden from US firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton. He is set to join the firm in May. Ovenden has been a partner at Cleary for 13 years. He joined the firm from Linklaters in 2004, where he was a partner. He represents corporate and sovereign issuers, as well as financial institutions, in issuances of debt and equity securities across a wide range of debt and equity capital markets transactions.

The firm has also hired finance partner Rosali Pretorius from Dentons in London. She joined this month as a partner in the firm's financial services regulatory team. Pretorius previously led Dentons' non-contentious financial regulatory practice in London. She spent more than 20 years working for Dentons and completed a one-year secondment at Goldman Sachs between 2005 and 2006 in its sales and trading legal team. She has experience in market infrastructure, commodities, derivatives and alternative investment funds work, and advises both sell-side and buy-side clients.

Squire Patton Boggs has hired tax partner Jeremy Cape [pictured above] from Dentons in London, where he was a partner. Cape's practice focuses on cross-border transactions, such as M&A deals, restructurings and financings. He has a great deal of experience of Africa and emerging markets work, advising both governments and corporations.

Berwin Leighton Paisner has also targeted Dentons for its latest hire, adding Ibrahim Elsadig as a partner in Dubai. Elsadig will be the firm's first dedicated corporate partner in the UAE. He was previously a partner at Dentons and also had a spell in-house at GE Energy.

Hogan Lovells has hired Linklaters' Washington DC tax partner Jasper Howard. Howard joined Linklaters in DC in 2013 from the now defunct US firm Bingham McCutchen, alongside fellow tax partner David Brockway. His practice focuses on a range of corporate tax issues including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and spin-offs. He previously acted as special counsel to the Internal Revenue Service's chief counsel. Howard's exit leaves Linklaters with three partners in its Washington DC office, according to the firm's website.

Pinsent Masons has raided Shoosmiths for Manchester private equity partner Kieran Toal. He joined Shoosmiths in 2013 as a partner from Addleshaw Godard, where he was a solicitor. Prior to training as a lawyer, Toal was a footballer, spending three years as a professional at Manchester United. His move follows the exit of Pinsents' Manchester partner Andy Phillips, who joined Eversheds as head of private equity for the northwest in late 2016.

The firm has also hired IP partner Alexander Bayer in Munich, from Gowling WLG where he was a partner. His practice focuses on patent and trademark litigation. He is joined at Pinsents by legal director Peter Koch and senior associate Jorg Khober, both from Gowling WLG.

Eversheds Sutherland has hired oil and gas partner Karim Mahmud from Jones Day. Mahmud, who was a partner at Jones Day, joins the firm in its London office. He focuses on structuring and developing energy projects, particularly in the oil and gas sector.

Clyde & Co has boosted its Middle East shipping practice with the hire of Ian Chung as a partner in Dubai. He was previously a partner at Holman Fenwick Willan. He focuses on corporate and finance work in the shipping and international trade sectors.

Hill Dickinson has strengthened its London office with the hire of two partners from Triton Global. Neil Trayhurn joins as a partner and London head of insurance, while Dragos Stoica joins as a partner. Trayhurn was head of legal at Triton Global, which last month was acquired out of administration by DWF. He had previously been a partner at legacy Bond Pearce.

Ashfords has appointed Jim Morris as a partner and head of aviation law. He joins from Irwin Mitchell, where he was a partner. He was previously a pilot, then a barrister in the Royal Air Force.

Osborne Clarke has appointed two new partners in its Belgian office. Benjamin Docquir joins from Belgian firm Simont Braun, where he was a partner; and Joan Carette joins from Belgian firm Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck Kirkpatrick, where she was a counsel. Docquir focuses on privacy, data security and information technology law, while Carette is a banking and finance lawyer with particular experience in the fintech sector.

US firm Haynes and Boone's London arm Haynes and Boone CDG has boosted its City office with three new appointments. Finance partner Emma Russell has joined from offshore law firm Carey Olsen, while Ashurst senior associate Zoe Connor has joined as a partner. Shipping partner Andreas Silcher has rejoined the firm from oil and gas company TMS Cardiff Gas, where he was general counsel. He had been a solicitor at legacy Curtis Davis Garrard until 2015.