2018 saw a number of big-name partners find new homes in the London market – with the lure of US firms continuing to prove too much to resist for many. The magic circle remained fertile hunting ground as Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett skimmed off the best of the best, while other US firms that have been quieter in London in recent years – such as Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and Shearman & Sterling – reminded the market of their presence with several standout hires. But while the US interlopers continued their march on the capital, they were by no means the only ones strengthening their hand – Macfarlanes and Herbert Smith Freehills were among the UK firms making eye-catching hires during the year.
Yushan Ng ➤➤ Moved from: Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft ➤➤ To: Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy Milbank hit the ground running in January with its first London lateral hires in three years, picking up a four-partner Cadwalader restructuring team in London, led by Yushan Ng. He had served as global co-chair of Cadwalader's financial restructuring group after joining from Linklaters in 2012, and specialises in cross-border restructurings, insolvency and financing work. His book of high-profile clients includes Oaktree Capital Management, Centerbridge Capital Partners and GSO Capital.
Apostolos Gkoutzinis ➤➤ Moved from: Shearman & Sterling ➤➤ To: Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy Milbank continued its new year hiring push with the addition of well-regarded high yield partner Gkoutzinis from Shearman's City base. Gkoutzinis had led Shearman's European and Middle East capital markets practice and been a partner at the firm since 2011. In 2013, he acted on Piraeus Bank's €8.4bn recapitalisation – one of the largest transactions in Greek financial history.
Bronwen Jones ➤➤ Moved from: Macfarlanes ➤➤ To: Reed Smith Jones left Macfarlanes after 14 years to join Reed Smith's London office, in what was a rare partner exit for the City firm. She was investment fund finance head at Macfarlanes and joined Reed Smith as a partner in its financial industry group. In a 2015 Dealmaker interview with Legal Week, she cited her most memorable deal as acting for US private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners on the acquisition of Irish packaging company Jefferson Smurfit in the early 2000s.
Neill Blundell ➤➤ Moved from: Eversheds Sutherland ➤➤ To: Macfarlanes Macfarlanes launched a white-collar practice this year with the hire of Blundell, who joined after a decade at Eversheds including six years as its global corporate crime and investigations head. He joined Macfarlanes as head of corporate crime and investigations, having previously acted for former Barclays corporate and investment banking GC Judith Shepherd in connection to the Serious Fraud Office's investigation into banks' capital-raising arrangements with Qatari investors during the 2008 financial crisis.
Barry Vitou ➤➤ Moved from: Pinsent Masons ➤➤ To: Greenberg Traurig Greenberg's hire of Vitou marked the launch of a white-collar defence and special investigations practice for the US firm in London. He had co-founded Pinsents' regulatory investigations and corporate crime practice when he joined the firm in 2011, and was previously a partner at Winston & Strawn's City office, where he headed up the regulatory and technology practice.
Rex Rosales ➤➤ Moved from: Watson Farley & Williams ➤➤ To: Herbert Smith Freehills Herbert Smith Freehills significantly boosted its aviation finance practice this year with the hire of a team led by Roxales, who had spent eight years at Watson Farley. He had headed up the firm's aviation sector since 2010, having joined from Reed Smith. Three other partners across London and Singapore also joined HSF as part of the move.
Anu Balasubramanian ➤➤ Moved from: DLA Piper ➤➤ To: Paul Hastings Balasubramanian's arrival kicked off a push by Paul Hastings to build its City corporate transactional practices. She joined the US firm as London private equity head after five years at DLA, where she specialised in private equity, cross-border acquisitions, management equity plans and joint ventures. Key clients she has worked with include Abry Partners and Oaktree Capital.
Roger Barron ➤➤ Moved from: Linklaters ➤➤ To: Paul Hastings Former Linklaters corporate heavyweight Barron also joined the US firm's London base, having spent his entire legal career at the magic circle firm, joining as a trainee in 1991 and making partner a decade later. Key deals for Barron at the firm included leading the firm's team called up by National Grid on its £11bn gas distribution arm sale in 2016.
Nicola Dagg ➤➤ Moved from: Allen & Overy ➤➤ To: Kirkland & Ellis Kirkland & Ellis once again delved into its war chest to pick up magic circle talent, with the addition of London intellectual property (IP) heavyweight Nicola Dagg from Allen & Overy. Dagg had spent 12 years as a partner at A&O and was appointed global head of IP litigation in 2017. Her arrival heralded a new practice launch for Kirkland in the City, cemented with the hire of four other IP lawyers later in the year, including a trio from A&O.
Ward McKimm ➤➤ Moved from: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer ➤➤ To: Shearman & Sterling While high-yield specialist McKimm's return to Shearman after leaving in 2011 had been touted in the market for many months, the homecoming was no less newsworthy. McKimm, who was understood to be one of Freshfields' best-paid partners, left his role as leveraged finance co-head after a three-years stint. His key clients include BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley.
Brendan Moylan ➤➤ Moved from: Clifford Chance ➤➤ To: Latham & Watkins Moylan was head of infrastructure M&A at CC, having spent 18 years at the firm. He specialises in domestic and cross-border transactional work for private equity clients and in 2017 advised Global Infrastructure Partners on its $5bn acquisition of Singapore-based Equis Energy, one of the largest-ever acquisitions in the renewable energy sector.
David Green ➤➤ Moved from: Serious Fraud Office ➤➤ To: Slaughter and May Green's next move after stepping down as director of the SFO had been a source of much speculation throughout 2018. In April, Legal Week revealed he was in discussions with Slaughters, news that raised eyebrows about possible conflict issues – but six months after his departure from the regulator, the magic circle firm appointed him as a senior consultant, with a series of conditions imposed on the type of work he would be able to carry out.
Ashar Qureshi ➤➤ Moved from: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer ➤➤ To: Fried Frank Fried Frank was another US firm that revamped its London hiring strategy this year, bringing in corporate heavyweight Qureshi. He joined as head of the US firm's EMEA transactions practice after spending four years at Freshfields as a partner, on the back of 12 years as a US corporate partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, as well as a spell in-house at Russia-based investment bank Renaissance Group.
Amy Mahon ➤➤ Moved from: Clifford Chance ➤➤ To: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett CC M&A star Mahon left the magic circle firm after a decade as a partner. She had been identified as a rising star by Legal Week in 2015, and was recently part of a CC team that advised EQT on Apax Partners' $2bn sale of chemicals distribution company Azelis. Former CC partner Jason Glover – now managing partner of Simpson Thacher's London office – described her as "a perfect fit" for the US firm's London team.