Deepak Sitlani, UK head of derivatives and structured products at Linklaters

Linklaters has appointed Deepak Sitlani as its new UK head of derivatives and structured products. Sitlani takes the reigns from Paul Lewis, who left the role last month to become the firm's new global finance and projects lead. Sitlani has been at the magic circle firm since 2000, and has been a partner since 2007. He advises a range of financial institutions on their trading agreements and derivatives clearing agreements.

Allen & Overy has made another senior hire for its consulting business, following the appointment of its first Australia and Asia-Pacific head last week. Barclays' head of regulatory policy Tom Lodder will join A&O Consulting as a managing director for the UK, Europe and Middle East, after spending 15 years at the bank. Lodder is a qualified lawyer and spent four years at magic circle rival Clifford Chance before moving in-house to Barclays.

DLA Piper has hired M&A partner José María Gil-Robles as head of corporate in its Madrid office. Gil-Robles joins the firm from Spanish law firm Garrigues and advises on M&A and private equity transactions.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has hired Baker McKenzie counsel Anouschka Zagorski as head of English Law in the firm's Vienna office. Zagorski is responsible for Freshfields' English law advice in the areas of banking, structured finance and restructuring, with a special focus on the CEE region. As well as her role as senior counsel at Baker McKenzie, Zagorski has done stints at the German offices of McNair Chambers, Allen & Overy, Hogan Lovells, and Clifford Chance. She was a barrister in London before moving to Germany.

Withers has hired reputation management and defamation partner Jo Sanders from Harbottle & Lewis, as head of media and reputation in London. Sanders has worked in media law for 15 years and she was a partner at Harbottle & Lewis since 2007. Sanders replaces Amber Melville-Brown in the role, who is now requalifying to practise in New York, in order to head the firm's international media and reputation team.

DAC Beachcroft has appointed Kirkland & Ellis partner Chris Wall as its head of banking. Wall was made partner at the US firm in 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile. He will relocate from London to DAC's Bristol office for the role.

Howard Kennedy has appointed its finance director Paul Roberts to chief operating officer, with the role taking effect from 1 May. Roberts will maintain his current role, a position he has held since 2016 when he joined from Herbert Smith Freehills. He will also join the firm's management committee. Chief executive Ian Harvey will leave the firm at the end of April.

Reed Smith has added digital and data partner Elle Todd to its global entertainment and media industry practice from CMS, where she was head of digital and data. While at CMS, Todd helped to set up the firm's media, data and technology practice in Singapore for three years, and was a partner at Olswang for 18 years prior to the legacy firm's merger with CMS and Nabarro. She specialises in data protection and strategy work.