Macfarlanes

Macfarlanes has brought in its third lateral hire since the beginning of the year, picking up former Ropes & Gray special situations partner Peter Baldwin.

Baldwin had been a partner in Ropes & Gray's London office from 2011 and was co-head of its global special situations practice. He is set to join the firm on June 1.

Prior to Ropes, Baldwin had been a partner at Jones Day since 2008 after joining from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, before which he was at Slaughter and May.

Macfarlanes co-head of M&A Howard Corney said in a press statement: "Peter has a very strong reputation in a field that we see as a great strategic fit for us. We are at a point in the economic cycle that makes committing further resources to this type of work even more compelling."

Macfarlanes, which has historically not been very active in the lateral hiring market, has hired two other partners since the beginning of the year: Ashurst corporate heavyweight Robert Ogilvy-Watson and Charles Russell Speechlys head of private client property Ian Cooke.

Last March, the firm launched a white-collar practice with the hire of Eversheds Sutherland corporate crime and investigations head Neill Blundell.

In terms of departures, Macfarlanes' private client property head Tristan Ward is set to leave the firm to join BDB Pitmans, while private client property senior consultant Michael Ranson will be leaving the firm in June to pursue a career at the Bar.