Goodwin Procter Launches in Luxembourg
The move comes as Brexit is driving investment funds work out of London and into the Grand Duchy.
October 02, 2019 at 12:00 AM
2 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
Goodwin Procter has opened a new office in Luxembourg – a response to the impact that Brexit has already had on the investment funds business.
While the firm has had a London-based Luxembourg desk in place for several years, partner Alexandrine Armstrong-Cerfontaine will now split time between London and Luxembourg.
"We're seeing the looming Brexit spectre driving more movement in the private investment universe towards Luxembourg and away from the U.K.," said Goodwin's European chairman David Evans. "There's a nervousness and a fear that as the U.K. leaves the EU, the ability for European funds to be housed and managed in the U.K. will diminish, and it has been diminished over the last three to four years."
Evans added that while several years ago roughly 20% of European funds vehicles were managed in Luxembourg, that number now is closer to 80%.
Goodwin first established its London-based Luxembourg desk in August 2017, when it hired Armstrong-Cerfontaine as part of a large private investment funds team from King & Wood Mallesons. She had served as managing partner of KWM's Luxembourg office until the firm shuttered that office as it went into bankruptcy.
As the Luxembourg desk grew in London and the terrain of the funds business continued to shift under continued uncertainties over Brexit, a formal office in the Grand Duchy made more and more sense.
Along with Armstrong-Cerfontaine, the office opens with two associates and two trainees. But Evans anticipates additional growth.
"I can see a Luxembourg office getting to 10 to 15 attorneys, and sit that alongside a Luxembourg desk in London of a similar size – that rounds out a significant Luxembourg capability," he said.
Prior to Goodwin's arrival, Dechert had been the sole U.S.-based firm with a Luxembourg office, which it opened in 2001. International vereins Dentons, Baker McKenzie, DLA Piper and Norton Rose Fulbright also operate in the country, as do a number of Magic Circle and other London firms.
|Read More
Fieldfisher Continues Global Expansion With Office Launch in Luxembourg
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
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 AllDentons Australian Chair Doug Stipanicev Back At Work After Investigation
4 minute readA&O Shearman Luminary, Former US Co-Chair, to Leave Partnership
Mayer Brown’s Hong Kong Split to Take Effect in the Coming Week
Trending Stories
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