Baker Botts offices in Washington, D.C. Photo by Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM.

London-based international arbitration lawyer Poupak Anjomshoaa has left Norton Rose Fulbright, where she had significant client conflict issues, to join Baker Botts as a partner.

Anjomshoaa, who joined Baker Botts' litigation and international arbitration and dispute resolution practices on Tuesday, said she left Norton Rose after only a little more than a year because she simply ran into too many client conflicts at the firm.

Poupak Anjomshoaa, Baker Botts.

“I was conflicted out of 95 percent of my work and I was going to lose some of my very key client relationships,” Anjomshoaa said, noting that before she joined Baker Botts, she made sure she would not have a similar problem.

In her practice, she handles disputes and transactional matters in the energy, infrastructure and construction industries. Baker Botts has been on her radar before. She said it was among the “top firms” she had considered before joining Norton Rose in December 2017, after she left an in-house position to return to private practice.

Mark Rowley, the partner-in-charge of Baker Botts' London office and a global projects partner, said in a press release that Anjomshoaa brings a wealth of experience to the firm.

“Her disputes and arbitration skills add significant benefit to our energy and construction sectors, and further strengthen the firm's international capabilities, particularly across the Middle East and North Africa,” Rowley wrote.

Anjomshoaa said Baker Botts has a world-class international disputes and arbitration practice, and that its sector focus and list of international clients are a good fit for her practice.

Anjomshoaa declined to identify clients, but said she does international dispute resolution and arbitrations and cross-border transactions, primarily in the petrochemical industry. She said she has worked in the Middle East and North Africa.

Before joining Norton Rose in December 2017, Anjomshoaa worked for four years as general counsel and company secretary of Carbon Holdings, a Cairo-based privately owned developer, owner and operator of petrochemical projects. Before that, she was a senior associate at White & Case.

Andrew Baker, managing partner of Baker Botts, wrote in a statement that adding Anjomshoaa helps the firm carry out its growth plans in London. The city is a hot market for large Texas firms with energy work as they expand various practices in London, including Anjomshoaa's international arbitration and dispute resolution.

“We continue to add first-class talent to our London office,” Baker wrote about Anjomshoaa.

Anjomshoaa joins other recent Baker Botts hires in London, including Richard Brown, an international equity capital markets partner who came from Latham & Watkins, and Nick Collins, a project development and project finance partner from Jones Day. Both joined in January.

Asked for comment on Anjomshoaa's departure, Norton Rose said in a statement that it wishes her well, and noted that it has “more than 1,200 dispute resolution and litigation lawyers around the world, with more than 150 of them focused on international arbitration.”

Further Reading:

Big Texas Firms Expand in London — and It's Not All About Energy

Baker Botts Adds London Partners From Latham, Jones Day