Weekly Update - 3rd July 2023
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Partner Search for Professional Services & In-House Legal, Co-Sec and Compliance, Financial Crime and Privacy Search
Moves:
UK & Ireland
The moves are the latest in a line of Shearman partner exits across the UK, Europe and Middle East over the last nine months, as it seeks to merge with Allen & Overy. Ben Shorten and Trinh Chubbock both join the firm from Shearman & Sterling.
The partner becomes the second Pinsents partner to move to Bird & Bird in recent months.
Joz Coetzer moves to the Canadian-based firm after more than a decade with White & Case.
EMEA
Serena Cabrita Neto has joined the Spanish law firm in its tax area, and Sofia Gomes da Costa in real estate and urban planning. Both partners are already working in Cuatrecasas’s Lisbon office, just down the street from PLMJ in the city center. Both hires will be based in Lisbon.
It is the second team departure from the firm this year after losing a nine-lawyer M&A team in Milan to Chiomenti in February.
Torrente is the second corporate and M&A partner to leave Allen & Overy’s European operation recently. His departure comes just one month after Allen & Overy and U.S.-based Shearman & Sterling announced a proposed trans-Atlantic merger.
APAC
In Singapore, dispute resolution lawyers have increasingly been drawn to leave established law firms to set up or lead new ventures.
Australian law firm Johnson Winter Slattery (JWS) has hired Jones Day arbitration partner Lucas Wilk as the firm sees an increase in disputes and insolvency work.
Yuko Ino joins Greenberg Traurig as a shareholder, bringing along with her a real estate and securitization lawyer, who will be taking on the position as of counsel.
The lateral hire comes as Shihui Partners has been expanding its firmwide head count by adding partners from law firms such as King & Wood Mallesons.
Emanuel Confos, head of construction for Norton Rose, and partner Harriet Oldmeadow are both leaving to join Baker McKenzie, but Norton Rose said it will soon be bringing on its own additions to its national projects and construction team in Sydney.
The Americas
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld energy and infrastructure partner David Sweeney has joined Clifford Chance's new Houston office, which is building a team with Big Law partners.
Stephen Reynolds, McDermott's new cybersecurity partner, said it's becoming more important for law firms to have dedicated cyber and incident response teams, not just recruiting IP lawyers for the work.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld energy and infrastructure partner David Sweeney has joined Clifford Chance's new Houston office, which is building a team with Big Law partners.
Alston & Bird litigation partner and Texas litigation leader Stephanie Clouston moved to Winston & Strawn in Dallas.
Shearman & Sterling IP litigation partner Matthew Berkowitz and three other attorneys joined trial boutique Reichman Jorgensen in Northern California.
Partners Ashley Klein and A. Jeanne Grove led a team that represented 40% of Kaufman Dolowich's head count in San Francisco.
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner went to Dentons for IP talent again this week with the hiring of Dentons' post-grant group leader Scott Cummings.
Plus, patent lawyer David Franklin Sawrie has moved to Baker Donelson.
Khoa Do and a Winston associate joined Morgan Lewis in Silicon Valley on Wednesday, in a move that strengthens its M&A and private equity capabilities in an important business sector and key industries.
In-House
Chae, who has held several senior in-house roles in Korea's healthcare and medical tech industries, will be handling various issues related to internal investigations, customs, whistleblowing and rebates in the healthcare and medtech industry, the firm said.
Teri O’Brien, a fixture of the San Diego legal scene for two decades, is becoming the top lawyer for Teleperformance, which has 410,000 employees in 91 countries.
Karen Stein's fourth stop on the data-center builder carousel is T5 Data Centers, which has grown explosively since launching 15 years ago.
Zachary McBride has taken the legal reins at Solera Health, whose platform helps patients access health and wellness programs aimed at preventing common and expensive chronic conditions.
The move comes as Credit Suisse's GC exits the bank amid a sweep of cuts at the beleaguered Swiss bank that have followed its sale to UBS.
Laura O’Donnell is joining the precision health company following a retrenchment that led to new leadership, a narrower focus, and a $1 billion funding infusion from its parent.
Leah Boyd replaces Betty Ivanoff, who left to join casino rival.
Karen O’Flynn joins CBA on September 1.
领英推荐
Promotions & Appointments:
Elizabeth Williams has been at the firm since she was called to the bar in 2009.
The firm’s new chair, Heather McDevitt, was announced Tuesday after a partnership vote and will take the helm on September 1, 2023.
Richard Roda most recently served as MSA’s deputy general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer for more than a decade.
Lewis will be replaced as chair by current managing partner Tom Cole. Washington, D.C., partner Amie Colby will become the firm's next managing partner.
Richards, Layton & Finger announced that it has elected attorneys Robert Greco, Antonios Roustopoulos and Brendan Schlauch as directors of the firm, effective July 1.
Nick Nichola, who has led the firm's Australian practice for over 18 years, will remain a partner at K&L Gates.
Tracy Wut succeeds tax partner Steven Sieker, who will be moving on to become the firm’s chief executive, overseeing its offices and businesses in Mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar.
The announcement comes after the the big four outfit announced a plan to 'significantly' grow its legal operations.
Mergers & Alliances:
The IP firm has offices in Germany, France and Belgium, as well as its London base.
The combination of Bunge and Viterra involved lawyers from Latham, Freshfields, Swiss firm Homburger, Tauil & Chequer Advogados in association with Mayer Brown in Sao Paulo, Mitrani Caballero & Ruiz Moreno in Buenos Aires and RuiMin Law Firm in China.
Office Openings & Closing:
Some of HFW’s lawyers are now qualified to advise on commercial matters in the nine municipalities of China's Greater Bay Area.
Sivanandh joins AZB as a senior partner to lead the new office along with a team of seven associates from JSA in the corporate, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity practices.
Financials:
The firm's international CEO said more consolidation in the industry was 'inevitable' given difficult market conditions.
Technology & Innovation:
The recent acquisition of Casetext by Thomson Reuters has raised many questions about the future of generative AI in legal research. Here, LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters weigh in on issues including build vs. buy, which LLMs to use, securing AI talent and more.
Tech purchase cycles are getting longer at legal departments as the dependence on tech is growing, according to the 2023 Legal Technology Survey from Exterro and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC).
Crypto companies, for their part, have complained that it is not clear what digital assets, if any, are securities, and that they have not been given clear regulatory rules of the road.
A patent strategy informed by the unique considerations raised by generative AI will optimize protections for innovations in the field. Patent strategies should reflect the current legal landscape as well as anticipate potential future legal developments.
Deleting large amounts of old information that was once important and still seems relevant can be a daunting task. Nonetheless, the benefits of data remediation for both law firms and corporations are immense and cannot be overlooked.
Now, there is a new temptation—and, to paint a somewhat frightening picture—for some lawyers it is metamorphosizing from a curiosity into the starting point for legal research.
Diversity & Inclusion:
This year alone, an unprecedented amount of legislation has been introduced throughout the country targeting expression and speech rights affecting the LGBTQ+ community. Now is a critical time for the legal industry to use its power, influence, and resources to support the LGBTQ+ community, both collectively and individually.
Though a handful of firms have consistently performed well year on year, the sector as a whole is struggling to improve its numbers.
Market Commentary:
The firm continues to advise companies and investment managers on how to comply with new SEC, DOL, and other regulations around ESG disclosures, and have successfully handled one of the first SEC ESG-related enforcement matters.
After emerging from the COVID era, organizations must now contend with a “triple squeeze” of compounding pressures in 2023 consisting of high inflation, scarce and expensive talent, and global supply challenges. In this article we share 10 key insights - grouped into four broad categories - that GCs must take into consideration as they make spending, staffing, and structure decisions.
Law firm leaders are trying to spark a sense of pride and ownership in their law firms for the next generation, a sense they feel has diminished since the pandemic.
Sources confirmed cuts at Goodwin that coincided with the firm's midyear review process this week.
There is growing evidence that generative AI is being used to write applications—sparking a debate across the UK legal sector about the pros and cons.
Seven in 10 respondents said lawyers should spend time working for a law firm before they commence their in-house careers.