Moves
UK & Ireland
Ashurst loses corporate duo to Bakers
Two partners from Ashurst are moving to Baker McKenzie, marking the first departures from the firm since its merger announcement last Monday. Duo Simon Bullock, former Head of Equity Capital Markets, and Stuart Rubin, former Head of US Securities, have left to join the London office of Baker Mckenzie.
DLA Piper hires former Clifford Chance fintech boss
DLA Piper has hired Paul Landless, former partner and co-head of Fintech at Clifford Chance. He will join the firm’s finance group, specialising in global fintech and derivatives.
Latham strikes back at Gibson Dunn with real estate hire
Latham & Watkins has hired a real estate partner Jeremy Kenley from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher just weeks after Gibson Dunn picked up an infrastructure M&A partner Simon Tysoe from Latham.
Pogust Goodhead hires MoFo partner to lead Mariana Dam case
Jonathan Edward Wheeler is set to join the team at Pogust Goodhead in London. He is widely recognised as a specialist in complex, multi-jurisdictional disputes with experience in high-value commercial litigation, civil fraud and asset tracing, international trust disputes, contentious insolvency and investigations.
Paul Weiss hires its latest lateral from Kirkland
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison has hired Francesca Storey-Harris as a Partner from Kirkland & Ellis, its 18th lateral from Kirkland this year. Corporate/M&A Partner Storey-Harris has worked on multiple transactions for Thoma Bravo, as well as Blackstone and EQT.
Paul Hastings makes fourth London lateral in November with funds finance partner
Paul Hastings has hired its fourth lateral partner in London this month, bringing over funds finance partner Jennifer Passagne from Haynes Boone.
EMEA
Eversheds makes twin banking and finance hire in Dubai from King & Spalding
Mike Rainey and Asal Saghari both join as partners to grow Eversheds Middle East footprint. Rainey brings two decades of experience in banking and restructuring matters in the Middle East, while Saghari is a financing lawyer spanning both conventional and Shari’ah compliant structures.
STAT founding partner joins Baker Botts in Riyadh as global Islamic finance head
Baker Botts has announced the appointment of Faris Al Amoudi as a corporate partner and global Islamic finance head in Riyadh, marking the firm’s third hire in Saudi Arabia in one month.
APAC
Baker McKenzie Hires Australian Head of Project Finance from HSF Kramer
Miles Wadley joins Baker McKenzie from HSF Kramer in Melbourne.
Orrick Hires First Disputes Partner in Singapore
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has hired its first contentious practice partner in Singapore.
The firm has appointed Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer partner Elaine Wong in its city-state office, which has zeroed in on energy, infrastructure and natural resources work since its launch in 2021.
Ashurst hires 16-Year Japanese Adviser from Clifford Chance
In Japan, Ashurst announced a partner hire in Japan on the same day as the news release of its merger plans with Seattle-based Perkins Coie. The firm has hired Chihiro Ashizawa from Clifford Chance, where she was a lawyer and has worked for 16 years. She was most recently its Japanese capital markets practice head.
In House
Snapchat-owner Snap taps Munger Tolles again for latest GC
Snapchat-owner Snap Inc. has appointed Zachary Briers as general counsel, replacing Michael O’Sullivan, who is leaving the company later this year. He joins from Munger Tolles & Olson, where he was a partner.
Biopharma research business Fortrea hires veteran in-house pharma counsel as GC
US biopharma research business Fortrea has appointed Agnieszka Gallagher as general counsel, replacing Stillman Hanson in the role. Gallagher was most recently chief legal officer at US life sciences business Standard BioTools.
UAE’s MusicNation hires USPTO lawyer as first GC
UAE music rights business Music Nation Copyrights Management has hired IP lawyer Aisha Salem-Howey as general counsel, a newly created position. Salem-Howey joins from the US Patents and Trademark Office, where she was an IP attache for the Middle East and North Africa, working with governments and businesses to strengthen IP protection and enforcement across the region.
Promotions & Appointments
Five more firms win places as Government finalises panel refresh
The Government Legal Department (GLD), in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has announced the final three lots of its refreshed panel, with five new firms making the list – Addleshaw Goddard, Pinsent Masons, Slaughter and May, Linklaters and Osborne Clarke.
Osborne Clarke’s Bristol head crowned as senior partner
Lara Burch has been appointed as senior partner at Osbourne Clarke, succeeding Peter Clough.
Capsticks names employment head as new managing partner
Capsticks has elected the head of employment and pensions Victoria Watson as its new managing partner, who will succeed Martin Hamilton on 1 May 2026.
Willkie promotes 30 to partner in London-heavy round
Willkie Farr & Gallagher has promoted 30 lawyers to partner in its latest promotions round, which boosts the firm’s London partner bench by 25%. The firm has made up seven lawyers in London, the most of any city included in the round and its largest intake in the City for a number of years. In London, Magdi Adab, Eilidh Brown and Rebecca Hughes got the nod in the corporate team; Mélina Combeau and Charles Hadley joined the asset management partner bench; with Alaric Green (antitrust and competition) and Timothy Sawyer (finance) completing the contingent.
Mayer Brown elevates 36 to partner in latest promotions round
Top 15 US firm Mayer Brown has promoted 36 lawyers to partner, a slight drop on 2024’s cohort when 39 made the grade. However, the firm also elevated 21 to counsel – nine more than last year – meaning overall the 57-strong promotions round was roughly 12% higher than a year ago. The London team saw four promotions, including Jonathan Cohen, Jake Lindsay, Mariana Padinha Ribeiro and Ben Ward.
Office Openings & Closing
US Law Firms Enter Italy to Help Businesses Expand in the US Amid Tariff Pressures
Beyond Ropes & Gray’s recent launch in Italy, a small number of U.S. law firms, including Smith, Gambrell & Russell and Becker & Poliakoff, have opened offices this year to advise Italian companies seeking to expand or relocate operations to the United States. Their arrival coincides with uncertainty created by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policy toward the European Union, which has triggered a surge in Italian companies seeking guidance on how to face the changing U.S. trade landscape.
Technology & Innovation
Clifford Chance set to cut business services roles in the City
Clifford Chance is set to cut roles from its business services division, with increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) expected to remove – and create new – positions across the City.
Use of AI is suggested as being a key driver to the reductions, as well as shifting work to lower-cost hubs in India, Poland and Newcastle. Around 550 employees in business services across finance, HR and IT were told last month that roughly 50 roles are set to be made redundant and up to 35 others will be reshaped, according to a report by the Financial Times.
Blackstone injects $50m as tech company launches AI-native law firm
US tech company Norm Ai has launched an AI-native law firm, which will receive $50m capital from asset manager Blackstone. Norm Ai will work with the tech start-up to develop its new legal venture, Norm Law which will offer AI-native legal services and will initially focus on financial services clients.
Macfarlanes ditches essays for immersive AI to secure trainee talent
Macfarlanes has overhauled its trainee recruitment process with the launch of an immersive, AI-integrated simulation that mirrors a typical day in the life of a junior lawyer. Candidates will now complete a live, interactive exercise featuring mock emails, Teams messages, voicemail updates, clause extracts, and social media posts. The format is designed to mirror real internal and client demands, replacing Macfarlanes’previous written application and precedes the in-person assessment centre stages.
Linklaters Launches 20-Strong AI Lawyer Team
Linklaters has unveiled a new global cohort of 20 specialist AI lawyers, marking an expansion of the firm’s technology-driven legal capabilities. The newly assembled team will work across the firm’s international network to provide direct, specialised support on artificial intelligence matters, according to a firm statement. According to the firm, the initiative is designed to accelerate the development and deployment of innovative AI-enabled legal solutions for clients.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
Women GCs network The Eagle Club calls on employers to improve support for IVF treatment
Employers need to start making changes to provide more support for employees whose families are going through IVF treatment, according to a new report from The Eagle Club, a network of women GCs.