Headline Partner Moves in London September 2015 – January 2016
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Headline Partner Moves in London September 2015 – January 2016 Introduction Our January report allows us the opportunity to review the state of the lateral market in London over the previous 12 months. During the course of 2015 we reported on 461 partner moves within the London market. Numbers of reported partners moving in the London market for the last 5 years: 548 488 482 461 411 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Although the figures fluctuate from year to year, it is clear that the lateral market remains busy, and commercial law firms in London continue to see partner recruitment as a key way to maintain and increase market share, in what still feels like an overcrowded market. A lateral hire is not always a silver bullet, and critics will point to high-profile mistakes – the highly paid “name” partner who comes in on a guarantee, but fails to deliver expected revenues. However, firms persist in hiring partners because it remains the most effective and speediest way to grow a practice. The most voracious partner recruiter in 2015 was Fladgate, who welcomed an astonishing 12 partners to their Holborn office. Although the top US firms tend to hog the headlines, most recruitment at partner level happens in the mid-market and, as well as Fladgate, 2015 was a busy year for Watson Farley & Williams, Holman Fenwick Willan and Mishcon de Reya. This is the most crowded part of the market for commercial legal services, and firms that stand still tend to stagnate. We will continue to see consolidation in this area over the coming year, and it is telling that the most successful firms in this space are often those unafraid of bringing in partners from outside. In previous years, it was easier to split the market into UK and non-UK (mainly US) firms. The market is now more nuanced, with international firms, such as DLA Piper, King & Wood Mallesons, Dentons and Baker & McKenzie all hiring at pace over the last 12 months. Although the highest profile moves of 2015 were arguably to Kirkland & Ellis, Cooley continued to make waves in London and Morgan Lewis maintained their impressive growth. It is also worth noting that PwC Legal feature in our list of top hiring firms with six partners joining since January 2015. We also look at firms losing partners, although with a strong health warning that this data can sometimes be misinterpreted. Firms lose partners for a variety of reasons, and sometimes a large number of leavers signifies a change of strategy rather than anything more ominous. That said, a couple of things stand out from the numbers. Firstly, the overlap between some firms on both the hiring and on the losing charts. Secondly, it is interesting to see the Magic Circle losing partners or senior associates at quite a rate, with Linklaters shedding 15, Freshfields losing 9 and Clifford Chance saying goodbye to 8. While we have seen Magic Circle departures in previous years, what is noticeable about the past 12 months is the number of star partners being tempted away to join the likes of Milbank and Kirkland & Ellis. One other trend to report on is the increasing number of senior associates moving to immediate partner status. Of the 461 moves last year, we counted 80 that fell into this category. Interestingly, these moves were spread across several practice areas. Hiring partner talent is never easy, and firms are clearly using this route as an effective way to grow teams. While it is harder for non-partners to bring a book of business, often these candidates are starting to build networks, which they can then exploit at a new firm having gained that all-important partner tag. They are also considerably cheaper than acquiring existing partners, reducing the risk for the hiring firm. Paul, Dan and the Team 020 7332 2680 Deacon Search is an independent legal recruitment boutique focusing exclusively on partner moves in London. If you are a law firm interested in discussing a potential assignment or an individual partner or team considering a move, please contact us. Headline Hires September 2015 – January 2016 CORPORATE Chris Haynes and Steve Thierbach have moved from Herbert Smith Freehills to Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in another example of the ability of top-tier US firms to attract talent from the leading UK-based firms. Gibson have made no secret of their ambitions to build their transactional practice in London, and this is another significant step forward. Herbert Smith countered this loss with the appointment of Tom O’Neill from King & Spalding, previously a partner at Linklaters, who becomes head of US securities. Elsewhere, David Collins, who led the corporate team at Berwin Leighton Paisner, has been appointed as UK Head of Corporate and Co-Chair of the Global M&A Group at Dentons. Roger Johnson has joined the steady stream of Linklaters partners heading for Kirkland & Ellis in London, and further strengthens their private equity team in the City. Private equity partner Ben Rodham, who left Linklaters as a managing associate 3 years ago, has completed a remarkable return journey to the Magic Circle firm. He initially moved to Addleshaw Goddard as a partner before joining Shearman & Sterling’s London office in 2014. Sticking with private equity, this report sees White & Case continuing to invest in their team, with Caroline Sherrell joining from Clifford Chance and Kenneth Barry stepping up from senior associate at Debevoise & Plimpton. FINANCE/RESTRUCTURING DLA Piper has been busy in the finance arena in recent months, welcoming 3 new arrivals: Vincent Keaveny from Baker & McKenzie, Andy Kolacki from Latham & Watkins and Mark Dwyer, formerly of Slaughter and May. We note the demand for senior associate to immediate partner recruitment elsewhere in this report, and it is particularly striking in our finance section that 4 of the moves involve Clifford Chance lawyers moving for immediate partnership to firms such as Ashurst, CMS Cameron McKenna and King & Wood Mallesons. Another Clifford Chance alumnus, Paul Severs, who more recently spent 10 years at Berwin Leighton Paisner, has joined Paul Hastings to bolster their structured finance practice. This wasn’t the only big splash that Paul Hastings were able to make in the London lateral market, as they also announced the arrival of Linklaters finance and restructuring veteran David Ereira to the firm. Meanwhile FinTech is one of the most in-demand areas right now, and so John Salmon’s move from Pinsent Masons to Hogan Lovells really stands out. REAL ESTATE Macfarlanes continue to attract senior real estate partners from Ashurst, with Gerald Kelly joining Ashurst alumni Ian Nisse, Anthony Burnett-Scott and Ann Minogue. Simmons & Simmons and Pinsent Masons seemed to be embroiled in an elaborate, real estate finance, lateral recruitment dance, with Richard Hughes moving from Simmons to Pinsents and William Greig moving in the opposite direction. Mishcon de Reya remain active recruiters, and have added Anita Rivera, who joins as Head of Planning from DAC Beachcroft. LITIGATION Energy litigation remains a hot area, and this report sees Richard Power move from Berwin Leighton Paisner to Clyde & Co, and John Gilbert swap Pinsent Masons for K&L Gates. Likewise, corporate crime lawyers are heavily in demand, with recent moves including David McCluskey leaving Peters & Peters for Taylor Wessing, and Jonathan Pickworth departing Dechert for White & Case. Tom Cassels, who was one of the biggest billers in Baker & McKenzie’s London office, has been lured to Linklaters. Baker & McKenzie compensated for this loss by taking Andy Moody from Eversheds and Hugh Lyons from Hogan Lovells. The FCA has succeeded in attracting 2 senior City partners to strengthen its enforcement team. Tim Parkes joins from Herbert Smith, along with John Hull from Latham & Watkins. Finally, Dentons recently confirmed that they have hired the entire banking litigation team (11 partners) from Matthew Arnold & Baldwin. Led by Clare Stothard and Steven Mills, the team has strong relationships with Barclays in particular and is highly regarded. INSURANCE Some interesting moves in this report with a pronounced trend towards corporate insurance. Dentons boast one of the top insurance practices in the US, and are clearly keen to replicate their success across this side of the pond with Martin Mankabady’s hire from Clyde & Co. Willkie Farr & Gallagher also recruited from Clydes with the hire of Andy Tromans. Macfarlanes clearly see the possibilities in the insurance sector, and have attracted Andrew Barton from Allen & Overy, where he was a counsel. RPC, who are well known in this space, have recruited Matthew Griffith from Worldpay, where he was General Counsel. He was previously a partner at Sidley Austin and Pinsent Masons. Number of London partner moves by category of hiring firm September 2015 – January 2016 UK 97 US 35 International 33 Magic Circle 2 Accountancy 4 In House 6 (International for these purposes covers US/UK merged firms, international polycentric firms such as Baker & McKenzie and Dentons and firms that have completed mergers in the Far East or Australia.) The individuals listed in the tables below are movers reported between 8th September 2015 and 15th January 2016. They are all partners who moved to or from a London office, unless otherwise stated. 1. Corporate/Private Equity/Equity Capital Markets/US Securities Name From To Discipline Corporate Giles Distin Squire Patton Boggs Addleshaw Goddard Equity Capital Markets Stuart Fleet Kaye Scholer Ashfords Corporate Linklaters James Thompson Baker & McKenzie Corporate