Ashurst exits continue as three litigation partners quit

Madden is set to stand down at the end of this month. He has been replaced as head of litigation by Edward Sparrow.

Thorburn, meanwhile, is leaving the City firm to join JPMorgan as head of litigation for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He currently specialises in financial services within the City firm’s dispute resolution practice.

Thorburn is set to leave the firm just before Christmas and will start at the US bank shortly afterwards.

Thorburn told The Lawyer: “Ashurst is a great firm. I’ve been here for 20 years. It’s not because of push factors. It was just too good a job to turn down.”

He was part of a team acting for Abbey National in the 2009 Supreme Court bank charges case (25 November 2009).

The exits follows the resignation of real estate funds partners David Evans and Samantha Lake Coghlan for US firm Goodwin Procter (11 October 2011). Construction partner Marc Hanson is set to leave Ashurst for Berwin Leighton Paisner (3 October 2011), while employee incentives partner Barbara Allen is heading to Stephenson Harwood (26 September 2011).

DLA Piper hired Ashurst real estate partner Simon Cookson last month as head of its London real estate team (9 September 2011).