Osborne Clarke reveals teams charged with overseeing post-merger firm
Osborne Clarke has confirmed the make-up of its new international management structure in the wake of its European mergers, with four UK figures taking roles on two separate oversight groups.
Simon Beswick
The firm has replaced its pre-merger alliance board with an international board and an international council, with the restructure following the firm’s merger with its Spanish and Italian alliance partners.
Chief executive and managing partner Simon Beswick has been appointed to the international board for a three-year term alongside German managing partner Stefan Rizor, Spanish head Nuria Martin, Italy chief Riccardo Roversi and Reading-based head of markets Greg Leyshon.
The appointed committee takes the place of the alliance board, which governed the running of the Osborne Clarke Alliance before it disbanded as part of the UK firm’s three-way merger with Osborne Clarke Spain and SLA Studio Legale Associato (29 March 2012). The tie-up went live last Friday (6 July).
The new strategic committee is slimmer than the defunct alliance board, which had representatives of each member firm including Dutch firm Ploum Lodder Princen, France’s Stehlin & Associés and Brussels-based De Wolf & Partners, all three of which have loosened their ties with Osborne Clarke after turning down the option of merging.
Separately, the Bristol-based firm has revealed the members of its new international council, which will ratify the board’s decisions and is voted for by the network-wide partnership.
Senior partner Tim Birt, London office head Andrew Saul and non-executive director John Brady are the UK representatives on the council, which is chaired by Spain senior partner Tomás Dagá. The other members elected for a three-year term are Madrid managing partner Rafael Montejo, Cologne corporate partner Carsten Schneider and competition partner Thomas Funke, and Padua banking partner Federica Greggio.
The changes have no effect on the eight-person UK partnership council and the six-person UK executive board.
Martin commented: “I think it’s got to be very positive for all the member firms. We’ve worked with each other for so many years that we all know each of the representatives – we were founding members of the alliance [which was formed in 1987].”
