Ashursts merger failure compounded by loss of finance partner

Ashurst Morris Crisp has been hit with yet more bad news after it emerged that finance partner Stephen Short is leaving for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

As exclusively revealed by The Lawyer (Grapevine, 7 May), Simpson Thacher’s partners are yet to vote on hiring Short, who will become the firm’s second UK partner after former Allen & Overy banking star Euan Gorrie joined the US practice last year.

Short’s departure coincides with this week’s revelation that Ashursts has failed to merge with US firm Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson.