Jon Parker
The London office of Texas-based Fulbright & Jaworski has hired the former general counsel of gas giant BG Group, Stefan Ricketts.
Ricketts has joined Fulbright's London energy practice and will later move to the firm's Hong Kong office, where he will be charged with further expansion of the firm's energy team globally.
Steven Pfeiffer, chair of Fulbright's executive committee, said: "Stefan is modest yet self-assured and has worked alongside our lawyers for years.
"He brings substantive legal skills, energy projects experience and a drive to serve clients that matches up well with the goals of our firm."
Ricketts joined BG in Singapore in 1999, before returning to the United Kingdom shortly after and being promoted to deputy general counsel in 2000.
In 2002 he became head of the company's legal department and was named general counsel in 2005.
Ricketts is the third energy lawyer to join Fulbright's London energy team in recent months, following the hires of Susan Farmer and Andrew Hart as part of Fulbright's firmwide strategy aimed at strengthening the energy practice group.
As reported on thelawyer.com (7 November 2007), the addition of Watson Farley & Williams partner Farmer followed the recruitment of Hart from Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer in the summer.
Jeff Blount, head of Fulbright's Beijing and Hong Kong offices, said Ricketts' hire will help meet the growing demands of clients worldwide, but in particular those in east Asia.
Fulbright's global energy practice has 220 lawyers involved in international and domestic energy matters. In addition to energy transactions, the firm's energy group also assists clients with dispute resolution, regulatory matters, intellectual property and environmental issues.
As reported by The Lawyer (23 October 2007), Ricketts vacated the BG role in June. He was succeeded by Allen & Overy's head of global projects, energy and infrastructure Graham Vinter, who took over the reins of the 100-lawyer legal team in November. Vinter reports to the group's chief executive Frank Chapman.
