Former Dewey Ballantine chief quits Dewey for KPMG

Gander, a highly respected tax partner and the former head of legacy firm Dewey Ballantine, is joining KPMG as head of its US tax practice for Europe and the Middle East.

Gander has been resident at Dewey & LeBoeuf London since 1991 and is chairman of the firm’s European supervisory committee.

His departure follows that of around 70 partners since the beginning of the year, the most recent of whom came last week when Washington DC project finance partner Gregory Smith left to join Allen & Overy.

As The Lawyer reported last week, the US firm is currently considering a restructuring in advance of a possible takeover or a closing down of its international network (19 April 2012).

Options on the table are understood to include offices closures, a takeover or a merger (with Greenberg Traurig understood to be one of the front runners), or a scaling down to a US corporate boutique followed by a possible takeover by another firm.