Freshfields names City corporate chief as Rawlinson takes management role
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has named corporate partner Julian Long as head of its London corporate practice, succeeding Mark Rawlinson, who was recently elected as the firm’s London managing partner.
Julian Long
The appointment, which comes after Rawlinson replaced Tim Jones as London head (27 June 2011), starts with immediate effect and Long will serve a three-year term.
Long is a public and private M&A specialist and regularly advises listed companies on corporate governance and securities issuance matters. He also co-runs the magic circle firm’s consumer and healthcare sector group.
In a statement, Freshfields’ global head of corporate Edward Braham said: “Julian’s an experienced dealmaker who has worked on a large number of landmark international deals and has significant management experience.
“He takes over from Mark Rawlinson the leadership of a team I firmly believe is unmatched in the market for its strength and depth and that’s flying high on the back of a series of impressive results.”
Commenting on his new appointment, Long said: “I’m excited to have the chance to spearhead our corporate practice’s activities in what I hope will coincide with a more definitive upturn in the corporate M&A cycle to complement our strong capital markets and private equity practices.
“Judging by the pipeline, particularly as we enter the traditionally quieter summer period, the M&A outlook appears in better shape than it did last year but our strong full-service offering, broad client base and international experience mean that we’re well placed to face any challenges that may develop in the market.”
Freshfields recently toppled Linklaters to become adviser of the second highest number of FTSE100 companies (31 May 2011), and also won Corporate Team of the Year at The Lawyer Awards for its work advising China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group on its $1.8bn acquisition of Volvo.
