Kirkpatrick lures Addleshaws star with US link

The London office of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham has poached experienced IT partner John Entstone from Addleshaw Goddard.

Canadian Entstone said that he was keen to exploit the North American client base offered to Nicholson Graham & Jones following its January merger with US firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart.

"For a long time I've wanted to take advantage of contacts back in North America. As good a firm as Addleshaws is, I just felt that I wasn't going to get that opportunity with them," said Entstone.

Entstone joined Addleshaws in 2002 after five years at Stephenson Harwood. Prior to that he spent many years in senior management positions at Nortel Networks and had a spell as general counsel at Bell Sygma, a leading IT company in Canada.

Entstone has worked with City clients such as HSBC and Merrill Lynch and most recently has been involved in the National Programme for IT in the NHS. Entstone led a large Addleshaws team advising a consortium of Atos Origin, Cerner, Hewlett-Packard, Serco and Tata on two failed bids for regional contracts.

An Addleshaws spokesperson said the firm was very grateful for the contribution Enstone had made over the last three years and wished him well.