Moves: 5 November 2012

UK

London

• Nick Stainthorpe has left Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where he was a senior associate, and joined Reed Smith in London as a partner in the structured finance group.
• Russell-Cooke has expanded its immigration team with the appointment of Nisha Patel as an associate. Patel joins from Duncan Lewis Solicitors, where she managed a team of immigration solicitors and paralegals.
• Bates Wells & Braithwaite has promoted David Davies to partner in the firm’s corporate and commercial team. He joined from Olswang in August 2011 and specialises in M&A, venture capital and equity capital markets.
• McDermott Will & Emery has hired Astrid Owen as a partner in its private client practice group, based in the London office. She was a partner at Withers.

South

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  Jonathan Simmons

  Henmans has made up Carolyn Lowe to partner from associate. It has also made up three solicitors to associates: Gemma Nicholls, Tom Walker and Sarah Duffy.
• Vertex Law has boosted its employment team with the hire of Jonathan Simmons as head of the team. He was previously running niche employment firm Simmons & Co, which he founded.
• TLT has brought in Duncan Reed as an associate in its health and safety team. Also a solicitor-advocate, Reed was previously at DAC Beachcroft, where he was a senior solicitor in the firm’s safety, health and environment practice.

Midlands

• Employment solicitor Michael Briggs has left Cummins Solicitors to join the Nottingham office of Shakespeares as an associate solicitor in the firm’s employment and HR practices.
• Birmingham-based Anthony Collins Solicitors has appointed Sally Jones to its family law team. Jones was previously atTyndallwoods Solicitors, where she was a partner for 26 years.

North

• Brabners Chaffe Street has appointed Louise Scholes as a consultant in its private client team. She joins from DWF, where she headed the Liverpool private client team.
• Christian Peace has joined Shulmans in Leeds as a partner in its corporate finance team. He moves from Lee & Priestley, where he was a partner.
• Dickinson Dees has expanded its charities team with the appointments of solicitors Samantha Pritchard and Mark Honeywell. Pritchard joins from Russell-Cooke, where she was a solicitor, while Honeywell recently qualified with the firm.
• GT Law has appointed solicitor Sam Sansoya to head its new family law division, based in Leeds. He joins from Grahame Stowe Bateson, where he was a family solicitor.

Scotland

• Associates Calum MacLeod and Jill Fryer have joined Harper Macleod’s Inverness office. MacLeod moved from an associate position at R&R Urquhart to the energy and natural resources group, while Fryer joins the public sector team from Ledingham Chalmers, where she was an associate.

Europe

• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has elected 14 counsel across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. They are: Aude Villette (Brussels, antitrust, competition and trade), Roland Stein (Berlin, antitrust, competition and trade), Silke Beiter (Munich, corporate), Sebastian Kalb (Cologne, corporate), Zeid Hanania (Dubai, corporate), Gang Yuan (Beijing, corporate), Christian Zeppezauer (Shanghai, corporate), Stephan Pachinger (Vienna, corporate/finance), Hans-Joerg Schulze (Duesseldorf, dispute resolutio n), Mark Mangan (Singapore, dispute resolution), Michael Ramb (Berlin, dispute resolution), Daniel French (Hong Kong, finance), Alexander Ruschkowski (Frankfurt, finance), and Matthias Winter (Frankfurt, finance).

US

• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has brought in former US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald to its Chicago office, specialising in internal corporate investigations as well as civil litigation and arbitration.

Asia Pacific

• Mark Shipman has been elected head of Clifford Chance’s corporate practice in the Asia Pacific region, replacing Roger Denny from January 2013. He will continue to lead the global funds and investment management sector at the firm.
• Sparke Helmore Lawyers has made up four new partners: Maxine Tills (insurance, Brisbane), Mark Doepel (insurance, Sydney), Nicholas Studdert (insurance, Sydney) and Roland Hassall (employment, Sydney).
• Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co has appointed European and competition law expert John Handoll as a senior adviser, to be based in New Delhi, India. He was previously head of the competition and regulation department at William Fry.

The bar

• The Ministry of Justice has appointed Simon Drew QC as a circuit judge on the Midland Circuit, based at Birmingham Crown Court. He was a barrister at No5 Chambers.

In-house

• Premier Foods has hired assistant company secretary Damien Donlon from professional services firm TMF Group, where he specialised in UK and international subsidiaries. The company has also announced that Jonathan Finbow has qualified as a legal counsel after completing a six-month seat in Wragge & Co’s dispute resolution team.