Pinsents builds funds practice with addition of SJ Berwin lawyer
Pinsent Masons has boosted its partnership with the addition of a lawyer from SJ Berwin’s fund formation team.
Ian Warner
Daniel Greenaway, a senior associate at SJ Berwin, joins Pinsents as a partner in its funds team after spending almost six years at his current firm.
Greenaway has experience structuring and closing buyout and debt funds. He also works on fund-related M&A deals, including the establishment of co-investment funds, the acquisition of funds and acquisition structuring.
Pinsent Masons’ fund structuring practice was kick-started by partner Ian Warner, who joined from Ashurst three years ago.
“[Greenaway’s] appointment supports our aim to significantly grow our funds team and the wider corporate and banking and finance teams in London,” said Warner. “Fund formation has certainly picked up from where we were 12 months ago, although it’s still taking a long time to raise funds.”
In January 2007 SJ Berwin lost three partners – Mark Mifsud, Richard Watkins and Justin Dolling – in a raid by Kirkland & Ellis, which was looking to build a funds team in London (TheLawyer 10 January 2011).
http://www.thelawyer.com/kirkland-in-mass-raid-on-sj-berwin-for-top-funds-team/123695.article
They were later joined by a number of associates from the SJ Berwin team.
SJ Berwin has seen a number of departures in recent months, with outsourcing chief David Meredith joining Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (7 March 2011), corporate partner Tandeep Minhas joining Taylor Wessing (8 December 2010) and real estate chief Jon Vivian leading a four-partner team that defected to Irwin Mitchell with a team of lawyers (27 September 2010).
Readers' comments (11)
Anon | 8-Mar-2011 4:24 pm
There's not going to be anybody left at SJ Berwin soon :)
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Brian Damage | 8-Mar-2011 5:23 pm
Much as it would be a great story that SJB was about to implode like Howrey, I don't think even losing a dozen senior lawyers is going to kill a firm that has more than 600+ lawyers. Mass exoduses occur when the partners lose total faith in the idea behind the firm - e.g. Howrey. SJB is just bruised and strategically challenged - but broken and with its partners running to the exits? - No.
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Anonymous | 8-Mar-2011 5:25 pm
Stop being so mean spirited -there are departures at other firms too its just that people choose to highlight departures from SJ as its the popular thing to do. SJ will be fine, I just know it. Look how far it came in such a short space of time, it has the fundamentals to pick itself up once again.
I'm starting my training contract there next year and I don't regret it for a second.
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jonny | 8-Mar-2011 8:48 pm
A bit like Man Utd, aren't they? The firm everyone seems to hate, albeit not a Premier League side.
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Anon | 9-Mar-2011 10:31 am
@ Anonymous | 8-Mar-2011 5:25 pm - SJ Berwin has long had a reputation as one of the most unpleasant places to work in the City - particularly if you are not one of the 'in crowd' - and there will be many ex-employees of the firm taking GREAT pleasure from their current crisis.
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Anonymous | 9-Mar-2011 10:46 am
so Leeds United then? On a serious note though Pinsents do seem to be 'gearing up' at the moment
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Schadenfreude | 9-Mar-2011 12:03 pm
Of course there is a wonderful natural justice in the existential crisis facing SJ Berwin.
There is nothing better than when a person or organsation reaps what it has sown.
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Don't worry... | 9-Mar-2011 12:50 pm
....be happy. Bitterness gets you nowhere. If you didn't like it, be happy that you left. If you haven't left, you have a choice.
Why waste valuable time and energy when the choice is yours?
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Anonymous | 9-Mar-2011 1:50 pm
Think about how pleasant the lives of some people are when they enjoy using internet forums to hate on a LAW FIRM.
Please, take a day off, enjoy the sun and use the bad energy doing something constructive. Life's too short to hate SJ Berwin.
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Anonymous | 9-Mar-2011 1:58 pm
I think several of the above posters seem to have misread the article. Whilst I am sure Mr Greenaway is a fantastic lawyer, he is an associate at SJB - not a partner. All the talk of SJB hemorrhaging partners is inaccurate when made in the context of Daniel Greenaway's departure. Furthermore, senior associates leave to join other firms all the time - why on earth is this situation particularly newsworthy over and above all the rest of the lateral recruitments?
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May Fly | 9-Mar-2011 2:11 pm
to @Anonymous 1.50pm
On the sheer pointlessness of expending energy hating a law firm because life is too short - one can only add life is also far too short to use up all that beautiful potential and energy we're granted at birth by becoming a commercial lawyer. (Unless sweating over legal docs and sitting in airless meeting rooms crushing the joy out of existence is your idea of living....does pay well though...)
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