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Simmons continues partner raid on BLP

13 March 2012 | By James Swift

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Simmons & Simmons has hired a real estate partner from Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) – its seventh partner hire from BLP in less than a year.

Real estate partner John Kelsey, who is also joint head of BLP’s hotels group and part of the restructuring and insolvency team, is set to join Simmons’ London real estate team as a partner.

Kelsey’s move follows that of corporate insurance partner Pollyanna Deane, who moved from BLP to Simmons in December 2011 (2 December 2011), and the five-partner finance team that joined Simmons from BLP in May 2011 (26 May 2011).

Kelsey specialises in real estate investments and development, finance and restructuring and insolvency. His clients include banks, investors and corporates. At BLP Kelsey advised Ernst & Young on the sale of the last property in the White Tower portfolio (13 June 2011), as well as Royal Bank of Scotland on the sale of the Cumberland hotel to a US joint venture in 2010 (19 July 2010).

Simmons’ head of real estate Nick Jones, said: “Our real estate team is growing and we’ve made a strategic decision to reinforce this both in London and internationally. We’re very pleased to have a partner of John’s calibre joining the team.”

BLP could not be reached in time to comment.

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Readers' comments (8)

  • Anonymous | 13-Mar-2012 6:18 pm

    Can't they just grow their own talent organically?

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  • Anonymous | 14-Mar-2012 2:13 pm

    That's a slightly odd thing to say given that every firm lateral hires. It's also like suggesting that there's something wrong with Premiership football teams not fielding a first team made up entirely from the product of their youth teams. There's room for both types of development / acquisition of talent.

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  • DJ Talent | 14-Mar-2012 2:53 pm

    I love that the term 'talent' has been so widely adopted for humdrum administrative jobs.
    And, yes, I am a member of the humdrum administrator class, but I don't see myself or my colleagues as 'the talent'.

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  • Anonymous | 14-Mar-2012 3:46 pm

    Perhaps the difference between those that are considered "talented" and those that are not could have something to do with whether they perceive their career as a "humdrum administrative job"
    Such a negative stance is probably more suited to the back
    room boys as opposed to the lateral hire fee earners.

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  • Anonymous | 14-Mar-2012 7:26 pm

    Semantics. Talent or humdrum administrators, my question was why this firm is making so many lateral hires instead of promoting internally.

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  • Anonymous | 15-Mar-2012 0:03 am

    @ Anonymous

    Of course people who are keener on a particular career are more likely to progress.

    However, City law firm partners are not perceived as "talented" by anyone except possibly themselves. "Effective," perhaps, or "efficient," but "talented" is simply the wrong word.

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  • Coolio | 15-Mar-2012 10:18 am

    Not sure you can call this a 'raid'!
    Also, everyone knows the talent, the real talent, goes to the Bar, Bench, Government or to high end recruitment!

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  • Anonymous | 16-Mar-2012 0:40 am

    But a West Brom hiring bunch of players from a Wigan would still be a West Brom? I have to say I'm not excited about this move.

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