SNR Denton loses 10-strong Paris team to Hughes Hubbard

31 January 2012 | By James Swift

The Lawyer first reported that the team was in talks with Hughes Hubbard in December (16 December 2011).

The team, which comprises three partners and seven associates, will join Hughes Hubbard on 1 February. The team is led by Sena Agbayissah, a former managing partner of SNR Denton’s Paris office who also headed the banking and finance practice there.

Also joining Hughes Hubbard are M&A partner Alain Vincent, who co founded Paris firm Sales Vincent & Associés which merged with legacy firm Denton Hall in 1995, and Stefan Naumann, who headed the technology, media and telecommunications practice at SNR Denton.

In a statement, Hughes Hubbard’s managing partner Ted Mayer said: “We’re committed to having a top quality full-service Paris office to serve our extensive base of international clients. Sena, Alain and Stefan fit perfectly with our existing practices and plans for the future.”

The move follows two partner losses to other firms in Paris during the course of 2011. Employment partner Ludovic Roche left for Nixon Peabody in February (2 February 2011) and was folloed by private equity specialist Pierre Jouglard, who joined Salans in November (4 November 2011).

The departures come as SNR Denton continues with its interim strategic review. In July The Lawyer reported that the firm had sent US bankruptcy chair Fruman Jacobson to Paris to the strengthen the office on the back of poor financial performance and to integrate it with the US side of the firm (11 July 2011).