Theodore Goddard loses insolvency head to Finers

THEODORE Goddard has been hit by the departure of its head of insolvency, Jonathan Lewis, to West End firm Finers.

Lewis - a leading player in corporate restructurings - will join Finers this week as an equity partner and as its new head of insolvency.

Lewis told The Lawyer that he was "not prepared to comment" on the reasons for his departure from Theodore Goddard.

But he described Finers as "a firm I have assessed as on the way up".

He arrives at Finers with a brief to build up the firm's insolvency practice and will team up with litigation partner Richard Curtin, a contentious insolvency specialist.

The hiring of Lewis marks a period of intensive recruitment by Finers, which now has 36 partners.

In February this year the firm swallowed up fellow West End practice Bennett Taylor Tyrell, taking on seven of its ten partners.

Later that month, the practice appointed two senior assistant solicitors from City firms - James Harvey from DJ Freeman and Nichola Armstrong from Cameron McKenna - as partners.

And David Battiscombe, a property partner at Speechly Bircham, joined in May.

Finers managing partner Richard Gerstein said he was "thrilled, absolutely thrilled" to have hired Lewis.

Theodore Goddard managing partner Peter Kavanagh said that he "was sorry to see him go".

Kavanagh said banking partner Julian Maples - who is advising on the Brent Walker insolvency - would take over the role of business development for the firm's insolvency practice.

He added that it did not have an insolvency department as such, but rather that it drew from the relevant experience of fee earners across the company, litigation and property departments.