Theodore Goddard nets Times top man

Theodore Goddard has recruited one of The Times Newspapers' head of legal.

Antony Whitaker has been with the group, which includes The Times, The Sunday Times and The Times supplements, since 1973.

He joins Theodore Goddard as a consultant but will continue to work for The Times Newspapers as a consultant.

Whitaker tells The Lawyer that his decision to join Theodore Goddard came after an internal restructure at The Times which saw Alastair Brett take over from him as head of the legal department.

He adds: "I want to keep myself as a flexible-minded lawyer and I enjoy working in both places.

"Theodore Goddard has acted for The Times Newspapers for many years and I got to know the people here extremely well."

Whitaker will divide his time between the newspaper group and the City firm. At Theodore Goddard, as well as providing libel advice, he will concentrate on a range of other areas including pre-publication advice, defamation and copyright.

He says:"It gives me an exciting opportunity to develop my work in a field I have been involved in for most of my professional life."

He will work with a range of clients, including newspaper, magazine, book and online publishers, in fact "anyone who cares to ask for my advice," he adds.

The move is a coup for Theodore Goddard. Although highly regarded in the film and television area of media, the firm is less well-known in publishing.

Earlier this year, Theodore Goddard was rocked by two senior partner departures in two weeks to US firms.

Head of corporate finance John Clark and head of tax Tim Sanders left for the London offices of Jones Day Reavis & Pogue and McDermott Will & Emery respectively (The Lawyer, 21 February).