Weil Gotshal wins Birds' ex head of e-commerce

The Lawyer revealed last week that Defries had resigned from the Bird & Bird partnership. Currently on gardening leave, Defries is keen to start as soon as consensus can be reached between the two firms.
He said: "I had decided that Weil Gotshal has a terrific corporate practice. I think it has the most significant presence of a US firm in London. If you are going to build something, you need the support around you."
Bird & Bird and Defries have still to finalise details of clients also moving to Weil Gotshal. His portfolio at Bird & Bird included Barclays Bank, lastminute.com and AT&T Communications.
Defries joins corporate partner Barry Fisher as the firm's second dedicated technology partner.