White & Case lures top in-house lawyer

White & Case has recruited a top in-house lawyer as a partner in its London office.

Mats Sacklen has joined the firm from the Zurich headquarters of ABB Group, the global engineering and technology group, where he was senior in-house counsel.

He joins the London office's corporate department, where he will specialise in cross-border acquisitions and joint ventures.

Sacklen, 42, is a Swedish lawyer as well as a US-qualified attorney. He practised with White & Case in New York, and then with US firm Winthrop Stimson Putnam & Roberts, before going in-house with ABB in 1990.

Sacklen says he has made the move back into private practice because he wants to develop a more diverse client base. He has represented ABB in a number of international transactions, and he says his in-house experience gives him an understanding of clients' needs.

"Being part of the process from very early strategy discussions to the follow-through adds a business perspective which I think will be very useful for clients doing these kinds of transactions," he says.

John Bellhouse, executive partner at White & Case's London office, says: "Mats will strengthen the firm's capabilities in London in cross-border acquisitions, joint ventures and similar transactions. This is an area of continuing importance as European industry continues to restructure."

Sacklen took up his new post last week.