Move of the week
King & Spalding has hired Jones Day partner Jules Quinn to lead its employment team in London. Quinn was formerly head of the labour and employment group, having joined the firm in 2012. She will be joined by her colleague Kim Roberts, who has been appointed as counsel.
UK
London
K&L Gates has appointed John Gilbert as partner in the firm’s energy and international arbitration practices in London. He joins K&L Gates from Pinsent Masons in London, where he was also a partner.
Media and technology firm Wiggin has boosted its gaming and betting practice with the appointment of Stephen Ketteley and David McLeish as partners within the firm. Ketteley joins from DLA Piper where he held a partner position for four years, while M&A and commercial specialist McLeish joins the firm after leaving his general counsel role at FTSE 250 company Playtech.
Howard Kennedy has launched an immigration services practice with the hire of solicitor Antonia Torr, who has joined the firm from immigration boutique DJ Webb & Co.
DLA Piper has expanded its commercial contracts practice with the appointments of Simmons & Simmons partner Mark Dewar and senior associate Michiko Jo.
Former RPC partner and head of pensions Philippa Connaughton has joined Sackers as a partner.
North
Manchester-based Clarke Willmott has expanded its commercial property team with the appointment of Mark Niven who joins as partner. Niven joins the firm from Chatham Chambers’ partnership.
Wilmslow-based Hilary Meredith Solicitors has hired solicitor Paul Reay to head up its new family law department team. Reay was previously a senior solicitor at Lewis Rodgers Solicitors.
Gurmeet Jakhu has joined Knights’ Derbyshire office as a franchising partner. He previously worked at Nelsons Solicitors as a partner.
Irwin Mitchell has expanded its family team with the hire of Ward Hadaway partner Teresa Davidson in the firm’s Leeds office.
Brabners has expanded its housing and regeneration team with the appointment of Peter Barlow as a partner. Barlow will be spearheading the housing and regeneration team in Manchester and was previously a partner at Hill Dickinson.
Europe
Ashurst has strengthened its finance division in Germany with the appointment of Alexander Ballmann as a partner in its global restructuring and special situations group. Ballmann, who will be based in the firm’s Munich office, joins from the partnership of CMS Hasche Sigle.
Middle East
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has announced that Graham Lovett will join its Dubai office as a partner. He was previously head of Clifford Chance’s litigation and dispute resolution practice for the Middle East.
Clyde & Co has grown its MENA partnership with the addition of a new corporate partner Matt Donovan joining the firm’s Dubai office. He joins from Bracewell & Giuliani in Dubai where he was a senior corporate counsel in the firm’s business and regulatory group.
US
K&L Gates has hired Todd Betke as a partner in its investment management, hedge funds and alternative investment practice in Washington DC. He joins K&L Gates from Pepper Hamilton, where he was of counsel.
Covington & Burling has announced that Reed Smith partner Matthew Schlesinger has joined the firm as a partner in its insurance recovery practice in Washington DC.
O’Melveny & Myers’s global M&A and private equity chair Steven Tonsfeldt has joined Cooley in Palo Alto as a partner.
Christina Baltz has joined Withers as a partner in its New York office, having previously acted as a managing director at UBS Wealth Management.
Asia
White & Case has continued to build its corporate, M&A and capital markets practices in Asia with the addition of Catherine Tsang as a new partner in Hong Kong. She joins from Paul Hastings where she was also a partner.
McDermott Will & Emery has hired long-serving Baker & McKenzie compliance partner Michelle Gon in Shanghai as a partner.
Offshore
The former head of Maples and Calder’s global corporate practice, Henry Harford, has joined Carey Olsen in the Cayman Islands as a consultant.
The Bar
No5 Chambers has appointed a new head of chambers after Paul Bleasdale QC stepped down from the role. Bleasdale, who held the post since 2010, is to be replaced by Chancery silk Mark Anderson QC who has been one of the deputy heads of chambers since 2014.
Nicholas Griffin QC has joined QEB Hollis Whiteman from 5 Paper Buildings. Notable cases include the phone hacking trial, Guantánamo Bay litigation and the Bloody Sunday inquiry.
Promotions
Debevoise & Plimpton has announced that Daniel Farrell and Jacob Stahl have been named counsel to the firm, while Christopher Boyne, Dmitry Karamyslov, Maxim Kuleshov and Jane Shvets have been named international counsel. Boyne and Shvets are based in the London office.
Ukrainian firm Sayenko Kharenko has promoted Dmitry Taranyk to partner in the firm’s antitrust practice. The promotion brings the total number of partners in the firm to nine.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has promoted three London lawyers to partnership out of 12 worldwide after making up no-one in the City last year. Counsel Sophie Jermine, David Sewell and Rosemarie Paul have also been promoted in London.
Three lawyers have been made partners at offshore firm Harneys. William Peake is based in London, while Junko Shiokawa is a structured finance lawyer in Hong Kong and Jayson Wood works in Bermuda.
Dutch firm Stek has appointed Ruben Elkerbout as partner in its competition & regulated markets team. He joined the firm in 2008 from Stibbe.