Stephenson Harwood has hired a new head of Islamic finance. Bilal Aquil joins following work at Calyon (formerly Crédit Lyonnais). He will be responsible for Stephenson Harwood’s Islamic finance work across a range of areas including real estate and banking. The firm has also recruited John Roebuck as a consultant in the commercial litigation team, fresh from a part-time role as the group legal counsel for energy company Aim Group. Prior to that he was a partner at Manches. First revealed on www.thelawyer.com 23 February