Allen & Overy (A&O) has set up a local management structure for Canary Wharf, to make sure the new office runs on a unified basis with its City headquarters. Two hundred partners and staff have now been chosen for the October move.
The so-called coordinating committee comprises Tim House to represent litigation, Don McGown for corporate, Miles Walton for tax, Andrew Joyce for banking and Julian Tucker for capital markets.
Joyce, one of the original banking partners to move to temporary space in Citigroup Tower, will be managing partner for the permanent office in HQ3, which will be run as part of a single London profit centre.
A&O managing partner David Morley said: “We’re keen to make sure it’s run on a unified basis.”
A&O made its initial foray into the Docklands in March last year. It will go full-service in October and has now finalised the list of who else will relocate. A further 28 partners will move, giving a total of 35 partners based in Canary Wharf.
“Some people wanted to go and some people didn’t. It’s been a volunteer-led initiative,” said Morley.
The group includes one commercial litigation partner and three banking and finance litigation partners, despite the extra trek to the courts.
Morley played down the extra distance from City clients. “Clients [in Canary Wharf] have welcomed us being next door in a way they wouldn’t in the City, where things are a bit more diffuse.”