Macfarlanes has announced it has hired Ashurst partner Gerald Kelly in a continuation of appointments from the firm’s real estate team.
Kelly has worked as a partner in Ashurst’s real estate team since 2001 and specialises in structured equity, corporate occupier requirements and property developments.
Macfarlanes senior partner Charles Martin said the appointment signalled the firm’s “continued commitment to building on the strength” of its real estate team. The team has seen significant growth in recent years and has seen four former Ashurst partners join its ranks since 2011.
In 2013 Macfarlanes picked up Ashurst commercial real estate partner Anthony Burnett-Scott two months after it hired the firm’s former construction head Ann Minogue.
The pair were reunited with former Ashurst managing partner Ian Nisse who joined Macfarlanes in 2011 as head of commercial real estate. Nisse left Ashurst after serving three years as managing partner and moved to Shearman & Sterling to work as its co-head of international real estate.
However, Ashurst has also experienced a number of lawyer exits outside of its real estate practice. In Italy the firm recently lost a nine-lawyer restructuring and litigation team to DLA Piper, which included partner Francesco de Gennaro. In July Paul Hastings hired a nine-strong team in New York and Washington DC from Ashurst, which included co-head of securities and derivatives Scott Faga and US managing partner Eugene Ferrer.
