Squire Patton Boggs has hired two energy partners from Simmons & Simmons and King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) for its office in London.

Peter Wright was previously a projects partner at Simmons. Squire Patton Boggs’ second hire Rinku Bhadoria is a former partner of KWM’s London office.

Wright was based in Simmons’ London and Singapore offices after the firm opened in the Asian jurisdiction five years ago. 

Wright specialises in power generation, including both thermal and renewable energy technologies, as well as on gas and LNG (liquefied natural gas) projects. Clients include governments, developers, lenders and investors on international energy and infrastructure transactions.

Bhadoria worked at KWM’s now defunct EUME legal arm for five years, having been a partner in the energy, infrastructure and finance group at SJ Berwin.

She left the firm in January last year and is not understood to have been a part of KWM 2.0. She has more than 15 years’ experience advising sponsors, funds and governments on the development and financing of international energy and infrastructure projects.

Squire Patton Boggs has a history of taking energy lawyers from Simmons and KWM.

In February last year, Squire Patton Boggs hired KWM energy heavyweight Ian Wood as a partner in its energy and natural resources practice group in London. He was previously a partner in KWM’s energy and infrastructure group after joining the firm in 2015 from DLA Piper. He was joined by senior associate Rebecca Slater.

In 2016, KWM’s then global energy co-head Neil Upton left for Squire Patton Boggs with a team of four lawyers and two business services staff.

Upton joined the firm as a partner in the energy practice led by global head Lisa Henneberry, alongside associates Sushma Maharaj, Jasdeep Puri and Maurice Katsigazi.

Simmons decided to drop the energy and infrastructure sector as part of a strategy rethink. The firm’s four core sectors now comprise financial institutions, life sciences, technology, media & telecommunications (TMT) and the recently added asset management and investment funds.