Leading law firm Bircham Dyson Bell (BDB) is pleased to announce the appointment of 11 new legal directors, including 1 external hire. The appointees cover the breadth of BDB’s departments; 5 in business services, 3 in government and infrastructure, 2 in private wealth and 1 in real estate.

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The following senior associates have been made up to legal director in BDB’s business services department:

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Robert Chidley acts for a range of clients in relation to mid-market private mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and public company transactions. He has a particular focus on AIM and corporate insolvency related queries.

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Andrew McGlashan advises on a broad range of corporate matters including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions and was recommended in the Legal 500 last year for mergers and acquisitions of up to £50 million.

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Toby Richards-Carpenter has particular expertise in drafting shareholders’ agreements and advising on property ‘special purpose vehicle’ transactions.

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Tessa Trevelyan Thomas is instructed on a broad variety of transactional matters and has extensive experience in corporate governance, disclosure issues and the Takeover Code.

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Sarah Williams provides advice to a wide range of charities and not for profit organisations on governance, commercial and fundraising matters in the context of legislative developments and increasing regulatory scrutiny.

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The firm’s private wealth department, which remains one of the largest specialist teams in the UK, has been further strengthened by Hamish Frost’s appointment as trust director and Patrick Lynam’s appointment as legal director:

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Hamish is head of trust management and is an expert on UK tax compliance affecting resident and offshore trusts. He also deals with the day-to-day management of trust assets, with a specialism in trustee investing.

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Patrick works closely with the tax trusts and estate planning team in relation to the capital tax planning and administration of estates. Patrick is instructed by individuals, trustees and institutional landowners on matters relating to the management of rural property holdings and has a particular expertise in bloodstock law.

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BDB’s award-winning government and infrastructure team is further bolstered by the appointment of 3 legal directors:

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Rahul Bijlani has over 15 years’ experience in public law with a focus on major infrastructure projects. He has a unique expertise in road user charging, in particular environmentally based charges such as the London Low Emission Zone (LEZ) and Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).

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Elizabeth Paraskeva’s practice consists of property, development and compulsory purchase law, she has acted for public and private sector clients for nearly two decades.

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Lee Tearle is a specialist infrastructure planning lawyer and has experience of both promoting and objecting to major infrastructure projects, particularly rail, electricity and harbour developments under different consenting regimes.

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Robert Young has joined the firm’s real estate team from Watson, Farley & Williams as a legal director. He has notable experience in investment management as well as advising on the acquisition, disposal and financing of sites for renewable energy projects.
Andrew Smith, managing partner of BDB, comments:

International law firm Ashurst announces the appointment of Christopher Georgiou as a partner to co-lead its global Ashurst Advance team, to be based in London. Chris will join Mike Polson as co-head of Ashurst Advance as the firm demonstrates a clear commitment to significantly expand its successful global alternative legal services offering.

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Chris joins from Fieldfisher, where he helped build and headed up the firm’s innovative alternative legal solutions platform, Condor. With over 25 years’ experience in the legal sector, both in private practice and in-house, Chris has a deep understanding of clients’ changing needs, and has a market leading reputation in developing innovative solutions for clients. Prior to joining Fieldfisher, Chris spent fourteen years with Ashurst successfully building a global securities and derivatives practice and as co-head of the firm’s bank sector, and played a key role in establishing the firm’s alternative legal services capability in Glasgow in 2013.

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Managing partner, Paul Jenkins, commented:

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“Chris is a fantastic addition to our Ashurst Advance team and builds on the firm’s continued investment in what we see as a critical growth area and important market. In recent years we have witnessed fundamental changes in the global legal services market and his arrival will enable us to further develop our alternative legal services offering. His outstanding expertise and drive will add great depth to the team and real value to our clients.”

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Mike Polson, co-head of Ashurst Advance, commented:

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“Through Ashurst Advance, we have established and substantially grown our alternative resourcing capability, increased use of legal technology and successfully applied process methodology and legal project management in the delivery of major matters. Chris’ appointment is part of our significant commitment to continue to develop a broader and more diverse integrated legal services delivery model for clients in what is a strategically important asset for the firm. His market leading reputation and skills will give us a massive boost in driving forward Ashurst’s innovative and transformative projects and we are confident he will make a very significant contribution to our future success.”

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Chris Georgiou, added:

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“Clients’ demand for alternative delivery of legal services offering “better, faster, cheaper” solutions and innovative digital products is accelerating. I am looking forward to working with Mike, together with many former colleagues, to develop the Ashurst Advance capability and help deliver to clients the solutions which they need. The strength and global reach of the Ashurst Advance platform, combined with the firm’s unconditional commitment to innovation, create an unmatched opportunity to help clients find efficiencies, recalibrate their own legal functions and navigate the many challenges which they face such as Brexit, IBOR discontinuance and other regulatory and structural change.”

Global law firm DLA Piper has been joined by leading construction and infrastructure partner Sarah Thomas, along with four other lawyers.

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“Sarah is a leading international construction lawyer and brings a wealth of experience to our existing 50 strong UK Construction team.”

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Sarah joins in London from Pinsent Masons, which she joined in 1991. She has over 25 years’ experience advising on major infrastructure projects, both in the UK and internationally, with a particular focus on the process sectors – energy, mining, water and waste – and more recently on electricity interconnectors, having advised on projects linking Northern Ireland with Scotland and the UK with France.

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Sarah is listed as ‘”recommended” for her work as a water lawyer, mining lawyer and a construction lawyer by Chambers & Partners and Legal 500. She was also listed by Women in Mining as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Mining in December 2015.

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The other four lawyers joining DLA Piper’s UK Construction team this summer are:

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Legal director Victoria Ball, who joins in Birmingham from Trowers & Hamlins and was previously an in-house lawyer at Interserve plc
Legal director Ross Campbell, who joins in Edinburgh from Eversheds Sutherland and specialises in infrastructure, energy and utility projects

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Senior associate Zina Ieseanu, who joins in London from Fieldfisher and advises on interconnector projects and
Associate Sara Milne, who joins in Edinburgh from Allen & Overy’s Dubai office and advises on international energy and infrastructure projects

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The new hires further build on the growth of DLA Piper’s UK Construction & Engineering practice, which saw Peter Lowe promoted to partner in London on 1 May 2018 and follows the arrival of UK Construction Head Stephen Malley in London and the construction disputes trio of Paul Giles, David Moss and Alison Fagan in Manchester, in the past three years.

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Stephen Malley said: “Sarah is a leading international construction lawyer and brings a wealth of experience to our existing 50 strong UK Construction team. Together with the hires of Victoria, Ross, Zina and Sara, the firm has shown its strong commitment to supporting our clients on construction and infrastructure projects, within the UK and worldwide.”

Global law firm White & Case LLP has added new partner Chad McCormick to its Global Tax Practice. McCormick will also work closely with the Firm’s Global Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Practice.

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“Chad is an excellent energy-focused tax attorney with a critical strength in oil & gas matters,” said John Reiss, White & Case’s Global Head of M&A. “The breadth and depth of Chad’s transactional tax experience will be a benefit to our clients. He will play an important role as we continue to grow in Houston.”

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McCormick advises clients on federal income taxation, with a particular emphasis on the tax issues that relate to domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, and separations in the energy sector. He comes to White & Case from Kirkland & Ellis, where he was a partner and led the tax practice in its Houston office.

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“In the first half of 2018, global M&A values reached levels not seen since 2007 and energy was a large part of that,” said Gregory Pryor, Head of White & Case’s Americas M&A and Corporate Practice. “Chad has advised sophisticated clients on some of the most complex transactions in the energy space. Adding Chad’s oil & gas expertise to our strong tax practice and our growing Houston office demonstrates our commitment to our oil & gas industry clients and the growth of our overall M&A practice.”

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McCormick joins a growing roster of partners in White & Case’s new Houston office, including new Firm partners Jay Cuclis, Christopher Richardson, Charlie Ofner, Steven Otillar, Steven Tredennick, David Strickland and Jorge Mattamouros, plus relocated partner Saul Daniel. The Firm has grown its Houston office to nearly 20 lawyers since it opened in February.

Arrival of José Maria Jiménez Laiglesia adds significant expertise to the firm’s Spanish, European, and Latin American Antitrust & Competition capability.

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Latham & Watkins LLP is pleased to announce that José Maria Jiménez Laiglesia has joined the Madrid office as a partner in the Litigation & Trial Department. Jiménez Laiglesia is widely regarded as one of Spain’s leading antitrust lawyers, with vast experience advising domestic and international companies, financial institutions, and private equity firms on a variety of competition and regulatory law matters.

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Jiménez Laiglesia has more than 25 years’ experience advising clients in relation to joint ventures, strategic alliances, and mergers and acquisitions, including phase II cases and cases with remedies. He also has a formidable track record in abuse of dominant position cases, cartel investigations, and state aid matters before the European Commission, the European Courts, and the Spanish Competition authorities and Courts.

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“We are committed to establishing the market-leading practice equipped to handle complex, cross-border mandates for domestic and international clients,” said Juan Picon, Office Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins in Spain. “José Maria is one of the elite antitrust practitioners in Europe, with broad expertise across a range of contentious and non-contentious matters, and he will significantly strengthen our Spanish, Latin American, and European platform.”

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“The Spanish antitrust authority is fast-becoming one of the most active in Europe,” added Sven Völcker, Co-Chair of the firm’s Global Antitrust & Competition Practice. “José Maria is a highly skilled and formidable advocate for his clients, who brings tremendous experience advising on bet-the-company transactions and investigations to our practice.”

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“José Maria has an illustrious track record advising C-Suite executives and boards on a number of market-shaping transactions and disputes,” said Jamie Wine, Global Chair of the Litigation & Trial Department. “He is a renowned strategist, with phenomenal technical expertise and a deep understanding of the workings of the Spanish and European antitrust authorities, and we are delighted to welcome him to the firm.”

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Jiménez Laiglesia is the latest high-profile lawyer to join Latham & Watkins’ Madrid office, following the arrivals of corporate partners Juan Picón, Ignacio Gómez-Sancha, and José Antonio Sánchez-Dafos, employment partner Naiara Rodriguez-Escudero, and corporate counsel Ana González-Linares. The firm also recently bolstered its European antitrust practice with the addition of Jacques-Philippe Gunther in Paris and Adrien Giraud in Brussels.

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Jiménez Laiglesia joins Latham & Watkins from DLA Piper in Madrid.