Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP announces today the appointment of finance partner Hélène Lefebvre who joins the firm’s Paris office.

Covington & Burling advised Tom Benson, the longtime owner of the New Orleans Saints, in his purchase of the New Orleans Hornets for an undisclosed sum. The purchase and related agreements were finalized this week. Closing is expected before the end of June.

Jones Day is pleased to announce the arrival of Dominic O’Brien as a partner in the London Office effective April 16, 2012. Mr. O’Brien, a Banking & Finance Practice partner, joins Jones Day from Addleshaw Goddard and advises banks and other financial institutions on corporate financings and project financings. A significant part of his career was spent in the Far East with Clifford Chance. Mr. O’Brien’s experience includes advising on leveraged, acquisition, and project finance with particular emphasis on the emerging markets. In addition, while at Herbert Smith, he advised on many Islamic financings.

Reed Smith LLP, a leading international law firm, today announced the addition of general counsel and corporate executive Robert Stefanski as a partner in its Silicon Valley office. He is a member of the firm’s Corporate & Securities Group and joins its General Counsel Panel, extending his technology industry expertise to this unique group at Reed Smith.

Davis Polk today announced that Jonathan Cooklin, one of the U.K.’s most highly regarded tax lawyers, will join the firm as a partner in its London office. Mr. Cooklin’s addition continues the firm’s development of an elite English law team to complement its unsurpassed U.S. law practice in London and further expand its existing English law offerings in the key global markets of Hong Kong and São Paulo. Along with Simon Witty, one of London’s preeminent capital markets lawyers, Mr. Cooklin continues to expand the services Davis Polk can offer to clients in the U.K. and globally on complex securities, mergers and acquisitions and trans-border transactions.