Latham & Watkins is pleased to announce that Yen Sum and Jennifer Brennan have joined the London office as partners in the Finance Department. Highly regarded in their field, their practices focus on advising creditors, hedge funds, asset managers, and debtors on a variety of complex restructurings and special situations, and they regularly represent credit funds on direct lending matters across the capital structure and credit spectrum. More >>

Morrison & Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce that Benoit Lavigne has joined the firm’s London office as a partner in its Finance practice. Mr. Lavigne brings to the firm a wealth of experience in complex, cross-border finance matters. He comes to Morrison & Foerster from Ropes & Gray, making him the third partner to join the firm’s London office in 2018, following the additions of Caroline Jury, also a highly experienced finance partner who joined from Clifford Chance, and Dan Coppel, a corporate partner who joined from Jones Day. More >>

Global law firm Mayer Brown announced today that Sam Eastwood and Jason Hungerford have been appointed as partners in the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice from Norton Rose Fulbright. Both appointments are part of a global strategic drive to further strengthen the depth of the firm’s litigation, white collar crime and investigation, sanctions and export control capabilities in key jurisdictions. More >>

International law firm CMS is delighted to announce that regulated funds specialist Laura Houët has joined the firm as a Partner in its Financial Services Regulatory team in London. More >>

Global law firm White & Case LLP has expanded its Global Banking Practice with the addition of Shane McDonald as a new partner in London. More >>

Global law firm White & Case LLP has expanded its Global Mergers & Acquisitions Practice and Global Private Equity Industry Group with the addition of Emmie Jones as a new partner in London. More >>

Haynes and Boone, LLP has significantly expanded its international arbitration and litigation capabilities with the addition of four lawyers who have experience handling disputes on behalf of clients in a wide range of industries, including energy, construction, hospitality and hotels. The four lawyers (solicitor advocates and barristers) previously worked in the London office of Hunton Andrews Kurth. More >>

Eversheds Sutherland has strengthened its financial services group with the appointment of new funds Partner Ben Watford. Ben joins from MJ Hudson where he led the London hedge fund practice, is highly experienced in relation to the formation, liquidation and financing of investment funds. His clients include financial institutions, tier one fund managers, first time managers, high-net-worth individuals, sovereign investors, crypto investors and entrepreneurs.

Listed in the Legal 500 as a recommended lawyer for 2017, Ben’s practice has a particular emphasis on the structuring and establishment of onshore and offshore investment funds in various jurisdictions including the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Ireland, UK, the Channel Islands and the US.

His expertise also includes structured finance, banking, securitisation and fixed income as well as refinancings, restructurings and derivatives. He regularly advises in relation to the AIFMD and on the establishment of FCA authorised entities in the UK.

The addition of Ben as a Partner further bolsters the financial services team following the establishment of the funds practice in Luxembourg and the hire of Partner Deborah Hutton in Dublin. Deborah, who joined Eversheds Sutherland last Friday (22 June) will be heading up the expansion of the asset management & regulatory practice in Ireland.

Commenting on the appointment, Michaela Walker, head of financial services said:

“Ben has established one of the leading hedge fund formation platforms in London and his addition to the team will enable us to offer clients expert advice in the hedge funds space as well as building our existing wider financial services capability. The group continues to go from strength to strength with additions in Luxembourg, Dublin and now London.”

Ben added:

“I am really excited to join a firm with a global platform and more specifically, a US presence, which will give me a great opportunity to leverage my existing network and develop a strong workflow across the US, Dublin, Luxembourg and London.”

Global law firm Reed Smith has today announced the appointment of Howard Womersley Smith as a partner in its IP, Tech & Data practice in the London office. Howard was previously a partner at Taylor Vinters. More >>