In Pictures: The Biggest Hires of 2019
Chris Kandel, Michael Fiddy, Adrian Maguire and Sophie Schwass were among the most high profile moves of the year.
December 19, 2019 at 05:53 AM
4 minute read
2019 proved to be a slightly quieter year for stand out partner hires in London than 2018. But there were still a number of veteran partners leaving Magic Circle firms for U.S. firms, and more common were moves between U.S. rivals and international firms, including exits from Latham & Watkins to Morrison & Foerster, and from DLA Piper to Mayer Brown. Perhaps the highest profile move came at the start of the year when Kirkland & Ellis continued picking off Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer private equity talent, with the trophy hire of Adrian McGuire. Adrian Maguire ➤➤ Moved from: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer ➤➤ To: Kirkland & Ellis Kirkland added to the assault on Freshfields with the appointment of private equity partner McGuire, who had been at the Magic Circle firm for more than two decades. The move, reminiscent of former colleague David Higgins' the previous year, shocked the market and led some to question whether Freshfields' lock-step model was still fit for purpose. Chris Kandel ➤➤ Moved from: Latham & Watkins ➤➤ To: Morrison & Foerster Latham banking co-head Kandel was one of the first major U.S. to U.S. moves of the year - and a scalp for MoFo, which has made less of a splash with London hires in recent years. Kandel had spent nearly nine years at Latham, during which he acted on key deals including the take-private financings for Ladbrokes Coral Group and a €6.8bn financing for China National Chemical Corporation's purchase of shares in Italian tyre-making company Pirelli from Camfin. Amy Jacks and Michael Fiddy ➤➤ Moved from: DLA Piper ➤➤ To: Mayer Brown DLA U.K. restructuring head Jacks quit alongside global restructuring co-chair Michael Fiddy for Mayer Brown in March. With a combined 33 years at DLA between them, the pair joined Mayer Brown in leadership positions. Jacks had previously advised on high street stalwart Jane Norman's restructuring, and as the current flow of restructuring work shows no sign of slowing down, she is expected to be kept busy next year. Gavin Gordon and David Arnold ➤➤ Moved from: Kirkland & Ellis ➤➤ To: Willkie Farr & Gallagher Kirkland saw rare departures from its own camp in May, when private equity partner duo Gavin Gordon and David Arnold headed for the exit to join Willkie Farr & Gallagher. The pair had joined Kirkland from Ashurst in 2010 and got several major deals under their belt, including advising Cinven on its €1.8bn sale of Nordic tool distributor Ahlsell to CVC Capital Partners. Last year, Gordon was ranked as one of 2018′s busiest dealmakers according to Mergermarket rankings. David Mardle, Malcolm Bates, Tim Worden, and Adrian Rainey ➤➤ Moved from: Taylor Wessing ➤➤ To: Goodwin Procter Goodwin bolstered its life science offering with the hire of a heavyweight Taylor Wessing team in June, led by former managing partner contender David Mardle. International corporate co-head Mardle had been at Taylor Wessing for 16 years and was joined in the move by head of U.K. corporate technology Rainey. The duo's hires, along with fellow long-standing partners Worden and Bates, followed Goodwin's launch of a European life sciences practice last year and cemented their commitment to its expansion. David Avery-Gee ➤➤ Moved from: Linklaters ➤➤ To: Weil, Gotshal & Manges Corporate M&A partner Avery-Gee was one of the few Magic Circle stars to jump to a U.S. firm this year, when he moved from Linklaters to Weil. He had been at Linklaters for more than two decades and advised on a number of high-profile deals during his career there, including the listing of commodity giant Glencore on the London and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges, and Lloyds Banking Group on its acquisition of HBOS. Sophie Schwass ➤➤ Moved from: Lloyds Banking Group ➤➤ To: Clifford Chance Clifford Chance hired Lloyds Banking Group head of legal operations Schwass as its U.K. chief operating officer in November. With her addition the Magic Circle firm brought in different expertise for its operating arm, as Schwass had over 10 years of legal experience in a corporate banking environment.
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