Kirkland & Ellis has bolstered its London office by hiring the global co-head of Allen & Overy’s infrastructure practice. Sara Pickersgill has spent more than 20 years at A&O and was made partner in 2013. Her practice has a focus on infrastructure, energy and renewables but she also advises on cross border M&A transactions. Pickersgill is […]
Severn Trent has recruited a new general counsel ahead of the retirement of Bronagh Kennedy, who has been in the role for nearly 12 years. Didar Dhillon has been appointed as the water company’s new legal chief. Dhillon will take over as GC for both Severn Trent and Severn Trent Water, effective from early […]
Gowling WLG is to open a hub in Leeds, The Lawyer has learned. The firm, which already has UK offices in Birmingham and London, said the reason for the move is to bolster its housing development and regeneration practice. A spokesperson for Gowling WLG told The Lawyer: “We can confirm that we are in discussions […]
Two City firms took the leading roles on a merger of London’s west end landlords, advising on the creation of a newly-minted property portfolio which is being valued at around £5bn. The Lawyer has learned that Hogan Lovells was on hand for Shaftesbury, and was spearheaded by corporate partners Nicola Evans and Anthony Doolittle. Herbert […]
Transport provider Go-Ahead, which provides bus and rail services across the UK, is to be sold in a deal valued at nearly £648m. Herbert Smith Freehills has secured the mandate from client Go-Ahead, with partners Stephen Wilkinson and Caroline Rae at the helm, along with lead senior associate Charles Steward. Linklaters meanwhile is representing the […]
The former head of Addleshaw Goddard’s London office, who has been with the firm for over 15 years, is set to leave, The Lawyer has learnt. Real estate partner Leona Ahmed is leaving Addleshaws, having joined the firm in 2007. Ahmed previously spent over 11 years with legacy firm Lawrence Graham, which has since become […]
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner is set to lose two partners from its non-contentious construction team to Mishcon de Reya. Duo Marc Hanson and Adriano Amorese are moving to Mishcon de Reya, after both spending over a decade with the firm. Veteran Hanson joined legacy firm Berwin Leighton Paisner in 2011, before which he led Ashurst’s […]
A partner from Kirkland & Ellis’s real estate finance team has moved back to his former firm, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. James Esterkin joined Kirkland in 2017 as an associate from Simpson Thacher, becoming partner just a year later. He now returns to Simpson Thacher as a partner, joining its real estate group and advising […]
A BCLP real estate partner is set to leave after spending her career at the firm. Partner Rashpal Soomal is to join Eversheds Sutherland. She specialises in contentious property matters with a particular focus on issues stemming from development work, including rights of light claims and covenants. Soomal spent her entire career at BCLP, starting in 1995 […]
Sovereign Housing Association has capped off its latest panel, with 16 firms scoring places on the core roster. Sovereign oversees more than 68,000 properties in the south of England and aims to build 10,000 homes over the next five years. Firms that successfully won places on the panel are: Ashfords, Bevan Brittan, Blake Morgan, Capsticks, […]
European real estate company RE Capital has appointed a new general counsel. Gavin Green will sit on RE Capital’s executive committee, managing the company’s legal activities across all markets. He joins this month. As well as advising on corporate matters, he will also oversee risk management, legal processes, structuring, compliance, debt and transactional work among […]
British property company SEGRO has reappointed law firms Eversheds Sutherland, CMS and Gowling WLG to its UK real estate panel following a tender and review process. The tenure of the panel is expected to last until January 2025 and will provide legal advice in relation to its real estate work. The three firms will retain […]