King & Wood Mallesons Global has set up a new strategic practice network across the UK, Europe and the Middle East in the immediate aftermath of its European collapse. The new practice will be overseen by the firm’s Chinese partnership and will see around 30 partners involved in corporate M&A, competition, finance and dispute resolution. Around seven of these partners will be in London, with the remainder scattered across several other EUME hubs – KWM partners being retained by the ‘global’ incarnation of the firm have been confirmed in Dubai, Riyadh and Frankfurt, with the verein’s Madrid, Brussels and Milan offices also expected to maintain operations.

Seven partners, no trainees 

All seven of the partners who will head up KWM Global’s London office have been retained from the now defunct legacy SJ Berwin business. They are corporate partners Joseph Newitt, Greg Stonefield and Mike Wang, finance partner Vanessa Docherty, and dispute and litigation partners Dorothy Murray, Darren Roiser and Andrei Yakovlev. The partners will be accompanied by teams of associates and support staff, though a spokesperson for KWM confirmed that the new practices is ‘not presently’ taking on any current or future trainees from KWM EUME.

Sources: Legal Cheek; Legal Week