Ashurst has hired employed barrister Harriet Jones-Fenleigh as a partner in its litigation and investigations team from Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) in London.
Jones-Fenleigh has more than 17 years of experience acting for clients in a wide range of high-stakes litigation and arbitration matters, including multi-billion-pound finance litigation in the UK Supreme Court, group litigation, cross-border corporate and commercial disputes across various sectors, and civil fraud and asset tracing.
She joined NRF in 2012 as an associate, transferring to the employed Bar from Fountain Court Chambers, where she trained, qualified and worked with leading counsel for five years as a junior barrister specialising in commercial disputes. She was promoted to NRF’s partnership in 2019.
During her time at the Bar, she was seconded to Slaughter and May to work on litigation arising from MF Global’s insolvency.
Her advocacy experience, ability to work with counsel across all the leading sets and strong client relationship skills are widely recognised by her peers and former colleagues at the Bar. That experience spans matter management, procedural insight and strategic vision of larger cases in both the major arbitral institutions and the breadth of Commercial Court and appellate work.
Her career has spanned banks and banking products, the global financial crisis, broader financial institutions, aviation and other forms of specialised finance, as well as cases involving regulatory and civil liabilities and new technologies such as fintech. Her versatility positions her to be a leading next-generation partner who will dovetail nicely with Ashurst’s own strengths in these fields.
Jon Gale, head of Ashurst’s UK disputes practice, said: “We are excited to welcome Harriet to the team and look forward to working together. Her appointment positions us to meet rising client demand and capitalise on emerging opportunities, adding a well-timed boost to both our commercial litigation platform and our contentious financial services offering.”
Tom Connor, the firm’s global head of disputes, noted that her arrival followed that of London employment partner Dan Ornstein, who joined last month from Simmons & Simmons. He specialises in banking-related employment claims and was previously London employment lead and co-head of the international employment group at Proskauer Rose.
Jones-Fenleigh’s exit from NRF is offset by the arrival in May of Duncan Bagshaw, who joined as an experienced international arbitration partner from Howard Kennedy. London disputes partner Mike George, meanwhile, was promoted in the firm’s December 2024 partner round, its highest for some years.
A spokesperson for NRF said: “We wish Harriet well in her future endeavours.”
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