In and out

UK

US-based global law firm Reed Smith has snapped up SJ Berwin partner Tim Beale for its London-based commercial disputes group. Mr Beale, who starts with immediate effect, specialises in commercial fraud cases and complex financial services disputes, particularly in the funds and private equity sectors.

Meanwhile at SJ Berwin, Steven Fogel has joined the partnership board as a non-executive director. Mr Fogel was senior partner of Titmuss Sainer when he led the firm into its merger with Philadelphia-based global practice Dechert in 2000, and then served as managing partner of Dechert’s London office and on the firm's policy committee. He retired from the Dechert partnership, aged 60, in June last year and has taken on a number of board appointments, including one at London University.

And at Dechert itself, the firm has boosted its partnership by promoting 12 lawyers, with three of them currently operating in the firm’s London office.The new London partners are Abigail Bell (financial services), Christopher Gardner (financial services) and Timothy Lindsay (international dispute resolution).

Los Angeles litigation firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has bagged magic circle firm Allen & Overy’s international arbitration global chairman Stephen Jagusch as a partner in the Californian’s London office. Mr Jagusch has been an advocate in dozens of international arbitrations in all the major arbitral centres involving the substantive law of many different nations as well as public international law.

Global law firm Taylor Wessing has appointed Keith Barnett as a new business group leader. Mr Barnett – who has been has been head of real estate at the firm since 2007 -- replaces Rodney Dukes in one of the firm’s three business group director roles. Mr Dukes had held the position since 1998, but will now continue as head of the firm’s finance practice. Mr Barnett will be replaced as head of real estate by commercial real estate specialist Mark Bennett.

London law firm Speechly Bircham has promoted Vikki Francis to its partnership.Family law specialist Ms Francis joined Speechly in 2007 from London rival Russell-Cooke.

Europe

Alexandre Tron has joined Reed Smith as a partner at the firm’s Paris office.Mr Tron, who brings senior associate Olivier Borenstejn with him, is a specialist in financing transactions, particularly those supporting corporate acquisitions, growth, reorganisation and leveraged buy-outs.

Spanish firm Gómez-Acebo & Pombo has promoted three lawyers to its partnership: José Miguel Lissén (intellectual property – Madrid), Álex Carbonell (corporate – Barcelona) and Eduardo Martínez-Matosas (tax – Barcelona) got chairs at the partners’ table from the beginning of the year.

Portuguese law firm PLMJ has made up five partners, swelling the firm’s ranks to 43 among a total of 212 lawyers. The promotions go to: Eduardo Nogueira Pinto (employment); Daniel Reis (technology, media and telecommunications); Rita Alarcão Júdice (real estate); Maria João Mata and Bárbara Godinho Correia (corporate and mergers and acquisitions).

Munich-headquartered law firm Noerr has kicked-off the new year by appointing four partners: Alexander Jänecke, Till Kosche, Jens Liese and Ralph Nack. Three others have been nominated as senior counsel: Michaela Engel, Sylvia Kaufhold and Detlev Strässer. The firm also announced that the duo of Tobias Bürgers and Alexander Ritvay will represent the law firm externally for the next three years.

In a ground-breaking move, Laurent Martinet -- a litigation partner at the French office of US global law firm Jones Day – has become the first lawyer from a foreign firm to be elected Vice-Bâtonnier of the Paris bar. Pierre Olivier Sur of Fischer Tandeau de Marsac Sur & Associés, has also been elected Bâtonnier. The two will serve a preparatory year in 2013 as ‘dauphin’ and ‘vice-dauphin’ to the current council bar chairman. Their two-year term commences on 1 January 2014.

North America

Canadian law firm Fasken Martineau has promoted 14 lawyers to its partnership across the practice’s national offices: Sergio Custodio (Vancouver, real estate), Johanna Fipke (Vancouver, real estate and natural resources), KC Miu (Vancouver, banking and finance), Steve Saville (Vancouver, securities and mergers and acquisitions), Alex Cameron (Toronto, litigation), Brad Freelan (Toronto, litigation), Daye Kaba (Toronto, securities and mergers and acquisitions), Jean Michel Lapierre (Montréal, securities and mergers and acquisitions), Élise Renaud (Montréal, securities and mergers and acquisitions), Fancis Trifiro (Montréal, banking and finance), David Turgeon (Montréal, intellectual property), Laurence Déry (Québec City, labour, employment and human rights) and Kimberly Okell (Québec City, corporate).

Offshore

Harney Westwood & Riegels has grown its partnership to 30 with the promotion Margarita Hadjitofi and Simon Hudd. Ms Hadjitofi practices corporate law and specialises in joint ventures, reconstructions, mergers and acquisitions. She is based at the firm’s Cyprus office. New London partner Mr Hudd also leads the firm’s Russia and CIS group. He specialises in British Virgin Islands law and regularly advises on corporate transactions, structured and asset finance, project and acquisition finance, Islamic Finance and capital markets.

Frances Woo is to take over the group chairman role at law firm Appleby from the end of March this year, succeeding Peter Bubenzer when he retires. The firm has also appointed Cameron Adderley as head of its corporate and commercial department; he succeeds Judith Collis, who is also retiring from the firm.

Asia

Boston-headquartered Edwards Wildman Palmer has snapped up litigation and arbitration specialist John Yiu as a partner in Hong Kong, strengthening the firm’s dispute resolution capabilities in the region. According to Legal Business Online, Mr Yiu focuses on litigation surrounding employment, shipping, intellectual property and insolvency and restructuring, and also advises clients on regulatory and compliance issues. Mr Yiu was previously a partner at ONC Lawyers in Hong Kong. He has also worked at international firms, including Paul Hastings.

Finance and projects specialist Carolyn Dong has jumped from local heavyweight King & Wood Mallesons to the China practice of Anglo-US giant DLA Piper. Ms Dong was a partner in the Sino-Australian firm’s energy, resources and projects group. She will bring a team of four energy specialists lawyers with her to DLA.

London magic circle firm Allen & Overy has recruited former Vilaf managing partner Tran Anh Duc as head of its Hanoi branch and co-head of its banking and corporate practices in Vietnam. Legal Business Online reports that Mr Tran has experience in large-scale power projects and debt and equity capital market issuances. He will co-head the banking and corporate practices alongside Adam Moncrieff, who relocated to Vietnam from the firm’s Tokyo office, and A&O's Vietnam managing partner Dao Nguyen.

Global

Hogan Lovells has promoted four lawyers to the Anglo-US law firm’s partnership across Asia and the Middle East: regulatory expert Adrian Emch in Beijing, corporate lawyer Thomas Tarala in Hong Kong, international arbitration specialist Paul Teo in Singapore and corporate partner Warren Thomson in Dubai. Legal Business Online reports that the firm is now home to more than 800 partners worldwide.

Office opening

Philadelphia firm Duane Morris has opened a Silicon Valley office to support hi-tech clients. The office – the firm’s 24th – will be led by intellectual property litigator Karineh Khachatourian, who joins from K&L Gates.