Mr Warna-kula-suriya is departing Slaughter and May after more than 30 years with the firm and is arguably one of the most high-profile individuals to leave it for a rival in recent history. Listed as one of the City’s top lawyers for derivatives and structured products, Mr Warna-kula-suriya has been a partner at Slaughters since 1997 and counts Deutsche Bank, Nordea and US private equity groups Apollo Management and Fortress Investment Group among his clients. A statement from Latham & Watkins’ global co-chair of financial institutions Witold Balaban said that Mr Warna-kula-suriya would play a ‘key role’ in expanding Latham & Watkins’ ‘capabilities in offering financial institution clients an integrated top-tier global platform for their cross-border transactional needs.’ News of Latham & Watkins’ latest coup comes just days after the firm confirmed that former Allen & Overy senior partner candidate Stephen Kensell will also be joining its ranks.

Sources: Legal Business; Legal Week