Movers and shakers this week are Siobhan Moore, Locke Lord's newly promoted global head of cards, Rambod Behboodi, King & Spalding's latest WTO appointment, Amy Edgy who has left Jones Day for Linklaters in Washington, mechanical and medical device specialist (and pilot) Kean DiCarlo who is off to Womble Bond Dickinson and Nilufer von Bismarck of Slaughter and May recently recognised in the Queen's honours list in London. Meanwhile Steptoe & Johnson has added a group of seven lawyers in San Francisco and Chicago to its commercial litigation practice from the soon-to-be-dissolved Sedgwick. Retail partner Stephanie Sheridan, who founded and led Sedgwick’s retail practice group and was also managing partner of its San Francisco office, will take on the same leadership roles at Steptoe & Johnson.

London: Locke Lord appoints global head of cards and payments

Locke Lord’s Siobhan Moore has been named global head of the firm’s cards and payments practice. Moore, who is based in the firm’s London office, most recently served as head of the group in Europe. Ms Moore succeeds Robert Courtneidge, who has been named CEO of international payments business Moorwand. Mr Courtneidge will continue to maintain a close relationship with the firm on a consultancy basis. Ms Moore works with clients who range from gift card providers, e-money issuers, acquiring businesses and other regulated payment service businesses to technology providers  outside and within the financial regulatory framework. Ms Moore is a director of the Prepaid International Forum and has been on the advisory board of the UK Gift Card & Voucher Association for more than seven years. 

Washington DC: Winston & Strawn picks off another McDermott Will employment specialist

Winston & Strawn has picked up another McDermott Will & Emery employment specialist following its recent recruitment of a 12 partner team from the firm. Ruth Wimer joins the firm’s employee benefits and executive compensation practice (EBEC) as a partner in Washington DC, reuniting with her former colleagues from McDermott Will & Emery. An accountant by training, she focuses on executive compensation tax issues, including international, fringe benefits, personal use of employer aircraft, and qualified and non-qualified deferred compensation.  'Ruth’s 30 years of experience as a certified public accountant at a Big Four accounting firm and earlier as a tax specialist with the Internal Revenue Service gives her a unique perspective on a number of compensation subjects,' said Scott Landau, the firm’s EBEC Practice co-chair. 

Atlanta: Womble Bond adds mechanical and medical device specialist

Transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson has got off to a flying start in 2018 with the news it has recruited patent lawyer and ex-Delta Airlines pilot Kean DeCarlo as a partner. He joins from Atlanta headquartered firm Taylor English Duma, where he led the mechanical and medical device team. Before joining Taylor English in 2015, Mr DeCarlo spent 20 years at Ballard Spahr (formerly local IP boutique Needle & Rosenberg), where he similarly headed the mechanical and medical device practice groups. Mr DeCarlo served in Operation Desert Storm as a US Air Force fighter pilot and spent 12 years as a commercial pilot for Delta Airlines.

Geneva: WTO trade hire for King & Spalding

The shifting dynamics of global trade has generated a good trade in global expertise with US law firm King & Spalding the latest to beef up its trade practice. The firm has snapped up senior World Trade Organisation litigator Rambod Behboodi who has more than 20 years of experience working in a number of different litigation, diplomatic, legal advisory and policy and executive positions. He joins the firm’s International Trade Practice in Geneva. Mr Behboodi most recently served as a Counsellor in the WTO Rules Division, which handles all litigation concerning trade remedies. He previously held a number of senior positions in the Canadian Government, including general counsel, General Legal Service, Finance Canada; head of the legal section and senior legal advisor to the Mission of Canada to the WTO, and trade commissioner at the Mission of Canada to the EU in Brussels. Mr Behboodi’s hire is the latest for the firm in Geneva. Hannes Welge from the European Commission and Hamid Mamdouh from the WTO joined earlier in the year. 

Washington: Linklaters swipes Jones Day heavyhitter

Linklaters is expanding its US restructuring and insolvency capabilities with leading bankruptcy lawyer Amy Edgy joining the Washington office from Jones Day. With industry-specific experience in municipal bankruptcies, health care systems, cultural institutions, retail corporations, financial institutions and airlines, she regularly represents both debtors and creditors in some of the country's largest restructurings and reorganisations. Most recently, she advised the world's largest private sector coal company, Peabody Energy Corporation, and its subsidiaries in their chapter 11 cases. She is the third high-profile partner to join the Washington office over the past year. Veteran regulatory enforcement lawyer Doug Davison joined the firm’s global dispute resolution practice (DR) last August preceded by former DOJ top-lawyer, Matt Axelrod who joined the DR practice last spring.

London: City lawyers recieve awards in Honours List

Honours galore were bestowed upon London lawyers in the recent New Year's Honours List. 

• Slaughter and May corporate heavyhitter Nilufer von Bismarck was awarded an OBE for services to financial services. Ms von Bismarck is head of the magic circle firm’s financial institutions group and equity capital markets and became a partner in 1994.
• Mr Harber-Kelly, who worked at the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for 10 years, most recently as a prosecutor in the anti-corruption and bribery division, recieved an MBE for services to combatting fraud, bribery and corruption. He is soon to join Gibson Dunn & Crutcher as a partner in the US firm’s London disputes and white-collar crime practice.
• Fladgate corporate and M&A consultant Andrew Kaufman received an MBE for his contribution to Holocaust education. Mr Kaufman has been a partner and consultant at Fladgate for 23 years and advises German, Austrian and Swiss clients on corporate, commercial and employment matters in connection with their businesses in the UK. He receives the honour in recognition of his contribution to the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR), a national charity that delivers social, welfare and volunteer services to Jewish victims of Nazi oppression living in Great Britain.
• In the diplomatic service and overseas list, barrister Paul Mahoney, former UK judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, received the KCMG for services to international justice.

US/Europe: New partners at Akin Gump

Akin Gump has announced the election of 15 new partners across a range of practice areas. The new partners are Peter Altman (Los Angeles), Matthew Bivona (Dallas), Sam Brodie (London), Jason M. Daniel (Dallas), Christian Davis (Washington, DC), Brett Fieldston (New York), Hyongsoon Kim (Irvine), Alissa Miller (Los Angeles), Matthew Nesburn (Los Angeles), Brian Glenn Patterson (Houston/Dallas), Jonathan Pavlich (New York), Jonathan A. Ross (New York), Jason  Rubin (New York), Alan Yanovich (Geneva), Jacqueline Yecies (New York).

US: Ogletree Deakins elects 70 per cent female shareholders

Females dominate the promotions list at US employment law firm Ogletree Deakins, which represents management in labour and employment issues across the US. The newly-elected shareholders include: Bonnie Puckett and Deepa Subramanian (Atlanta), Lisa Karen Atkins (Birmingham), Aimee Dreiss (Houston), Matthew Kelley (Indianapolis), Daniel Adlong (Orange County),Patricia Matias (Orange County), Ursula Kienbaum (Portland), Jeanne Floyd (Richmond), Tim Johnson (San Diego) and Dee Anna Hays (Tampa)

Ukraine: Vasil Kisil promotes three to partnership

Kiev law firm Vasil Kisil has promoted Volodymyr Igonin,Oleg Kachmar and Anna Sisetska to its partnership. Mr Volodymr is a corporate and M&A lawyer working with clients such as Arricano, LNZ Group, Mellanox Technologies, Modern Times Group, Seven Hills, Agro-Region, Astarta, Epicenter, Intellectual Communications, Lekhim, Nicmas, the firm said. Mr Kachmar heads up real estate and construction with clients such as Piraeus Bank, Raiffeisen Bank Aval, Astellas Pharma and Pioneer. Ms Sisetska specialises in antitrust and commpetition law including project and trade finance. Her clients include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Dubai Aerospace Enterprise and BOC Aviation. The firm is a member of TerraLex, a global law firm alliance.