Morgan Lewis has bolstered its London competition and structured finance offering with the hire of a partner apiece from Baker McKenzie and Akin Gump. 

Paul Johnson, who advocates for clients before the UK Competition and Markets Authority and the European Commission, has joined today from Baker McKenzie. Meantime Dasha Sobornova, who focuses on representing lenders in collateralised loan obligation transactions, has moved over from Akin.

Their arrival continues a string of hires in Morgan Lewis’s London office over the past year across M&A, IP, secondaries and cybersecurity regulatory, and takes the firm’s partner count in the city to 43. 

“With stabilising interest rates driving increased deal flow in an environment of heightened regulatory scrutiny, London continues to be a key global regulatory, financial and enforcement hub,” said Morgan Lewis chair, Jami McKeon. “Paul and Dasha’s extensive knowledge of EU and UK regulations, coupled with their deep understanding of financial and industry dynamics, will bring immediate benefit to our clients as they navigate this evolving landscape while seeking to capitalise on opportunities that advance their business interests.”

Johnson brings 20 years of experience practising EU and UK competition law in London and Brussels. His practice covers multi-jurisdictional and EU merger control, cartels, compliance programmes, joint ventures, abuse of dominance, distribution and other commercial relationships, with a focus on the energy, financial services and technology sectors. He has spent the past 10 years at Baker McKenzie, before which he had a stint as a technical specialist at the Financial Conduct Authority and practised at legacy Berwin Leighton Paisner. 

A Baker McKenzie spokesperson commented: “We can confirm that Paul Johnson has left Baker McKenzie. We wish him all the best for the future.”

Meantime Sobornova joined Akin in 2022 from Mayer Brown, where she was a partner. She works on CLO investments including advising fund managers in structuring and documenting novel fund finance arrangements. She also advises on residential mortgage-backed securities, derivative and credit fund transactions and acts as a regulatory advisor in the context of securitisation structures. 

Morgan Lewis also recruited leading IP litigator Hiroshi Sheraton from Baker McKenzie in London last September, around the same time it secured prominent patent lawyer Tim Powell, a co-founder of boutique IP firm Powell Gilbert. That followed secondaries partner Ted Craig’s arrival from Paul Hastings in the summer and Vishnu Shankar joining as a partner in late 2023 from the Information Commissioner’s Office, where he was head of legal for regulatory enforcement. 

Morgan Lewis has also been building its ranks in continental Europe, absorbing the 54-lawyer Paris office of Kramer Levin that wasn’t included in its planned merger with Herbert Smith Freehills at the start of this year and boosting its partner headcount in Germany with IP hires from rivals including Baker McKenzie and Reed Smith. The firm opened its second German office in Munich in 2023 with the hire of a 20-strong team from legacy Shearman & Sterling.