Winston Taylor has named its first managing partner in Paris after the merger that created it went live just over a week ago, and has hired a private equity partner from Gibson Dunn.
Grine Lahreche has been appointed managing partner of the 19-partner office, having been a partner at legacy Winston & Strawn for three years before its merger with Taylor Wessing's UK business.
Taylor Wessing's French and German businesses were not included in the tie-up, which created a transatlantic firm with more than 1,400 lawyers across 20 global offices and boasts revenue in the region of £1.2bn ($1.6bn), putting it just outside the top 40 in the Global 200 according to data published by Law.com.
Lahreche also leads the Paris private equity practice that has been boosted with the arrival of Patrick Ledoux from Gibson Dunn, where he practised for nearly 20 years. He focuses on corporate transactions, including private and public M&A, private equity and growth capital operations, strategic investments, joint ventures and fundraising.
Winston Taylor said Ledoux's hire reflected its commitment to investing in transactional talent as it builds its platform across the US, UK and Europe.
"[Ledoux's] experience, along with the quality of his background, reinforces our ambition to establish Winston Taylor as a top-tier institutional firm in France and across Europe," Lahreche said. "With the strength of our Paris team and the reach of our transatlantic platform, we are now better positioned than ever to support our clients on their most critical transactions."
Transactions is one of the “core defining capabilities” around which Winston Taylor is built, alongside litigation, IP and private wealth. The firm also identified TMT, life sciences and healthcare, financial services, and projects, energy and infrastructure as key industry sectors, areas that dovetail nicely with Ledoux's experience advising technology and banking clients, including Banque Française Mutualiste and Hologic as well as private equity firms like Tikehau Capital and TPG Growth
As part of the merger, Taylor Wessing partners in the Netherlands and Belgium voted to operate under the Winston Taylor brand, with full integration expected over time, subject to regulatory approvals. Winston Taylor also agreed a cooperation and referral arrangement with the legacy Taylor Wessing verein to provide continuous service to clients.
Winston Taylor's hire comes as Big Law firms hire private equity lawyers in Paris to capture market share in Europe's second-largest PE market. In March, Ropes & Gray snagged an eight-lawyer M&A and private equity team from Latham & Watkins, shortly after Latham added a PE quartet from Clifford Chance in the city to boost its energy and infrastructure coverage. In February, Proskauer Rose also hired three PE partners in Paris from Hogan Lovells.
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
