A co-chair of Gibson Dunn’s oil and gas practice has defected to Orrick in London.
Top-ranking M&A and projects advisor Anna Howell has joined Orrick as head of its global oil and gas practice alongside Mitasha Chandok, who has made partner on the move having been a counsel at her former firm.
News of the duo’s hire comes just a week after Orrick added four finance partners in London from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, as part of a larger hire that saw four more partners join in the US.
Orrick chair Mitch Zuklie said Howell was a “transformative hire whose practice connects with what we have built across the UK, Europe, the US and Asia, and augments our Africa offering”.
He added: “We look forward to continuing to build globally with her leadership, and with Mitasha, who is exactly the kind of next-gen talent who thrives on our platform.”
The duo, who worked together at legacy Herbert Smith Freehills before moving to Gibson Dunn in 2017, advise oil and gas majors and private equity funds in cross-border energy transactions. Recently they advised Marathon Oil on the disposal of its entire UK North Sea oil and gas portfolio to RockRose Energy and ADNOC on its investment in and purchase of LNG from NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG project. They also guided KKR on the disposal of its interest in the Acteon Group.
Howell said Orrick was “well known for innovating in the energy and infrastructure space and has built a platform that connects the market globally”.
He added: “This is exactly what our clients need at this incredibly dynamic moment to address opportunity and risk.”
The hires bring Orrick’s London energy and infrastructure partner count to 13, according to its website, including renewables PPA specialist Alfred Weightman who joined last year from investment firm GoldenPeaks Capital.
The firm said it had added 14 new partners so far this year to its global energy and infrastructure practice, which represents four of the top 10 oil and gas majors and 60% of the world’s top 100 energy investors. In August Hugues Martin-Sisteron joined as a partner in Paris from Clifford Chance, where he was counsel, bringing expertise in African markets, while partner Craig Byrne joined in Milan in May from A&O Shearman for complex financings.
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