Three senior partners at leading global law firms have marked the start of January by setting up as independent arbitrators and counsel.
The trio are Alex Bevan, who has left A&O Shearman, White & Case’s Paul Friedland, who has set up his own practice in New York, and Charles Adams, who has followed a similar path after the closure of former firm Orrick’s Geneva office.
Bevan, who trained and qualified at legacy Shearman & Sterling, served as head of international arbitration at Shearman before its 2024 merger with Allen & Overy and subsequently as co-chair of the merged firm’s arbitration practice. He was based in London and Abu Dhabi.
In a LinkedIn post, he said he would primarily focus on work as an independent arbitrator, adding: “It has been a privilege to have been given the responsibility of serving as global head of international arbitration at Shearman & Sterling and more recently at A&O Shearman.”
He is the third arbitration partner to have left A&O Shearman’s arbitration practice over the course of 2025: in May, Matthew Hodgson left to join Linklaters in London, while the firm’s head of German arbitration, Anna Masser, joined a boutique law firm in October.
A spokesperson for A&O Shearman said: “We thank Alex for the contribution he has made to the firm and wish him all the best for the future.”
Friedland, meanwhile, leaves White & Case in New York, having served as global head of the firm’s international arbitration group from 2002 to 2019.
He joined the firm as a partner in 1997, following 15 years at Coudert Brothers, where he had risen to partner. Friedland has served as arbitrator or counsel in numerous international arbitrations and has held leadership positions at major arbitration institutions, including the American Arbitration Association (as a director, executive committee member and chair of the Law Committee), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (where he has been a member since 2014), the London Court of International Arbitration (as a member from 2005-10) and the IBA (as co-chair of the internationally respected Arbitration Committee from 2014-15).
In a LinkedIn post, he said he would practise as an international arbitrator from his new firm, Friedland Arbitration, and would also continue to act as counsel for certain longstanding clients in the insurance and energy sectors.
White & Case partner, and his successor as co-head of the practice, Charles Nairac praised Friedland’s “stellar career”, calling him “a true pillar of our successful international arbitration practice”.
Nairac added that Friedland had mentored a generation of White & Case arbitrators, including himself and fellow practice co-head Ank Santens, adding: “Paul will be missed, and we wish him every success as he moves to a new chapter in his life.”
Adams, meanwhile, announced his intention to set up his own practice, Five Diamonds Law, in early December, following Orrick’s decision to close down its Geneva office last year.
The specialist arbitration chambers and law firm, which opened this month, will focus on commercial and family disputes for wealthy clients, with Adams, a former US ambassador and head of Orrick’s global arbitration practice until 2024, serving as chairman and general manager.
Also writing on LinkedIn, Adams said the practice, based in Geneva, would be modelled on an English barristers’ set.
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