Senior Client Employee Benefits Advisor

Weekly update - 18th May 2026. Welcome to this week's update, where we bring you the latest moves, promotions, and strategic appointments shaping the legal industry. Partner Moves Individual UK & Ireland Elizabeth Wilson joins Joseph Hage Aaronson & Bremen's Construction Disputes practice, marking key personnel shift. Her arrival marks the fourth Partner to leave Quinn Emanuel for JHAB in just over a year, following the departures of James Bremen, James Mayers, and Mark Grasso in March 2025. Morgan Lewis continues to accelerate the growth of its global M&A platform with the upcoming arrival of Partner Philip Cheveley, who will join later this month in the firm's Corporate practice in London and will serve as the firm's European M&A practice lead. Philip will be joining from Covington & Burling. Dentons has appointed Gordon Anderson as a Construction Partner in its Projects practice in Glasgow. Mr Anderson joins from Addleshaw Goddard, where he was a Partner, to lead Dentons' non-contentious UK Construction practice. King & Spalding has added two Partners to its London practice. Corporate Real Estate Partner Ray Fang has joined from Goodwin, while Competition specialist Jade-Alexandra Fearns arrives from Paul Hastings. Tom van Wijngaarden joins JPR Advocaten in the Netherlands as a Partner in the Corporate practice. Tom joins from Eversheds Sutherland. Sebastian Maerker is leaving Clifford Chance after almost three decades and will join Mayer Brown in Frankfurt where he will strengthen the Capital Markets team. Charles Russell Speechlys today announces the appointment of Paolo Rampulla as the first Corporate Tax Partner in the Firm's Milan office. Paolo joins from Italian law firm ADVANT NCTM where he was a Partner for the past 23 years. Morgan Lewis & Bockius has hired a Paris Financial Regulatory Partner Arnaud Grünthaler. Grünthaler earlier spent seven years as a Partner at Fieldfisher and was at Simmons & Simmons for nine years. Dr. Björn Biehl will start as an equity Partner at Heuking's Munich office. Dr. Björn advises clients on national and international M&A and private equity transactions as well as on the restructuring and insolvency of companies and joins from Greenberg Traurig. Middle East International law firm Bird & Bird has strengthened its Media, Entertainment & Sports (MES) team with the appointment of Commercial Partner Bandar Al Hamidani in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Bandar joins from Al Tamimi & Company. DLA Piper is set to hire Banking Partner Andrew Bechtel from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, while Nikita Kumar is to join the partnership of Willkie Farr & Gallagher. They will both be joining in the London office. Eversheds Sutherland has added two new Partners in Dublin and Belfast, the latest additions to the firm's newly integrated Irish and Northen Irish practices. Commercial Partner Laura Fannin joins from Hayes solicitors and Corporate Partner Grant Edwards joins from Shoosmiths. US firm Haynes Boone has expanded its London bench with the hire of two Partners in Fund Finance and International Arbitration. Jeremy Cross joins as a Fund Finance Partner from Addleshaw Goddard and Philipp Kurek joins as an International Arbitration Partner from boutique Signature Litigation. A four-Partner team has left Sidley Austin for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, with three Partners departing its New York base, and one in London. Akin welcomes back Gerald Brant, Jeffrey Kochian and Brittany Harrison as Private Equity Partners in New York, along with Jonathon Hamill in London. Kennedys has boosted its London Corporate and Commercial team with a twin Partner hire from DLA Piper and Cripps. The incoming duo - Corporate Crime and Investigations specialist Will White and Corporate lawyer Lowri Jones - arrive a week after Kennedys announced a 20-strong partner promotions round. Paul Hastings announced the addition of a Private Equity and Real Estate team from Covington & Burling in London. The team led by Lyndsey Laverack and Jade Williams-Adedeji in London, also includes Partners Jack Mayall and José Maria Rodrigues. Promotions & Appointments The co-head of Freshfields' private capital group has been named as the firm's UK Managing Partner. Victoria Sigeti takes on the role from litigator Mark Sansom, who was first appointed in 2023. Global law firm Freshfields has named Mark Sansom as its new global Client Partner. Sansom will have responsibility for shaping and driving the firm's global client strategy across practice groups and sectors. Bird & Bird welcomes M&A specialist Florian Fehres as a new Corporate Partner in Amsterdam. Florian advises a broad range of international clients across various sectors and joins from Norton Rose Fulbirght where he was Special Counsel. Firm and Market Activity Office Openings & Closings Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has announced the relocation of its Riyadh office to the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD), marking a significant milestone in the firm's long-standing commitment to the legal landscape in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Their 9th office in continental Europe is launching with a focus on real estate, corporate/M&A, banking & finance and construction. They have a 40-strong team of new joiners who are being led by seven Partners. HFW's Geneva team has officially moved into its new offices at Le Rhône, Place de Hollande. The law firm RNX has started its work in Berlin. It was founded by the two former Poellath lawyers Sebastian Pasch and Dr. Puya Rezai Hariri as well as the lawyer notary Dr. Manuel Seidel, who previously worked for Luther. Professionally, they combine real estate law, corporate law and notary's office. Rosling King has filed for administration, citing "unmanageable" creditor pressure for the decision amid suggestions that it has found a firm to merge with. The single-site City firm, which specialises in real estate, private equity, construction and financial services, filed a notice of its intention to appoint an administrator on Friday, 8 May 2026. According to the firm, it is owed a substantial amount of money from clients in unpaid fees. Irwin Mitchell has moved into a larger office in Nottingham, further strengthening its presence in the East Midlands and underlining its continued investment in regional growth. The firm's new office, located on Stanford Street in the city centre, provides a larger base as Irwin Mitchell builds on the momentum it has developed in the region since entering the Nottingham market in November 2024. Fieldfisher moves HQ to new offices at 2 Chamberlain Square. Mergers & Alliances AGRD Partners, the Private Equity-backed association of Swedish law firms launched last year, has added its first non-Swedish firm to the group. Icelandic firm BBA/Fjeldco has joined the platform, marking the next step in the group's international expansion. The group said BBA/Fjeldco will bolster its transactional capabilities across M&A, capital markets, banking and corporate finance, as well as energy and PFI projects. Spanish-headquartered Pérez-Llorca has merged with Peruvian firm Miranda & Amado, marking its third deal in Latin America in the past two years as part of the firm's ongoing international push. The merger marks the firm's fifth international launch in recent years, after opening in Lisbon in 2023, and Abu Dhabi just earlier this year. The full integration is expected to complete in the coming weeks, subject to partner approvals, and will mark the first full merger between a local Peruvian firm and a Spanish-headquartered, international outfit. Financial Results The firm's results for the financial year that ended 31 March 2026 saw annual turnover rise 12 per cent to £105.2m (2024/25: £93.5m). On the back of the strong financial performance, the firm has shared its profits through an all-employee bonus that - on top of individual performance-related bonuses - has seen every employee receive an additional payment worth 10 per cent of their annual salary. Flint Bishop has recorded a revenue jump of 35 per cent for the 2025/26 financial year, doubling its size in two years. The Derby-founded firm has posted revenue of £42.7m, up from £31.6m the year before and £20.7m in 2023/24. Profit has also risen, while total headcount is up to 452, with 127 new joiners over the past 12 months. Market Commentary Irwin Mitchell is cutting roles in its private client offering as it exits its volume wills offering and refocuses the practice on higher-value advisory work. The firm confirmed the changes will include a small number of partner exits, including planned retirements. Discussions are ongoing with other affected staff. Sources familiar with the matter said the firm will explore redeployment opportunities where possible. John Quinn, who co-founded litigation giant Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan four decades ago, is to step down from his role as Executive Chairman. Innovation & Culture Technology & Innovation Anthropic has made a significant move into the legal sector, with the launch of 12 practice area plugins via its Claude AI-agent technology. At the same time, it has forged agreements to connect Claude with the software of more than 20 leading legaltech suppliers. On May 5, Linklaters announced the launch of Applied Intelligence, a new practice designed to build bespoke artificial intelligence workflows and tools for individual clients and matters. The practice unites attorneys and data scientists in a front office team to work together directly on live matters. Applied Intelligence was co-founded by Tom Quoroll, a structured finance partner and chair of the Linklaters' AI program, and Sarah Barnard, the firm's director of AI delivery. The team has three attorneys and three data scientists to start, with hopes to expand further.

Morgan Lewis bolsters deep bench of Litigation and labor & employment talent with partner trio. Tuesday, April 7, 2026 Morgan Lewis continues to strengthen its global litigation and labor and employment capabilities with the arrival of Shawn Regan, Torsten Kracht, and Christopher Pardo as partners in the firm's New York, Washington, DC, and Boston offices, respectively. The trio joins from Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and brings a collaborative, trial-ready team with extensive experience representing businesses in complex commercial, employment, and regulatory matters across key industries. "Companies around the world and across industries are navigating increasingly multifaceted disputes and turn to Morgan Lewis for coordinated counsel and strategic advice on these high-stakes matters," said Firm Chair Jami McKeon. "Shawn, Torsten, and Chris bring a strong record advising companies in high-stakes litigation and investigations, along with a practical, business-focused approach to client counseling." Shawn, who most recently served as firmwide practice group leader for Hunton's Corporate and Securities Litigation and Government Investigations practices and is the current president of the Federal Bar Council, focuses on complex business disputes and torts, securities litigation, and government and regulatory investigations, often involving cross-border considerations and novel legal issues. He has served as lead trial and appellate counsel in state and federal courts and arbitral forums, including before the US Supreme Court. Torsten represents US and international clients in commercial litigation and arbitration, with experience serving as counsel in jury and bench trials and in major arbitral proceedings. He advises on litigation strategy and risk management, leads internal investigations related to threatened or ongoing matters, and counsels clients pursuing claims in antitrust, contract, and tariff-related opportunities. "Shawn and Torsten are highly accomplished litigators with diverse cross-practice and cross-border business disputes experience," said Troy Brown, leader of Morgan Lewis's global litigation practice. "Their trial and appellate expertise, especially in commercial and business disputes, adds meaningful depth to our litigation bench in New York, DC, and globally, and we are excited to welcome them." Chris focuses his practice on complex employment litigation matters and providing strategic counsel to companies navigating workplace-related risks. He represents corporate clients in federal and state courts, arbitration, and before administrative agencies, advising on a broad spectrum of employment and business matters including wage and hour; trade secret litigation and restrictive covenant agreements; and discrimination issues. He also advises clients on a variety of commercial lawsuits. "Chris is a highly regarded litigator who brings a practical and business-focused approach to workplace disputes," said Michael Puma, leader of Morgan Lewis's global labor and employment practice. "His successful trial record and dispute resolution experience related to high-stakes employment matters and trusted counsel on a wide range of workplace issues will be valuable assets to our clients and our team." The addition of Shawn, Torsten, and Chris reflects Morgan Lewis's ongoing commitment to building a deep bench of trial lawyers across key markets, sectors, and practice areas. Since the start of 2026, the firm has welcomed IP litigation partner Matthew Rizzolo in DC, class action litigation partners Brian Buckley and Melissa Lawton in Seattle and Los Angeles, respectively, financial services litigation partners Matthew Martel and Joseph Sconyers in Boston, and employment litigation partner Benjamin Davis in Miami. Analysis | Jobs | News