Newswatch · Europe
The week's lateral moves, promotions, offices, mergers and pay across London, Frankfurt, Paris, sourced and checked.
OfficesGibson Dunn builds senior Madrid M&A team under AlbarránGibson Dunn is building a small, senior Madrid team around Armando Albarrán to target high-end private equity and M&A deals.
LeadershipPinsent Masons elects Richard Griffiths managing partnerPinsent Masons has elected property head Richard Griffiths as managing partner after a contested vote.
Lateral movesWeil London Partner Departures Hit Finance and Private EquityPartner exits from Weil's London office, concentrated in leveraged finance, private equity and restructuring, are feeding rival US firms' City build-outs.This week · 12–18 October 2026
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Employment lawyer Michael Kalbfus (44) moves from Pinsent Masons to Simmons & Simmons in mid-October. He is to build an employment law practice at the firm's Munich office. He specialises in employment law advice on technology topics.
Dr. Lilly Fiedler (46), an equity partner and notary, moves from Ypog to Raue at the start of 2027. She joins with a team.
SourceJUVE
Pellicaan Advocaten appointed Elif Barioglu and Xander Alders as partners. VanLoman is expanding to Brainport Eindhoven, with Jeroen Geers joining as partner to lead the new office. Arjan Kleinhout returns to De Brauw as Of Counsel on 15 October 2026.
SourceAdvocatie
Squire Patton Boggs appointed partners Rachel Kerr and James Eddowes to its Real Estate Practice Group in Birmingham. Both join from Gowling WLG. Tom Durrant is Birmingham office managing partner and Matthew Dalzell is European head of the Real Estate Practice Group.
SourcePulse 2.0 — Law
Portuguese firm Paxlegal announced four hires at its Braga office: Nuno da Silva Vieira, Rui Ferreira Antunes and Ana Peixoto as equity partners, and Isa Meireles as senior associate. Da Silva Vieira becomes co-Managing Partner alongside Bárbara Pestana. The firm now has six partners, one Of Counsel, four senior associates, four associates and two consultants.
SourceLawyerpress
Peruvian firm AMC Lawyers announced three new counsel: Milko Ortega Polar (Public Law and Infrastructure), James Raphael Morales Campos (Public Law and Regulatory) and Jack Melchor Rojas Alcarraz, who will lead a new Criminal Law practice. Jhon Malca Saavedra, senior partner, commented on the hires.
SourceLawyerpress
Two partners have left Reed Smith's London office this week. Three senior lawyers are also expected to depart from Latham in New York. No names, destinations or practice areas are given.
Ignacio Ruiz joins Andersen as partner in the Tax department to strengthen M&A tax advice. He is accompanied by Andrea Gonzalo (Senior Associate) and Miguel Ponce (Consultant). He has over 15 years of experience.
SourceLawyerpress
Ontier has added Emil Ruppert as partner in its Peru office, in the Corporate, M&A and Mining area. He comes from Rubio Leguía Normand, where he was a partner. He has nearly 40 years of experience.
Ecija launched a tax innovation practice within its legal innovation area. It hired María del Carmen González de Luis from PwC Tax & Legal, who has over 12 years of experience. The firm is led by Alejandro Touriño.
SourceExpansión — Jurídico
Pinsent Masons appointed James Quirke as a partner to lead its corporate tax team in Dublin. He joins from McCann FitzGerald, where he became a partner in 2024. He is a solicitor, chartered accountant and chartered tax advisor.
SourcePulse 2.0 — Law
Lorenzo Hernández joins Mirlo and arrives accompanied by Caridad Senderos. Hernández has spent part of his career in Mexico.
Osborne Clarke has added Guillermo Rodrigo and Ana Castedo as partners. They have more than 25 years of experience and join to strengthen the real estate and industrial and intellectual property practices in Spain.
SourcesExpansión — JurídicoLawyerpressConfilegalEconomist & Jurist
HSF Kramer hired a six-lawyer real estate team from K&L Gates. The firm is accelerating plans to build a full-service Italian office capable of taking on the country's biggest domestic and international firms.
SourcesThe Global Legal PostLaw.com — International EditionLegal Desire
Félix Vega, professor (catedrático) of financial and tax law at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, is joining Allyon ETL to reinforce its tax area.
SourceExpansión — Jurídico
Pinsent Masons has lost two more South African partners. Its Johannesburg office has lost more than 25% of its legal team in the past year. International firms are grappling with fee pressures and foreign exchange volatility in South Africa.
Richelieu Avocats welcomed Camille Tohier-Desclaux as associée in its business litigation department. She handles banking law, civil liability and business criminal law, assisting companies and banks in civil, commercial and criminal disputes. She previously worked at L & associés avocats and TGLD, then founded and led her own firm CTD until 2026.
CMC Avocats welcomes Frédéric Biais to its business law teams. He has been a member of the Bordeaux bar since 1984 and works on development and restructuring operations and high-stakes matters, in advisory and litigation, for companies and executives. He will continue to support his own clients alongside CMC Avocats' teams.
Delsol Avocats is reinforcing its Real Estate – Construction department with a new team led by Raphaël Berger (partner, co-head of the department) and Stéphanie Berger-Beche (counsel), accompanied by a team of 8 people. The team will be based in Lyon and Paris. The two previously ran Berger Avocats & Associés, which they created in 2020.
Squair is strengthening its corporate M&A team in Paris with the arrival of Romain Ferrando as partner. He was previously a partner at boutique firm Altiore Avocats, and earlier worked at firms including Ayache Salama and Lerins. His work covers company sales, fundraisings, management packages and intra-group reorganisations.
SourcesLe Monde du Droit — NominationsDécideurs Juridiques — Nominations
Weil has hired a private equity partner from Freshfields in London. Both firms have seen a recent wave of partner exits in London and beyond.
SourcesBluesky — Big Law searchLaw.com — International EditionLegal Business
RCD named David Pintos as new partner in innovation and entrepreneurship. His appointment joins the promotion of four other professionals. The firm is reinforcing its innovation and entrepreneurship, administrative and urban planning law, and labour law areas.
SourceExpansión — Jurídico
Pentecoste & Associés announced the appointment of Clara Heullant-Donat as partner. She advises on complex public contracts, concessions, public-private partnerships, renewable energy projects, project financing and public-law matters, and has a litigation practice before administrative and judicial courts. The partners said the appointment reflects a wish to favour internal growth.
Isabella Redl (28) is admitted as Rechtsanwältin in CMS Austria's IP practice group effective 13 October, per a press release from the Vienna office. She has been an associate at CMS Austria since 2023, focusing on consumer products and TMC sectors, including trademark and unfair competition law.
SourceExtrajournal (Austria)
Kirkland & Ellis announced the appointment of François Capoul and Benjamin Bignier as partners in its Paris office. Capoul joins the corporate practice and works in M&A and private equity. Bignier advises fund sponsors on fund structuring and formation, GP-led restructurings and liquidity transactions.
SourcesLe Monde du Droit — NominationsDécideurs Juridiques — Nominations
Signature Litigation's Paris office announced the promotion of Amany Chamieh to partner. She joined in January 2025 as counsel from Darrois and specialises in international arbitration, including disputes involving the Middle East and North Africa. The firm now has nine partners in Paris and 30 in total.
SourcesLe Monde du Droit — NominationsDécideurs Juridiques — Nominations
Goodwin in Paris named Aurélien Diday associé in its M&A/Private Equity team. He advises investment funds, management teams and companies on LBOs, management packages and cross-border transactions. He joined Goodwin in 2016 as an associate after King & Wood Mallesons, and is described as becoming counsel in 2024.
Racine Avocats in Nantes promoted Pierre Barboteau to associé in its real estate department. He specialises in public law, planning law, public construction, land law and environmental law. He joined Racine in 2021 as counsel and previously worked at Seban Avocats and Cornet Vincent Segurel.
BonelliErede relocated its Milan operations to a new 15,000 sqm headquarters at Via Fatebenefratelli 1. All Milan-based lawyers and business services staff are now in one building, replacing sites on Via Barozzi, Via Andegari and Via Marostica. The office will also be the hub for the firm's EMEA offices.
SourceThe Oath (Middle East)
Esteban Ceca Magán, managing partner of Ceca Magán Abogados, maintains a commitment to growing under its own brand. He is preparing new openings in Spain and points to a future integration in Portugal. He says the next three years will be tremendous for mergers.
SourceExpansión — Jurídico
Law.com interviewed the London leader, named in the title as Denise Gibson, about A&O Shearman's new London office and what it means for the firm. The title quotes Gibson as calling the merger 'ancient history'.
London-headquartered Stephenson Harwood's chief executive is stepping down. The firm is exploring a merger with Europe-based Taylor Wessing. Law.com International Edition reports this.
Legal Cheek says its latest exclusive data shows the highest-paying firm offers newly qualified solicitors £181,000. It says firms publicise trainee and NQ salaries, but pay higher up the associate ranks is less clear. It asks readers to share firm, department, PQE level and salary (base plus bonus) in the comments.
SourceLegal Cheek
Legal Cheek data from more than 40 firms puts the average first-year solicitor apprentice salary at around £28,600. The top figure is £33,000, at Gowling WLG, Weil Gotshal & Manges and White & Case. 24 returning firms raised starting salaries and nine held steady.
SourceLegal Cheek
Martyn Day, 70, senior partner and co-founder of Leigh Day, announced he will step back from day-to-day running of the firm in late 2027, 40 years after founding it. He will remain involved in certain claims. Five equity partners will lead, with Nigel Mackay as senior partner, Jamie Beagent as managing partner and Clare Campbell as deputy managing partner.
SourceLaw Society Gazette
The Solicitors Regulation Authority named Caroline Corby, chair of the Professional Standards Authority since 2021, as its new chair. She replaces Anna Bradley, who is leaving after eight years. Corby begins on 23 November.
SourceLaw Society Gazette
Stephenson Harwood has appointed James Linforth as chief executive from the new year. Current chief executive Eifion Morris is stepping down for 'personal reasons'. The firm is in ongoing merger talks with Taylor Wessing, with the two eyeing a combination before 1 May 2027.
SourceLegal Business
Caroline Corby, chair of the Crown Prosecution Service and the Professional Standards Authority, has been named chair of the Solicitors Regulation Authority. She takes the role on 23 November, succeeding Anna Bradley. She will be paid £105,000 a year and is expected to work at least two days a week.
SourceLegal Futures
UK listed law firm Gateley appointed Nigel Tranter as chief technology officer. He was previously chief digital officer at Orrick and earlier chief technology officer at Pinsent Masons. He will lead technology strategy, architecture, data, engineering, infrastructure, security and operations.
SourceLegal IT Insider
Paul Weiss and Clifford Chance are due to receive a total of up to £57.1m in legal fees for advising on Apollo Management's takeover of easyJet. The deal was announced in the summer. Apollo bid after easyJet had agreed a deal with Castlelake.
SourceLegal Business
Law.com says that after analysing hundreds of contracts it can reveal which firms make the most revenue from advising the U.K. government. The item names no firms and gives no figures.
Slaughter and May received 33 practice area rankings in Chambers UK 2027, including 10 Band 1 rankings. The guide recognises 68 of its lawyers with 85 individual rankings, 12 of them Band 1. The firm reports 38 individual and 12 practice area ranking increases.
Cooley partner James Maton was shortlisted for Partner of the Year. Special counsel Tristan Lockwood was shortlisted as a Rising Star in the Private Practice category. The British Legal Awards 2026 are hosted by Law.com.
SourceCooley — media feed
The roundup links to stories on states suing OpenAI, a Supreme Court shadow docket ruling on TV ad rates, a judge on Bill Essayli's likely disqualification, and a Ninth Circuit ruling on the "No Vigilantes Act". It also cites a Financial Times item saying the top of the UK legal market is pulling away from the pack.
SourceAbove the Law
Axiom Ince CFO Muhammad Ali, 44, denied conspiracy to conceal, destroy or dispose of documents after the indictment was amended to add him to count four. Four other defendants previously denied all charges. The 14-week trial is listed for February 2027.
SourceLaw Society Gazette
CMS advised Callstack.io on its acquisition of Margelo GmbH, a Vienna-based software developer. Margelo is valued at more than €20 million. According to a CMS release, it is Callstack's first acquisition since a 2025 growth investment from Viking Global Investors.
SourceExtrajournal (Austria)
Freenet, majority owner of Exaring since 2015, agreed to buy the remaining ~25% from minority shareholders for an initial €76 million, with up to €50 million more tied to performance. Valuation is €300 million. Hengeler Mueller advises Freenet (leads Kai-Steffen Scholz, Dirk Busch).
Freshfields advised Euricom S.p.A. on acquiring all shares in Müller's Mühle GmbH from GoodMills Deutschland GmbH, per a press release. Closing is subject to customary regulatory approvals and expected by end of 2026. The team was led by partner Nicholas Günther and principal associate Henri Conze (Düsseldorf).
SourceExtrajournal (Austria)
According to Financial Times reports cited by JUVE, Freshfields is examining a spin-off of its legal-tech unit 'Freshfields Lab' into a standalone company. An internal email chain, accidentally forwarded to a large distribution group, reportedly says leading partners hope for a valuation in the billions and want to attract external investors.
Joffe & Associés advised GENEO Capital Entrepreneur on its entry into the capital of Lodigroup, a French biosecurity and building protection manufacturer. The transaction is led by Geneo Capital Entrepreneur and BNP Paribas Développement. The Joffe team comprised partners Aymeric Dégremont and Romain Soiron.
HSBC's yearly UK Law Firm Strategy and Investment Survey of 100 law firms found almost three-quarters say greater use of technology is driving disruption, and 60 per cent cite clients bringing more work in-house. 73 per cent call AI integration a major organisational challenge. Almost every firm surveyed has a generative AI strategy.
SourceCity A.M.
Ithaca Holdings is taking Bumble private in a $1.3 billion deal. Davis Polk advised a Bumble special committee from New York, Washington, D.C. and London. Kirkland & Ellis advised Ithaca Holdings with a national team of about three dozen lawyers.
SourceThe Texas Lawbook
Sports investor John Textor has brought a nine-figure lawsuit against DLA Piper. He alleges the firm was representing him when it made changes to documents that cost him tens of millions. The allegations are Textor's claims.
SourcesLaw.com — The American LawyerLaw360 — Legal EthicsLaw360 — Legal Industry
Freshfields leaders are considering opening the firm's AI unit to external investment, discussing carve-out options into a separate legal entity they believe could be worth 'billions', according to a Financial Times report. The discussions were revealed by a leaked internal email exchange involving global managing partner Alan Mason.
SourceLegal Business
Bredin Prat advised Cemex on entering exclusive negotiations with Vicat for the proposed sale of its ready-mix concrete and aggregates activities in south-east France, including some joint-venture interests. Closing is expected before 31 December 2026. It is subject to works council consultation and merger control clearance.
Clifford Chance advised British International Investment (BII) and FMO on the US$52 million financing of the Kafue solar project in Zambia, developed by Globeleq Kafue Solar Limited. The Paris team was led by partner Delphine Siino Courtin. In London, partner Edward Bretherton and senior associate Jonathan Forrest advised on construction aspects.
McDermott Will & Schulte advised Elevation Capital Partners, via its FPCI Elevation Patria fund, on a minority investment in SOFEMA, a French defense equipment distribution and MCO company. Partners named: Fabrice Piollet and Maxime Fradet (corporate), Sabine Nauges (regulatory), Côme de Saint-Vincent (tax).
The Bundespatentgericht (Federal Patent Court) deleted Ceramtec's colour mark for hip implant components. It ruled on bad-faith filing, not lack of distinctiveness. The title reports Taylor Wessing as successful.
SourceJUVE
Cleary and Latham lead on the sale of French commercial vehicle lessor Fraikin, valued at €3B, to Spain's Asterion. A previous proposed sale of Fraikin Industrial Partners for around €1.5 billion failed to get by French antitrust regulators.
Senior UK law firm figures assess whether Number 10 North can turn buzz around Andy Burnham's devolution agenda into opportunities for the legal sector. Sarah Walton, managing partner at Weightmans, is one of many law firm leaders cautiously optimistic about the new Downing Street operation. She says the buzz in Manchester will drift away.
SourceLegal Business
The Ellwangen public prosecutor's office is investigating Innoscripta over suspicion that it may have helped customers obtain unjustified tax advantages. About a week earlier, group premises were searched under two warrants from the Schwäbisch Gmünd district court. The company has responded with an internal investigation.
SourceJUVE
Antas da Cunha Ecija advised QUADRANTE – Engenharia e Consultoria, as buyer, on acquiring the engineering business unit of Geometric Talks. The acquisition includes a project portfolio valued at about 750,000 euros, with activity in Portugal, the Middle East and Africa. The team was Carolina Meireles (counsel), Tânia Nogueira and Tomás Moita (associates).
SourceLawyerpress
MVP Schoenherr, based in Serbia, advised the lenders on a EUR 400 million syndicated facility for the State of Montenegro, per a press release. The facility has a seven-year term with semi-annual repayments and pays 6-month Euribor plus 2.5 percent. Partner Nikola Babić led the team; Petar Vučinić also worked on it.
SourceExtrajournal (Austria)
Lone Star Funds agreed to sell 100% of IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG to Crédit Agricole, S.A., per a press release. Hengeler Mueller advised Lone Star; Latham & Watkins advised IKB. IKB has a balance sheet total of EUR 14.3 billion.
SourceExtrajournal (Austria)
Taylor Wessing advised BPCE ENERGECO on financing Albioma's acquisition of a portfolio of photovoltaic plants in metropolitan France, for 8 million euros. The portfolio has 14 operating solar plants totalling 10.9 MWc of installed capacity.
Ballard Spahr attorneys are defending the British Broadcasting Corp. against President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation claim. They faced an "unusual, perhaps even novel" problem in discovery involving bypassing the Secret Service.
Simmons & Simmons has launched an AI adoption framework called the Legal AI Maturity Mountain. The text invites readers to find their place on it and see where to go next with the firm.
Latham & Watkins advised Partners Group's private credit platform as senior lender, on behalf of its clients, on a unitranche refinancing of Delabo.group. The facility is structured as unitranche/super senior, with further acquisition and investment facilities and a working capital facility. Delabo supplies dental technology products in Germany.
SourceExtrajournal (Austria)
Simmons, Cooley and Slaughter and May lead nominations in the Leadership in Law Awards shortlist. The awards ceremony takes place on December 3 and celebrates the best legal talent shaping the future of law.
Freshfields advised Asieris Pharmaceuticals on its conditional exclusive license agreement with Theramex for CEVIRA® (APL-1702). Theramex gets commercialisation rights in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. Aggregate deal value exceeds US$250 million.
SourceFreshfields — news
Goodwin advised Voltaback, a French fleet-management software company founded in 2024, on its €2.8 million fundraising led by Serena alongside several business angels. The Goodwin corporate team comprised Xavier Leroux (partner), Louis Taslé d'Héliand (counsel) and Charlotte Muller (associate).
A&O Shearman advised the lenders and hedging banks on the refinancing of the A28 motorway concession operated by Autoroutes de Liaison Seine-Sarthe (ALiS). ALiS is owned by Vauban Infrastructure Partners, Aberdeen, CVC and PGGM. The multi-tranche financing combines bank and institutional debt, partly guaranteed by Assured Guaranty.
Addleshaw Goddard advises Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations on a 35% minority stake, via Banque des Territoires, in Hydro Tanika, an EDF subsidiary developing the 50 MW Tanika marine pumped-storage project in La Réunion. Works are planned for the second half of 2028. The team included partners Mathieu Taupin and Jacques Dabreteau.
A column by the Global Lawyer says pressure to make big, often risky hires, alongside pressure to invest, is more intense than ever. It says this leads firms to avoid significant questions over long-term health, and that PE investment is unlikely to resolve this.
Confirmed items are announced by the firm or reported as fact by the cited outlets. Unconfirmed items are reports the firms have not confirmed. Every item links to its sources; we add nothing the sources do not say.
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