Milbank LLP is pleased to announce that Gurbir S. Grewal, most recently Director of the Division of Enforcement of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, has joined the firm as a partner in New York. Prior to serving as Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, Mr. Grewal served as Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, Bergen County Prosecutor, and a federal criminal prosecutor for both the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the US Attorney’s Office for New Jersey.

Morgan Lewis is pleased to welcome Sarah Guske as a partner resident in San Francisco, adding to the firm’s bench of intellectual property (IP) litigators with deep technical knowledge. Sarah arrives from Baker Botts, where she most recently chaired the California IP department and previously served as co-chair of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Trials Group.

Linklaters has strengthened its market leading Financial Regulation practice with the appointment of Marc Perrone, who rejoins the firm as a partner in Paris, and Mariken van Loopik, who joins the firm as a partner in Amsterdam. The double appointment reinforces the firm’s top capabilities against the backdrop of an increasingly complex and multi-dimensional regulatory global landscape for clients.

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has continued its expansion in Australia with the appointment of partner James Stewart and special counsel Roger Hawkins to our corporate team.

James is a leading M&A and equity capital markets lawyer, with a focus on public company takeovers, private M&A deals and private equity. He has extensive experience acting on complex cross-border transactions across Asia Pacific. His experience has seen him appointed to the Australian government’s Takeovers Panel.

International law firm Bird & Bird strengthens its Finance & Financial Regulation practice in the Netherlands with the hire of new partner, Andries Doets, in The Hague.

Freshfields announced that Claire James has joined the firm and will serve as Head of New York Private Equity. Claire’s broad skill set allows her to lead a wide range of private equity transactions for clients across different industries and investment strategies.

Global law firm Hogan Lovells announced Jennifer “Jenny” Fleury has joined the firm’s Global Regulatory and IP practice as a partner in the Antitrust, Competition, and Economic Regulation (ACER) practice in Washington, D.C. Fleury, who was previously a senior associate, rejoins the firm from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where she served as the Deputy Chief Trial Counsel for the Bureau of Competition.

Global, sector-focused law firm HFW has continued to expand its fast-growing Middle East offering with the hire of Partner Kashif Syed in Kuwait City.

Kashif has a broad corporate and commercial practice and joins HFW from International Legal Group, having previously been at DLA Piper and Dentons.

He becomes the fifth Partner to join HFW in the Middle East over the past 24 months, following the arrival of Abdulrahman Al-Ohaly in Riyadh, Dubai construction Partner Slava Kiryushin, and top-ranked Dubai shipping and offshore team Rob Lawrence and Ian Chung.

Expanding the firm’s global, UK, and European intellectual property (IP) practice, Morgan Lewis welcomes Tim Powell as a partner resident in London. Tim, a co-founder of London-based IP boutique Powell Gilbert, represents clients in high-stakes patent litigation before UK and European courts in the life sciences and technology industries.

In a move that significantly bolsters Pillsbury’s finance and private equity offerings, the firm welcomes partner Robert “Robby” Stein in New York. Stein advises private equity sponsors, their portfolio companies, and other public and private companies in connection with debt financings of all stripes, including acquisition and venture financings. He joins the firm’s Finance & Restructuring practice from Goodwin.