Gowling WLG is further strengthening its International Arbitration practice and disputes team with the appointment of international construction lawyer Peter Anagnostou in the Middle East.

Peter will be based in Dubai and joins the firm following a decade working in the Middle East advising global contractors, funders, developers, consultants, engineers and government bodies. He has joined Gowling WLG from DLA Piper, where he was special counsel in commercial litigation and international arbitration based in Dubai and Sydney during his time with the firm.

Allen & Overy announces it is bolstering the global structured finance practice as partner John Goldfinch.

John, who joins the firm from Milbank, is widely recognised as one of Europe's leading structured finance advisers, with a particular focus on the CLO and related markets. His appointment supports A&O’s continued growth and investment in the private capital space, which is a key strategic focus for the firm.

DLA Piper is proud to announce the arrival of trademark, copyright and right of publicity lawyer Staci Jennifer Trager as a partner in the firm’s Trademark, Copyright & Media Practice. She is based in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Simmons & Simmons has strengthened its UK Corporate, Real Estate and Private Equity practices by hiring leading private equity real estate partner Oliver s’Jacob.

Joining Simmons from the London office of a US law firm, Oliver brings over two decades of working in private equity real estate across Europe, establishing a reputation as one of the market’s leading lawyers.

Global law firm Dentons has recruited Gianmarco Tortora as a partner in the Tax practice in Milan. He joins along with a team composed of lawyer Marco Fasola and trainee Alice Pendenza.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP announced that data privacy attorney Briony Pollard has joined the Firm as a partner. She is based in the Firm’s London’s office, and is part of Willkie’s Privacy, Cybersecurity & Data Strategy practice group. 

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is pleased to welcome to the firm new partners, Nelson Ahn and Edward Kim, who focus their practices on advising both South Korean and non-Korean businesses on a broad range of domestic and cross-border transactions, operational and regulatory matters.

Further expanding its reputation as one of the premier global restructuring platforms, Paul Hastings LLP announced that William Needham, a leading financial restructuring and distressed debt specialist, has joined the firm as a partner in London. He will serve as the co-chair of the firm’s European restructuring practice with fellow partner Mei Lian.

Akin is pleased to welcome Opher Shweiki, former U.S. Department of Commerce, Chief Counsel for the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office. With 25 years of experience between the departments of Justice and Commerce, Shweiki brings a wealth of knowledge and experience as well as an impressive track record of handling high-profile national security, export control and other cross-border government regulatory and enforcement matters.

Susanne Grooms has joined Cooley as a litigation partner to launch the firm’s congressional investigations practice based in Washington, D.C. A former federal prosecutor and Capitol Hill veteran, Grooms previously served for more than a decade in the senior leadership of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, the principal investigative committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, and most recently led congressional investigations as a partner at Kaplan Hecker & Fink.