Kirkland plants third flag in China

PE Manager tracks private equity lawyer moves: Kirkland & Ellis deepens its footprint in Greater China; a former SEC private funds official joins Stroock; Duane Morris opens in Myanmar; and more.

· Chicago-based law firm Kirkland & Ellis opened an office in Beijing, which will complement the firm’s posts in Hong Kong and Shanghai. The new office, which will focus on cross-border M&A deals, fund formation and government enforcement matters, represents Kirkland’s eleventh worldwide. 

· Also expanding its Asia presence is Duane Morris, which becomes the first US-based law firm to establish an office in Myanmar, according to a statement. 

Josyane Gold

· SJ Berwin funds partner Josyane Gold, a founding member of the firm’s private equity fund formation group, has taken on a non-executive director role at London-listed firm Electra Private Equity. Gold will continue to manage key client relationships for SJ Berwin.

· DMC Partners also recruited in-house counsel by reportedly hiring former Kirkland & Ellis lawyer Matthew Gerber for the job. While at Kirkland, Gerber was based in Hong Kong.

· Tram Nguyen, the former chief of the private funds unit within the Securities and Exchange Commission’s division of investment management, joined Stroock & Stroock & Lavan’s Washington DC office. While at the SEC, Nguyen led rulemaking affecting private fund advisers mandated by Dodd-Frank, exemptions from registration for venture capital and foreign private advisers, and Volcker rule provisions affecting banks' ability to sponsor and invest in private equity and hedge funds.

· Proskauer named Yong Ren as a Beijing-based partner in the firm's private investment funds group. He was previously with Mayer Brown. 

· Dallas-based M&A lawyer Michael Saslaw left Weil, Gotshal & Manges after 15 years to join Vinson & Elkins. 

· Offshore law firm Carey Olsen named Cayman Islands lawyer Michael Makridakis as partner and head of litigation.

· Mark Cummings joined the Hong Kong office of Walkers. The funds lawyer was previously with Appleby Global, where he concentrated on structuring private equity and hedge funds in the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands. Walkers also added former Maples and Calder funds partner Dawn Howe to its London office. 

· Marco Franzini, who was Italy private equity head at Simmons & Simmons, left the firm to join Eversheds, where he will continue to focus on corporate finance and restructuring. 

· US law firm Edwards Wildman Palmer opened an office in Turkey. The new office will focus on cross-border private equity and corporate-backed M&A transactions throughout the Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa region.

· MJ Hudson, the alternative asset law firm, and Jersey’s VerrasLaw have agreed to merge. The merged firm, which will be known as MJ Hudson, will focus on investment funds, corporate finance and M&A work, both onshore in London and offshore in the Channel Islands.

Know of any private equity lawyer career moves we might have missed? If so, email PEM editor Nicholas Donato at nicholas.d@peimedia.com.