Latham recruits another PE star from rival Clifford

• Latham & Watkins hired its third private equity partner from Clifford Chance within the last year, this time grabbing the UK magic circle firm’s London partner and Africa co-head Kem Ihenacho. His departure follows the exit of former private equity head David Walker and Tom Evans who both left for Latham in 2013.

• Dechert recruited private funds lawyer Mark Browne to its Dublin office. He was previously with Mason Hayes & Curran.

• Winston & Strawn has recruited Eva Davis from Kirkland & Ellis to become chair of the firm’s West Coast private equity practice.

• London-based private funds lawyer Nick Benson left Weil Gotshal & Manges to join Latham & Watkins.

• Jae Chul Lee joined Loeb & Loeb’s Hong Kong office where he will specialize on Korea-related transactinos. He was previously with DLA Piper.

• Joe Basile joined Foley Hoag as co-chair of the law firm’s M&A practice. He was previously managing partner of Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ Boston office.

• Divakar Gupta joined Cooley as a New York-based partner in the law firm’s capital markets practice. He was previously with Latham & Watkins.

• Allen & Overy hired Karan Dinamani to boost its London private equity practice. Dinamani rejoins his former colleague Stephen Lloyd who was named co-head of A&O’s private equity practice late last year.

• O’Melveny and Myers recruited London private equity lawyer Dan Oates from Kirkland & Ellis.

• Simmons & Simmons hired Dale Gabbert as a partner in its London-based funds practice. He was previously with Reed Smith, where he headed that firm’s Europe and Middle East funds practice.

• Meanwhile Reed Smith appointed leveraged finance partner Ben Davis to its UK finance practice. He was previously with Travers Smith.

• K&L Gates added Jean-Patrice Labautière as a partner in its Paris-based M&A practice. He was previously with Allen & Overy.

• Pepper Hamilton recruited Simeon Gold to its New York office. He was previously a partner with Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where he was co-head of the firm’s corporate restructuring practice.

• Weil, Gotshal & Manges appointed Albert Cho as a partner in its Hong Kong private funds practice. He joins from Kirkland & Ellis.

• Meanwhile Weil added Chris McLaughlin to its London office as a partner in its banking and finance practice. He was previously with Hogan Lovells.

• Yasho Lahiri joined law firm Sutherland Asbill & Brennan as a New York-based fund formation partner. He was previously with Baker Botts.

• Morgan Lewis hired private funds lawyer Tom Cartwright as a partner in London. He was previously with Taylor Wessing.

• Lowenstein Sandler named M&A lawyer Michael Brosse as a partner in its New York corporate department. Previously, Brosse worked at Kirkland & Ellis where he was a partner.

• Jesse Kanach, who specializes in regulations impacting private fund advisors, joined the Washington DC office of Perkins Coie. He was previously with Shearman & Sterling.

• K&L Gates added M&A lawyer Siew Kam Boon as a partner in its Singapore and Shanghai offices. He joins from O’Melveny & Myers.

In related news, offshore law firm Harneys is expanding its global footprint with the opening of its seventh office in Singapore. Colin Riegels, head of the firm’s banking and finance practice, will relocate from Hong Kong to Singapore to act as managing partner of the new office. He will be joined by Hong Kong funds partner Lisa Pearce.

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