Legal manoeuvres

• Baker & McKenzie global private equity head Mark McNamara has left the firm to take on a similar role at pan-Asia firm King & Wood Mallesons.

• Majmudar & Partners has hired M&A specialist Christopher Krishnamoorthy, who was previously with rival India law firm Trilegal, as an associate partner in its Mumbai office.

• Mintz Levin has added Adam Gale to its New York fund formation practice. Gale previously led Chadbourne & Parke’s hedge fund practice group.

• Bradley Bugdanowitz has been named chair of Goodwin Procter’s San Francisco office. Bugdanowitz, a partner in Goodwin’s business law department since 2008, focuses on M&A transactions, securities offerings and corporate governance.

• US law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett continues to build up its London presence with the hire of deals lawyer Derek Baird, who was previously global co-head of Allen & Overy’s private equity group.

• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has increased its partnership count by eight. Among the newly elected partners is London-based M&A lawyer Gabriele Antonazzo and New York-based fund formation lawyer Elizabeth Lenas.

• Duane Morris & Selvam has beefed up its Singapore office with the addition of Jamie Benson and James Wong. Benson, who focuses on India M&A activity, previously sat in Dorsey & Whitney’s London office. Wong, a private equity deals lawyer, joins from Crescent Advisors.

• Morrison & Foerster has named Brett Miller, a partner in the firm’s bankruptcy and restructuring practice, managing partner of its New York office. He succeeds litigation lawyer Charles Kerr who has led the office since 2008.

• Corporate finance and M&A lawyer Robert Darwin has left Withers to join Hogan Lovells' London office. 

• Private funds lawyer Patrick Goebel has joined Dechert’s Luxembourg office. He was previously with Allen & Overy. 

• Brian Daly has joined Schulte Roth & Zabel as a partner in the firm’s investment management and regulatory and compliance practice in New York. Daly joins the firm after nearly a decade serving in-house as general counsel and chief compliance officer at several hedge fund firms. He most recently was with Kepos Capital, which he joined in early 2010 as a founding partner.

• In related news London-headquartered law firm Norton Rose has built a significant US presence by joining forces with Fulbright & Jaworski. The combined entity, Norton Rose Fulbright, has 3800 lawyers in 55 offices across the USA, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Australia, Canada, Africa, Latin America and Central Asia.

• Meanwhile Paul Hastings and O’Melveny & Myers have both opened offices in Korea. Over the summer Ropes & Gray, Clifford Chance and Sheppard Mullen, Richter & Hampton became the first three law firms approved by South Korean regulators to open offices in the country following an opening of its legal services market. 

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