Obstacle remover

In its efforts to create a harmonized European private equity market, the European Commission is leveraging the expertise of one of the industry's leading legal experts. Daniela Weber-Rey, a partner in the Frankfurt office of Clifford Chance since 1989, has been appointed to the Commission's Expert Group on Removing Obstacles to Cross-Border Investments.

In the context of the EU as a single market, the Commission argues that it is unsatisfactory that 75 percent of private equity investments are undertaken in the same country in which the management company is located and just 20 percent in other European countries. This happens, it maintains, because the EU has 25 separate tax and legal systems meaning that investors are dissuaded from making cross-border investments because of the complexity involved.

Weber-Rey has joined a group that will look at corporate and regulatory blockages to cross-border investments: it will not explore taxation issues, which is the remit of a separate Expert Group. Weber-Rey's group will meet three times to discuss existing frameworks and assess possible new approaches before submitting a final report to be published by the Commission in mid-2007.

As a member of the tax and legal committees of both the German and European private equity and venture capital associations, Weber-Rey believes she will be a valuable conduit between the industry and the Commission. ?I can feed back developments within the Commission to the industry, while feeding into the Commission what the industry wants,? she says.

The ultimate aim of the Commission is to create a common pan-European fund structure, which can be used for private equity investments throughout the EU. Weber-Rey says it wants to create a situation where if member states do not adopt the single fund structure they will ?find themselves at a competitive disadvantage to other member states, leading ultimately to what might be termed ?natural convergence?.?

PE specialists step up at Mayer, Brown
Several professionals with European private equity experience have been promoted to partner by international law firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw. They include: Paul de Bernier, a US-qualified lawyer in the London office who advises on private equity, M&A, equity and debt offerings, corporate restructurings, joint ventures, corporate governance and regulatory compliance; Dirk-Peter Flor from the finance group in Frankfurt, who advises on private equity, M&A, domestic and cross-border acquisition finance, real estate finance, distressed debt and banking law and regulation; and Olivier Parawan, a member of the Paris-based tax group, who advises on all aspects of domestic and international tax, including in relation to leveraged buyouts and cross-border acquisitions. In all, Mayer, Brown announced the appointment of 13 new partners in Europe as part of 39 promotions worldwide.

New partners at Weil Gotshal
International law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges announced the election of 20 new partners, effective in FEBRUARY. Most of the partnership class consists of women, a first in the firm's history. In the private equity field, new partners include Danielle Do in the M&A practice and Jonathan Soler in private equity in New York; David Meredith in capital markets and Suat Eng Seah in M&A in Shanghai, China; Jean Beauchataud in the M&A and private equity practice in Paris; Kevin Sullivan in private equity in Boston; Christian Tappeiner in private equity in Frankfurt, Germany; and Pawel Zdort in M&A and capital markets in Warsaw, Poland. Weil Gotshal employs more than 1,100 attorneys worldwide in 19 offices, including approximately 300 partners.

Gibson Dunn adds Politan
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher announced that Nicholas Politan will join the firm's New York office as a partner. Politan is a former co-chair of law firm Bingham McCutchen's Project and Structured Finance Practice Group. At Gibson Dunn, Politan will continue to focus his practice on transactional work primarily in the energy sector, including mergers and acquisitions, financings of all types, project development, construction and operation, and restructurings. He represents developers, sponsors, strategic investors and lenders. ?I'm looking forward to joining Gibson Dunn's energy practice and working closely with the firm's strong M&A and private equity groups,? said Politan in a statement. ?My practice blends energy project finance and M&A transactions, which I expect will build on Gibson Dunn's strong private equity client base, many of whom are investing significantly in the energy sector.?

Thirteen new partners at Simpson Thacher
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, one of the largest law firms serving private equity, announced that it has elected 13 associates as members of the firm effective in FEBRUARY. The new partners are: Barrie Covit, John Ericson, Kathryn King Sudol, and Ellen Reilly Patterson in the corporate practice in New York; Michael Garvey and George Wang in New York's litigation practice; Gregory Grogan in executive compensation and employee benefits in New York; Sasan Mehrara in real estate in New York; Nicholas Shaw in corporate in London; Farhad Karim in real estate in London; Patrick King in litigation and Chad Skinner in corporate in Palo Alto, California; and Arman Oruc in litigation in Washington, D.C. Simpson Thacher has more than 700 attorneys, including 165 partners worldwide.

Proskauer Rose promotes 17 attorneys
Law firm Proskauer Rose announced that it has promoted 14 attorneys to partner and three to senior counsel. In its corporate department, the new partners are Laurier Beaupre, Howard Beber, Sean Hill and David Jones in Boston; and Rima Moawad, Charles Parsons and Ori Solomon in New York. In its litigation and dispute resolution department, new partners include Evan Kahn, Matthew Queler, and Seth Schafler, with Jenifer deWolf Paine promoted to senior counsel, in New York; and Robert Horn and Jonathan Rich promoted to senior counsel in Los Angeles. Proskauer Rose is one of the largest law firms in the United States, and has of-fices in New York; Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; Boston; Boca Raton, Florida; Newark, New Jersey; New Orleans and Paris.

King & Spalding to establish Dubai office
King & Spalding, a global law firm, plans to open an office in Dubai. ?Many of our lawyers have been handling client matters in the Arabian Gulf region for over 20 years, and with the explosive growth in the investment within the region and the vibrant regional business hub that has developed there, we believe the timing is right for King & Spalding to have a significant presence in the region,? Robert Hays, the firm's chairman, said in a statement. He also added that the new office will also enable the firm to have access to ?other rapidly expanding regions of the world? like India and East Asia. Philip Weems, who heads the firm's energy practice, will lead the Dubai office. King & Spalding has more than 800 lawyers in Atlanta, Houston, London, New York and Washington, DC.

Paul, Hastings taps Kirkland vet for PE Chair
Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker appointed William Kirch to its Chicago office as partner and chair of the firm's global private equity practice. Kirch joins the firm after serving two years as the chief executive of the Indiana-based insurance company Conseco, Inc. However, the appointment makes more sense in the context of Kirch's experience prior to the insurer, as a leading private equity attorney with Kirkland & Ellis. While at Kirkland, he served in various management capacities including the firm management committee, chair of the compensation committee, co-chair of the finance committee, as well as other important management roles. Kirch has led the legal representation of hundreds of transactions including acquisitions of Boise Cascade and Jefferson Smurfit Group by Madison Dearborn Partners. During his career, Mr. Kirsch represented such clients as Audax Group, Bank of America Global Equity Group, CIVC Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners, Olympus Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Sun Capital Partners, Thomas H. Lee Company, Willis Stein & Partners and others. While at Kirkland, Mr. Kirsch served as General Counsel of Madison Dearborn Partners from 1999 through 2004 and also served as a member of the advisory committee of Sun Capital.

Fried, Frank adds nine partners to new Asia office
New York-based law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson has opened a new office in Hong Kong. Fried Frank focuses on the areas of mergers and acquisition, private equity, capital markets, finance, real estate and litigation. The firm has also added six new partners to the firm, including Huen Wong, Michael Hickman, Raymond Kwok, Victoria Lloyd and Liang Tsui. Stephen Mok, Philip Nunn, Joseph Lee and Gilbert Ho will also join as partners early in 2007. All the new partners will work in the new Asia office. In the past 18 months, the firm has doubled the size of its European practice, which consists of offices in London, Paris and Frankfurt, the firm said in a statement.

Dubai recruit for Maples
Cayman Islands-based law firm Maples & Calder has transferred associate Alex Last from its Hong Kong office to its Dubai office. Last specialises in private equity and hedge funds.