Campbell Lutyens hires legal chief

Campbell Lutyens, a private equity advisory and placement boutique, has poached Penny Walker from Barclays Capital to act as its general counsel. Walker’s primary responsibilities will be to ensure funds in connection with Campbell are provided insight in industry regulations and to advise the firm on legal matters.

Penny Walker

Walker joins from Barclays Capital where since 2003 she acted as lead counsel for the bank’s private equity, infrastructure and principal investments divisions. While there, Walker advised clients on fund structuring, fundraising, and fund investment activities.

In response to some media reports speculating her departure from Barclays was in some way tied to last year’s legal shakeup at the bank—most notably the hire of former Ashurst structured finance chief Erica Handling last September as EMEA general counsel—Walker said this was not the case. 

“Erica Handling by all accounts is a really interesting and dynamic person. If anything, I would say a change in the old guard has been a good move, and it’s great to see two women at the top of the investment bank’s legal function”, said Walker in an interview with PEM.

Walker said she was recruited by Campbell Lutyens, “having worked with them on a previous mandate and found them to be superb advisers and great fun to work with.”

In a statement Campbell Lutyen’s managing partner, Andrew Sealey, said Walker’s experience was uniquely fitted to the firm’s strategy, adding “with the ever increasing complexity of the regulatory environment and the transactions we are involved with, she will prove an invaluable resource for both us and our clients.”

The news comes after the firm opened up shop in Hong Kong late last year. Leading the expansion is seasoned placement agent Conrad Yan, who spent a large portion of his career as managing director and Asian head of business development and client services for AIG Investments.