Clifford Chance begins rebuilding funds team

London-based law firm Clifford Chance has begun rebuilding its depleted fund formation practice with the hire of Debevoise & Plimpton counsel Gerard Saviola.

Simon Tinkler, partner and head of the corporate practice, said the firm “spoke to a range of people” to plug the gap left by Edward Gander, Nick Benson, Nigel Clark and Jonathan Kandel resigning to join Weil Gotshal & Manges last Summer.

Gerard Saviola

Saviola, whose ten year career with Debevoise spanned across New York, Paris, Hong Kong and London, brings a “fantastic list of client references”, said Tinkler. He added the firm has not seen any client relationships end as a result of the four-team departure to Weil and expects that “to continue being the case.”

Saviola, who joins the firm’s London base, has several high-profile names in his roster of clients includes Barings, Park Square, Morgan Stanley and Sun Apollo. He will work alongside Nigel Hatfield, head of the firm’s private funds group in London.

“[Saviola] is the right guy to bring in to the fund formation practice as we have an excellent pipeline of work coming through,” said Tinkler.

The firm doesn’t expect to make any additional hires in the short term.