Linklaters has elected eleven new partners and six new counsel in its corporate practice (including specialist corporate practices such as investment management, financial markets, competition and pensions). The elections take effect on 1 May 2009.
David Barnes, Global Head of Corporate, said:
“I would like to congratulate all of the new partners and counsel on their election. These appointments strengthen our ability to provide complex cross-border advice to our clients and reinforce our commitment to investing in our corporate practice globally.”
The new partners are:
Mike Bienenfeld (London)
Mike is a US practitioner working within the Mainstream Corporate practice covering the US aspects of M&A, equity, debt and listed funds transactions. He joined Linklaters’ US practice in London in 1998. He was promoted to counsel in 2007 and is admitted to the New York Bar.
Simon Branigan (London)
Simon specialises in public and private M&A, private equity and equity offerings. He has considerable experience in the financial services sector. He joined the firm as a trainee in 1998, qualifying into the Mainstream Corporate practice in 2000 and was made managing associate in 2005.
Arnaud Coibion (Brussels)
Arnaud works within the field of private M&A and private equity, mainly on cross-border transactions. He joined Linklaters’ Brussels office in 1999 and is qualified as a member of the Belgian bar and as an England and Wales solicitor.
David Holdsworth (London)
David specialises in public and private M&A, with a particular focus on private equity. He has considerable experience in advising private equity and corporate clients on public bids, both recommended and hostile. David joined Linklaters’ Mainstream Corporate practice in London in 2001 as an associate and was promoted to managing associate in 2006.
Tim Johannsen-Roth (Düsseldorf)
Tim specialises in national and international M&A and corporate restructurings and has worked on numerous high-end corporate and (public) M&A transactions. He joined Linklaters in 2002 and was promoted to managing associate in 2005.
Kim Latypov (Moscow)
Kim has wide experience of cross-border M&A and joint venture work. He worked for two years in the legal department of Global One, a former telecommunications joint venture between France Telecom and Sprint, and completed a Magister Juris degree in 2002. Kim joined Linklaters’ corporate practice in Moscow as an associate in 2002.
Samantha Thompson (Hong Kong)
Samantha works on domestic and cross-border transactions including those requiring expertise in Hong Kong Listing Rules and, particularly, the Hong Kong Takeovers Code. She joined the firm’s Hong Kong corporate practice in 2006 as a managing associate and is qualified as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England and Wales.
Jiro Toyokawa (Tokyo)
Jiro specialises in corporate M&A work and is able to advise international clients on Japanese law transactions, as well as advising Japanese clients on non-Japanese law transactions. He joined Mitsui, Yasuda, Wani & Maeda as a finance lawyer, where he began to specialise as an M&A/Corporate lawyer following the merger with Linklaters in 2005.
Tomasz Zorawski (Warsaw)
Tomasz specialises in private equity and has advised on acquisitions, leveraged buyouts and disposals in CEE by private equity funds. He joined Linklaters’ Warsaw office in 2006, was promoted to counsel in May 2008 and is currently head of private equity in Central and Eastern Europe. He is a US-qualified lawyer.
Umesh Kumar (Hong Kong)
Umesh is a financial services regulatory expert. He advises a broad range of financial institutions including investment and commercial banks, asset managers and insurers on the regulatory issues relevant to their businesses. He joined Linklaters’ Hong Kong Financial Markets Group as counsel in 2008.
Markus Wollenhaupt (Frankfurt)
Markus is an expert in international regulated and non-regulated fund matters. He joined Linklaters’ German Investment Management Group (IMG) as an associate in 2005 after he spent three years at a top-tier German regulated fund manager and was promoted to managing associate in 2006. He acts for leading companies in the German securities, real estate and private equity funds market.
The five new counsel in the corporate division are: Carolin Goll-Müller (Employment, Munich), Machiel Galjaart (Mainstream Corporate, Amsterdam), Sophie Mathur (Mainstream Corporate, Singapore), Philippe Remels (Mainstream Corporate, Brussels), and Lorna Buckland (Pensions, London).
Counsel appointments recognise the major contribution made by senior lawyers with significant technical expertise who take on additional practice, client, know-how or team management responsibilities, alongside partners in their groups.
For further information, please contact:
Sarah Peters on (44-20) 7456 2153 or sarah.peters@linklaters.com
Rupert Winlaw on (44-20) 7456 3219 or rupert.winlaw@linklaters.com
