Firm hire: ​Baker Botts continues London growth with two new partners

International law firm Baker Botts L.L.P. has announced that Richard Brown and Nick Collins have joined the firm’s corporate practice and global projects practice respectively, as partners.

Richard Brown, recognised as a leading UK and international equity capital markets (ECM) lawyer, and Nick Collins, a prominent global project development and finance lawyer, will be based in the firm’s London office.

’Our clients will benefit greatly from the addition of Richard and Nick. They each bring a high level of expertise and unique insights to their respective practices, which will ultimately provide significant value to the firm’s clients,’ said Andrew M. Baker, managing partner of Baker Botts.

’We continue to focus on growing our Corporate Practice, and Richard’s arrival is part of our strategy to build upon our already robust corporate group, while increasing our scale in London and New York. Likewise, the addition of Nick Collins significantly advances our strategy of building a world class project finance team to complement our project development, LNG and M&A practices,’ added Mr. Baker. 

’Richard has a stellar ECM practice that will significantly benefit our corporate offering and clients. Nick’s project development and finance practice will add further depth to the firm’s project finance expertise in the energy sector, particularly in the power sector. We are delighted they have decided to join the firm. These hires are an extremely positive start to the year as we look to continue our growth in London,’ said Mark Rowley, partner-in-charge of the London office and global projects partner.

’Baker Botts has world-class clientele across the technology and energy sectors, and the firm is at a very exciting growth stage in London. This is a superb opportunity for me to help further enhance its corporate practice and presence in the city,’ said Richard Brown.

’With its tier-one ranked oil and gas and LNG capabilities, Baker Botts is a natural fit for my practice. I am excited to play a part in the firm’s growth in London and to help deliver on its global objectives across project finance and energy,’ added Nick Collins.

Richard Brown advises issuers and underwriters on ECM transactions and has experience in public and private M&A transactions. He joins from Latham & Watkins, where he served as head of UK Equity Capital Markets in their London office. Over the course of the last four years, he has been engaged on approximately 20 ECM transactions, representing both issuers and underwriters/sponsors.

Nick Collins advises borrowers, sponsors, export credit agencies, banks, multilateral lending agencies, and Islamic finance institutions on complex, large-scale energy, natural resources, and telecommunications projects around the world. He joins from Jones Day and has extensive experience advising on project development and finance matters, debt capital markets, and banking and finance in Africa, the Middle East, the Russian Federation, and Asia. Prior to Jones Day, Nick was a partner at White & Case and Latham & Watkins.

Baker Botts has recently made a series of lateral partner hires in London including Energy partner Lewis Jones (March 2018) and Corporate and Technology partner David Ramm (September 2018). Other International hires include EU Antitrust partner Matthew Levitt (November 2018) in Brussels and Global Projects partner Euan Pinkerton (October 2018) in Riyadh.