MOVING ON

PRIVATE PRACTICEPartnersInternational moves lead the way in the first round-up of 2002.Norton Rose is set to reopen its Hong Kong office in April following its enforced departure from the island in 1999, when its association with local firm Johnson Stokes & Master broke down (see page 14).

The office will have a new corporate finance partner, Graeme William Muir, who joins from financial services company Nomura International, where he was an associate director and part of the in-house legal team.Moving to Norton Rose's Frankfurt office is a corporate finance partner Dirk Otto, who moves from Linklaters Oppenhoff & Rdler.US firm LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae's London office has lost English solicitors Garry Pegg, most recently its managing partner, and Hywel Jones to the London office of Washington firm Hogan & Hartson.

Mr Pegg will be co-managing partner of the office; they bring international project finance, energy and corporate experience.KLegal, the associated law firm of KPMG, has recruited the entire intellectual property team from London firm Henry Hepworth Organisation, including partner Catrin Turner and director - the KLegal term for salaried partner - Eddie Powell.

The firm's partnership now stands at 21.Denton Wilde Sapte has recruited Naomi Horton as a partner in its energy and infrastructure department.

She leaves the position of head of rail at Rowe & Maw.Thames Valley firm Willmett & Co has promoted commercial property lawyer Karl Haycock to equity partner in its Windsor office.

Senior partner Sandra Miller has announced her retirement and is being replaced by head of litigation Alan Miller.Commercial lawyer Russell Wright has been promoted to partner at Canterbury firm Furley Page.Birmingham matrimonial firm Benussi & Co has made Helen Jane Arnold its second partner.Manchester firm Rowe Cohen has appointed commercial property expert Adrian Taylor as partner.

He joins from Oldham firm Firth Whitehead.

The firm's property department now has 30 lawyers, a 200% growth over the last year.Patricia Jones, who was head of employment at Manchester firm George Davies, has across the city to Lopian Wagner.

Personal injury lawyers Richard Stone, Louise Turner and Carin Bradley have all been promoted to associate partner at Lopian.

Nicholas Wilson has joined from David Yablon of Bradford and becomes an associate partner in the employment department.To the west, there is a new partner in DLA's Liverpool office, with the move of commercial litigator Colin Gibbons from JST Mackintosh.

PRIVATE PRACTICEAssociates/assistantsIn addition to the two new partners at KLegal (see above), the rest of the IP team moving from Henry Hepworth are solicitors Jennifer Holroyd, Lewis Cohen, Melissa Hall and Meera Gosai.City-based maritime law firm Holmes Hardingham has promoted Tim Houghton to associate.Reading firm Pitmans has celebrated the new year by making a raft of new appointments:l Corporate department - Martin McGrath from Nabarro Nathanson, Phillipa Clark from Clarks, and Victoria Seton from Kent Jones & Done (all assistants); l Commercial property department - Joanne Bryan from now-defunct Manchester firm Phillip Conn & Co, Bernadette McCooey from Northern Ireland firm McCartan Turkington & Breen, Nisha Skula from Hutchins & Co, and internal promotion Helen Graley (all assistants);l Pensions department - David Hosford, senior associate from Burges Salmon;l Litigation department - Rowena Wisniewska, assistant from Blandy & Blandy, and;l Defendant personal injury department - Alex Monro, solicitor from David Tubby & Co.Staying in the Thames Valley, Newbury-based firm Gardner Leader has recruited tax planner Trudy Rogers as an assistant from Hawkins Russell Jones.Uxbridge-based Iliffes Booth Bennett has recruited Tim Adams from Clifton Ingram to work as a senior solicitor in its company/ commercial team.Moving west is solicitor Georgie Messent, who leaves City giant Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for the environmental law department at Bristol firm Burges Salmon.Leaving Burges Salmon is commercial property assistant Catherine Holdsworth, who joins Cheltenham firm Rickerby Watterson.Employment law solicitor Nathan Thomas has joined the Leicester office of Gateley Wareing from Bedford-based Borneo Linnells.Leaving Gateley Wareing are senior solicitor Jayne Dixon and solicitor Michael Lawrence, who join the commercial litigation team of Midlands firm Freethcartwright.

OTHERSThe trend of barristers joining law firms continues with William Wilson moving to Burges Salmon as a consultant in its environmental law unit.

He joins from working for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.Barrister Robert Foote is another new recruit at Pitmans (see above).

He will join the litigation department from City firm Dechert.Addleshaw Booth & Co has appointed non-practising barrister Andrew Rigby to head up the technology and e-commerce practice in its City office.

He joins from City firm Tarlo Lyons, where he was head of the e-commerce, data protection and digital media group.