Moving on

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Partners

A series of double moves take the eye this week.

Graeme Hughes, previously at Berrymans Lace Mawer, and Nigel Jenkins, formerly head of legal at Royal & Sun Alliance in Bristol, have joined forces to create south Wales litigation practice Hughes Jenkins.

In Birmingham, Hammond Suddards Edge has boosted its finance team with the addition of partners Stephen George and Devinder Singh from Irwin Mitchell.

Two new property partners for south Devon firm Kitson Hutchings takes the total to 16: Peter Boyne and Mike Smith both join from Exeter firm Crosse & Crosse.

Consultant John O'Connor has moved with them.

In London, Manches also has two new property partners: Gerard Tomnay joins from City firm Nabarro Nathanson as head of corporate real estate, while Sloan Kelly moves from south-east practice ASB Law.

The London office of US firm McDermott Will & Emery has two new corporate partners: Richard Britain, formerly at Linklaters, and Nicholas Azis, from the London office of fellow US firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.

Fellow US firm Bingham McCutchen has scored a coup by recruiting Sarah Coucher to its London office.

She joins from Denton Wilde Sapte, where she was head of leveraged finance.

Elsewhere in the City, IT partner Michael Sinclair has joined Simmons & Simmons from KLegal.

Berwin Leighton Paisner has recruited corporate partner Ben Larkin from Dechert along with assistant Deborah Samuel.

Matthew Coleman has left CMS Cameron McKenna to become a partner and head of commercial litigation at Bloomsbury firm Bishop & Sewell.

Luciana Ispani has been promoted to property partner at Pini Bingham & Partners, which now has five partners.

Pritchard Englefield has a new senior partner - David Levene, head of the property department, takes over from Michael Cohn, who is becoming a consultant after six years in the role.

Brighton firm DMH has gained a new corporate partner: Vincent O'Brien, who is also US-qualified, leaves Stevens Drake in Crawley.

The Leeds office of Jacksons has been boosted by insurance litigator Peter Goodwin, who moves from Nabarro Nathanson.

Corporate lawyer Simon Wallwork has left Wacks Caller in Manchester to join Pannone & Partners as an equity partner.

City firms have also been busy abroad.

Brian Hoffman became a partner in Clifford Chance's New York-based mergers and acquisitions team, leaving Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft.

Miguel Riao - previously at Garrigues - has been brought in to head Linklaters' new utilities and public sector law department in Madrid.

Paule Drouault-Gardrat has left Lovells to become the head of life sciences at Bird & Bird's Paris practice.

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Associates/assistants

Beginning in the north-west, assistant Steven Harvey has left Cuff Roberts to take up a post as head of commercial litigation at Chester-based Hillyer McKeown.

Manchester firm Wacks Caller has brought in employment lawyer Neil Gouldson, formerly at Keely Beedham in Lichfield, as an associate.

Diana Robertson leaves Preston firm Rawsthorns, where she was a partner, to join the local office of Forbes as a commercial property associate.

To the north-east, where commercial lawyer Malcolm Woolfe has joined Close Thornton in Darlington from Newcastle's Ward Hadaway.

McCormicks in Leeds has scooped up intellectual property assistant Rachael Garfield from the Reading office of Osborne Clarke.

Elsewhere in Reading, Boyes Turner has brought in Graeme Roberts as a commercial property associate.

He was head of European legal operations at Japanese construction company Shimizu Europe.

The firm has also promoted to associate level Stephen Baker (dispute resolution) and Laurie Anstis (employment).

Newbury firm Horsey Lightly Flynn has recruited corporate assistant Simon Arthur from Halliwell Landau.

Surrey firm TWM Solicitors has three new associates after promoting Michelle Leggett (trusts, wills and probate), John McAuley and Mark Stevenson (conveyancing) in the Guildford, Epsom and Leatherhead offices respectively.

In the capital, Bishop & Sewell - in addition to its new partner - has promoted commercial lawyer Jennifer Cochrane to associate.

The London office of East Anglian firm Mills & Reeve has recruited two overseas lawyers to boost its insurance practice.

Commercial and insurance litigator Mark O'Sullivan joins the firm from Middletons in Australia and litigator Katie Graham leaves the in-house team of New Zealand company Credit & Business Services.