PRIVATE PRACTICE

Partners

Finance is the theme of the week in the City as Berwin Leighton Paisner continues its new year hiring spree with project finance partners Jon Nash from US firm Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and Sohail Barkatali from Denton Wilde Sapte.

Chris Howard, formerly a banking and restructuring associate at Linklaters, is joining Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as a partner.

Two finance partners for Hammonds: Alistair Bacon joins the London office - he was previously joint head of reconstruction and insolvency at Watford firm Matthew Arnold & Baldwin - and Cobbetts insolvency partner Jeremy Reilly moves to the Leeds office.

Elsewhere in the City, RadcliffesLeBrasseur partner Michael Higginson has moved to Trowers & Hamlins to join its commercial property team.

Nicholas Gould has been made up to partner at construction firm Fenwick Elliott.

US firm Dewey Ballantine has launched a UK tax practice after bringing in David Blumenthal from Linklaters as a partner.

Lots of promotions at US firms in London as well: Neil Foster (corporate) at Morrison & Foerster; Sean Harrison and Elizabeth Katkin (both finance) at Hogan & Hartson; Ian Hamilton (corporate) at Weil Gotshal & Manges; and Aaron Edward Alt (private equity), Michelle English (corporate) and Pamela Henry (corporate) at Kirkland & Ellis.

IT/telecoms partner Matthew Cowan has joined Clyde & Co in Guildford to head the commercial IT/IP team, having left Olswang last year.

Bournemouth firm Ellis Jones has promoted family lawyer Deborah Leask to partner.

Four promotions at Michelmores in Exeter: John Stephens and Joanna Damerell (commercial property), Gerald Offen (construction) and Chris Butcher (private client).

Across to East Anglia, where Ron Clare has left Steeles in Norwich to become head of commercial property and development at Cunningham John.

He is based at the Bury St Edmunds office.

Wolverhampton firm Manby & Steward has made up commercial property lawyer Andrew Wynne.

Employment and commercial litigation lawyer Tim Jones has left Morton Fisher to join Black Country firm Higgs & Sons as a partner.

Jane Cowley, formerly head of family at Nelsons in Nottingham, has returned to Leicester's Harvey Ingram Owston as a partner, after leaving in 1996.

Gateley Wareing has boosted its Nottingham office with the hire of Mark Rutherford, who was head of Edwards Geldard's corporate finance team in the city.

Farther north, Ricksons has brought in corporate partner Joe Glass from Wacks Caller for its Manchester office.

Chester firm Aaron & Partners has a new dispute resolution partner - David Harries moves from west country firm Foot Anstey Sargent, where he was an associate partner.

Also making the move north is another commercial disputes partner, Craig Monty, who has left City firm Lovells after 17 years to return home to the north-east and join Dickinson Dees.

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Associates/assistants

Simpson Millar in Manchester has a new head of employment after Ferguson Doyle joined as an assistant.

He was previously working as a locum.

Elsewhere in Manchester, Heatons has recruited corporate associate Mary Erb from Addleshaw Goddard and commercial property associate Sharon McGladdery from Eversheds.

Linder Myers has appointed Sam Nicholson from City firm Clyde & Co to be an assistant in its psychological injury department.

Berg & Co has lost dispute resolution solicitor Mala Rajput to Keoghs in nearby Bolton.

Across the Pennines, Leeds firm McCormicks has two new solicitors for its corporate crime and risk team: Peter Byrne from Bridge Sanderson Munro in Doncaster and Sara Young from Bradford's William Hicks & Partners.

In the midlands, Gateley Wareing has recruited senior commercial property associate Jon Smart from Eversheds for its Nottingham office, and tax assistant Martin Jahreiss from Hammonds for its Birmingham office.

Employment assistant Kate Shepherd has joined Derby firm Flint Bishop & Barnett from Andersons in Nottingham.

Birmingham-based niche commercial/corporate firm Cromwell has two new corporate recovery and insolvency lawyers from Brindley Twist Tafft & James: associate Martin Lord and assistant Nazmeen Yaqub.

Leaving the west midlands is commercial property solicitor Heather Jones, who has swapped FBC Solicitors for the Weston-super-Mare office of Wards.

Emma Wilders-Pratt has qualified into the family team at Bournemouth firm Ellis Jones.

In the City, Zemar Dajani has joined Barlow Lyde & Gilbert's pensions team from US/UK firm Jones Day.