Lovells

REGULATORY FINANCE DISPUTES EXPERT BRINGS TEAM FROM SIMMONS & SIMMONS  

International law firm Lovells has expanded its global dispute resolution practice with the recruitment of banking and finance litigation specialist Antoine Juaristi.  Antoine, formerly a partner with Simmons & Simmons, is the twelfth lateral partner hire the firm has made in 2008.  He joins the firm on 15 October 2008. 

Antoine joins Thomas Rouhette, Marc Henry and Jean-George Betto in the Paris dispute resolution practice, where he will complement our existing capability in product liability, commercial, insurance, corporate, insolvency, and banking and finance litigation, as well as in international arbitration.  Antoine specialises in banking and finance litigation and is an expert in regulatory finance disputes.  He is one of a handful of lawyers whose expertise in financial disciplinary proceedings is highly regarded and, as such, was consulted by the Sanctions Commission of the Autorité des Marchés Financier (AMF) on the potential reform of its disciplinary proceedings[1]. He is admitted to the Paris Bar and Madrid Bar as an Avocat and Abogado respectively.  

Antoine's arrival is the third significant senior hire in the Paris office following the recent hires of Jean-Georges Betto, to strengthen our Paris international arbitration practice, and Pierre Todorov, an Equity Capital Markets partner.  His arrival brings the total number of partners in Paris to 24.  

Antoine is joined by Daphné Renault and Géraldine Marteau, two Senior Associates with broad experience in banking and finance litigation. Martin Le Touzé completes the team joining as a Junior Associate.    

Commenting on the latest arrival, Lovells managing partner David Harris, said:              

"We have an excellent dispute resolution team in Paris and are confident that Antoine's recruitment will enable us to build on that success. As a firm we are committed to strengthening our DR practice in major financial centres around the world and Paris is clearly a high priority for us."  

Patrick Sherrington, Global Head of Dispute Resolution, said:     

"Antoine has very considerable expertise in banking and finance litigation as well as in regulatory finance investigations, which in the current climate are at the top of the agenda for banking and finance clients, as evidenced by our recent DR survey[2]. To maintain our position as one of the leading international DR practices it is important that we are able to meet client demand in this area, so we are delighted that Antoine has decided to join us."  

Antoine Juaristi said:      

"The breadth and quality of Lovells' global banking and finance litigation practice is second to none, and the number of appointments to financial institutions panels is highly impressive. These factors, combined with the firm's reputation for collegiality and successful cross-selling, made Lovells the obvious choice for developing my practice further."

[1]           The AMF is the French equivalent to the Financial Securities Authority or Securities Exchange Commission  

[2]           A report launched by Lovells earlier this year – "The Shrinking World" – highlights major issues around dispute management among European in-house counsel.  Regulatory disputes emerged as an area of significant concern.  Almost half of in-house counsel in five major European economies view disputes with regulators as one of the top risks over the next three years.   Although the number of regulatory or compliance type disputes was small (3% over the past three years), these are viewed as the second highest area of concern with 45% of respondents rating them as medium to high risk.

1.  Partner hires and promotions in 2008

Antoine Juaristi is the twelfth partner hire at Lovells this year. 

Other partners recruited include: 

• Fred Chang (Beijing, Banking)
• Adam Cooke (London, IP) 
• Chris Ashworth (London, Corporate Finance) 
• Pierre Todorov (Paris, Corporate)
• Rika Beppu (Tokyo, Corporate) 
• Philip Hyde (Tokyo, Finance)
• Lucas Osorio (Madrid, Corporate) 
• Brad Roach (Singapore, EPUI/Project Finance) 
• Owen Chan (Hong Kong, Banking) 
• Thomas Man (Beijing, Corporate) 
• Vivienne de Chermont (London, FIG)  

    

Lovells also elected 18 new partners with effect from 1 May 2008.    

2.  About Lovells
 
With over 3,000 people operating from 26 offices in Asia, Europe and the United States, Lovells is one of the world's leading international law firms. We advise many of the world's largest corporations, financial institutions and governmental organisations.  We regularly act on complex, multi jurisdictional transactions as well as some of the most high profile commercial disputes.  Lovells (the "firm") is an international legal practice comprising Lovells LLP and its affiliated businesses.  Lovells LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC323639.  Registered office and principal place of business: Atlantic House, Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2FG.

The word "partner" is used to refer to a member of Lovells LLP, or an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifications, and to a partner, member, employee or consultant in any of its affiliated businesses who has equivalent standing.  

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