South: Shoosmiths boosts corporate team with four new partners

Law firm Shoosmiths has cemented its strategy for the growth of its corporate division with the appointment of four new partners.

With 70 years of combined experience across the full spectrum of corporate financing, M&A and private equity, the senior hires will further boost Shoosmiths’ market-leading capability. This move sparks the beginning of an extended period of investment in the team, already recognised as the venture capital specialist firm of the year by The Legal 500 Awards.

Domestic and cross-border structured finance expert Ali Triptree has moved from Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, where she spent 14 years as a partner acting on both bank and borrower side transactions. Triptree particularly enjoys complex cross-border transactions and has particular telecoms finance expertise, as well as holding a track record of developing profitable client relationships and developing lawyers within her team. 

David Harrison joined the firm in London at the end of 2018 to strengthen its corporate transactional offering. He has more than 15 years of experience covering the full spectrum of corporate activity, from M&A in both the public and private markets, through to equity capital raisings, investments for private equity funds and family offices and complex, multi-jurisdictional corporate reorganisations. Much of the work which Harrison undertakes is cross-border in nature and it often involves complex international structures. He covers a range of sectors, including energy, natural resources, telecoms and consumer, and has significant experience working in Middle Eastern and African markets. Prior to joining Shoosmiths, Harrison worked in the London corporate group at Hogan Lovells. He previously worked with Macfarlanes, having trained and spent the first five years of his career at Linklaters.

With 20 years of experience, leader of the London corporate team James Klein has a broad range of corporate and commercial expertise. He also has a role as head of technology for the corporate division. Joining from Penningtons Manches where he led the digital business group and the firm’s San Francisco office, Klein has advised on a wide spectrum of corporate finance transactions, including domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, corporate restructuring and reorganisations and joint ventures. He also has a strong track record in the tech sector, advising on fundraisings (in particular through his investor connections in the UK and US), venture capital and private equity transactions, having acted for management teams and institutional houses on numerous mid-market private equity deals. Klein was previously a partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner, having trained and qualified at DLA Piper.

Adding to Shoosmiths’ growing private equity team, Simon Briggs joins from Dechert where he was a partner for six years in the firm’s corporate and securities group. He has more than 20 years of experience in advising private equity houses and corporate clients in a variety of sectors and has a wealth of experience in complex, international telecommunications, financial services and leisure transactions.

Underpinning the significant growth and success of Shoosmiths’ corporate practice has been the development of a leading private equity practice, which advises on a range of deals across a variety of sectors, handling a regular flow of transactions for private equity clients such as Rothschild (Five Arrows Principal Investments), LDC and August Equity.

Head of Shoosmiths’ corporate division Stephen Porter said: “We’re extremely pleased to be attracting exceptionally talented individuals in Ali Triptree, David Harrison, James Klein and Simon Briggs to play key roles in the growth of our corporate practice group.

“This comes at a time when being recognised as the venture capital specialist firm of the year by The Legal 500 Awards shows Shoosmiths’ role as the trusted adviser in UK boardrooms.

“We focus on understanding each client’s strategy and helping them to achieve their goals across venture capital, private equity, M&A, tax, banking, corporate restructuring and advisory.”