KWM sues Goodwin over PE team defection

King and Wood Mallesons is suing its former co-head of corporate Richard Lever and his new firm Goodwin over the departure of a team of Paris-based private equity partners, a spokesperson for the defendants confirmed.

The claim was filed in the Queens Bench Division of the High Court on 16 May, and relates to the hire by Goodwin, previously known as Goodwin Proctor, of six former KWM lawyers including its former Paris managing partner Christophe Digoy.

Lever left KWM in 2015 to help establish a London-based private equity presence for Boston-headquartered Goodwin. He was joined a few months later by former colleague Simon Fullbrook, who specialises in leveraged finance transactions.

The Paris team followed the pair in April this year. The six-strong group was charged with opening the Goodwin Paris office, and reportedly took around £8 million in annual billings when it made the switch.

Hogan Lovells will represent Goodwin and Lever in the case, a spokesperson confirmed.
Since it hired the former KWM private equity team Goodwin has further expanded its Paris office, poaching the corporate finance team from Shearman and Sterling.

Arnaud Fromion and Frederic Guilloux, both corporate finance lawyers, joined the firm as partners, alongside counsel Adriend Paturaud and several associates. The team joined the firm in mid-October.

KWM has lost a string of other private equity lawyers over the past year, including Benjamin Aller who departed for MJ Hudson in March, and Germany-based Sonya Pauls, who defected to Clifford Chance in September.

KWM did not respond to a request for information before publication.