Travers Smith has elected corporate and M&A partner Andrew Gillen as the firm’s new senior partner, to take effect from the start of 2024. He will succeed Siân Keall. Gillen has been head of the law firm’s corporate M&A and equity capital markets group for several years, and has been with the firm for 25 years, having trained as a lawyer with Freshfields. His focus is on complex cross-border M&A, and he is head of the firm’s international board.

Two new partners have been welcomed into Addleshaw Goddard’s corporate team in Scotland. Derek McCombe (1) and Iain Sutherland (2) have joined the firm’s Glasgow office from Dentons. Sutherland was previously head of Dentons’ corporate department in Scotland and has a particular focus on private equity transactions, as well as M&A, MBOs/MBIs, venture capital, joint ventures and corporate restructurings. McCombe was formerly head of the Dentons UK retail practice and specialises in M&A, PE/VC transactions and corporate restructurings.

In order to strengthen its commercial tech and telecoms team in London, the law firm has also recruited Natalie Trainor (3) as partner from Pinsent Masons, where she spent 17 years and was a partner in its TMT team.

Property finance specialist Fiona Armour (1) is now legal director at TLT in the law firm’s Glasgow office, and future energy expert Monika Koczwara (2) has come on board as associate. Armour previously worked at MacRoberts and Koczwara as moved from Brodies.

Taylor Wessing has recruited Fawaz Elmalki, a leading funds formation lawyer in the Middle East, to its Dubai corporate team as a consultant senior counsel, from Venture One Legal.