Taylor Wessing has secured a team of 11 London-based private client lawyers from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP), following on from November’s hire of private client co-head Damian Bloom and fellow partner Simon Phelps.

The move boosts the number of Europe-based private client lawyers at Taylor Wessing to more than 100, making it one of the largest teams in the region.

And it marks a further depletion of BCLP’s London private client team, which has experienced a succession of departures following the transatlantic merger between Bryan Cave and London’s Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) that created the firm in April 2018.

The latest 11-strong addition to Taylor Wessing comprises one consultant, two senior counsel, two senior associates, five associates and one support lawyer. 

They will be joining Taylor Wessing over the next two months. The team includes senior associate Joshua Boughton and associates Aleksandra Kucharska, Gabriela Hristova and Jessica Rose, who is New Zealand law-qualified.

UK Managing Partner Shane Gleghorn said: “The international private wealth sector promises growth and opportunity on a global scale. Only a small number of firms can provide the full range of cross-border services the clients require.”

The arrival of Bloom and Phelps boosted the number of London-based private client partners at Taylor Wessing to 11, the firm having already made two senior hires from BCLP since its merger: partner Murray North joined in May last year and senior associate Kunal Vyas joined as a partner in September 2018.

While BLP was best known for its heavyweight London property practice, it had invested in its private client capability in the years running up to its merger with Bryan Cave, when private wealth was cited as a key strength of both firms.

Three other London firms have hired private client partners from BCLP since the merger. Maurice Turnor Gardner signed up partners Rupert Ticehurst and Paul Whitehead in 2019, in January 2020 Farrer & Co secured Georgina James, while in May Payne Hicks Beach took on board Martin Pasiner, son of one of the firm’s founding partners.

BCLP’s website currently lists three London-based private client partners as part of a team of 11 practitioners.

Last year, Paris was the focus of a series of lateral hires by BCLP as it built up its real estate practice, including with the arrival of a seven-strong team from CMS Francis Lefebvre.