Mr Lascelles confirmed yesterday that he would be leaving Ashurst just hours after news broke that corporate partner and Singapore office colleague Keith McGuire has left to join PwC Legal. Mr Lascelles is departing after little more than a year with Ashurst. In August 2015, he succeeded Mr McGuire as the firm’s Singapore boss after joining from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meaghre & Flom, where he co-headed the firm’s global private equity practice.

Exodus continues

The exits come on the same day that Paul Hastings confirmed its hire of respected former London-based Ashurst finance partner Nigel Ward, and Allen & Overy announced its own finance team hire from Ashurst’s Hong Kong office. The team joining A&O includes former Hong Kong managing partner Lina Lee and capital markets partner Jonathan Hsui. Since May last year, Ashurst has lost around 45 lawyers from its global partnership, with the firm posting a 19 per cent drop in PEP to £603,000 and a 10 per cent drop in turnover to £505m for the 2015/16 financial year.

Source: Legal Business; Legal Business (2); The Lawyer