Hausfeld has hired experienced commercial litigation partner Greg Lascelles from US law firm Covington & Burling in London.

Lascelles brings with him to the transatlantic disputes-only boutique extensive experience in high-stakes commercial litigation and international arbitration, alongside other proceedings.

His practice specialises in resolving disputes relating to serious fraud, securities, negligence, guarantees and indemnities, director liability, shareholder matters, M&A and data breach issues. He has been involved in landmark High Court and FCA disputes and Supreme Court cases.

Lascelles’ arrival takes Hausfeld’s London disputes resolution team to 16 partners and 49 qualified lawyers. Praising Lascelles’ “deep experience in corporate disputes and his enthusiasm for claimant-side work”, Ned Beale, co-head of disputes at Hausfeld, said the move was in line with his and co-head Lucy Pert’s desire to position Hausfeld at the forefront of boutique dispute resolution.

Lascelles fits perfectly with that aspiration, Beale said, adding: “We are delighted to have a lawyer of his calibre joining the team.”

Lascelles was equally enthusiastic about joining Hausfeld: “Over the past years, I’ve handled prominent cases for exceptional clients, and Hausfeld’s distinguished dispute practice appears to be an ideal match for both my clients and me.”

Lascelles’ move follows John McElroy’s exit to Fieldfisher in July to pursue his banking litigation practice and Duran Ross’s exit to Lewis Silkin earlier in April, while competition partner Lucy Rigby was elected as an MP in July. However, it has recruited on the antitrust side.

Both Beale – himself a 2021 lateral hire – and Pert took on their disputes co-head roles following a May management reshuffle which saw Nicola Boyle succeed Lianne Craig as London managing partner.

In hiring Lascelles, Hausfeld is gaining a lawyer whose pedigree is as extensive in the Square Mile as it is internationally. He represented a former director of Carillion against the Insolvency Service in one of the UK’s most significant director disqualification proceedings, involving three former executive directors and five non-executive directors (NEDs).

The proceedings followed the 2018 collapse of that company, leading to agreed disqualification undertakings against the executives, while a trial involving the NEDs was discontinued in October 2023.

He also acted successfully for Oleg Mkrtchan, one of the defendants in the billion-dollar Avonwick litigation that was resolved in 2020, concerning the division of a portfolio of businesses involving Ukrainian oligarchs, their corporate vehicles and various third parties. The trial judge, Mr Justice Picken, described it “as being akin to divorce proceedings between three extremely wealthy Ukrainian businessmen” with links to the now Russian-controlled Donbas region.

Educated in London and Paris, Lascelles qualified as a solicitor in 2003 at SJ Berwin, becoming a partner in 2011. There he advised hedge funds, private equity houses, asset managers, investment banks, brokerage houses, entrepreneurs and major public companies in the financial services and private equity sectors, alongside other work.

Lascelles joined Covington in 2016 as part of a series of moves arising from the collapse of legacy SJ Berwin – by then called King & Wood Mallesons – which included Craig Pollack, its former global head of disputes, as well as Louise Freeman, Elaine Whiteford and Alex Leitch.

Only Freeman, who co-leads Covington’s commercial disputes team and EMEA disputes practice group, and Pollack, as its joint head of global disputes, now remain at Covington from that group. Whiteford exited to Quinn Emanuel in 2019 before later joining Wilkie Farr in 2023, while Leitch moved to Paul Hastings in 2021 before switching to Stewarts in 2023 and later ceasing practice.

A Covington spokesperson said: “We wish Greg well.”