Corporate partner and office chief Rika Beppu, who has been with Simmons for 14 years, will become co-managing partner of Lovells in
Fellow partner Philip Hyde, who has been based in
The duo’s departure date is still being negotiated. Simmons is set to move City corporate partner Jason Daniel to
Speaking to Legal Week, Simmons managing partner Mark Dawkins stressed that the firm was still committed to the
Following the departure of the two partners, Simmons will retain one associate, one trainee and one secretary, while four associates and three business support staff will be made redundant. Lovells was understood to be in talks about hiring two associates and one secretary.
The two Simmons hires follow Lovells’ appointment earlier this year of an eight-strong team of bengoshi from local boutique Kubota Law & Patent Office, marking the firm’s debut in Japanese law. Lovells decided to keep its
Crispin Rapinet, Lovells’ Asia regional managing partner, told Legal Week: “We are seeing a lot of investment going into China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East at the moment — areas in which the Japanese have a lot of involvement.
“We are seeing more activity from them across the network, which is why shoring up the