Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis has moved to bolster its London projects team with the hire of Osborne Clarke’s (OC’s) head of projects.
Cathy Harris is due to start her new role today (1 May) after around six years with the Bristol firm. She is being joined by two associates from OC.
Harris, who is both UK and Australian-qualified, joined OC as a partner in 2002 and specialises in project finance work with a particular focus on the healthcare sector. She has advised on public-private partnerships, private finance initiatives (PFI) and transactions in sectors including transport, education and social housing, in addition to healthcare.
Her hire takes K&L Gates’ London projects team to seven lawyers, including four partners.
K&L Gates’ London administrative partner, Tony Griffiths, said: “Cathy’s recruitment marks the next stage in the development of our project finance and projects capabilities for domestic and international clients.”
Harris added: “I am delighted to be joining K&L Gates at such a key stage in the development of the London office and the firm.”
Harris’s hire comes after K&L Gates this week added to its City tax practice with the hire of Nabarro partner Paul Beausang. The firm brought in senior in-house lawyer Danny Asher Brower from London hedge fund Vega earlier this year to beef up its hedge fund offering in the capital.
A spokesperson for Osborne Clarke told Legal Week: “[Harris] has been involved in building a strong PFI practice, which will continue to grow under [partners] John Edmond and Richard Temple.”
The trio of partner hires take the number of partners in K&L Gates’ London office to 56.
