McGrigors hire continues Cohen Milstein City push

McGrigors dispute resolution partner Anthony Maton is to quit the Scots firm's City arm to help establish the new London office of US class action giant Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll, Legal Week has learned.

Maton, who specialises in contract, banking, fraud and energy litigation, is to quit after nearly seven years with the 77-partner big four Scots firm.

Also honorary secretary of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, Maton has previously worked at City firms Herbert Smith and Slaughter and May. He will now be handed a brief to set up Cohen Milstein's new London office alongside the US firm's other recent hires in the capital - former Office of Fair Trading (OFT) senior competition director Vincent Smith and former DLA Piper competition head Rob Murray.

The office launch, which was initially scheduled for January, finally took place this month, marking first City opening by a US class action specialist.

The latest departure comes during a difficult period for McGrigors' City arm. In recent months the troubled City practice has been rocked by the loss of banking partner Stuart Brinkworth and barrister Jonathan Fisher QC, as well as the exit of a four-lawyer intellectual property team, which quit the firm for Pinsent Masons.

A McGrigors spokesperson said: "We can confirm that Anthony Maton will be leaving the firm...and we wish him well for the future. The dispute resolution team that [Maton] was part of is a thriving and busy part of the London office and we will be expanding the team to meet client demand over the coming months."