Weekly People Moves: Service Providers & Advisors

Legal

• Broadfield has appointed Effie Vasilopoulos as a Managing Director to lead its APAC operations. The hire follows the opening of an office in Hong Kong, which will initially focus on fund formation, private equity M&A, GP strategic transactions, corporate advisory, and turnarounds. The new office will operate in association with Liu, Patrick Ling & Co. Vasilopoulos joins from Sidley Austin, where she spent 21 years, latterly as an Executive Committee Member and Head of the APAC Investment Funds Group.

• Angharad Lewis has rejoined Clifford Chance as a Partner in its Private Capital team. She will be based in London and previously worked at the firm from 2010–2022. She led Blackstone Capital Partners’ legal function in Europe from 2022–2024.

• Dentons has hired Matt Coleman and Louise McCoach as Partners in Melbourne and Sydney, respectively. Coleman will work in the Infrastructure, Energy, and Major Projects teams and joins from Baker McKenzie, where he was a Partner. McCoach was previously Special Counsel at Gilbert + Tobin and will be in the Financial Institutions division.

• DLA Piper has appointed Dan Caprio as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Data Protection, Privacy, and Security Practice. He will be based in Washington, D.C. and advises on privacy, cybersecurity, and data risk in the private and public sectors. He formerly co-founded The Providence Group, advising corporate executives on data risk.

• Goodwin has hired Alexandra Russell as an Antitrust Partner in Washington, D.C. Her clients include pharmaceutical companies involved in multi-district litigation and energy companies in class actions. She was previously a Partner at Kirkland & Ellis.

• Holland & Knight has added Ronald Skloss as a Partner in its Corporate Practice, based in Austin, Texas. He focuses on private equity investments, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures, and was previously a Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig.

• Ben Griffith has rejoined Katten as a Healthcare Partner in Chicago. He joined Katten in 2018 and was promoted to Partner in 2021, before leaving for GI Alliance, a physician-led national management service, where he oversaw healthcare transactions and regulatory matters. Seth Messner has also been promoted to Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office, succeeding Timothy Lynes. He joined Katten in 2004 and was formerly a Partner.

• Kirkland & Ellis has hired Nabil Abou-Charaf as Partner advising on fund formation and investments, M&A, and other transactional matters. He joins the Riyadh office from Morgan Lewis, where he was an Associate.

• Latham & Watkins has appointed Jerome McCluskey as Partner in the Banking and Private Equity Finance Practice. He will be based in New York and joins from Charlesbank Capital Partners’ Boston office, where he was Managing Director, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer. John Sobolewski has also joined the New York office as Global Chair of Liability Management and a Partner in its Capital Markets and Finance practices.

• Perkins Coie has recruited Miranda Cole to lead its EU and UK antitrust practice. She was previously a Senior Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright and represents clients across EU and UK competition authorities, helping them navigate competition law and regulation.

• Amir Shmueli has joined Ropes & Gray as a Partner in the Finance Practice. He will be based in New York and represents financial institutions, private equity sponsors, and issuers across transactions. He was previously a Partner at Herzog, Fox & Neeman.

• Seward & Kissel has hired Peter Shea as a Partner in its New York office. He will operate out of the Investment Management group and was previously a Partner at K&L Gates. His practice involves the structuring, design, formation and representation of ETFs, investment companies, and private funds.

• Sheppard Mullin has appointed Ashley Wheelock as a Healthcare Partner in Houston. She was most recently a Partner at Troutman Pepper Locke, advising clients on M&A, joint ventures, value-based contracts, and risk-sharing agreements, as well as developing and implementing novel care models.

• Sidley Austin has hired Paris Theofanidis as a Partner in the Energy, Transportation, and Infrastructure practice. He will be based in Houston, with a focus on finance, derivatives, and structured products. Theofanidis joins from Paul Hastings, where he was a Global Finance Partner.

• Travers Smith has promoted Aaron Stocks to Head of Transactions, a newly created role in London. He joined in 1998 and advises on aspects of UK and cross-border corporate finance, fundraising, activism, and M&A.

• Weil, Gotshal & Manges has rehired Thomas Mastoras as a Banking & Finance Partner in the New York office. He represents private equity sponsors, corporate borrowers, banks, and alternative capital providers on financing, and joins from A&O Shearman, where he was a Debt Finance Partner. Steve Argeris has also joined as a Private Equity Partner in Washington, D.C. and New York. His practice focuses on the sports, media, and entertainment sectors.
  
  Sanjay Wadhwa has joined the New York office from Hogan Lovells as a Partner in the Securities Litigation and White Collar Defense, Regulatory and Investigations practices. He was formerly the Acting Director of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement.

• White & Case has recruited Richard Brand, Kiran Kadekar, Erica Hogan, and Jaye Kasper as M&A Partners in New York. They all join from Cadwalader and advise on M&A and shareholder engagement.

• Willkie Farr & Gallagher has hired Dr. David Huthmacher as a Partner in Munich. He advises private equity funds, corporations, and investors on German and cross-border M&A and private equity transactions. He was previously a Partner at Hogan Lovells and is also a Lecturer at the University of Passau in Bavaria.

Consultancy and advisory

• Florida-based Fay Group, which provides services and strategies in the mortgage and real estate sectors, has appointed Jason Biegel as President of its Capital Markets group. He will oversee initiatives including whole loan trading and mortgage servicing rights investments, and focus on raising capital. From 2013–2020, he was Head of the Residential Mortgage Whole Loan business at Angelo Gordon.

• Investment consulting and fiduciary management firm Meketa has hired Chris Rosato as Head of Strategic Investment Development and Christian McCormick as an SVP and Head of Client Portfolio Management. Rosato was formerly Head of Global Product Strategy & Development at Wells Fargo Asset Management, while McCormick joins from NEPC, where he was a Senior Consultant.

• Stax, a strategy consulting firm, has hired Adam Thorpe as a Managing Director in London to lead its EMEA healthcare vertical. He joins from Vintura, where he was a Partner, and previously spent 30 years at KPMG. Witold Czartoryski has also joined in London as a Managing Director in the Tech-Enabled Business Services and Consumer Verticals. He joins from PwC, where he was a Director, and formerly held roles at BCG, OC&C, and UBS.

Investment bank

• US-based Moelis & Company has appointed Matt Wesley as Global Head of Private Funds Advisory. He will lead efforts in growing the private funds advisory business, which provides integrated capital solutions across secondary advisory, primary fundraising, and bespoke liquidity solutions. He joins from Jefferies, where he was Global Head of Private Capital Advisory.

Platform

• South Carolina-based tech platform Milemarker has hired Kailash Duraiswami as Chief Technology Officer. He previously founded Pantenix, an AI platform that automated manual data-entry processes for alternative investments before it was acquired by Orion 18 months after launch. Milemarker aims to empower advisory firms by simplifying workflows, centralizing insights, and creating seamless system integrations.

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