LONDON: International asset management consultancy, MJ Hudson, today announces two senior legal hires and two internal law partner promotions.
Former Skadden Arps partner, Stephen Sims, joins as a partner in the law firm’s funds practice. Previously European Head of Investment Management at the US law firm, Sims has extensive experience with private equity fund formation and LP and family office fund advisory mandates. Prior to Skadden Arps, Stephen was a partner at Macfarlanes and also worked in the funds group of SJ Berwin with MJ Hudson CEO, Matthew Hudson, and funds partner, Eamon Devlin. He is a past chair of the IBA’s Private Funds Committee, served as original contributing editor of the International Comparative Law Guide to Alternative Investment Funds and, earlier in his career, was named to Financial News’ 40 Under 40 in Legal Services.
MJ Hudson also announces today that it has made two new Partner promotions within the expanding funds practice of the law firm:
Whitney Lutgen, previously at NYC and London based Kirkland & Ellis is made partner after three and a half years’ service. Following the hire of Stephen Sims, Whitney becomes the fourth partner in the private funds team. Her practice is focused on private fund formation, co-investments and secondary transactions, as well as fund investment. Ronan McCann becomes the third partner in the Venture capital and Tech team, with a specific focus on funds work and servicing family offices and institutional investors into such funds. Ronan is home-grown talent, having joined the firm more than eight years ago.
Commenting on the law hires and promotions, Andrew Mills, head of M&A and Co-Managing Partner, said:
“We are pleased to welcome Stephen to the firm and into our growing partnership, along with both Ronan and Whitney. Our ability to attract leading lights, such as Stephen, as well as rising stars like Whitney and still provide a path to partnership for exceptional junior lawyers is testament to the unique environment at MJ Hudson.”
Karma Samdup, head of the Venture capital team and also Co-Managing Partner of MJ Hudson Law added:
“Already, we are seeing an uptick in activity; this hire and these promotions reflect our ambition to grow the private funds and venture capital service offerings within MJ Hudson Law.”
Trevor Goodman also joins from listed US asset management group Legg Mason, (recently merged with listed asset management giant Franklin Templeton). Trevor was EMEA Head of Legal and joins MJ Hudson to focus on group compliance, operational management and regulation.
Commenting on the new hires and promotions, Matthew Hudson, CEO, said;
“We see a pipeline of new fund launches emerging through the second half of 2021 and into 2022. Stephen has worked with blue-chip clients such as Hermes GPE, Blackrock, ICG, and Goldman Sachs and we are delighted he is joining our team to help drive the growth of our funds practice as momentum builds in the market. The new promotions will further support this activity. Trevor will be a significant asset to our growing compliance and operational functionality. His strong legal pedigree and 20-year experience, in-house at a global asset manager, will add depth to the MJ Hudson group.”