Allen & Overy appoints Norton Rose Fulbright's EMEA disputes head

Allen & Overy appoints Norton Rose Fulbright's EMEA disputes head

After losing a senior litigator to White & Case last week, UK giant strengthens banking litigation team.

Norton Rose Fulbright's (NRF's) EMEA head of disputes, Michael Godden, has joined Allen & Overy (A&O) as part of its financial services litigation team.

In May 2007, Godden joined NRF after eight years as an associate at A&O. He is now returning to the Magic Circle Company to further his career. He has been replaced as EMEA disputes head by Patrick Bourke, his deputy at NRF.

In March 2020, Godden will replace Peter Scott as EMEA head of disputes as Scott is promoted to be the EMEA managing partner. He has substantial experience litigating both for and against banks.

Derivatives, debt capital markets, commodities and trade finance, Islamic finance disputes, syndicated lending, and internal investigations in these areas are among Godden's expertise.

Attorney Lawson Caisley, who worked at A&O for nine years, resigned in July after a long career in the financial services legal field. Caisley, who also held the A&O firm's cyber security brief, joined White & Case in London, while Marc Florent, a seasoned banking litigator, quit A&O's litigation department in 2019 to join Baker McKenzie after almost two decades with the firm.

"Michael's hire shows our commitment to keeping our most strategic financial clients' businesses protected," said London head of litigation Arnondo Chakrabarti.

Karen Seward, the head of litigation worldwide who is relocating to the United States will soon support A&O's US operations, adding: "We are delighted to have Michael back at A&O." As an accomplished litigator, he has built a market leading practice. We are fortunate to have his business savvy, creative and collaborative style on our London team and across our practice."

Melody Wang in Shanghai and Susanna Charlwood in London are two of Seward's recent litigation hires in the U.S., EMEA and Asia who are both part of the firm's planned strategic investment and six disputes promotions in its 2021 promotions round.

As a result of Michael's finance litigation expertise, we will still be able to effectively assist our finance clients with the most significant and highest-profile disputes," she added.

Godden noted: "I deeply value my time at the firm and am pleased to be able to contribute to the firm's established reputation in finance litigation and continue to advise premier financial institutions on high-stakes disputes."

While wishing Godden well, Scott appointed Patrick Bourke as NRF's head of disputes for EMEA, his deputy for the last three years.

As a partner since 2004, Burke brings more than 30 years of experience to the firm, having joined in 1992. A leader by nature, he has served as the head of corporate disputes and investigations in London, as the head of strategic relations in the Middle East, has served as the head of disputes in Hong Kong and is a dual-qualified person there.

Those experience in litigation and a broad understanding of all disputes, including insolvency, fraud and arbitrations – all will make Bourke a valuable addition to the firm's practice leadership team while allowing him to develop a successor in due course.

As Scott remarked, Patrick is an experienced litigator who brings a wealth of management experience and dispute resolution expertise from across the EMEA region. I am looking forward to working with him on our management committee, as well as his new role."

Five promotions in dispute were based in EMEA, most of them in London. A total of 54 promotions were announced by NRF for 2022, which included 18 promotions in disputes.