Allen & Overy hires second senior disputes

Allen & Overy hires second senior disputes

Magic circle firm RPC, former First Norton Rose Fulbright, lures leading arguments partners into its ranks

RPC's head of civil fraud was hired by Allen & Overy (A&O), the firm's second senior disputes lateral with financial services experience in London in January 2022.

Andy McGregor joins Norton Rose Fulbright's head of disputes in EMEA, Michael Godden, in signing the deal. Their arrival will enable Norton Rose Fulbright to capitalize on an expected increase in Covid-19 fraud cases.

Lawson Caisley, a senior disputes partner, left for White & Case in July 2021. With the new hire, the senior team is restocked.

McGregor will be joining A&O at a later date in 2022 has played a vital role in increasing RPC's commercial disputes practice. He was also with banking and finance specialist Jonathan Cary and global head of commercial disputes Tom Hibbert.

The individual has been employed by RPC for twelve years after training and qualifying at Ashurst for eight and a half years. As he has worked on many cases with Hibbert during the global financial crisis over the past two decades, he has acquired expertise in banking litigation.

McGregor has contributed to RPC's expansion in civil fraud disputes, especially those involving banking and oligarchs. The case in question, Navigator Equities v Deripaska, being a long-running dispute between Oleg Deripaska and fellow oligarch Vladimir Chernukhin, represented by Clifford Chance, while McGregor represented Oleg Deripaska.

With a market-leading position represented by Russian and CIS banks, A&O has the chance to challenge Hogan Lovells.

Additionally, McGregor has a keen interest in cryptocurrencies and fraudulent activities related to them.

"Andy is a civil fraud litigation heavyweight who has built up an incredibly successful practice," said Calum Burnett, A&O's head of litigation. The experience he brings to our clients will be immensely helpful in guiding them through high-stakes, high-value fraud litigation.

The firm's global head of litigation, Karen Seward, said McGregor would add to the firm's top-tier civil fraud capability. Seward believes McGregor will aid the firm's ability to provide clients with holistic litigation solutions across all areas of law."

Andy is one of the finest fraud lawyers in this market and has acted on some of the most important civil fraud cases of the past few years, underscoring the importance of having a true expert in the field. Her comments emphasize on the importance of having real expertise in this area."

McGregor said that the global scope of the firm provided him with the opportunity to support clients in a market that is experiencing record levels of civil fraud activity.

Managing partner James Miller at RPC noted: "We regret to see any of our colleagues leave, hence feel sad to know Andy will leave us later in 2022. We recognize his contribution to the success of the firm's commercial disputes practice, so thank him and wish him the best."

We expect further partner additions in the near future, as part of our ambitious plans for growth." Miller concluded: "Our international practice remains a key strategic focus for the firm."

This is done on a good platform, as McGregor's colleague, Dan Wyatt, was promoted to partner in 2020. As McGregor put it then, Wyatt was "one of the driving forces behind our civil fraud team," and his departure only underscores how important Wyatt was.