Dentons hires Virgin Group Holdings director

Dentons hires Virgin Group Holdings director

In his previous position, Leonard Birmingham was head of global corporate at Harneys Offshore Law Firm

Dentons has appointed a non-executive director of the Virgin Group as head of its corporate and commercial law group for the Caribbean.

Denton's new global head of corporate, Leonard Birmingham, who previously served as global head of corporate at Harneys prior to joining Virgin Group Holdings, will be based in Trinidad & Tobago. He spent some time in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), as well as other offices. In this role, he will be responsible for leading the firm's regional corporate and commercial teams and advising on transactional and financial law issues in the Caribbean.

To his new firm, Birmingham brings more than two decades of experience in corporate and commercial law, banking, insolvency and securities law. In 1992, he joined Harneys as an associate, became a partner five years later and was subsequently named global head of corporate in 2003, which coincided with his relocation to the firm's London office.

Dentons expects Birmingham to assume a larger role within the firm, providing a broader range of support to local businesses and multinational organizations to meet their corporate objectives.

Delany said Birmingham's appointment demonstrates Dentons' ability to attract top talent to meet client demand, adding that Birmingham will be instrumental in strengthening the firm's Caribbean presence.

In the Caribbean, the Caribbean arm of the global giant is rated by Chambers and currently serves clients in 14 jurisdictions.

"Dentons Delany, the only truly pan-Caribbean law firm, is in a period of rapid growth and is well-positioned to leverage emerging international and regional economic trends," Birmingham stated, adding that he was "delighted to join the firm at this time." "This means quality work, the opportunity to practice in several jurisdictions and most importantly, the prospect of working with talented people around the globe."

Dentons appointed Paloma Gomez as its next Latin America and Caribbean region CEO in January. She replaces Jorge Alers, who stepped down from the position almost six years after the firm first established itself in the region.

In the past year, the firm, which boasts more than 10,000 attorneys, has also opened offices in Bolivia, Nigeria, Vietnam and Mozambique through tie-ups with local firms.

The firm also announced this week that its 250-strong Russian division would become an independent entity as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the same time as a number of international firms announced they would close their Moscow offices and terminate their relationships with Russia-related clients.

In related Caribbean legal news, UK law firm HFW announced in Feb 2022 that it acquired the office of Bahamas litigation firm Lennox Paton in the BVI, in a rare instance of an onshore firm securing an offshore base.