K&L Gates enters Ireland, secures senior funds trio from rival firms
K&L Gates enters Ireland, secures senior funds trio from rival firms
For its Dublin debut, K&L Gates hires Gayle Bowen, Shane Geraghty and Michele Lloyd as founding partners who join from Pinsent Masons, Dillon Eustace and Maples & Calder
The US-based multinational corporate law firm K&L Gates LLC has announced the hiring of three senior assets management and investment funds (AIMF) lawyers to launch its latest office in Dublin, its ninth office in Europe.
The firm has appointed Gayle Bowen, Shane Geraghty and Michele Lloyd who have crossed over from rival firms to help set up its Dublin office and founding partners.
While Bowen has moved over from Pinsent Mason where she was a founding partner and head of the Dublin office, Geraghty has joined K&L Gates from local firm Dillon Eustace. Lloyd was working with the offshore specialist firm Maples & Calder.
Bowen brings with her extensive experience advising asset managers on licensing options post-Brexit. She led the Irish AMIF team at her previous firm Pinsent Masons.
Bowen, who maintains a high profile in the Irish funds industry and currently serves as chair of the Irish Funds ILP implementation working group, has rich experience in establishing Irish-regulated Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) and Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD)-compliant alternative products, and in relation to the global distribution and marketing of Irish funds.
Bowen was also in the past a member of the Irish Funds Brexit Steering Group and is the outgoing chair of the Irish Funds Legal & Regulatory Committee, which coordinates with the Central Bank, the Irish government and European bodies, representing the Irish funds industry's interests.
Geraghty moved out after spending 16 years at the Dillon Eustace as a partner. He advises domestic and international asset managers with the structuring, authorisation and operation of Irish fund vehicles.
He focuses particularly on alternative asset investment strategies and private markets. He has advised on the establishment of UCITS management companies and alternative investment fund managers in Ireland and on the structuring of Cayman Islands fund products. He previously worked as an attorney-at-law in the Cayman Islands.
The third K&L Gates Dublin founding partner Lloyd has recently returned to Ireland from Hong Kong after 10 years heading the European team in Maples & Calder's.
She specialises in advising asset managers on the structuring, establishment, and operation of a broad spectrum of UCITS and AIFS (including hedge, mutual, and private equity funds, managed account platforms, and master-feeder structures) and the governance and distribution of such entities.
Lloyd, an active industry participant, served as a representative for the Irish funds industry association in Hong Kong for a decade.
Michael Caccese, K&L Gates chairman and co-leader in the firm's AMIF practice, pointed out that Dublin was the only major AMIF market in which K&L Gates did not have an office thus far.
"Dublin represents the most logical of steps for our firm. We have seen our AMIF practice grow steadily over the course of the pandemic and through the past year, and the addition of these partners and a Dublin office will allow us to serve our clients in the AMIF and other practices more fully and effectively in coming years," Caccese said.
Led by Washington DC-based Mark Amorosi and Ndenisarya Bregasi and Boston-based Caccese, K&L Gates is rated as one of the top 40 US law firms and has over 1500 AMIF practice lawyers worldwide. The investment fund formation and management offering is noted by the Legal 500 as being 'particularly adept in the transactional and regulatory spheres', while key clients for the team include Federated Hermes and John Hancock investment management.
K&L Gates is among the host of international law firms to invest in Ireland's legal market and set up their offices in Dublin post the UK's 2016 Brexit vote. Ireland has fast emerged as a hub for business in Europe and an English-speaking jurisdiction within the EU.
K&L Gates has said that it plans to add more lawyers and practice capabilities in Dublin in the future.
