Three Crowns adds on two partners with London upgradation and Paris appointment

Three Crowns adds on two partners with London upgradation and Paris appointment

Leilah Bruton in London and Shaparak Saleh in Paris along with an associate were promoted by leading arbitration boutique

Three Crowns, Arbitration boutique, has gained two new partners, Leilah Bruton was promoted in its London base and Shaparak Saleh was hired in Paris from French independent firm, Teynier Pic.

The firm now consists of five women among the 14 partners.

Particularly focussing on energy and telecoms disputes, Bruton joined the London office as counsel from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in November 2019. She is specialised in commercial and investment treaty arbitrations. Total, BP, ExxonMobil, Petronas and Rio Tinto fall under the list of her clientele.

Arising from long-term production sharing agreements, Bruton's expertise in oil & gas disputes will be particularly useful given current volatility in the energy markets. The states seek to deal with energy price spikes.

According to Gwendoline Brooker, senior disputes manager at Total Energies, Bruton was "a leading light in international arbitration who provides brief, advanced, practical and specialised explanations to difficult issues. We are pleased to see that Three Crowns has raised her to being a partner."

In the meantime, Shaparak Saleh has joined the firm almost after four years as a partner at Parisian dispute resolution boutique Teynier Pic. He was accompanied by an associate, Marie-Provence Brue.

Acted as arbitration counsel across all major institutional rules, Saleh has worked almost 13 years at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer before Teynier Pic. She has acted in some 25 arbitration-related court proceedings in the French courts. Total, Bouygues, NGE and Trevi SpA fall under her list of clientele.

Saleh's key attraction for her new firm is broad sectorial practice. It includes joint venture and M&A disputes. Complementing the firm's multinational approach, her work spans disputes in the construction, energy, aeronautics, space, telecoms, food, chemicals and pharmaceutical sectors in EMEA and Asia. With offices in the US, UK and France, Three Crowns offers practitioners the encouragement of conflict-free practice within a broader global referral network, which plays to Saleh's powers.

One of the firm's four silks since it was announced at the end of 2021, Constantine Partasides QC, stated, that fellow founding partner Gaetan Verhoosel was to be raised in March: "Thrilled we are that Leilah has taken the following step in her career to become a partner with us in London. Shaparak, who is already very familiar among us is joining us in Paris to enhance our French law competences."

He added that "Their knowledge makes them perfect additions to our business as we can see to support our clients on their most multifarious and noteworthy disputes around the world."

A number of top arbitration specialists in Paris launch their own boutiques after Saleh joins Three Crown. Among them is Barton Legum, the global co-chair of Denton's litigation and dispute resolution practice. He left the firm earlier in Jan 2022 along with head of international arbitration Jean-Christophe Honlet to inaugurate Honlet Legum Arbitration.

Another is Pierre Duprey, Linklaters' former co-head of arbitration. He set up his own boutique, ADF Avocats, at the beginning of 2021.

Four women disputes lawyers with strong international law experience joint forces to launch litigation and arbitration boutique Medici Law Firm in the city in 2020.

In the meantime Three Crowns, has also added former US government lawyer, and international law academic, Donald ("Trey") Earl Childress III hiring to its Washington DC office, as a counsel. Recently served for three years as the 28th Counselor on International Law to the Legal Adviser at the US State Department, he is a law professor at the Caruso School of Law.