Edwards Wildman Palmer UK LLP announced in recent days that Jonathan (‘Jon’) Yorke joined the firm as a partner in the Insurance and Reinsurance Department (IRD). As well, Akash Sachdeva has joined the firm’s London office as a partner in the Intellectual Property department.
Yorke provides counsel to clients in the insurance and banking sectors, focusing in particular on cross-border issues. He is experienced in both contentious and on-contentious insolvency and restructuring. He represents clients, including leading insolvency practitioners, in administration and liquidation proceedings, and he advises on solvent and insolvent schemes of arrangement for insurance companies.
Yorke joins Edwards Wildman from Barlow Lyde & Gilbert. There, he was head of Restructuring and Insolvency. He is also joined by associate Matthew Fowler.
Sachdeva is an experienced IP litigator. He has acted for major commercial brands and financial institutions before the High Court of London and for a major defense contractor in an international arbitration. He joins Edwards Wildman from Allen & Overy, where he was Of Counsel in the firm’s IP Litigation department. He bolsters the firm’s growing IP capability in the United Kingdom.
Laurence Harris, the partner in charge of Edwards Wildman’s London office was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “Our highly regarded insurance and IP departments have been growing at an impressive pace in London and throughout the firm. With the arrival of Jon and Akash, we are now in an even better position to address our clients’ legal needs in those important sectors. We are delighted that they have opted to come to Edwards Wildman, and we anticipate continued growth in the important UK market.”
Yorke and Sachdeva are the seventh and eighth partners to join Edwards Wildman’s London office in 2011. They come to the firm not long after the arrival of Stuart Blythe, who expanded the firm’s telecommunications practice; Richard Graham, who launched an IT and outsourcing practice; Charles Proctor, who launched a banking practice; Damian Connolly, a corporate and regulatory partner in the insurance sector; Eero Rautalahti, a capital markets partner; and Niall McAlister, a corporate partner advising clients in the Life Sciences sector.
Currently, Edwards Wildman has over 100 fee earners in the UK, and covers ten practice areas.
Edwards Wildman lawyers are known internationally for their work in private equity, venture capital, corporate and finance transactions, complex litigation, insurance and reinsurance, and intellectual property. The firm has over 650 attorneys in 14 offices on 3 continents, including the US, UK and Japan, with an associated office in Hong Kong. The firm works with Fortune 500 and FTSE 250 clients and start-up companies alike, across a range of industries, and serves as a forceful advocate for the firm’s clients’ businesses.