King & Spalding Recruits Two Prominent Partners to London Disputes Practice

LONDON--(Marketwire - Mar 12, 2012) - King & Spalding has recruited Jane Player and Sarah Walker as partners in its London office as the firm continues to execute its plan of strategic expansion in key legal centres around the globe.

Litigators Player and Walker join King & Spalding from Bird & Bird in London, where both were partners and Player served as joint head of the international dispute resolution group. The two recruits bring the number of lawyers in the office, which opened in 2003, to 23, including 15 partners.

King & Spalding's London office has played a pivotal role in the firm's exceptional record of international growth even through the global economic turn-down in recent years, and supports many of the firm's global practices, including energy transactions, M&A, private equity, international arbitration, antitrust/competition and international trade.

Garry Pegg, co-managing partner of the London office, said: "Jane and Sarah are not only highly respected lawyers within their fields but they also share the same values and aspirations that are at the heart of our firm's culture. I'm really looking forward to working with them as we continue to expand and diversify in London."

Player, who qualified in 1987, became a partner in DLA Piper in 1994 and was appointed head of litigation in London the following year. She moved to Bird & Bird in 2002. Her practice covers commercial contractual claims and she has represented UK and international clients. She has been ranked by Chambers and the Legal 500.

Player said: "We are sad to be leaving the firm where we have so many friends and respected colleagues, but the new challenge at K&S in London was irresistible to me and Sarah: It's in our DNA to be at the forefront of growth and development opportunities, and K&S is an extraordinary platform from which to take things to a new level."

Walker qualified in 1995 and practised at DLA Piper before joining Bird & Bird as a partner in 2005. She focuses on dispute evaluation and resolution, arbitration, mediation and negotiation. She is admitted as a full member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and, since 2006, served as a committee member for the London Branch of the Chartered Institute. She, too, has been recognised by Chambers and the Legal 500.

The two new litigation partners will work alongside arbitration expert Tom Sprange, who joined the London office from Steptoe & Johnson in mid-2011, and with the firm's Paris office, which opened in 2009 as a hub for its acclaimed international arbitration practice.

Player and Walker bring the total number of new dispute resolution partners to join King & Spalding's European practice this month to three. International arbitration expert Jan Schäfer also joined the firm in January as a partner in the Frankfurt office.

The London office of King & Spalding has now added seven lateral partners since mid-2010: Garry Pegg and Hywel Jones (July 2010); Martin Hunt (April 2011); Suzanne Rab and Tom Sprange (May 2011); and Jane Player and Sarah Walker (January 2012). In addition, John Taylor was promoted to partner in January 2011.

About King & Spalding

Celebrating more than 125 years of service, King & Spalding is an international law firm that represents a broad array of clients, including half of the Fortune Global 100, with 800 lawyers in 17 offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm has handled matters in over 160 countries on six continents and is consistently recognized for the results it obtains, uncompromising commitment to quality and dedication to understanding the business and culture of its clients. More information is available at www.kslaw.com