THREE PARTNERS from law firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice are leaving the company to join Walkers, an offshore legal firm which is setting up a base in Dublin.
Garry Ferguson, who worked in investment funds, is expected to join in October; Ken Rush, an asset finance expert is due to begin in November; and Paul Farrell, from the structural finance division, will join Walkers in January.
It is understood that they will be taking up senior positions with the firm, which specialises in funds, structured finance and asset finance. Walkers is expected to hire up to 20 solicitors in addition to support, administration and marketing staff.
The company is due to open its Dublin office by the end of the year and has taken a 10,000sq ft office space over two floors in the Anchorage building on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay.
Walkers is a corporate and international finance law company which offers legal services to international clients, typically major financial institutions and hedge fund managers. The company – which is based in the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and Jersey – focuses on investment funds, private equity and capital markets and structured finance.
The company is also establishing a corporate services company in Dublin.
The departure of the three partners from Matheson Ormsby Prentice is the latest in a series of personnel changes in the Irish funds industry this year.