Norton Rose Group takes on new group chairman; doubles promotions round
INTERNATIONAL legal practice Norton Rose Group has made Canadian partner Norman Steinberg group chairman – the first time Norton Rose Group a non-UK citizen has filled the role.
Norman was Chairman of Norton Rose Canada LLP and a member of Norton Rose Group’s Supervisory Board, as well as an ex-officio member of Norton Rose Canada LLP’s management committee. His new role is part of the global management of the group.
Norman takes over from Stephen Parish, who stepped down as group chairman with effect from April 30, 2012, but continues as Chairman of Norton Rose LLP.
Peter Martyr, Group Chief Executive, Norton Rose Group said: “Having a Canadian group chairman is a reflection of the globalisation of the practice. With his significant management and client relationship experience, Norman is a natural choice for this position. He will continue to build our international practice as his predecessor, Stephen Parish did. I would like to thank Stephen, who has significantly contributed to our success in becoming a truly international legal practice.”
Norman Steinberg, Group Chairman, Norton Rose Group said: “This is a tremendous honour. Becoming the first Canadian Group Chairman is a real demonstration of how quickly Canada has been integrated into Norton Rose Group. My primary focus will be on the continued business development of our clients internationally and I look forward to working with the global partnership in my new capacity.”
PROMOTIONS
The group has announced 30 promotions to partner, and in South Africa, six promotions to director, totaling 36 promotions this year
– more than doubling the total number of promotions made in 2011. In the Middle East, Matthew Escritt, a banking and finance lawyer based in Norton Rose Group’s Dubai office has been promoted. Matthew has extensive experience working in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, having previously worked in Norton Rose Group’s offices in London, Moscow, Bahrain and Singapore. He specialises in all areas of structured cross-border finance including acquisition finance, real estate finance, project finance, trade and commodity finance, and export finance.
The promotions were made primarily across Norton Rose Group’s three global practice groups of banking and finance (nine promotions), corporate (eleven promotions), litigation and dispute resolution (ten promotions) and with a further three in antitrust, competition and regulatory, two in intellectual property and one cross- specialist. This is the first year the Group has made promotions in Canada, Latin America and Africa, with almost half of all promotions (47 per cent) in these new markets. Almost half of the promotions made this year (44 per cent) are women.
Additionally, Norton Rose Group has made 49 lateral partner hires internationally since May 1, 2011.
The promotions will strengthen all the six key industry areas of the group internationally: financial institutions; energy; infrastructure, mining and commodities; transport; technology and innovation; and pharmaceuticals and life sciences.
