Leading international law firm gunnercooke has continued its strong recruitment drive, welcoming 17 new partners in the last quarter across areas including Privacy, International Arbitration and Blockchain.


Hires include additions to the fast-growing US team, with Eileen Breslin and Scott Horton joining the New York office. Eileen is a Corporate Partner with over 20 years of experience. Scott is an Employment Partner and regularly advises employers in labour relations matters.


Further international hires include Sebastian Förste and Elzbieta Burzynski joining the Hamburg office and Giovanni Valentini as an Italian-qualified Corporate Partner. Sebastian is a Banking & Finance Partner with particular experience in FinTech and cryptocurrencies. Elzbieta is a Commercial, Transport & Employment Partner and is dual-qualified in Germany and Poland.


The ever-growing Real Estate team welcomed Natalie Samuel as a Real Estate Partner and Lisa Poole as a Commercial Property Partner. Two Corporate & Commercial Partners were also appointed, Lisa Logan and Neale Andrews.


The Banking & Finance team continues to grow with the appointment of Charles Proctor as Banking & Finance Partner and Paul Cluley, who joins from Allen & Overy as a Finance Partner.The team also welcomed Stephan Smoktunowicz from Gowling WLG as a Banking & Finance Partner.


The London office welcomed Uliana Cooke as an International Arbitration Partner and Ryan Thorne as a Private Equity Partner. The London office also saw the appointment of Ash Costello as a Privacy & Technology Partner covering blockchain and crypto, and Lorna Trueman as a Commercial Litigation Partner. The Leeds office welcomed Claire Withers as a Family Partner.


gunnercooke also welcomed 16 people at non-Partner levels, including associates, legal counsel and paralegals across both the UK and German offices. Mark Winters and Ian Skiggs also join the firm’s management consultancy practice, gunnercooke Operating Partners.  


The firm’s Head of Recruitment, Chris Ball, commented: “gunnercooke is growing rapidly both in the UK and now overseas in the US and Germany. It’s fantastic to have welcomed 17 new partners in the past quarter, covering a vast range of corporate and commercial disciplines.”


gunnercooke is a high-growth, high-performance professional services firm, with a rapidly growing number of experts spanning legal and other disciplines. The firm has more than 500 professionals with expertise across a broad range of corporate disciplines and sectors, and 12 offices across the UK, Germany, CEE and US.