RollOnFriday has been told that two of Trowers & Hamlins' most senior partners are defecting.

An insider says that Abdullah Mutawi, the firm's UAE Head, is off to Baker Botts and that he's taking Trowers' Middle East Litigation Head Lucas Pitts with him. A number of associates are expected to follow. The source reckons that this is the first time a Senior Equity Partner has resigned from the firm.

Trowers has had a tough time of it recently. Profits have collapsed, and the firm's own staff handed it this year's Golden Turd as the worst place to work in the City. These departures will leave the firm reeling: Trowers sells itself as the go to firm in the Middle East, and Mutawi in particular is one of the top M&A lawyers in the region. Baker Botts will be delighted.

         Baker Botts yesterday

Trowers wouldn't return calls and a spokesman for Baker Botts said that "I'm afraid I'm not able to offer any comment on this", so negotiations are clearly still ongoing.

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Comments

Anonymous 13 February 15 10:35

Trowers' problem is that it is three firms squashed into one. A standard City firm that does mid-range corporate and commercial work; an adviser to national public sector clients; and a Middle East practice. There seems to be no rationale behind their structure or offering. I guess it worked in the past because competition was low. But today such a firm is just going to get torn apart. Sad that Gubbins has inherited this mess......

Anonymous 24 February 15 11:25

I can't wait to see how Lonsberg and Mutawi will get on. There is only ever one leader when Lonsberg is around, never two.

Anonymous 28 February 15 00:09

No incumbent in the region tolerates anyone with any talent for leadership below him