E&R partner is latest KWM exit
King & Wood Mallesons continues to haemorrhage partners, this time energy & resources partner Paul Lingard, who has defected to Clifford Chance.
![E&R partner is latest KWM exit](/images/LW_Media_Library/Lingard.jpg)
Lingard (pictured) will start at Clifford Chance’s Perth office on 1 April.
He joined KWM in 2001 as a clerk and was made partner in the firm’s M&A practice nine years later. Lingard was 31 years old at the time.
The appointment follows a series of high-profile departures from KWM in recent weeks.
KWM lost another energy & resources partner, Daniel Kirk, in January. Kirk has joined Lavan Legal’s corporate services practice in Perth.
The firm is also preparing for the departure of financial services partner Michelle Levy, and three other lawyers who are leaving the firm in March or April to join Allens, Lawyers Weekly exclusively revealed last month.
Yet another senior lawyer, dispute resolution managing partner Beau Deleuil, ditched the firm in December for a role at Quinn Emanuel.
In November, KWM merged with SJ Berwin, a move that was questioned by sections of the firm’s partnership.
Lingard’s appointment brings the total number of partners at Clifford Chance’s offices in Sydney and Perth to 16.